Minor League round up, Aug. 1

A round up of the San Francisco Giants Minor League affiliates.

The Arizona Complex League and Dominican Summer League were off on Sunday, but the San Francisco Giants four Minor League teams were all playing. They only mustered one win, but there were plenty of performances to be excited about.

Let’s jump into it.

Link to the 2021 McCovey Chronicles Community Prospect List (CPL)

AAA Sacramento (31-45)

Sacramento River Cats lost to the Reno Aces (Diamondbacks) 8-7 (12 innings)
Box score

It was a dramatic one in Sacramento, with the River Cats tying the game in the bottom of the ninth, then giving up a pair of runs in the top of the 10th, matching them in the bottom of the 10th, and finally losing in the 12th. In all, the River Cats used 23 players on the day.

There were two offensive standouts on Sunday: right fielder Bryce Johnson, who went 3-6 and finished a triple shy of the cycle to raise his OPS to .790, and left fielder Joe McCarthy, who only played half the game but went 2-3 with a home run that moved his OPS to .950.

Otherwise, the offensive day was mostly defined by rehab starts: second baseman Tommy La Stella went 0-4, center fielder Jaylin Davis (No. 20 CPL) went 1-4 with a home run and a walk, and first baseman Brandon Belt went 1-2 with a walk. Davis also had a beautiful catch.

RHP Reyes Moronta also had a rehab assignment, and opened the game with a perfect inning in which he struck out 2. Moronto now has 4 rehab appearances and 3.2 innings, with just 1 hit, 0 walks, and 4 strikeouts.

RHP Matt Frisbee (No. 39 CPL) had the post-opener start, and was OK, with 7 baserunners and 3 earned runs in 4 innings, but with 5 strikeouts. He now has a 7.64 ERA since getting promoted.

LHP Caleb Baragar continues to struggle since being optioned, with 2 runs in 1.2 innings to raise his ERA to 10.32, and RHP Camilo Doval (No. 16 CPL) had a funny outing, facing 7 batters but not having a ball in play (4 walks, 3 strikeouts).

AA Richmond (39-39)

Richmond Flying Squirrels lost to the Bowie Baysox (Orioles) 6-4
Box score

The Flying Squirrels rallied after an early 6-0 deficit, with 4 late runs, but it wasn’t quite enough.

RHP Raffi Vizcaino started the game and allowed 2 earned runs in as many innings before LHP Mac Marshall took over. Marshall recorded just 1 out, but gave up 3 hits, 3 walks, a hit batter, and 4 earned runs. He now has a 10.13 ERA on the year, with 22 strikeouts to 18 walks in 16 innings. Not quite the season he was hoping for.

RHP Ronnie Williams had 4 strong innings of relief, allowing 2 hits, 2 walks, and 0 runs, while striking out 3. It lowered his ERA to 1.44, though the Giants will need to see a better strikeout to walk ratio (49 to 24 in 50 innings) before getting too excited.

Third baseman David Villar had 3 hits and first baseman Frankie Tostado had 2, as the only Giants with multiple-hit games. Right fielder Sandro Fabian (No. 31 CPL), who has been hitting for average lately but not for power, had his first home run since July 18.

Designated hitter Jacob Heyward, who has been slumping something fierce lately, had his first home run in nearly a month.

High-A Eugene (44-34)

Eugene Emeralds lost to the Everett AquaSox (Mariners) 7-6
Box score

The Emeralds also rallied late after falling behind early, scoring a run in each of the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings to turn a 7-3 deficit into an almost-win. Eugene had 12 hits on the day, with 8 of their 9 position players recording at least one, and 4 players — shortstop Tyler Fitzgerald (No. 40 CPL), left fielder Armani Smith (No. 44 CPL), catcher Ricardo Genovés (No. 29 CPL), and designated hitter Heath Quinn all having 2-hit days. Fitzgerald and Smith also had doubles, with the former raising his OPS to .841 and the latter to .786.

Fitzgerald had a very strong July, hitting .273/.345/.525, so it’s great to see him rolling that over into a new month.

LHP Jake Dahlberg made his second start since being signed from an indy league, and it went much worse than the first, as he pitched 4 innings and allowed 9 hits (including 2 home runs) and all 7 earned runs, with 4 strikeouts.

But yet another strong bullpen performance from RHP Austin Reich and LHP Chris Wright. Reich pitched 2 perfect innings with 3 strikeouts to lower his ERA to 1.50 and give him 24 strikeouts to 2 walks in 18 innings. Wright had a strikeout in a scoreless inning, bringing his ERA to 1.16 and giving him 54 strikeouts to 18 walks in 31 innings.

Low-A San Jose (51-27)

San Jose Giants beat the Inland Empire 66ers (Angels) 6-3
Box score

It was the Baby Giants who kept the San Francisco affiliates from getting swept on the first day of August, and the did it behind a large handful of strong offensive performances, thanks to a day in which they registered 14 hits while striking out just 6 times.

Center fielder Luis Matos (No. 5 CPL) and third baseman Casey Schmitt (No. 21 CPL) both had 3-hit days, with the former hitting a double to raise his OPS to .850, and the latter finishing a homer shy of the cycle to move his OPS to .755.

First baseman Luis Toribio (No. 12 CPL), right fielder Jairo Pomares (No. 14 CPL), and shortstop Abdiel Layer all had 2-hit days, with Layer smashing a ball over the fence and Pomares raising his OPS to 1.097 as his blistering hot season chugs along. Not bad for someone a few days away from his 21st birthday.

2020 undrafted free agent RHP Ty Weber got the start and was quite strong, with just 2 hits, 0 walks, and 1 earned run allowed in 4 innings, with 3 strikeouts. He’s rocking a 2.43 ERA, with a sterling 42 strikeouts to just 2 walks in 37 innings.

Home runs

AAA Joe McCarthy (14)
AAA Jaylin Davis (9)
AAA Bryce Johnson (7)
AA Sandro Fabian (9)
AA Jacob Heyward (8)
Low-A Abdiel Layer (8)

Monday schedule

Sacramento: vs. Reno Aces, 7:05 p.m. PT
Richmond: Off
Eugene: Off
San Jose: Off
ACL Orange: vs. White Sox
ACL Black: vs. Mariners
DSL Orange: vs. D-backs2
DSL Black: vs. Mets2