Minor League round up, July 14

Recapping Thursday’s action from the Giants Minor League affiliates.

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

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

All listed positions are the positions played in that game.

AAA Sacramento (39-48)

Sacramento River Cats beat the Albuquerque Isotopes (Rockies) 3-2
Box score

The first 3 batters in Sacramento’s lineup all hit 1-3 with a walk, and they’re all worth evaluating a little further. The leadoff batter was center fielder Heliot Ramos (No. 4 CPL), who also stole a base.

Still a tough year for him (.661 OPS, 67 wRC+), but his July has been a step in the right direction, and his strikeout rate is seemingly dropping every day (it’s a quite respectable 21.4% right now, after being pretty high to start the year).

Batting 2nd was first baseman Jason Vosler, who smashed a home run. He seems to be feeling the heat from David Villar’s promotion, and it’s making him hit homers.

And batting 3rd was designated hitter Evan Longoria, who doubled in his first rehab appearance. Will be good to see him back in San Francisco soon.

Third baseman Wyatt Mathisen hit 2-3 with a walk and a double in his first plate appearances since hitting the Injured List and rehabbing in the ACL. Not a good year for him (.637 OPS, 56 wRC+), but a nice return.

LHP Enmanuel De Jesus had his 2nd straight excellent start, giving up just 1 hit and 2 walks in 5 scoreless innings, with 4 strikeouts. He has just a 4.09 ERA and a 4.56 FIP, but he’s been showing some strong skills throughout the year.

AA Richmond (46-38)

Richmond Flying Squirrels lost to the Altoona Curve (Pirates) 8-3
Box score

Watch out folks, here comes designated hitter Diego Rincones (No. 15 CPL). After a brilliant 2021 in which Rincones got a mid-season promotion to Richmond and proceeded to destroy the baseball, despite being quite young, Rincones got off to a very slow start in 2022.

But he’s cruising now, and added to it on Thursday by hitting 2-5 with a home run.

His season numbers are still very modest — .679 OPS, 86 wRC+ — but since June 12 he’s hitting 32-87 with 5 home runs and 4 doubles. He continues to be all about putting balls in play: he only has 2 walks during that span, but also only has 9 strikeouts. That’s in keeping with his season, as he has a painful 3.6% walk rate … but just a 13.3% strikeout rate, which is elite.

Also homering was shortstop Tyler Fitzgerald (No. 35 CPL), who hit 1-2 with a walk, and was hit by a pitch.

Like Rincones, Fitzgerald got off to a very slow start, but he’s been turning his season around in a hurry.

Left fielder Armani Smith (No. 41 CPL) and right fielder Franklin Labour both hit 2-5 with a double.

Less successful pitching, with LHP Jake Dahlberg getting rocked for 6 runs in 4 innings. But RHPs Soloman Bates and Clay Helvey had nice relief appearances, with the former allowing just 1 hit in 2 innings while striking out 2, and the latter striking out 2 in a perfect inning.

High-A Eugene (47-34)

Eugene Emeralds beat Spokane (Rockies) 4-2
Box score

It was home run season for Eugene! The Emeralds only had 5 hits, but 3 of them cleared the fence.

Most notable was a homer from designated hitter Luis Matos (No. 3 CPL), who hit 1-3 and also walked.

Matos is trying to undo an awful start to the year, and homering for the 2nd time in as many days helps.

Also homering and walking was the team’s other Luis, first baseman Luis Toribio (No. 39 CPL). Like his namesake Matos, it was Toribio’s second big fly in as many days. It increased his OPS to .762 and his wRC+ to 116.

And rounding out the homer parade was left fielder Vaun Brown, who continues to show no signs of slowing following his promotion, as he has a 1.054 OPS and a 190 wRC+ in 16 games for Eugene.

The team’s other 2 hits both came from center fielder Hunter Bishop (No. 10 CPL), who continues to have a very hot summer. His OPS is now .753, and his wRC+ is 114.

Some pitching brilliance from RHP Mason Black (No. 41 CPL), who struck out 7 hitters in 5 innings, allowing just 4 hits, 0 walks, 2 runs, and 1 earned run. He has a 3.02 ERA but a 4.49 FIP in 8 starts since getting promoted … but is rocking a nice strikeout to walk ratio of 43 strikeouts to 11 walks in 41.2 innings.

Low-A San Jose (48-36)

San Jose Giants beat the Visalia Rawhide (Diamondbacks) 13-12 (12 innings)
Box score

San Jose took the opposite approach to Eugene. While the Emeralds scored 4 runs with 3 home runs, the Baby Giants scored 13 runs … without a single home run. In fact, they had only 3 extra-base hits all day. But 12 innings, 3 Manfred Men, 9 walks, and 5 Visalia errors led to a crooked number on the scoreboard.

The best offense came from, predictably, left fielder Carter Williams, who hit 3-7 with a triple, a double, and a stolen base.

In 25 games since getting moved down to Low-A from High-A, Williams is hitting 41-94 with 6 home runs, 1 triple, 9 doubles, 14 walks, and just 18 strikeouts. Get this man back to a higher level!

Second baseman Hayden Cantrelle added the other extra-base hit, hitting 2-6 with a double, which brought his OPS to .803 and his wRC+ to 108.

And a very nice day for right fielder Alexander Suarez (No. 37 CPL), who we haven’t talked about much this year. He hit a perfect 3-3, while also drawing a walk and getting hit by a pitch.

Not a great year for Suarez, who has just a .688 OPS and a 76 wRC+, but much of that is due to starting the year in awful fashion. Suarez had just a .429 OPS in April, but bumped that up to .841 in May, .701 in June, and now .777 in July.

LHP Joe Kemlage got rocked which, combined with the extra-innings affair, meant the Baby Giants had to use 8 pitchers in this game. RHP Ben Madison was the best, allowing 1 hit, 1 walk, and 0 runs in 1.2 innings, while striking out 3 batters. He has a 3.12 ERA and a 1.73 FIP, albeit in just 8.2 innings, as he got a late start on the year due to injury.

ACL Orange (7-21)

ACL Giants Orange lost to the ACL D-backs Black 2-0 (7 innings)
Box score

Well, awful game. The Giants Orange team drew 0 walks and had just 1 hit — a single by shortstop Gustavo Cardozo (18, 2020 J2), who also stole a base. They had a few other players reach base, as the D-backs Black squad committed 4 errors, but the Giants Orange offense generated nothing.

RHP Rafael Martinez (22, 2016 J2) had a decent outing, striking out 3 in 2 scoreless innings of relief, though he gave up 4 hits. He has 21 strikeouts to 4 walks in 15 innings this season.

ACL Black (19-8)

ACL Giants Black lost to the ACL Angels 3-0 (7 innings)
Box score

Hey, the Giants Black team also got 1-hit and shut out! Lovely! Their hit (also a single) came courtesy of center fielder Mauricio Pierre (18, 2020 J2), who also had an outfield assist. He currently has a .699 OPS and a 93 wRC+.

Unlike the other ACL team, the Giants Black squad did draw walks — 2 of them, to be precise, both courtesy of first baseman Jean Pena (21, 2017 J2).

RHP Miguel Mora (20, 2019 J2) had an interesting start, as he gave up 5 hits and 3 walks in 6 innings. He also gave up 3 runs, but all of them were unearned, and he struck out 5 batters. He has a 4.67 ERA, but a 3.68 FIP this year, with 37 strikeouts to 15 walks in 27 innings.

DSL Orange (13-16)

DSL Giants Orange lost to the DSL Angels 4-3 (7 innings)
Box score

Not much of note here, either. 2 decent offensive days for the Giants Orange team: right fielder Estanlin Cassiani (19, 2019 J2) hit 2-4, as his nice season continues. He has an .871 OPS and a 140 wRC+. And first baseman Brayan Ferrer (18, 2020 J2) hit 1-2 with a walk and a stolen base. It hasn’t been a very notable season for him (.689 OPS, 97 wRC+), but the night is still young!

RHP Jose Rojas (18, 2020 J2) got to pitch 5 innings, but allowed 10 baserunners and 4 runs.

DSL Black (12-17)

DSL Giants Black lost to the DSL Rays 4-3 (8 innings)
Box score

Just as in the ACL, the 2 Giants DSL teams had the same scores.

Very little offense in this one, as the Giants Black team had just 4 hits and 5 walks. Second baseman Wueslly Lespe (19, 2020 J2) hit 1-2 with a double, the team’s only extra-base hit, which raised his OPS to .758 and his wRC+ to 110. The only player reaching base multiple times was designated hitter Eliam Sandoval (18, 2020 J2), who hit 1-3 with a walk, giving him an .861 OPS and a 128 wRC+. A quite nice year for him.

RHP Luis Bermudez (18, 2021 J2) continued his nice debut season, giving up 5 hits, 2 walks, 2 runs, and just 1 earned run in 5 innings, while striking out 3. His strikeouts are lagging — he has just 20 in 29.1 innings — but he has a 0.92 ERA (though a 3.92 FIP).

RHP Alfonso Perez (16, 2021 J2) had his best appearance of the year, allowing only a hit batter in 2 innings, while striking out 2. Perez has been getting rocked in his first year — but again, he’s 16 — so the nice appearance was good to see.

Home runs

AAA Jason Vosler (10)
AA Tyler Fitzgerald (12)
AA Diego Rincones (6)
High-A Luis Toribio (12)
High-A Vaun Brown (5)
High-A Luis Matos (4)

Friday schedule

Sacramento: vs. the Albuquerque Isotopes (Rockies), 6:45 p.m. PT
Richmond: @ the Altoona Curve (Pirates), 3:00 p.m. Pt
Eugene: vs. Spokane (Rockies), 3:35 p.m. PT
San Jose: vs. Visalia Rawhide (Diamondbacks), 6:30 p.m. PT
ACL Orange: vs. ACL Angels
ACL Black: vs. ACL D-backs Red
DSL Orange: vs. DSL BOS Red
DSL Black: vs. DSL Cardinals