Minor League roundup, August 21: Bryce Eldridge is unreal

Yesterday’s action on the farm.

Four games for the San Francisco Giants Minor League Baseball affiliates on Wednesday. The Dominican Summer League regular season is officially over, and so we say goodbye to the DSL Giants Orange team, though the DSL Giants Black team marches on as the No. 1 seed in the playoffs. But that’s for another day.

Let’s get into Wednesday’s action!

Link to the 2024 McCovey Chronicles Community Prospect List (CPL)

All listed positions in the roundup are the positions played in that particular game.

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News

A pair of small news pieces. The Giants signed RHP Darien Smith, a 24-year old who went undrafted out of Southeastern, an NAIA school. Smith has been assigned to Low-A San Jose. And RHP Marques Johnson, who spent the bulk of the year on the 60-Day IL and made a lone rehab appearance in the ACL, has been activated and added to San Jose’s roster.

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AAA Sacramento (64-58)

Sacramento River Cats beat the Tacoma Rainiers (Mariners) 8-5
Box score

Like their older brothers in San Francisco, the River Cats have been struggling to get much offense off the ground lately, so it was nice to see them finally break through with a strong game that featured 13 hits, and 6 extra-base hits.

Better yet, the good games belonged to the players with prospect pedigree and who could still help the Giants this year, and that’s what you really want to see. No one shined brighter than right fielder Luis Matos, who hit 2-4 with an insurance-providing home run in the 9th inning (he also had a sacrifice fly, so nice to see some situational hitting).

Matos has been hitting fairly well in August, and certainly better than he was for the bulk of the Minor League season (he has an .822 OPS in the month). He’s not hitting well enough to force the issue, but games like Wednesday’s are definitely a step in the right direction.

Speaking of steps in the right direction, designated hitter Marco Luciano (No. 2 CPL) had his best game since getting optioned, hitting 2-4 with a triple, a walk, and a stolen base. It was a mighty impressive triple as well, leaving the bat at 109.4 mph and traveling 416 feet. That’s a swing I sure as hell haven’t given up on yet.

Those were the stars, but there were plenty of other good days. Left fielder Hunter Bishop hit 2-4 with a double, as he’s slowly starting to recover from a cold summer … in his last 9 games, the lefty is 7-31 with 2 homers, 2 doubles, 3 walks, and 9 strikeouts … not great numbers, but steps in the right direction.

Center fielder Wade Meckler (No. 11 CPL) and first baseman Trenton Brooks both hit 1-4 with a double and a walk, the former raising his OPS to .795 and his wRC+ to 94 and the latter to .862 and 123, respectively. Third baseman David Villar hit 1-4 with a double and a hit by pitch, as he tries to put some summer struggles behind him.

Things started poorly on the mound, but quickly recovered. RHP Trevor McDonald (No. 20 CPL) got the start and things didn’t go very well, as he gave up 6 hits, 3 walks, and 5 runs in just 3 innings of work, with 2 strikeouts. Despite being rostered this offseason, the chances of McDonald making it to the big leagues this year feel pretty slim, but it’s great to see him healthy and throwing a lot of pitches. He could be a big part of the 2025 team.

But the bullpen was electric, combining to allow just 4 baserunners in 6 shutout innings. Most importantly, RHP Camilo Doval had another strong game, retiring all 5 batters he faced, 2 by way of strikeout. Doval has been perfect in his last 4 outings, and looks like someone who should be in the Majors, not the Minors, which is exactly what the Giants were going for when they surprisingly optioned him. It seems inevitable that he’ll be recalled on the upcoming road trip when he becomes eligible.

RHP Austin Warren pitched a perfect frame with a strikeout, and now has 8 consecutive outings without allowing an earned run. It’s hard to find space on the active roster for relievers, especially with Doval due back, but Warren has been excellent lately and is on the 40-man roster, so…

AA Richmond (52-64)

Richmond Flying Squirrels beat the Altoona Curve (Pirates) 6-3
Box score

A balanced attack, with 7 hitters in their lineup reaching base multiple times. The biggest hits, of course, are the ones that leave the park, and designated hitter Zach Morgan did exactly that, going 1-3 with a home run and a walk.

Morgan wasn’t exactly tearing up High-A Eugene (.629 OPS, 86 wRC+) when he got promoted to AA, largely to fill the gap left by the injury to catcher Adrián Sugastey (No. 25 CPL). But he’s been more than comfortable in Richmond through 9 games, hitting 8-31 with 2 homers and 4 walks for a .794 OPS and a 126 wRC+. A great chance for the 2022 7th-round pick to end the year on a very high note.

Center fielder Carter Howell, first baseman Victor Bericoto (No. 19 CPL), and left fielder/right fielder Turner Hill all hit 2-4 with an extra-base hit. Howell and Bericoto doubled, bringing the former to a .756 OPS and a 117 wRC+ (a quietly excellent season for him) and the latter to a .661 OPS and an 86 wRC+. Hill tripled to bring his OPS to .766 and his wRC+ to 125 … what a year the undrafted lefty is having!

One last note on the offense: yesterday Roger Munter wrote that, in order to try and fix his swing and build up confidence, the Squirrels are only using outfielder Vaun Brown (No. 17 CPL) when lefties are on the mound. So if you don’t hear his name a lot, or see it when perusing box scores, that’s why. He was able to get the start in this one and went 0-2 with a strikeout before being lifted for a pinch-hitter when Altoona changed pitchers.

RHP Nick Morreale continues to look like a completely different pitcher in AA, as he gave up just 3 hits, 0 walks, and 1 run in 4 innings, while striking out 3. Despite having so-so performance in High-A for 4 years running, Morreale has been lights out in 5 games since moving to AA, where he’s given up just 19 baserunners and 3 runs in 18.1 innings.

RHP Cameron Cotter made his AA debut following a recent promotion, and was just as excellent as he’d been in High-A. He pitched 2 shutout innings with just 1 hit allowed, and 1 strikeout.

RHP Julio Rodriguez continued his strong season with 2 no-hit innings, with 2 walks and 2 strikeouts. Rodriguez has really struggled with walks since getting promoted, as he’s issued 9 of them in 7.1 innings … but he’s only given up 3 hits in that time.

Unfortunately, another tough outing for RHP Will Bednar. What was once looking like a much-needed decent season for Bednar has really fallen apart.

High-A Eugene (55-60)

Eugene Emeralds beat the Tri-City Dust Devils (Angels) 7-0
Box score

When the Minor League season began, Eugene stood out among Giants affiliates, and not in the good way. They were pretty clearly the least exciting team in the mix, lacking in players you needed to keep an eye on.

But my goodness has that changed. Among other things (like surprising breakout seasons from Charlie Szykowny and pitching electricity from Joe Whitman), the Emeralds now have the team’s 1st-round picks from the last 2 drafts, and those players come with loads of excitement: James Tibbs III was just promoted after a mere 9 games of being a hit machine in Low-A, while Bryce Eldridge (No. 3 CPL) is living up not just to our preseason expectations, but our preseason dreams.

So enjoy it while you can, because it’s probably not going to last much longer. Not because those players are going to fall off, but because Eldridge — who went 1-3 with a walk on Monday — is doing things like hitting baseballs 461 feet, which is probably going to earn him a cross-country flight before long.

I mean … my god. That’s just obscene. It’s one thing to hit a lot of homers (Eldridge now has a comfortable lead among all Giants Minor Leaguers), but it’s another to hit them in a way that looks like a Major Leaguer hitting a home run. That’ll play. That’ll play anywhere.

Tibbs’ debut was a bit quieter, but it’s a debut! It’s exciting nonetheless! He went 0-4 with a walk and 2 strikeouts.

After going hitless in his 1st 5 games with Eugene following a return from a very lengthy injury absence that cost him the first half-plus of the season and Spring Training, shortstop Aeverson Arteaga (No. 14 CPL) finally broke through on Wednesday, hitting 2-4 with a double, a walk, and 2 strikeouts. What great news it would be if he could end the year with some rhythm.

Also going 2-4 with a double and a walk was the DH, Szykowny. It’s now an .867 OPS and a 142 wRC+ in 25 games since getting promoted for Szykowny, last year’s 9th-round pick. What a sensational start to his career the young lefty is having.

One note: shortstop Cole Foster (No. 30 CPL) hasn’t played since August 10. He’s not on the IL, though it’s entirely possible that he just he just has a lingering ailment. It’s also possible that they’ve just been holding him back while working on stuff with him … after a decent 2 games to start his Eugene tenure, Foster has gone just 7-71 with 1 double, 2 walks, and 38 strikeouts.

While Eldridge’s home run was the most impressive moment of the game, the most impressive performance belonged to 22-year old LHP Cesar Perdomo, who turned in one of the finest pitching performances that the Giants farm has seen this year. Perdomo only faced 1 more batter than the minimum in 5 shutout innings, giving up 1 hit (to a guy named Caleb Ketchup, no less) and striking out 10. 10! He only faced 16 batters, and he struck out 10 of them!

Perdomo is still trying to find the dominance in Eugene that he had in Low-A San Jose to start the year, and days like Wednesday’s obviously help. So do stretches like this past week, as he tossed 4 shutout frames in his prior outing. Way to heat up, Cesar!

The bullpen was dominant. RHP Josh Wolf, pitching in his 1st game with Eugene since getting moved up a level, allowed a walk and a strikeout in a scoreless inning. RHP Trent Harris continued his dominant campaign, giving up 1 hit with 2 strikeouts in 2 shutout innings, dipping his ERA to 2.19 and his FIP to 3.19. Harris has only allowed earned runs in 10 of his last 11 outings, and in his last 4 games has pitched 10.1 shutout frames with just 4 hits, 1 walk, and 12 strikeouts. And finishing things off was RHP Hunter Dula, who struck out the side while allowing 1 hit, dropping his ERA to 1.78 and his FIP to 2.80. In 6 August outings, Dula has given up 3 hits, 0 walks, and 0 runs in 6.2 innings, while striking out 10. My word.

Low-A San Jose (66-49)

San Jose Giants lost to the Modesto Nuts (Mariners) 4-3 (10 innings)
Box score

Not the most interesting game for the Baby Giants, with some of the more high profile players struggling a bit. Shortstop Walker Martin (No. 7 CPL) saw his contact issues continue, as he went 0-3 with 2 walks and 2 strikeouts, while recent draftee third baseman Robert Hipwell went 0-5 with a strikeout hat trick.

But catcher Drew Cavanaugh had a great game, hitting 2-3 with a walk and a hit by pitch, continuing his 2nd-half resurgence. The 2023 17th-round pick had a tough start to the year, but he’s been really figuring things out lately. Check it out:

Through July 14: 18-94, 0 home runs, 5 doubles, 14 walks, 31 strikeouts
Since July 14: 17-46, 2 home runs, 1 double, 12 walks, 16 strikeouts

Keep it up, Drew!

First baseman Guillermo Williamson reached base three times, going 1-3 with 2 walks, while center fielder Cesar Quintas and second baseman Jean Carlos Sio both hit 1-4 with an extra-base hit and a walk (a double for Quintas and a triple for Sio). Williamson has a .688 OPS and an 88 wRC+, Quintas a .695 OPS and an 86 wRC+, and Sio a .748 OPS and a 110 wRC+. All 3 are in their 1st year of A-Ball.

RHP Ubert Mejias was good-not-great in the start, giving up 5 baserunners and 2 runs in 5 innings of work, with 5 strikeouts. That was his best outing in quite a while, as he’s really been struggling since a fantastic May and early June. On the year, Mejias — who is pitching in just his 2nd season since defecting from Cuba — has a 4.68 ERA and a 4.61 FIP.

Marques Johnson made his A-Ball season debut after being activated from the 60-Day IL. Welcome back, Marques! He tossed 1.2 innings with 1 hit, 2 walks, 1 run, and 1 strikeout.

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Home run tracker

AAA Luis Matos (15 total, 11 in AAA)
AA Zach Morgan (5 total, 2 in AA)
High-A Bryce Eldridge (17 total, 7 in High-A)

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Thursday 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.