Minor League round up, September 8

The San Francisco Giants Minor League Baseball affiliates only went 1-3 on Thursday, but it was still a fun day. Let’s dive in.

Link to the 2022 McCovey Chronicles Community Prospect List (CPL)

All listed positions are the positions played in that game.

AAA Sacramento (59-73)

Sacramento River Cats lost to the Las Vegas Aviators (A’s) 11-5
Box score

Not the most efficient use of the long ball for the River Cats, as they managed just 5 runs ... despite hitting 4 homers.

The most notable came off the bat of left field/center fielder Heliot Ramos (No. 4 CPL). Ramos hit just 1-5, but we’ll take any return of power to his bat that he can find, especially when it’s a mammoth dinger like this.

He’s desperately trying to turn his rough season (.637 OPS, 61 wRC+) around, and every home run helps.

But the best day came from third baseman José Rojas. Rojas was playing in his 3rd game for the River Cats, and after going 0-8 in his first 2, he exploded in this one, hitting 3-5 and finishing a triple shy of the cycle.

Also homering were left fielder Jason Vosler (in his only at-bat of the day off the bench) and shortstop Dixon Machado.

Second baseman Ford Proctor had an excellent game, recording a pair of singles and a pair of walks.

All of the pitchers who pitched pitched poorly, and none of them are notable prospects, so let’s just move on to the next game, shall we?

AA Richmond (61-67)

Richmond Flying Squirrels lost to the Bowie Baysox (Orioles) 6-5
Box score

I don’t expect right fielder Jacob Heyward to still be in the organization next year, but he’s trying to make a last-ditch effort, as he homered for the 2nd-straight day.

That’s more like it, but he still has just a .626 OPS and a 74 wRC+, while being 27 and in his 3rd season in AA.

Also on the older side for the level is third baseman Riley Mahan, who will turn 27 on the last day of the year. But unlike Heyward, he’s doing very well in his 3rd pass through AA (albeit his 1st in the Giants organization). He hit 2-4 with a triple, raising his OPS to .882 and his wRC+ to 139. Perhaps he’ll be a AAA depth piece next year.

Another nice game for second baseman Tyler Fitzgerald (No. 35 CPL), who hit 2-4 with a double and a walk, giving him a .761 OPS and a 107 wRC+. He has a .921 OPS in September after sporting a .908 OPS in August. Talk about finishing the season strong!

Roughoutings for 2 very exciting pitchers. RHP Landen Roupp made his 4th start for Richmond and struggled with control, walking 5 batters in 5.1 innings, while also giving up 5 hits, 3 runs, and 2 earned runs, albeit with 6 strikeouts. Walks weren’t an issue for him in Low-A — he had just 9 in 32.1 innings — so let’s hope this was just a bad game.

And LHP Chris Wright (No. 29 CPL) got rocked a bit, surrendering 4 hits and 3 runs in 1.1 innings, with just 1 strikeout, raising his ERA to 3.83 and his FIP to 3.85.

High-A Eugene (78-48)

Eugene Emeralds beat the Vancouver Canadians (Blue Jays) 10-3
Box score

The Emeralds entered the season as the organization’s most exciting affiliate. And even though none of the 3 position players seen as the stars going into the year (Marco Luciano, Luis Matos, and Jairo Pomares) played in this one, it was still a very exciting game.

Especially for shortstop Jimmy Glowenke (No. 43 CPL). Glowenke had a highly mediocre season for a few months, but has really been turning it on lately, and he had his best game of the year on Thursday, hitting 3-4 with 2 home runs and a walk.

The superb day bumped his OPS to .718 and his wRC+ to 100 as he tries to end the year strong.

Left fielder Damon Dues, an undrafted free agent a year ago who started the season in rookie ball, played in his 2nd game for Eugene and it went spectacularly, as he hit 2-3 with 2 walks and 2 stolen bases. Across 3 levels this year Dues has 25 walks to just 18 strikeouts, and has 12 stolen bases while getting caught just 2 times.

A very fun game for center fielder Grant McCray (No. 34 CPL), who hit 2-5 with a double, a walk, and 2 stolen bases. Through 12 games in High-A, the breakout prospect has a .717 OPS and a 107 wRC+.

And surely Farhan Zaidi was smiling when he saw what second baseman Hayden Cantrelle did, as he hit 1-2 with 4 walks. He’s been spectacular in his 6 High-A games, and has more strikeouts than walks since joining the organization midway through the season.

The first 3 pitchers in this game all stood out. RHP Brett Standlee struck out 4 in 3 innings, allowing just 1 walk, giving him a 4.85 ERA, a 4.10 FIP, and 60 strikeouts to 23 walks in 52 innings. RHP Abel Adames also struck out 4 in 3 scoreless innings, giving up a hit and a walk. He has a 4.63 ERA, a 5.27 FIP, and 65 strikeouts to 20 walks in 58.1 innings. And RHP Mat Olsen struck out 2 in a perfect inning, lowering his ERA to 4.73 and his FIP to 2.88, and giving him 58 strikeouts to 21 walks in 40 innings.

Low-A San Jose (73-56)

San Jose Giants lost to the Fresno Grizzlies (Rockies) 4-3
Box score

Some exciting players took the mound for the Baby Giants. LHP Carson Whisenhunt, the organization’s recent 2nd-round pick, was the starter, and gave up 2 hits and a walk in 2 scoreless innings, striking out 2 batters. It was his 2nd Low-A appearance, and he has 7 strikeouts to 1 walk, with 0 runs allowed in 4.2 innings. Awesome!

Next up was RHP Ryan Murphy (No. 13 CPL). He got rocked a bit, giving up 2 runs in 1.2 innings (though he struck out 3 batters), but it was just good to see him on the mound. Murphy is rehabbing an injury, and hadn’t pitched for an A-ball affiliate since July 6, his 2nd appearance in AA. He made 1 rehab appearance in August in the ACL, but suffered a setback. Here’s hoping he can end the season healthy.

RHP Mikell Manzano, who had 81 strikeouts to 17 walks in 55 innings in the ACL this year, made his Low-A debut and struck out 3 batters in 2 innings, allowing 2 hits and 1 unearned run. He’s only 19, so he’ll be a ton of fun to keep an eye on next year. And finishing off the pitching was catcher Ronaldo Flores, which is odd. But he pitched a clean inning, and also had a 1.1-inning scoreless outing for High-A earlier this year, so maybe he’s the next Pablo Sandoval.

The offense didn’t do much, but left fielder Wade Meckler drew 2 walks. Meckler has 19 walks to 13 strikeouts since the Giants drafted him, and just seems to be awesome overall.

Shortstop Aeverson Arteaga (No. 12 CPL) had 2 of the team’s 5 hits, driving his OPS to .768 and his wRC+ to 99. Designated hitter Andrew Kachel, the team’s 16th-round pick in July, made his Low-A debut and hit 1-3 with a walk.

Home runs

AAA José Rojas (19)
AAA Jason Vosler (17)
AAA Heliot Ramos (9)
AAA Dixon Machado (4)
AA Jacob Heyward (10)
High-A Jimmy Glowenke, 2 (12)

Friday schedule

Sacramento: vs. the Las Vegas Aviators (A’s), 6:45 p.m. PT
Richmond: @ the Bowie Baysox (Orioles), 4:05 p.m. PT
Eugene: @ the Vancouver Canadians (Blue Jays), 1:05 p.m. PT
San Jose: vs. the Fresno Grizzlies (Rockies), 6:30 p.m. PT
ACL Orange: Season over
ACL Black: Season over
DSL Orange: Season over
DSL Black: Season over