Minor League round up, Aug. 19

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

All eight San Francisco Giants affiliates were in action on Thursday, so let’s jump straight in.

Link to the 2021 McCovey Chronicles Community Prospect List

All listed positions are the positions played in that game.

AAA Sacramento (38-52)

Sacramento River Cats lost to the Tacoma Rainers (Mariners) 10-7 (12 innings)
Box score

The River Cats had a heartbreaker of a loss after scoring 3 runs in the bottom of the 9th inning to force extras. They gave up a pair of runs in the 10th, but matched those as well. But a 3-spot in the 12th inning by the Rainers proved too much, and Sacramento’s comeback power ran out.

The biggest offensive contributions came from the top of the order, from a trio of hitters who have spent a decent amount of time on MLB rosters this year. Center fielder Steven Duggar had a double, while second baseman Thairo Estrada and third baseman Jason Vosler hit home runs, the latter also adding a walk.

Those were the team’s only extra-base hits on the day, though first baseman Jason Krizan and right fielder Heliot Ramos (No. 3 CPL) both had 2-hit days (Ramos also stole a base).

LHP Sammy Long (No. 38 CPL) was very strong on the mound, giving up just 1 hit and 1 walk (although 2 earned runs) in 5 innings, with 4 strikeouts. Long threw 42 of 65 pitches for strikes, and seems very likely to return to the MLB roster at some point.

Less certain to return is RHP Reyes Moronta, who walked all 3 batters he faced. Moronta’s rehab hasn’t been going great, as he now has 11 walks to just 7 strikeouts in 8 innings.

AA Richmond (46-47)

Richmond Flying Squirrels beat the Erie SeaWolves (Tigers) 2-1
Box score

It was a dominant pitching performance by the Flying Squirrels, who allowed just 5 hits, 1 walk, and 1 run, while striking out 11 Erie batters. RHP Akeel Morris, who has had an up-and-down season, had one of his better starts of the year, allowing 5 hits, 0 walks, and 1 earned run in 6 innings, with 7 strikeouts. Morris has 35 strikeouts to 8 walks in 31.1 innings this year, though his ERA still sits at 5.17.

RHP Gerson Garabito allowed just a walk in 2 innings with 4 strikeouts, while RHP Patrick Ruotolo pitched a perfect 9th to lower his ERA to 2.90.

Richmond only had 3 hits all day, but a 2-run double by right fielder Sandro Fabian (No. 31 CPL) was enough offense.

High-A Eugene (54-39)

Eugene Emeralds lost to the Everett AquaSox (Mariners) 6-4
Box score

The Emeralds lost, despite the best efforts of the middle of the lineup. Hitters 4 through 6 — first baseman Sean Roby (No. 32 CPL), left fielder Jairo Pomares (No. 14 CPL), and designated hitter Ricardo Genovés (No. 29 CPL) — each homered, contributing 4 of the team’s 6 hits and all 4 RBI. Roby also doubled, bringing his OPS to .777 as he starts to find his groove.

It was Pomares’ first dinger since a recent promotion, and while the sample size is extremely small, he seems to have no trouble adjusting to High-A. After a 1.122 OPS in Low-A, Pomares has started his Eugene tenure by hitting 5-12 with a homer and a double.

The rest of the lineup struggled, however. Not only did the Emeralds only have 6 hits, but they drew 0 walks while striking out 15 times, including hat tricks for third baseman Carter Aldrete and shortstop Marco Luciano (No. 1 CPL). It’s far too early to be concerned, but Luciano has 27 strikeouts in 58 plate appearances since getting promoted.

The pitchers put up similar strikeout to walk numbers, with 16 Ks against just 1 free pass. RHPs Nick Avila and Taylor Rashi both struck out 5 batters, the former in 2.2 innings and the latter in 2.

Low-A San Jose (58-35)

San Jose Giants beat the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (Dodgers) 14-13
Box score

It’s hard to find a game that epitomizes modern baseball more than one in which you score 14 runs while striking out 21 times. Wow.

But take a bow, Ghordy Santos. The shortstop, playing in just his third game with San Jose after a promotion from the Arizona Complex League, hit 4-6 with a home run, a double, and 7 runs batted in. My goodness.

Santos is adjusting to Low-A quite nicely. In his first game he went 0-5. In his second game he went 3-5 with all of his hits being singles. And now this. One can only presume he’ll have a 5-hit day with the cycle tonight.

It was the top of the order that did virtually all the damage for the Baby Giants. Leading off was first baseman Abdiel Layer, who had 3 hits, including a home run, to raise his OPS to .662. Next was third baseman Yorlis Rodriguez, playing in his seventh Low-A game. He also had 3 hits, including a double, to raise his OPS to .794. Then came Santos, and finally it was center fielder Luis Matos (No. 5 CPL) who hit 2-6 with a pair of ribeyes to move his OPS to .871.

The first four in the lineup: 12-23, 2 home runs, 2 doubles, 11 RBI. The rest of the lineup: 2-19, 0 extra-base hits, 0 RBI. Though it’s worth noting that catcher Rodolfo Bone had 3 of the team’s 5 walks.

In less lovely news, designated hitter Hunter Bishop (No. 4 CPL) hit 0-5 with 4 strikeouts.He is really struggling since returning from injury.

The pitching struggled, but LHP Nick Swiney was strong in his first Low-A appearance since May 7, his professional debut (since then Swiney has been injured and rehabbing in the ACL). Swiney gave up 2 hits, 1 walk, and 1 unearned run in 2.1 innings, with 5 strikeouts.

ACL Orange (20-17)

ACL Giants Orange beat the D-backs 7-3 (7 innings)
Box score

It feels like these types of games happen a lot in the Arizona Complex League. The Giants Orange team scored 7 runs, despite having just 5 hits — and they didn’t even have a home run. Their bat control was excellent though, with 6 walks to just 7 strikeouts.

Designated hitter Damon Dues (23, 2021 UDFA) had the best day, hitting 2-4 with a double and a hit by pitch in his eighth pro game. Center fielder Grant McCray (No. 26 CPL, 20, 2019 3rd round) had a single and 2 walks.

RHP Nick Morreale (24, 2019 14th round), making a rehab start, struck out 6 in 3 innings, while allowing 4 baserunners and 1 earned run.

ACL Black (18-19)

ACL Giants Black lost to the Cubs 12-11
Box score

The Giants Black squad took at 11-8 lead into the 8th inning, but gave up a pair of runs in both the 8th and the 9th to lose it. Tough way to lose, especially after overcoming an early 8-3 deficit.

The offense was led by a spirited performance from third baseman Jean Pena (20, 2017 J2), who hit 3-4 with a home run and 4 runs batted in to raise his OPS to .844. Designated hitter Jacob Gonzalez (23, 2017 2nd round) also had a home run as he continues to make the most of being in the ACL after a midseason demotion. His OPS is .855.

Catcher Max Wright (23, 2021 UDFA) also had a nice day, hitting 2-4 with a double and a walk to raise his OPS to .633.

But things got off to a bad start as RHP Rafael Martinez (21, 2016 J2) allowed 9 hits and 8 earned runs in 3 innings.

DSL Orange (10-11)

DSL Giants Orange lost to the Mariners 5-0
Box score

Tough day for the Giants Orange team, as they only had 3 hits. Going 3-28 is a solid way to get shut out, and that’s exactly what happened. The best offensive performance came from first baseman Wueslly Lespe (18, 2019 J2) who hit 1-2 with a double and a walk to raise his struggling OPS to .442.

The Giants final two pitchers, LHP Pavel Duarte (17, 2020 J2) and RHP Juan Morillo (18, 2019 J2) both pitched perfect innings with 2 strikeouts. Duarte now has a 7.20 ERA with 6 strikeouts to 5 walks in 5 innings, while Morillo has a 16.88 ERA with 5 strikeouts to 10 walks in 5.1 innings. Baby steps.

DSL Black (10-9)

DSL Giants Black beat the Brewers1 10-9
Box score

It was a thrilling win for the Giants Black team, as they scored 9 of their 10 runs in the final 3 innings, with a 3-spot in the 7th, 8th, and 9th. The team had 13 hits, but perhaps most impressively drew 10 walks against 10 strikeouts.

A great day for right fielder Estanlin Cassiani (18, 2019 J2), who hit 3-4 with a double and a walk to raise his OPS to 1.100. Catcher Onil Perez (18, 2019 J2) hit 2-4 with a double and a walk to bump his OPS to .658, and first baseman Diego Verbel (19, 2018 J2) had a double and 2 walks, raising his OPS to .833.

The Giants Black team stole 6 bases on the day, in 8 attempts.

Despite the team giving up 9 runs, it was a strong starting pitching effort from RHP Jorge Martinez (19, 2019 J2), who allowed just 2 hits, 1 walk, and 0 runs in 5 innings, with 6 strikeouts. Martinez has a 2.77 ERA on the season, with 14 strikeouts to 4 walks in 13 innings.

Home runs

AAA Jason Vosler (13)
AAA Thairo Estrada (8)
High-A Sean Roby (15)
High-A Ricardo Genovés (6)
High-A Jairo Pomares (1)
Low-A Abdiel Layer (10)
Low-A Ghordy Santos (1)
ACL Jacob Gonzalez (5)
ACL Jean Pena (3)

News

The organization released outfielder Andy Sugilio.

Friday schedule

Sacramento: vs. Tacoma Rainers, 7:05 p.m. PT
Richmond: vs. Erie SeaWolves, 3:35 p.m. PT
Eugene: vs. Everett AquaSox, 7:05 p.m. PT
San Jose: @ Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, 6:30 p.m. PT
ACL Orange: vs. Rockies
ACL Black: vs. Athletics
DSL Orange: vs. Mariners
DSL Black: Postponed