Bo Davidson Showcasing His Toolset
SF Giants Minor Lines, June 4, 2026
Photo Credit: Richmond Flying Squirrels
As I predicted, Joe Whitman did, indeed, duplicate Mason Black’s final act in Richmond, and will be asking the Eastern League to forward his Pitcher of the Month honor through the mail, courtesy of Sacramento River Cats LLC. Well-deserved for the lefty who went nearly the entire month without allowing a run (just as Black did in his day). A new wrinkle in the story, however, is that Joe’s not the only guy at Sutter Health Park receiving one of these things, so the folks in the mailroom will have to doublecheck the names carefully before making their deliveries. Carson Whisenhunt also found out he was collecting a Pitcher of the Month honor yesterday, after posting a 2.81 ERA (that’s basically 0.00 by my PCL-to-Normal translator app) over six starts. Two Pitchers of the Month in one clubhouse. Pretty neat trick!
Congrats to both of the highly deserving left-handers.
(Sorry, Carson, take it up with your Coms department! I’m just using the material at my disposal.)
But, once we dispense with rewarding past performances, the actual play on the field last night was a bit lackluster. In a reversal of early season fortunes, we came very, very close to a day in which only the big club recorded a ‘W.’ Everybody loses? Heaven forbid! Nobody wants to see that! Thanks for rescuing things, Kitties!
Beyond the ephemeral one-night results, the system is starting to run into a real shortage of arms, and that’s something that has been starting to show up regularly in the lines. Richmond is the only club below Sacramento that currently has a full roster and a full staff of healthy pitchers — but even there the bullpen is beat up and struggling. After sending up four pitchers to Double-A fairly recently (including the earlier promotion of Ben Peterson), Eugene now has just 13 active pitchers on their roster — with one arriving yesterday. Beyond that, it’s hard to say where relief might be coming from for that situation, as San Jose is barely covering nine innings a night themselves right now (and, as we’ll see, has an ongoing health issue at the moment), and the complex isn’t exactly replete with pitchers ready to attempt something more challenging. I wouldn’t be surprised if we start to see some Indy Ball signings in the coming weeks. It’s barely June, but some gas tanks already appear to be hitting ‘E.’
HITTER of the NIGHT: Turner Hill (Sac), 2 for 3, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 1 SB
PITCHER of the NIGHT: Liam Simon (Eug), 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K
Not, I will admit, the most scintillating daily honorifics we’ve ever handed out. But let’s go in search of the modest pleasures which the night had to offer.
