Minor League round up, Aug. 15

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

There were no Arizona Complex League or Dominican Summer League games on Sunday, so it was just the San Francisco Giants Low-A, High-A, AA, and AAA teams in action.

Let’s jump into it.

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

AAA Sacramento (38-50)

Sacramento River Cats lost to the Salt Lake Bees (Angels) 4-3
Box score

Bit of an odd game for the River Cats, who only drew 2 walks but only struck out 6 times. They also only had 6 hits, though a pair of players had 2-hit days: center fielder Bryce Johnson, who also had a double to raise his OPS to .803, and third baseman Peter Maris, who raised his OPS to .898.

Designated hitter Heliot Ramos (No. 3 CPL) hit just 1-4, but had his first triple since getting promoted to AAA. Ramos’ OPS is a rather pedestrian .734 (83 wRC+), but given that he’s still just 21 years old, I think the Giants are plenty fine with it.

RHP Sean Hjelle (No. 11 CPL) made his second AAA start, and it was an odd one, as he made it through 6.1 innings, but gave up 9 hits, 2 walks, and 4 earned runs, while striking out just 1 batter. He has just 3 strikeouts in 12.1 innings since his promotion. He wasn’t exactly mowing down hitters in AA, so it looks like he has some work to do in the strikeout department.

AA Richmond (44-46)

Richmond Flying Squirrels lost to the Bowie Baysox (Orioles) 7-6
Box score

The Flying Squirrels had a a super odd offensive game. They had 11 hits, 7 extra-base hits, and 4 home runs, but somehow ended up with just 6 runs. Not exactly the most efficient use of their hits.

First baseman David Villar had the biggest day, hitting 3-5 with 2 home runs, bringing his OPS up to .813.

It was also a strong day for center fielder Simon Whiteman, who hit 1-3 with a double and 2 walks to move his OPS to .714.

Not a great day on the pitching front, though it was finished off by a strong performance from RHP Matt Seelinger, who struck out 2 in a perfect inning. He now has a 3.09 ERA with 51 strikeouts in 32 innings.

High-A Eugene (52-38)

Eugene Emeralds beat the Hillsboro Hops (Diamondbacks) 4-3
Box score

The Emeralds won thanks in large part to third baseman Sean Roby (No. 32 CPL). Roby had a 2-run double as part of a 3-run 6th inning that gave the Emeralds a 3-1 lead. After the Hops tied the game 3-3 in the bottom half of the inning, Roby had what would prove to be the winning hit with a solo home run in the 8th inning. Good day for him, and it raised his OPS to .754.

Shortstop Marco Luciano (No. 1 CPL) was the only other player with multiple hits, going 2-4, albeit with 2 strikeouts. He’s trying to find his footing in High-A, and has just a .481 OPS with 21 strikeouts in 46 plate appearances.

Designated hitter Brett Auerbach, one of the bright stories from this season in the Minors, returned from the Injured List and drew 3 walks to raise his OPS to .976.

RHP Kai-Wei Teng had a pretty nice start, allowing 4 hits, 2 walks, 3 runs, and 2 earned runs in 5.1 innings, with 9 strikeouts. Teng is still struggling with run prevention (4.74 ERA) and walks, but has 98 strikeouts in 68.1 innings.

More strong outings from strikeout artists Austin Reich and Chris Wright, as the former had 3 Ks in 1.1 innings while lowering his ERA to 1.96, and the latter striking out 1 in 1 inning to lower his ERA to 0.96.

Low-A San Jose (55-35)

San Jose Giants lost to the Modesto Nuts (Mariners) 7-6 (10 innings)
Box score

The Baby Giants made a late run after falling behind 5-1, scoring 4 unanswered runs to force extra innings, capped off by a game-tying home run by second baseman Jimmy Glowenke (No. 34 CPL) with 2 outs in the 9th inning (Glowenke also added a double to raise his OPS to .781).

But they couldn’t finish it off, and gave up 2 runs in the 10th inning to lose.

It was also another strong day for right fielder Jairo Pomares (No. 14 CPL), who went 2-5 with a double. To put in perspective how strong Pomares’ season, that lowered his OPS to 1.122. But my goodness I am in love with this swing.

On the pitching front it was a good but concerning performance from LHP Kyle Harrison (No. 9 CPL), who was removed after 2 innings for reasons I can’t find. Harrison allowed just 2 baserunners and 0 runs, and struck out 5 batters. RHP Jesus Tona struck out 3 in as many innings, and has yet to allow a run in 4 appearances since joining Low-A from the ACL.

Home Runs

AA David Villar 2 (13, 14)
AA Vince Fernandez (14)
AA Sandro Fabian (13)
High-A Sean Roby (14)
Low-A Jimmy Glowenke (8)
Low-A Fabian Pena (3)

Monday schedule

Sacramento: @ Salt Lake Bees, 5:35 p.m. PT
Richmond: Off
Eugene: Off
San Jose: Off
ACL Orange: vs. Cubs
ACL Black: vs. Rockies
DSL Orange: Canceled
DSL Black: Canceled