Yesterday’s action on the Giants farm.
The San Francisco Giants have an off day today, which seems like a good time to talk about their four Minor League Baseball affiliates, who were all in action on Wednesday. Let’s dive into it!
Link to the 2024 McCovey Chronicles Community Prospect List (CPL)
All listed positions are the positions played in that game.
AAA Sacramento (15-8)
Sacramento River Cats lost to the Las Vegas Aviators (A’s) 10-4
Box score
Wednesday was all about the long ball for the River Cats, as 3 of their 4 runs were scored on solo shots. The most important — and impressive — of those solo shots came off the bat of shortstop Marco Luciano (No. 2 CPL) who broke through with his first dinger of the year. And what a glorious dinger it was, crushed at 105.7 mph … though that’s an exit velocity that Luciano tends to call home, rather than being impressed by.
Marco Luciano powers up for his first homer of the season!
MLB’s No. 36 prospect (@SFGiants) rockets this ball out at 105.7 mph for the @RiverCats: pic.twitter.com/43xeUvZQ9c
— Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) April 25, 2024
Luciano, who hit 1-4 in the game, has had a solid season while adjusting to the disappointment of being assigned to AAA rather than being placed on the Opening Day roster, as he seemed a near-lock for throughout the offseason. His batting average (.300), on-base percentage (.412), and walk rate (16.5%) all likely have the Giants giddy, even if the strikeout rate (29.9%) is something they’re hoping to see come down.
But curiously, it’s been the power that has held Luciano back to good numbers (.825 OPS, 114 wRC+) rather than great ones. This was Luci’s first homer of the year, and just his 7th extra-base hit in 97 plate appearances, leading to a .113 ISO that is his 3rd-lowest at any stop, trailing only his fairly dreadful High-A introduction in 2021, and his brief MLB debut last year.
There are always two sides to that coin. A pessimist sees that Luciano isn’t doing nearly as much of the thing he’s supposed to do well, and is concerned. An optimist sees that Luciano is doing a whole lot of the stuff he’s not supposed to do well, and is excited and encouraged by the thought of what will happen when the strengths catch up.
I’m an optimist, especially when it comes to Luciano, so it’s the latter for me. Though it’s certainly easier to make that claim when Luciano is still posting excellent exit velos and hard-hit rates, which he is doing. It only seems a matter of time before that slugging percentage surges.
Speaking of surging, first baseman David Villar continues to put his early struggles behind him, with a lovely day, hitting 2-4 with a home run of his own.
Villar leads the way to Victory with our first homer of the game pic.twitter.com/Wqgk4H4jco
— Sacramento River Cats (@RiverCats) April 25, 2024
Villar’s season numbers — he has a .848 OPS and a 111 wRC+ — are still much more “emergency depth” than “forcing the issue,” but he’s definitely trending upwards. He has 7 hits in his last 3 games, and in his last 10 games is hitting 16-41 with 2 home runs, 4 doubles, 3 walks, and 9 strikeouts. This is his final year with options, so it would be great to see him make a surge.
And rounding out the dinger party was designated hitter Trenton Brooks, who hit 1-2 with a big fly, 2 walks, and a stolen base. Brooks hasn’t had the start to the AAA season that he envisioned after a strong Spring Training as a non-roster invitee, but he can really put a beautiful swing on the ball.
BROOKS BOMB pic.twitter.com/c6Po5tZCP3
— Sacramento River Cats (@RiverCats) April 25, 2024
Third baseman Casey Schmitt extended his hitting streak to 12 games by going 1-4, and showed off his all-world defense.
CRAZY CATCH BY CASEY pic.twitter.com/ClQM7nUiON
— Sacramento River Cats (@RiverCats) April 25, 2024
But Sacramento’s two best hitters this year struggled, with right fielder Heliot Ramos (No. 13 CPL) going 0-4 with 3 strikeouts and second baseman Brett Wisely hitting 0-4 with a walk and 2 strikeouts. Elsewhere in 40-man performances, catcher Blake Sabol hit 1-3 with a double, a walk, and a strikeout, and center fielder Luis Matos hit 0-3 with a walk, a strikeout, and an outfield assist.
what’s up sabol ☝️ pic.twitter.com/OhiC1zr3Go
— Sacramento River Cats (@RiverCats) April 25, 2024
One note: outfielder Ismael Munguia (No. 35 CPL) hasn’t played in a week. He’s not on the Injured List, so I’m guessing he’s just dealing with a minor ailment.
The pitching was hot and cold. RHP Daulton Jefferies picked a great time for arguably his best outing of the year, given that the Giants now have a fifth spot in the rotation to fill following Blake Snell’s injury. Jefferies got that assignment the first time around, and it didn’t go well, and he’s been in Sacramento ever since. Perhaps his recent performance will earn him a second chance: he gave up just 4 baserunners and 2 runs in 5 innings on Wednesday, while striking out 7 batters. Jefferies pounded the strike zone, which will certainly make the Giants happy, with 45 of his 64 pitches going for strikes.
It’s unclear how the Giants will handle Snell’s absence, as they have options. They could use bullpen games, as they did on Wednesday. They could take advantage of a handful of upcoming off days and just shorten the rotation. Or they could go with a traditional fifth starter, in which Jefferies presents a strong case to be the chosen pitcher.
Yet while Jefferies made a strong case while in the game, he arguably made a stronger case once he was out of it. That’s because he was replaced by RHP Kai-Wei Teng (No. 23 CPL), who made his AAA season debut after recently being optioned. He unfortunately got lit up, allowing 6 hits, 2 walks, 1 hit batter, 7 runs, and 5 earned runs in just 1.1 innings of work. That’s probably enough to keep him out of the rotation-filler discussion for a while, though it was unlikely that he was in that discussion to begin with, since he’s not yet eligible to return to San Francisco.
LHP Juan Sánchez (No. 36 CPL) had yet another strong outing, giving up a hit in a scoreless inning while recording a strikeout. Ever since a beautiful spring, Sánchez — who has a 0.68 ERA, a 4.59 FIP, and 15 strikeouts to 4 walks in 13.1 innings — has occupied that funny gray area of not quite forcing his way onto the 40-man roster, while also being someone who would probably be on the active roster if he were on the 40. With the Giants bullpen struggling in the early goings, it’s unclear whether they’ll be more or less comfortable turning to unproven prospects, but Sánchez certainly is nailing his audition.
AA Richmond (9-8)
Richmond Flying Squirrels beat the Bowie Baysox (Orioles) 6-3
Box score
A fun pitching game for the Squirrels, who got exciting outings from all four arms they sent to the mound. RHP Ryan Murphy got the start, and continued his season trend of subpar peripherals with excellent run prevention. Murphy struck out just 2 batters in 5 innings, but he also allowed only 5 hits, 1 walk, 2 runs, and just 1 earned run.
It’s been days like that which have led to Murphy having a delightful 2.12 ERA this year, but with a slightly-concerning 4.95 FIP. Still, run prevention is the name of the game, and a lot of careers are made on the ability to do exactly that, even when your strikeout stuff isn’t playing — Murphy should be pleased with his start to the year.
Next up was LHP Reggie Crawford (No. 8 CPL), who made his 3rd appearance of the year. For the 2nd week in a row — and for just the 2nd time in his career — Crawford worked in relief. I’m still not entirely sure what conclusion to draw from that, so I’ll let you draw your own. I’m leaning towards it being the Giants wanting to get him used to working out of the bullpen since that’s his current path to the Majors should they want to get him to San Francisco this year.
Crawford got tagged for his 1st run of the year, giving up a solo shot to 2021 3rd-round pick John Rhodes. But that was the only baserunner Crawford allowed, as he retired the other 3 batters he faced … 2 by way of strikeout. He continues to show very electric stuff.
Reggie Crawford’s full one-inning appearance last night. pic.twitter.com/SCVzssjTri
— Roger Munter (@rog61) April 25, 2024
Finishing things off were LHP Nick Swiney and RHP Nick Garcia. Swiney struck out 4 batters in 2 scoreless innings, allowing just 2 baserunners. Right now he’s bouncing around performance wise, with 4 exceptional outings and 2 awful ones. Garcia had an impressive outing, working around back-to-back errors to lead off the inning, and escaping unscathed. He’s been sensational in his debut season with the organization, sporting a 1.80 ERA and a 1.56 FIP, with 12 strikeouts to 2 walks in 10 innings.
A few notable days on offense, but the big hit came courtesy of first baseman Luis Toribio. Toribio may have only hit 1-4 with 2 strikeouts, but the hit was a 2-run home run that gave the Flying Squirrels a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
TORO TIME
Luis Toribio launches his first Double-A homer and we’re back out in front! pic.twitter.com/ypjp5yxMdG
— Richmond Flying Squirrels (@GoSquirrels) April 25, 2024
Toribio is getting an opportunity to try out AA after a pair of full seasons in High-A, where he hit mildly above league average in both years. He needs to show more power — this was his 1st homer, and just his 2nd extra-base hit in 35 plate appearances, and he definitely needs to cut back on the 42.9% strikeout rate. But still and all, his numbers — a .689 OPS and a 96 wRC+ — are respectable for someone just getting acclimated to the level.
Right fielder Carter Howell continues to catch fire, as he hit 3-4 with 2 doubles. After hitting just 3-26 with 1 double, 3 walks, and 6 strikeouts in his first 7 games, Howell has gone on a 5-game hitting streak, smashing 9-19 with 1 triple, 4 doubles, 2 walks, and 3 strikeouts. That’s driven him up to a .775 OPS and a 119 wRC+, as the former undrafted free agent looks to impress in his first pass through AA.
Carter cashes in
Squirrels lead it in the third! pic.twitter.com/dWKOIhiPz8
— Richmond Flying Squirrels (@GoSquirrels) April 24, 2024
Shortstop Will Wilson had another good day as he looks to put his awful start to the year in the past. He hit 2-3 with a walk, and while he still hasn’t tapped into his power this year, his hitting splits are similarly dramatic to Howell’s. Through his first 8 games of the year, Wilson hit just 2-29 with 1 home run, 1 double, 3 walks, and 9 strikeouts. Since then he’s rattled off a 6-game hitting streak, going 9-24 with 1 double, 4 walks, and just 3 strikeouts. Good to see him starting to find his swing.
Will Wilson gets tonight’s party started pic.twitter.com/hOcxXBMTm2
— Richmond Flying Squirrels (@GoSquirrels) April 24, 2024
High-A Eugene (13-4)
Eugene Emeralds lost to the Hillsboro Hops (Diamondbacks) 3-2 (10 innings)
Box score
More good pitching from the Emeralds, as has been the case for them all season long. The star in this one was clearly defined, with LHP Hayden Wynja shining in his start. Wynja, who seems to impress scouts and the organization a bit more than his raw stats would suggest, didn’t exactly pound the strike zone, but my goodness did he have a great outing. He dealt 5 scoreless innings, giving up just 4 baserunners in that time (2 walks, 1 single, 1 double), and striking out 4 batters.
Despite not throwing a ton of strikes, Wynja needed just 64 pitches to get through 5 innings, which is certainly part of why he’s getting to stretch out as a starter. It hasn’t been the best start to the season for Wynja, and he’s now sitting on a 4.50 ERA and a 5.50 FIP. More games like this one will bring those numbers down in a hurry.
RHP Cameron Cotter is officially the losing pitcher, as he allowed an unearned run — the Manfred Man, in the 10th inning — to score. But that was the only run he allowed in his inning, which also included a strikeout, and so he keeps his perfect 0.00 ERA in tact … while striking out 9 batters in 9 innings. Most impressively? He’s only allowed 3 baserunners all year, with just 2 hits and a walk. Amazing!
It was another funny, small-ball game for the Ems’ offense, though this time less successful. Eugene had 8 walks to just 5 hits, and added 4 stolen bases. Designated hitter Quinn McDaniel and first baseman Zach Morgan both hit 0-2 while drawing 3 walks. McDaniel, last year’s 5th-round pick, continues to look super comfortable in Eugene, with the free pass hat trick moving his OPS to .904 and his wRC+ to 172. We can probably expect the 18.8% walk rate to come down at some point but it sure is a great stat in the interim.
Also a nice day for left fielder Tanner O’Tremba, who hit 2-4 with a triple, giving him Eugene’s only extra-base hit, and their only multi-hit day. The Giants will want to see O’Tremba’s 31.6% strikeout rate come down — it’s a very high number, especially for a 24-year old prospect — but his .819 OPS and 151 wRC+ speak for themselves.
Low-A San Jose (5-11)
San Jose Giants lost to the Fresno Grizzlies (Rockies) 5-0
Box score
Another listless game for the struggling Baby Giants, who have now been outscored 11-0 after the first 2 games of the series.
The most notable part of this game wasn’t anyone’s performance, but rather the return of designated hitter Bryce Eldridge (No. 3 CPL), who took the field (or, if we’re being literal, the batter’s box) for the first time since suffering a lower body injury on April 10. Great to see Eldridge, who went 0-3 but drew a walk, back out there. San Jose is suddenly a much, much more interesting team.
But it was a poor offensive day, with the best performances belonging to left fielder Guillermo Williamson and center fielder Jonah Cox, who both hit 1-3 with a walk. Cox also added a stolen base, which was his 9th of the young season.
There was a notable performance on the mound, though, sandwiched between rough outings from RHPs Josh Bostick and Junior Flores. It belonged to LHP Esmerlin Vinicio, who was in need of a good outing. Vinicio struggled quite a bit in his first 3 outings of the year, giving up a bunch of hits and runs his first time out, and a whole bunch of free baserunners in the next 2 games.
Neither problem existed on Wednesday, with the recently-turned 21-year old dazzling with 3 perfect innings, striking out 4 batters and needing just 33 pitches to get through the lineup. Vinicio only has a 5.40 ERA, but FIP likes him, giving him a 3.34 FIP, in large part because his free pass of choice has been the hit batter: he’s plunked 5 hitters this year, against just 3 walks. If he can get that in control, he’ll be in business: he’s only given up 1 hit and 2 walks in his last 3 outings, spanning 8 innings.
Home run tracker
AAA David Villar (3)
AAA Marco Luciano (1)
AAA Trenton Brooks (1)
AA Luis Toribio (1)
Thursday schedule
Sacramento: vs. the Las Vegas Aviators, 6:45 p.m. PT
Richmond: vs. the Bowie Baysox, 3:35 p.m. PT
Eugene: vs. the Hillsboro Hops, 7:05 p.m. PT
San Jose: @ the Fresno Grizzlies, 6:50 p.m. PT
Reminder that Minor League games can be watched on MLB TV.