Yesterday’s action on the farm.
A busy day for the San Francisco Giants Minor League Baseball affiliates on Tuesday. Let’s jump straight into it!
Link to the 2024 McCovey Chronicles Community Prospect List (CPL)
All listed positions in the roundup are the positions played in that particular game.
News
The Giants promoted a trio of players, and while they’re all exciting promotions, one is a really exciting promotion: Low-A San Jose outfielder James Tibbs III has been promoted to High-A Eugene. Tibbs was the team’s 1st-round pick last month, and played in just 9 games with the Baby Giants before joining the Emeralds. He definitely seemed overly-qualified for the level, recording multiple hits in each of his last 7 games with San Jose. Now Eugene’s roster features the last 2 top picks for the Giants, and the Emeralds are must-see baseball!
Joining Tibbs on the San Jose to Eugene flight is RHP reliever Josh Wolf, who takes the place of RHP reliever Cameron Cotter, who was promoted to AA Richmond. Congrats to all 3!
AAA Sacramento (63-58)
Sacramento River Cats lost to the Tacoma Rainiers (Mariners) 2-0
Box score
Needless to say, this one was all about the pitching. You don’t see many games with scores like this in the Pacific Coast League! The River Cats simply couldn’t get an offense going all day, as they had just 5 baserunners. No players reached base twice, and designated hitter Donovan Walton’s double was the only extra-base hit.
You know these numbers will not be exciting given the last paragraph, but here’s what the 40-man roster players did: center fielder Wade Meckler (No. 11 CPL) hit 1-4 with a strikeout; shortstop Brett Wisely hit 0-4 with a strikeout; right fielder Luis Matos hit 0-4 with 2 strikeouts; second baseman Marco Luciano hit 0-2 with a walk and a strikeout; and catcher Blake Sabol hit 0-3.
But the pitching provided some encouragement, and it began with the starter, RHP Mason Black (No. 10 CPL). After a fairly disastrous middle of the season — which seemed to begin when Black made his MLB debut (or rather, 5 innings into his debut) — Black is starting to turn things around again. He definitely had some struggles with command in this game, as he walked 4 batters and threw 57 of his 90 pitches for strikes, but he was mostly unhittable. In 5.2 innings, Black gave up just 1 hit and 1 run, while striking out 3 batters.
Black is probably a long shot to return to the Majors this year, unless the Giants get eliminated, but it’s really great to see him bouncing back, and hopefully he ends the year strong. After having an 8.04 ERA in 4 July starts, the 2021 3rd-round pick is sporting just a 2.91 ERA through 4 August starts. Keep it up, Mason!
A pair of 40-man LHP relievers took the mound, with mixed results. Tyler Matzek gave up 3 baserunners and a run in an inning of work, but Ethan Small tossed a perfect inning with 2 strikeouts. Small had some bumps and bruises in his first games back after missing a few months with injury, but he’s been utterly dominant lately: in his last 4 outings, he’s thrown 4 no-hit innings, while allowing just 1 walk with 7 strikeouts.
AA Richmond (51-64)
Richmond Flying Squirrels lost to the Altoona Curve (Pirates) 7-5
Box score
The Giants weren’t the only team in the system that drew a whole bunch of walks on Tuesday, as Richmond worked 7 free passes (plus a hit batter). But they struggled with the same issue that has plagued the Giants, as they went just 1-10 with runners in scoring position.
There weren’t really many notable offensive days, but designated hitter Jairo Pomares (No. 29 CPL) bopped a solo home run while going 1-4 (but critically not striking out).
JAIRO JOMER™
Pomares blasts his team-leading 1️⃣2️⃣th of the season pic.twitter.com/RcDTkc3qGt
— Richmond Flying Squirrels (@GoSquirrels) August 21, 2024
Pomares’ decent season had really started to slow down lately, and the power that had once defined his prospect status had evaporated. After bashing 7 home runs between June 13 and July 3, Pomares went 29 consecutive games without putting a ball over the fence. But he’s now homered in back-to-back games, so hopefully he’s finding his power stroke again.
Also of note: second baseman Jimmy Glowenke (No. 39 CPL) played in this game, which was good to see. He was hit by a pitch on Sunday and immediately exited the game, so I was worried he was injured. But he was back out there on Tuesday, once again getting plunked, while also hitting 1-2.
The pitching wasn’t very notable, either. RHP Dylan Cumming struggled with command in the start, walking 5 batters in 4.2 innings while allowing 3 runs and 2 earned runs. Surprising poor performances in relief from LHP Nick Swiney (who had been heating up lately) and RHP Nick Garcia (who has been dominant in AA this year).
But RHP Mat Olsen had a really nice game, throwing 1.1 scoreless innings with 1 hit and 2 strikeouts. Olsen’s season numbers aren’t overpowering — he has a 5.00 ERA, a 3.82 FIP, and 30 strikeouts to 13 walks in 36 innings — but he’s been an unstoppable force in August. In 6 appearances this month, the 2021 9th-round pick has thrown 8 innings and allowed just 5 hits, 1 walk, and 0 runs, albeit with just 4 strikeouts.
High-A Eugene (54-60)
Eugene Emeralds lost to the Tri-City Dust Devils (Angels) 5-0
Box score
Well, you can copy and paste a lot of what I said in the Richmond introduction here. The Emeralds drew 7 walks in the game, but didn’t record a hit with runners in scoring position. In fact, they recorded just 3 hits all game, with a double by right fielder Quinn McDaniel (who is playing more corner outfield these days, after being drafted as a middle infielder and playing a lot of center field to start the year) serving as their only extra-base hit.
Second baseman Thomas Gavello still managed to have a good day though, as he hit 0-1 but drew 3 walks. Gavello has had a roller-coaster of a season, starting ice cold, heating up a bit during the summer, and now cooling off a bit again. The utility player has just a .194 batting average and a 32.4% strikeout rate, but thanks to drawing a lot of walks and getting hit by a lot of pitches, the 2022 13th-round pick still has a .645 OPS and a 91 wRC+.
First baseman Bryce Eldridge (No. 3 CPL) had a mild-mannered day, going 1-4 with 2 strikeouts, while shortstop Aeverson Arteaga (No. 14 CPL) is still looking for his 1st hit since coming off the 60-Day IL and getting assigned to Eugene. Arteaga, who went 0-2 but drew 2 walks, is now 0-18 with 4 walks and 8 strikeouts, though it’s worth noting that he did have some hits in a brief rehab stint in the ACL.
Center fielder Jonah Cox had a funny game. It was a disaster in the batter’s box, where he went 0-4 with 3 strikeouts, but it went well in the grass, where he recorded 2 outfield assists.
A very tough game for LHP Esmerlin Vinicio, pitching in his 4th game since a promotion. The slim 21-year old gave up 10 baserunners and 5 runs in just 3.1 innings, and also committed an error. Shake it off, Esmerlin! Still time to end the season strong in your new assignment.
But nice relief appearances from a trio of relievers who haven’t been at their sharpest lately. RHP Austin Strickland tossed 2.2 shutout innings with 1 hit, 2 walks, and 1 strikeout, lowering his ERA to 7.25 and his FIP to 5.77; RHP Tyler Vogel allowed a hit and a hit batter in a scoreless frame, dropping his ERA to 4.67 and his FIP to 5.91; and LHP Tommy Kane threw a scoreless inning with 2 baserunners and 2 strikeouts, dipping his ERA to 4.85 and his FIP to 5.10.
Low-A San Jose (66-48)
San Jose Giants beat the Modesto Nuts (Mariners) 7-6 (11 innings)
Box score
Finally a win! Thank goodness.
You would expect that some offense in San Jose would include center fielder Bo Davidson, but all superstars are allowed to take their capes off every now and then, and Davidson did exactly that, hitting just 0-5 with a walk and 3 strikeouts. Despite the 7 runs, the Baby Giants had a whopping 19 strikeouts (admittedly it was an 11-inning game), and 4 of their hitters had strikeout hat tricks, as catcher Ty Hanchey (0-6 with 3 strikeouts) and designated hitter Jean Carlos Sio (1-5 with a double and 3 strikeouts) joined Davidson.
The 4th hat trick? That belonged to shortstop Walker Martin (No. 7 CPL), who had a hot-and-cold day: he reached base twice, going 1-5 with a triple and a hit by pitch, but struck out 4 times. Martin’s introduction to San Jose has been fairly brutal: he’s now 7-46 with 2 extra-base hits, 2 walks, and 30 — yes, 30 — strikeouts. And that came after rocking a 37.6% strikeout rate in the ACL.
That probably has you feeling fairly poopy about someone who was supposed to be one of the organization’s most electric prospects this season, so let me try to help you feel better. Yesterday Roger Munter wrote that Martin’s swing “still gets almost universal praise from evaluators.” We often say that development isn’t linear, but it also isn’t always black and white, or easy to observe from the outside.
Third baseman Robert Hipwell, San Jose’s lone 2024 draftee now that Tibbs has been promoted, had a nice game, hitting 2-6 with 2 doubles and 2 strikeouts. The left-handed hitter, who was drafted in the 6th round out of Santa Clara, is still trying to get the batting average up (it sits at .208), but thanks to some nice power (.208 isolated slugging) and a lot of walks (19.0% BB rate), he’s sitting at an .813 OPS and a 126 wRC+, and is having a delightful debut.
And second baseman Ryan Reckley (No. 44 CPL) had another nice game, hitting 2-4 with a hit by pitch, though he also had a strikeout and was caught stealing. Reckley’s season in the ACL was really exciting and encouraging, but he got off to a horrendous start in San Jose following a recent promotion. But he’s now had back-to-back excellent games, so maybe he’ll end the season strong!
First baseman Jack Payton had a nice game, going 1-3 with 3 walks. Payton, last year’s 11th-round pick, is fitting in well in San Jose. He started the year in Eugene, struggled mightily, suffered an injury, rehabbed in the ACL, and when he came off the ACL was sent to San Jose instead of Oregon. He’s responded with an .817 OPS and a 126 wRC+, so the Giants are surely pleased with that.
On the pitching front, it was a tough outing for LHP Jacob Bresnahan, the player the Giants received in the Alex Cobb trade. He gave up 2 hits, 4 walks, and 5 runs in just 2 innings of work, though I do feel compelled to remind everyone that he only just turned 19 years old. He’s got loads of life in his arm, and these things take time.
The piggybacking starter was much better, as RHP Shane Rademacher — a 2023 undrafted free agent — tossed 4 shutout innings with just 3 baserunners and 7 strikeouts. It was great to see Rademacher only allow 2 hits, as that’s been his issue this year: he has a delightful 85 strikeouts to 22 walks in 75.1 innings, but has allowed 91 hits, which has led to a 4.54 ERA.
RHP Cameron Pferrer, a 25-year old undrafted free agent, made his professional debut and allowed 2 hits and a run in 2 innings, with 3 strikeouts. Congrats on making it to the pros, Cameron!
DSL Black (40-13)
DSL Giants Black beat the DSL White Sox 16-7 (7 innings)
Box score
And now some serious offense. 16 runs in a 7-inning game which, as the home team, means the Giants Black team tallied 16 runs in just 6 innings, including 9 in the final frame. Yeesh!
It’s at the point in the DSL season (read: the very end) where it’s probably best to keep most of the focus on the players who have separated themselves. One such player is shortstop Jhonny Level (No. 38 CPL, 17 years, 2024 international signing), who was back on his BS on Tuesday, hitting 1-4 with a 3-run home run, a hit by pitch, and a stolen base.
Level, a switch-hitter who doesn’t turn 18 until the end of March, is doing everything you could possibly hope for this season. He has a .909 OPS and a 140 wRC+, he’s striking out a mere 16.7% of the time, he’s hitting for average (.275 batting average) and power (.242 isolated slugging), he’s earning strong reviews for his defense, and he’s stealing bags (18 on the year, albeit in 27 attempts). Just a phenomenal year.
That was kind of expected given Level’s prospect pedigree, but it wasn’t expected out of center fielder Oliver Tejada (17 years, 2024 international signing). Tejada burst on the scene and Tuesday was another data point, as the righty went 1-3 with a big fly, bringing his OPS up to .893 and his wRC+ to 139. Just sensational debuts for both players.
Also getting in on the home run action was first baseman/left fielder Boris Sarduy (17 years, 2024 international signing), who came into the game late and hit a home run and drew a walk in his 2 plate appearances. Sarduy, who has an 80-grade name, has played sparingly in his debut season, and this was his 1st professional home run. Congrats! He replaced first baseman Angel Guzman (18 years, 2023 international signing), who went 0-1 but drew 2 walks, bringing his OPS to .998 and his wRC+ to 170 … figures that are among the very, very best in the DSL this year.
And shoutout to left fielder/center fielder Ricardo Crespo (17 years, 2024 international signing), who hit a perfect 2-2 with 2 walks. Crespo hasn’t shown much power in his debut season, but he’s drawn way more walks than strikeouts, which has led to a .745 OPS and a 123 wRC+. Highly unlikely that he’s in the states next year, but he’s setting himself up for a great 2nd season in the DSL.
RHP Alberto Laroche (18 years, 2024 international signing) pitched in just his 2nd career game, and made his 1st start. It went quite well, as he surrendered just a hit and an unearned run in 2 innings, with 2 strikeouts. RHP Jeison Jimenez (20 years, 2023 international signing) tossed 2.2 no-hit innings with 2 walks and 3 strikeouts … walks remain a big problem for him, though he rarely ever gives up hits.
DSL Orange (29-27)
DSL Giants Orange beat the DSL Phillies Red 8-7 (13 innings)
Box score
Impressive bullpen work by both teams, as no runs were scored in the 1st 3 extra-inning frames. You don’t see that very often anymore! The Giants Orange team really relied on free runners, as they worked 10 walks and were hit 6 times. Ouch.
First baseman Diego Villegas (20 years, 2021 international signing) was the star, as he went 3-4 with a double (the team’s only extra-base hit), 2 walks, a hit by pitch, and a stolen base. Villegas is having a really strong season, with a .849 OPS and a 138 wRC+. But given his age, the fact that it’s his 4th DSL season, and the fact that the Giants moved him to the lesser DSL team halfway through the year, it’s kind of hard to see him getting a call to play in the states.
Shortstop Keiberg Camacaro (17 years, 2023 international signing) had a strong game, hitting 1-3 with 3 walks, a hit by pitch, and a stolen base. That bumped his OPS to .702 and his wRC+ to 105 …. those numbers likely won’t get him to the ACL next year, but he’s young enough that perhaps we see him in 2026.
Home run tracker
AA Jairo Pomares (12)
DSL Jhonny Level (10)
DSL Oliver Tejada (5)
DSL Boris Sarduy (1)
Wednesday schedule
Sacramento: at Tacoma, 7:05 p.m. PT
Richmond: vs. Altoona, 3:35 p.m. PT
Eugene: at Tri-City, 7:05 p.m. PT
San Jose: at Modesto, 7:05 p.m. PT
Reminder that Minor League games can be watched on MLB TV.