Weekend Minor League roundup, 7/12-13: Marco Luciano glides into the break

The weekend action on the farm.

The All-Star break is upon us, and not just for the San Francisco Giants, but for their Minor League Baseball affiliates as well. The Rookie Ball teams in the Arizona Complex League and Dominican Summer League will keep playing this week, but the A-Ball squads are off until Friday. So this is the last full-squad roundup for a week!

Let’s dive into the games.

Link to the 2025 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

The big news on the farm is, of course, that the Giants are adding players to it! The Giants drafted 18 players on Sunday and Monday, and you can see all their selections here. Don’t expect any of them to be an the field anytime soon, though. They still have to sign their contracts and get up to speed, and with the Arizona Complex League season ending so early now, the majority of the team’s draftees will likely debut in 2026.

Some good news on the injury front. San Francisco first baseman and outfielder Jerar Encarnación and AAA Sacramento first baseman Bryce Eldridge (No. 1 CPL) have both been assigned to the ACL for rehab stints. It will be great seeing them both back on the field.

On Saturday, Sacramento LHP Carson Whisenhunt (No. 2 CPL) and RHP Trent Harris (No. 20 CPL) both appeared in the Futures Game, with fantastic results. Whisenhunt retired both batters he faced, with a strikeout, while Harris threw a perfect frame with 2 strikeouts.

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AAA Sacramento (47-46)

Saturday: Sacramento River Cats beat the Salt Lake Bees (Angels) 16-11 [box score]
Sunday: Sacramento River Cats beat the Salt Lake Bees 7-0 [box score]

The River Cats pulled in 2 wins over the weekend, and thus made it to the break with a winning record. Way to go, Sacramento!

There were lots of great performances, but each side of the game featured a star showing from a prospect trying to build their pedigree back up and re-join the Giants in the 2nd half of the season.

On offense, that player was designated hitter/left fielder Marco Luciano, who once again put on a show. It was a superstar performance for the powerful righty on Saturday, when he hit 2-4 with a pair of home runs and a pair of walks, while also striking out once. He followed it up on Sunday by going 1-4 with a double, a walk, and a strikeout.

The Luciano situation remains the same as it’s been pretty much all year: he’s hitting the stitches off of the ball, but still struggling with his contact tool. He still has a 29.8% strikeout rate and just a .227 batting average (though his .280 BABIP explains some of that), and those lend some healthy criticism to the idea of him contributing at the Major League level.

But on the other hand … holy smokes is he hitting the ball hard. He’s up to 19 home runs, far and away the tops in the system, and tied for 7th in all of Minor League Baseball. His .230 isolated slugging ranks 15th out of the 85 Pacific Coast League hitters with at least 200 plate appearances this year. And here are the exit velocities for the balls he put in play over the weekend:

103.5 (home run)
100.1 (flyout)
108.4 (home run)
93.8 (flyout)
89.1 (groundout)
102.5 (double)

That’s … impressive. And something that, even with the Rafael Devers addition and the return of Matt Chapman and Casey Schmitt, is missing from the Giants.

Still and all, it’s hard to see where the Giants would fit Luciano. It seems unlikely that they give up on Wilmer Flores enough to facilitate Luciano at designated hitter once Devers moves to first base. And a spot in the outfield would mean either he or Heliot Ramos moving to right field, with the team both moving away from Mike Yastrzemski and skipping over Luis Matos.

But as always, these things tend to work themselves out. Luciano is 11-38 with 7 home runs, 2 doubles, and 11 walks this month (yes, 7 homers!), and if he keeps that up, there’s only so long he can stay in the Minors. As is, he’s at an .800 OPS and a 107 wRC+ for the year.

Center fielder Grant McCray and left fielder/right fielder Wade Meckler are also fighting to make the majors again, and they played well over the weekend. McCray showed off his speed, hitting 4-9 with 2 walks, 3 stolen bases, and 3 strikeouts, boosting his OPS to .789 and his wRC+ to 104, with 26 stolenlen bases bases in 28 attempts. Great to see him getting back to stealing bases after a bizarre hiatus last year.

As for Meckler, he showed off his preternatural ability to make contact, going 2-6 with 2 walks and 3 sacrifice flies, though he was caught stealing once. He has a .756 OPS and a 110 wRC+ on the year, despite a complete absence of power.

Some other notable weekends on offense: first baseman/third baseman Devin Mann was a hit machine, going 6-8 with a double, a walk, and a strikeout; second baseman Tyler Fitzgerald hit 4-9 with 2 hit by pitches and 4 strikeouts; third baseman Thomas Gavello, who has impressed in his short AAA stint, hit 2-4 with a walk, a strikeout, and 2 errors; and right fielder Daniel Johnson hit 2-4 with a triple, 2 walks, and a strikeout.

The other star performance to mirror Luciano’s came on the mound, where RHP Kai-Wei Teng once again excelled on Sunday. Teng was not quite as much in the strike zone as he has been in recent outings, with just 50 of 84 pitches finding the zone, leading to 3 walks. But he gave up just 2 hits — both singles — in 5 shutout innings while striking out 7 batters.

The Giants are going to need pitching help in the 2nd half … definitely in the bullpen, and likely in the rotation as well. Teng isn’t on the 40-man roster, which complicates matters, but he’s pretty clearly been the best pitcher in Sacramento for a while now. After beginning the year in the bullpen, Teng moved back to the rotation for his last 4 outings, and look at the numbers for that quartet of starts:

19.2 innings, 7 hits, 7 walks, 2 runs, 1 earned run, 35 strikeouts

Sweet baby Jesus!

He keeps climbing up the ranks in the PCL, too: there have been 73 pitchers in the league with at least 40 innings thrown this year, and Teng is now 9th in ERA (3.78), 1st in FIP (2.85), 1st in xFIP (3.21), 1st in strikeouts per 9 innings (14.1), and 18th in walks per 9 innings (3.1). Just a sensational bounce-back year after getting DFA’d in the offseason.

A pair of the arms Teng is hoping to leapfrog pitched on Saturday, with mixed results. RHP Trevor McDonald (No. 15 CPL) labored through 3.1 innings, giving up 7 hits, 3 walks, 1 hit batter, 9 runs, and 8 earned runs, with 3 strikeouts, which saw his ERA rise to 5.48 and his FIP to 5.32. But RHP Carson Seymour (No. 21 CPL), perhaps furthering his prep for an MLB bullpen spot, worked in relief and was excellent, giving up 1 hit, 2 walks, and 1 run in 3 innings, while striking out 7 batters. That dipped his ERA to 3.86, and his FIP to 4.65.

Shutout relief appearances for RHPs Joel Peguero, Braxton Roxby, and Ryan Watson, and LHPs Antonio Jimenez and Matt Gage.

AA Richmond (32-53)

Saturday: Richmond Flying Squirrels beat the Akron RubberDucks (Guardians) 5-3 [box score]
Sunday: Richmond Flying Squirrels beat the Akron RubberDucks 7-2 [box score]

A miserable 1st half of the season comes to an exciting end for Richmond, as they’re finally finding a groove. They swept the weekend which led them to a 5-1 series win, and they’ve won 8 of their last 9 games. No one saw that coming!

They capped off their winning streak with a sensational performance on the mound, as LHP Seth Lonsway was dominant on Sunday. Despite not having his best strike-throwing stuff, Lonsway was able to get through 7.1 innings and was virtually untouchable, giving up just 1 hit, 2 walks, and 1 run, while striking out 7.

Lonsway, a 6th-round pick in 2021, has pretty solid numbers this year, as he’s sporting a 3.31 ERA and a 3.81 FIP. He’s not a big strikeout guy — he’s averaging less than 1 per inning — so that might make outs harder at the next level, and Sacramento is not exactly hurting for pitchers. So my guess is we don’t see him in AAA until 2026.

On offense, the big hit of the weekend came from designated hitter/right fielder Victor Bericoto (No. 24 CPL), who hit just 1-8 with 2 walks and 2 strikeouts, but smashed a 2-run home run on Saturday, which gave the Squirrels a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

It’s been a tough season for Bericoto. He hit very well to start the year, and earned a promotion to AAA. Then he got injured, and by the time he was healthy, Bryce Eldridge was in Sacramento, so Bericoto returned to Richmond, where he’s been scuffling a bit. Here’s hoping it’s a strong 2nd half of the season.

Right fielder/left fielder Vaun Brown had a good weekend, and that was a delight to see. He hit 2-5 with 3 walks, a hit by pitch, a stolen base, and no strikeouts over the weekend. Brown, whose exciting prospect status came to a screeching halt the last 2 years due to a massive swing-and-miss issue, culminating in a 49.0% K rate in Richmond last year, has really been limiting the strikeouts lately. Since returning from the Development List in late June, Brown has hit 11-40 with just 6 strikeouts. He hasn’t been showing his old power, but it makes sense to focus on contact 1st, and then fold power back into the equation.

Also nice weekends for first baseman Justin Wishkoski, who hit 1-5 with a triple, 4 walks, a hit by pitch, and 2 stolen bases, and center fielder/designated hitter Turner Hill, who hit 4-8 with 2 doubles, 2 walks, and a stolen base, though he also had 2 strikeouts and was caught stealing. Wishkoski, a 2023 16th-round pick, has a .650 OPS and a 99 wRC+, while Hill, a 2023 UDFA, has a .706 OPS and a 113 wRC+.

High-A Eugene (48-38)

Saturday: Eugene Emeralds beat Spokane (Rockies) 6-3 [box score]
Sunday: Eugene Emeralds beat Spokane 11-10 [box score]

The Emeralds glide into the break on a 3-game winning streak, thanks to some late-game theatrics. They trailed Sunday’s game going into the 9th inning, but a 2-run home run by second baseman Quinn McDaniel propelled them to victory. It not only saved the game for the Ems, but also for McDaniel, who didn’t play on Saturday and was 0-4 with a strikeout on Sunday prior to that knock. The 2023 5th-round pick has shown a good amount of power for an up-the-middle player, but has struggled with his hit tool since getting drafted. He’s hitting just .227 with a 28.9% strikeout rate in his 2nd pass through High-A, and has a .697 OPS and a 91 wRC+.

The star for the bulk of the weekend, though, was first baseman Charlie Szykowny (No. 43 CPL), who has really been heating up lately. The lefty hit 3-9 with a hit by pitch and a strikeout, and more importantly, bopped a 3-run home run on Saturday, and 2-run blast on Sunday.

After something of a breakout 2024, the 2023 9th-round pick started this year slow, but now he’s finding his groove. He enters the break having homered in 3 consecutive games and, since June 25, has hit 25-73 with 7 home runs, 3 triples, and 3 doubles. And, just like that, he’s up to an .802 OPS and a 114 wRC+, all while sporting just an 18.9% strikeout rate.

The corner outfielders had excellent weekends, with left fielder Jonah Cox (No. 26 CPL) and right fielder Scott Bandura both shining. Cox hit 4-7 with a home run, 3 walks, and a stolen base, while also having a strikeout and a caught stealing. He’s hitting just well enough (.718 OPS, 97 wRC+) that his excellent defense and baserunning (37 stolen bases in 43 attempts this year) are worth being very excited about. Bandura, who has been on fire lately, hit 3-10 with a home run, 2 walks, a stolen base, and a strikeout. He’s sitting on an .838 OPS, a 132 wRC+, and 30 stolen bases in 32 attempts, and has seamlessly replaced James Tibbs III as the 3rd member of an exciting outfield triad in Eugene (along with Bo Davidson).

Not a great pitching weekend for Eugene, with LHPs Dylan Carmouche and Cesar Perdomo really struggling in their starts. No one is struggling quite like RHP Liam Simon, though, as he seeks to work the rust off after a plethora of injuries. An appearance after facing 5 batters and walking them all, Simon faced just 3 batters and … walked them all. 8 straight walks over 2 appearances, during which time he’s thrown just 5 of 37 pitches for strikes. Ouch! But these things are to be expected when players work their way back from injuries.

LHP C.J. Widger threw a perfect inning on Saturday, with 2 strikeouts. It’s been a very difficult debut season with the Giants organization for Widger, whom the Giants selected in the Minor League phase of the Rule 5 Draft. Hopefully ending the 1st half on a high note helps him start the 2nd half on one!

Low-A San Jose (57-30)

Saturday: San Jose Giants lost to the Fresno Grizzlies (Rockies) 4-2 [box score]
Sunday: San Jose Giants lost to the Fresno Grizzlies 4-0 [box score]

Well, they can’t all be winners. The Baby Giants limped into the break with 2 straight losses, which halted a 3-game winning streak. They’ve been San Francisco’s best A-Ball affiliate this year, but you wouldn’t know it from the weekend!

Just a completely uneventful offensive weekend. San Jose had just 9 hits and 3 walks all weekend long, with just a pair of extra-base hits, both doubles. There were no notable days, at least not on the positive side of things. On the negative end, center fielder Dakota Jordan (No. 8 CPL) was removed in the 7th inning of Saturday’s game, after making a catch, and did not play on Sunday. Hopefully he’s OK.

A pair of nice pitching performances to talk about. Saturday’s starter was RHP Gerelmi Maldonado (No. 36 CPL), who is still trying to round into form after losing all of 2024 to Tommy John surgery. Saturday was a big step in that direction, as he threw 3 no-hit innings with just 1 walk allowed, while striking out 2. The electricity is still there for Maldonado, though his pre-injury command issues certainly weren’t helped by major surgery, as he’s averaging 6.0 walks per 9 innings so far this year, to go with a 3.43 ERA and a 4.24 FIP.

And speaking of players returning from injury, AAA Sacramento RHP Keaton Winn made another rehab appearance on Sunday, and he threw a scoreless inning with a walk and a strikeout, while throwing 13 of 16 pitches for strikes. It was the 3rd rehab appearance for Winn, and maybe we’ll see him back in AAA when the 2nd half of the season begins.

Arizona Complex League (35-17)

Saturday: ACL Giants lost to the ACL Angels 13-3 [box score]

A little bit of an ass-kicking in Tempe, but so it goes. Center fielder Jose Astudillo (21 years, 2021 IFA) continued his hot streak, hitting 3-4 with a double. Astudillo, a right-handed hitter, was in the midst of his 5th campaign in the DSL when he got the rare midseason promotion to Arizona, and all he’s done is rake through 12 games, hitting 17-39 with 4 walks and just 3 strikeouts (Astudillo has just 22 strikeouts in his career, in 315 plate appearances). There’s not a lot of power in his game (he has 3 doubles and no home runs in his brief ACL run), but my goodness there’s a whole lot of contact!

The pitching was mostly bad, but there was a spark of excitement from AAA RHP R.J. Dabovich, who made his 2nd rehab appearance of the year, and it went the same way that his 1st one did: 3 batters, 3 outs, 2 strikeouts. The 2020 4th-round pick pitched just 7 innings in 2023 and 2024 combined, so it’s great seeing him back on the mound. Hopefully he can stay healthy and return to Sacramento.

RHP Jan Caraballo (21 years, 2021 IFA) continued his nice July, tossing 1.2 shutout innings with a hit and a strikeout. After a tough May and June, Caraballo has allowed just 1 hit, 0 walks, and 0 runs in 3.1 innings in July, spanning 3 outings.

Dominican Summer League

Saturday: DSL Giants Orange (20-9) beat the DSL Giants Black (21-9) 6-3 (7 innings) [box score]

A 7-inning intra-organization game. Not my favorite thing, folks!

A few nice games, but nothing spectacular. Third baseman Juan Colorado (18 years, 2024 IFA) had a game as fun as his name, as he went 0-1 with a strikeout, but drew 3 walks and stole 2 bases. It hasn’t been a good 2nd year in the DSL for Colorado, who has just a .700 OPS, a 92 wRC+, and a 32.5% strikeout rate, but there’s still a little bit of time left to turn the season around.

A trio of other hitters reached base 3 times: shortstop Anthony Marquez (18 years, 2024 IFA) hit 1-2 with 2 walks and a strikeout, bumping his OPS to .712 and his wRC+ to 96; designated hitter Miguel Caraballo (16 years, 2025 IFA) went 1-2 with a walk, a hit by pitch, and a caught stealing, and saw his OPS move to .907 and his wRC+ to 136; and third baseman Albert Jimenez (18 years, 2024 IFA) hit 1-2 with 2 walks, boosting his OPS to .800 and his wRC+ to 112, as he’s made huge improvements in his 2nd season.

Right fielder Evan Estevez (17 years, 2024 IFA) also had a nice game, hitting 1-3 with a double and a walk, though he struck out twice. He’s still striking out too much (28.2% rate), but has an .892 OPS and a 136 wRC+ on the season, so he can certainly hit!

Uneventful pitching. The best day belonged to RHP Jose G. Gonzalez (23 years, 2020 IFA), who pitched a scoreless inning with a walk and a strikeout, lowering his ERA to 3.32, but with a 5.04 FIP. A nice game, but he’s striking out just 6.2 batters per 9 innings in his 5th year in the DSL.

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Home run tracker

AAA Marco Luciano x2 (19)
AA Victor Bericoto (10) [7 in AA]
High-A Charlie Szykowny x2 (13)
High-A Scott Bandura (7)
High-A Quinn McDaniel (7)
High-A Jonah Cox (6)