Eugene Slams Its Way to Game 1 Win!
SF Giants Minor Lines, September 12, 2022
Today’s post is a Tuesday Free For All, so everybody can enjoy the highlights from Eugene’s Game 1 victory last night. There aren’t many of these, so if you enjoy it, why not become a There R Giants’ subscriber?
I solemnly promise to never pass up an opportunity to use the “glove of the game” pun! You have my word on it.
We’ve arrived at playoff baseball, as the only game on the minor league docket last night was the first game of the Best of Five NWL Championship series. It’s the time of year where every pitch twists a knot in your stomach, where the fear that a game, a series, a season is suddenly sliding out of control before your very eyes.
Oh no! That’s not the way things were supposed to go! Did everything turn out wrong?
Friends, for the first night at least, things turned out just fine. So let’s get to it! Today’s Minor Lines are short in length but long in stature, as the Eugene Emeralds are working to put the finishing touches on a brilliant campaign!
Eugene beat Vancouver Canadians (Blue Jays), 10-3
Carson Seymour looked shaky! After coughing up a lead off HR to open the NWL Championship series, Seymour hit the third batter of the night in the foot with an errant offering and gave up a single to the fifth. Things didn’t look good. Was disaster imminent?
Why no, dear reader, it was not. Though things teetered away in the top of the 1st, they tottered back to the home team in the bottom of the inning. Luis Matos’ first hit of the night, a four-pitch walk to Marco Luciano, and another single from Hunter Bishop immediately put Vancouver’s starter, Abdiel Mendoza, in crisis mode. The Eugene offense proved this year that it can get rolling downhill in a hurry, and a one-out bases loaded situation in the bottom of the 1st wasn’t the tone Mendoza had wanted to set.
Up stepped catcher Andy Thomas, who had hit exactly one home run since coming over to the Giants at the trade deadline in the Curt Casali/Matthew Boyd deal. As it happened, that one home run had been Eugene’s 11th and final Grand Slam of the season — an amazing total of rye bread and mustard fixin’s! And on the very first pitch, Thomas extended their bases-loaded success into the post-season with his second home run — and second Salami — as a member of the Emeralds, a 104 mph howitzer that immediately pushed the game into Eugene’s comfort zone.
The game would never really move out of Eugene’s control from that very first inning. As I noted last week, the Canadians have been a strikingly lackadaisical club defensively this season, making a league leading 155 errors on the year (a figure that paced the league by a considerable margin). That trend, too, continued in game one. A grounder that went right through the wickets of Vancouver’s 2b extended the second inning long enough for Luciano to come up with two on and two outs. The first six pitches Luciano saw in the game all missed the strike zone, and most of them were breaking balls, as the Canadians continually tried to induce him to chase. Instead, Luciano waited patiently until he got the hanger he was waiting for — and he knew just what to do it, lacing a double into the corner to push the lead to 6-2.
Seymour, meanwhile, quickly stabilized. Though he allowed a second solo homer to Dasan Brown in the 3rd, he controlled the tempo of the game through the early innings. With a power fastball that he ran up to 96 on the gun, and a hammer curve used to put batters away, Seymour began piling up outs and Ks, retiring 9 out of 10 batters at one stretch. His sharp, downward breaking curve consistently had the Canadians flailing.
Less frequently, he showed off a pretty dandy changeup that generated plenty of wind power itself.
(You want to see that breaking ball again, don’t you?)
(Always here to satisfy the needs of my readers!)
In his 6th and final inning of the night, Seymour stumbled a bit, allowing back to back singles followed by a wild pitch to create his only really, high stress inning. Though the Ems held a 6-2 lead at the time, a single could cut the lead to just two runs with plenty of game to go. Seymour’s 8th and final K of the night gave him a chance to make it through six full. On his final pitch of the night, however, he left a 3-2 curve spinning up and over the top of the zone, loading the bases. It would be the final moment of the night when the game seemed to hang in a shadow of a doubt. Brooks Crawford came in to eliminate the threat on just two pitches, and another four run outburst in the bottom of the inning salted things away. Though they had nine hits, Vancouver’s scoring was limited to just three solo homers — which can’t quite compete with a team putting up four runs on a single swing.
Matos led the 11-hit assault with a three-hit night, including two doubles, scoring twice, driving home two runs, and swiping one of the Emeralds’ three stolen bases in the game. That continued a late season surge that had seen the 20-year-old hit .291 after August 1st, with 15 extra base hits. Though he ended the season with just a .619 OPS, he might have stabilized his year enough to earn a promotion next spring — that will certainly be one of the assignment decisions I’ll be watching most closely come April.
In the end, nearly everybody did something to feel good about in this one. The newest Emerald, Damon Dues, busted out his seldom used Whomping Stick to go deep for the very first time in his professional career — part of a two hit night. Sadly, because post-season stats don’t count on the B-Ref page, Dues will report to duty next spring still in search of his first official professional dinger, but we’ll all remember the truth, won’t we?
Even guys who didn’t contribute to the offense found ways to get involved in the victory. Cantrelle’s beauty at the top of the post was the early leader for “Web Gem of the Night” — but Luis Toribio topped it with his own gem a little later. That’s how you make 0 for 4 go down easy, Luis!
A great opening act in front of the home crowd. Two more victories to reach the Promised Land. Eugene has been the class of this league all season long, but you still gotta earn it in the crucible of the playoff pressure. As they did last year, Eugene used a big bang to open things up. Winning tonight, in their final home game of the season, come what may, will be an important step towards the final triumph.
Week 22 Stats Review
Since the night’s schedule was pretty brief, I’ll go ahead and append the normal Stats Review — the final one of the year for San Jose and Eugene. Those numbers are now locked in as history. They tell the tale of the year that was.
Sacramento River Cats: 60-75, 5th Place (15.0 GB)
-97 Run Differential
SORTABLE TABLES: HITTERS PITCHERS
PCL LEADERS*
David Villar: OBP (2nd), SLG (1st), OPS (1st), HR (4th), RBI (T-3rd), BB% (T-3rd), BB/K (8th), FB% (3rd), ISO (1st), wRC+ (1st)
Isan Diaz: HR (7th)
Bryce Johnson: SB (T-7th)
Austin Dean: 3b (T-8th), FB% (10th), SwS% (T-9th)
Jason Krizan: 2b (6th)
Heliot Ramos: GB% (7th)
Jason Vosler: FB% (5th)
Enmanuel De Jesus: ERA (7th), FIP (10th), SO (T-8th), K% (8th)
Tristan Beck: FIP (3rd), BB% (7th), K-BB% (9th), WHIP (10th)
Sean Hjelle: GS (T-5th)
Joey Marciano: Saves (T-8th)
Shelby Miller: Saves (T-8th)
*IP level set at 80 IP for this week for all full season affiliates.
It’s really all about David Villar this year, isn’t it?
TRANSACTIONS (not including recall/options to/from SF)
Giants selected contract of RHP Luis Ortiz
RHP Spencer Bivens re-assigned from Eugene
RHP Ty Weber re-assigned from Eugene
C Andrew Knapp outrighted to Sacramento
DH Yermin Mercedes outrighted to Sacramento
Giants selected contract of OF Austin Dean
RHP Ryan Walker re-assigned from Richmond
Giants selected contract of OF Willie Calhoun
Giants selected contract of RHP Cole Waites
Cole! What a ride it’s been since March!
Richmond Flying Squirrels: 63-68, 5th Place (13.5 GB)
-8 Run Differential
The Squirrels should probably think hard about sweeping this week. It’ll help make their post-season schedule easier, and get them ready to go for a playoff run. Plus, it will just look better for the eventual league champion to have had a .500 record for the season!
SORTABLE TABLES: HITTERS PITCHERS
EL LEADERS
Sean Roby: HR (5th), SO (9th)
Tyler Fitzgerald: HR (10th), Runs (T-2nd), SO (2nd), FB% (T-2nd)
Michael Gigliotti: SB (T-8th)
Shane Matheny: OBP (4th), BB (10th), BB% (2nd), wRC+ (T-8th)
Kai-Wei Teng: IP (3rd), SO (1st), BB (1st), K% (6th), GB% (10th), SwS% (10th)
Matt Frisbee: IP (2nd), SO (7th), BB% (8th), LD% (3rd), FB% (6th)
Kyle Harrison: SO (6th)
Kyle Harrison is second overall in the minor leagues in strikeouts (180) and has the highest K% of any pitcher with >60 IP (40.1%).
Vaun Brown has the highest batting average (.346) of all qualified hitters in full season ball.
TRANSACTIONS:
RHP Tanner Andrews re-assigned from Eugene
3b/1b Sean Roby placed on 7-day IL
OF Diego Rincones activated from 7-day IL
RHP Wil Jensen activated from 7-day IL
RHP Trevor Hildenberger sent on rehab assignment to San Jose
RHP Ryan Murphy sent on rehab assignment on San Jose
UT Brett Auerbach placed on 7-day IL
RHP Ryan Walker re-assigned to Sacramento
Eugene Emeralds: 81-48, 1st Place
+165 Run Differential
Despite quite a few individual performances that fall somewhere on the “Disappointment” scale, there was so much talent here that the team overwhelmed the league in nearly every possible category.
SORTABLE TABLES: HITTERS PITCHERS
NWL LEADERS
Casey Schmitt: Avg (6th), OBP (T-4th), SLG (2nd), OPS (2nd), HR (T-3rd), Runs (T-7th), RBI (T-7th), BB% (9th), K% (7th), BB/K (4th), FB% (3rd) ISO (4th), wRC+ (2nd)
Carter Aldrete: HR (T-5th)
Hunter Bishop: GB% (5th)
Luis Toribio: SLG (10th), HR (2nd), Runs (T-10th), RBI (T-7th), BB (5th), SO (2nd), BB% (6th), GB% (10th), FB% (9th), ISO (3rd)
Jairo Pomares: SLG (9th), OPS (7th), HR (T-8th), 2b (T-7th), RBI (T-7th), SO (T-7th), FB% (4th), ISO (8th), wRC+ (9th)
Andy Thomas: BB (3rd)
Luis Matos: K% (1st), BB/K (10th), FB% (1st)
Patrick Bailey: BB (T-8th)
Nick Swiney: ERA (7th), FIP (7th), IP (10th), SO (8th), BB (5th), K% (4th), K-BB% (8th), Opp Avg (2nd), WHIP (8th), BABIP (4th), LD% (1st), FB% (1st), SwS% (2nd)
Jake Wong: FIP (5th), IP (8th), SO (7th), BB (7th), K% (7th), LD% (2nd), GB% (3rd), SwS% (9th)
Nick Avila: Saves (1st)
Juan Sanchez: Saves (T-6th)
Despite a big overall presence on the Hitter leaderboards, no Eugene hitter led the league in any major category, though Casey Schmitt: finished 2nd in SLG, OPS, and wRC+. Congratulations on the terrific season, Casey! He could well be in line for the league MVP conversation.
TRANSACTIONS
RHP Tanner Andrews re-assigned to Richmond
RHP Spencer Bivens re-assigned from San Jose AND to Sacramento
INF Damon Dues re-assigned from San Jose
OF Carter Williams transferred to Development List
RHP Ty Weber re-assigned to Sacramento
San Jose Giants: 74-58, 2nd Place (9.0 GB)
+131 Run Differential
For the second straight season, San Jose takes on the Fresno Grizzlies in the post-season immediately following a season-ending series with them. This year it’s not the championships, however, rather a divisional series to see who gets to advance to the Cal League finals.
SORTABLE TABLES: HITTERS PITCHERS
CAL LEAGUE LEADERS
Vaun Brown: 3b (T-7th)
Grant McCray: Avg (7th), SLG (2nd), OPS (3rd), Hits (5th), 3b (2nd), HR (T-3rd), Runs (2nd), RBI (10th), SO (6th), LD% (6th), SB (5th), ISO (1st), wRC+ (5th)
Aeverson Arteaga: Hits (1st), 2b (1st), Runs (8th), RBI (5th), SO (3rd), LD% (T-8th), FB% (4th)
Yorlis Rodriguez: HR (T-7th), K% (8th), FB% (2nd)
Hayden Cantrelle: 3b (T-7th)
Garrett Frechette: GB% (8th)
Victor Bericoto: Hits (10th), GB% (9th), SwS% (T-6th)
Nick Sinacola: ERA (5th), FIP (9th), IP (7th), SO (7th), K% (9th), K-BB% (6th)
Eric Silva: K% (6th), K-BB% (9th), Opp Avg (8th), WHIP (9th)
Trevor McDonald: ERA (1st), FIP (2nd), K% (8th), Opp Avg (2nd), WHIP (5th), BABIP (8th)
Seth Lonsway: ERA (6th), FIP (10th), IP (10th), SO (4th), BB (8th), K% (3rd), K-BB% (8th), Opp Avg (5th)
Manuel Mercedes: BB (1st), Opp Avg (3rd), BABIP (1st)
Hunter Dula: Saves (T-5th)
Jose Cruz: Saves (T-9th)
Tyler Myrick: Saves (T-9th)
Timely reminder: I have been setting innings limits lower than “qualified” to give a little wider context to what the Giants’ pitchers accomplished this year, so while Trevor McDonald does have the lowest ERA for any pitcher who threw 80 or more innings in the Cal League this season, he did NOT officially lead the league in ERA because he didn’t throw enough innings to qualify for that title. Still, heck of a season for Trevor! Congratulations are due to Aeverson Arteaga, who led the league in both hits and doubles. Grant McCray came within thousandeths of percentage points of leading the league in slugging, but he had to settle for the Isolated Slugging title instead.
TRANSACTIONS
RHP Spencer Bivens re-assigned to Eugene
INF Damon Dues re-assigned to Eugene
INF Andrew Kachel re-assigned from ACL Giants Black
RHP Mikell Manzano re-assigned from ACL Giants Black
RHP Trevor Hildenberger sent on rehab assignment from Richmond
RHP Ryan Murphy sent on rehab assignment from Richmond
Tonight’s Scheduled Starters:
Sacramento (TBD) @ Reno (TBD), 6:35 pm, MiLBTV
Richmond (Frisbee) vs. Erie (TBD), 3:35 pm, MiLBTV
Eugene (Swiney) vs Vancouver (Dominguez), Game 2 of Best of Five, 7:35 pm, MiLBTV
San Jose (TBD) vs. Fresno (Hill), Game 1 of Best of Three, 6:30 pm, MiLBTV
Nick Swiney takes the start for Eugene for Game 2, as they continue to roll out the rotation that has taken them through the final month of the season. That means Swiney’s fellow left-handed Nick (Zwack) should be set up for Game 3 and from Zwack to (Mason) Black for a possible Game 4. How San Jose plans on lining up their pitching, though, is anybody’s guess. Nick Sinacola didn’t pitch in the final week of the season at all, and Seth Lonsway threw just one inning — in fact, he’s thrown just four innings in the month of September. Eric Silva and Matt Mikulski were both placed on the IL prior to the season’s final week. With none of the 2022 draftees stretched out more than an inning or two, this could be a real puzzle for Manager Lipso Nava and pitching coach Dan Runzler to solve over the next few days. It won’t be easy, but then the fun things never are. Tonight could well be the final home game of the year for both A ball clubs, so get out and root, root, root for the home team!
So while my Mets fan friends are giving the Giants virtual backslaps for taking care of the Braves last night I am remaining magnanimous by not mentioning Seymour's big win last night and the fact that Zwack is lined up for a Game 3 start. Poor Darin Ruf - 7 for 51 as a Met with a 7 OPS+. Yikes.
Any word on Vaun Brown? Is he shut down for the season?