Patrick Bailey goes deep twice in first game off IL
August 20, 2021 SF Giants Minor Lines
It’s been awhile since we had a Saturday supplemental, so let’s take a look around a wild Friday night in the Giants’ system. There aren’t too many of these Saturday posts, so if you like what you see, why not subscribe for daily There R Giants posts?
HITTER of the NIGHT: Patrick Bailey (SJ), 3 for 5 2 HR, 3 RBI
PITCHER of the NIGHT: Ryan Murphy (Eug), 5.0 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K
Sacramento lost vs. Tacoma Rainiers (Mariners), 7-3
Steven Duggar and Thairo Estrada were the whole show for the Sacramento offense last night, collecting five of the team’s seven hits, driving in all three runs and scoring two of them. Much of that came right off the top, as Estrada followed Duggar’s lead-off single in the 1st inning with his 9th Triple-A home run of the year.
With three home runs during his time with the Giants, that’s now 12 on the year for Thairo which is his career best — breaking the mark he set in 2019 while with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (8) and the Yankees (3). That’s now 23 of his career 43 home runs hit in Estrada’s last two seasons. It feels like the health woes caused by his traumatic and violent incident in 2017 are behind him now and we’re seeing the fully formed version of a player who has long been on the prospect watch list and was a Top 10 prospect in a stacked Yankees system just three years ago. Good thing the Yanks didn’t address their left-handed power needs over the winter and just HAD to get Rougie Odor onto their roster in April!
It’s feels pretty clear at this point that Estrada has passed Mauricio Dubón in the Giants depth charts, as he fits their offensive style better. Estrada makes good swing decisions, walks at a high rate, and makes a lot of contact. He could improve his hard contact at the major league level, but this has certainly been a BIG positive-step season for Estrada, who’s producing a 1.048 OPS so far in Sacramento this year.
Gerson Bautista, one of the Gerson Brothers, gave up most of the damage to Tacoma, allowing four runs in the 7th and 8th innings. The veteran reliever who the Giants picked up midseason to help cover innings, walked 3 and allowed six of the nine batters he faced to reach base. Bautista loaded the bases with no outs in the 8th and Conner Menez let them all come around to score. Bautista pitched briefly with the Mets and Mariners in 2018-2019 (11.48 ERA in the majors) has pushed his ERA with Sacramento up to 10.00. Jay Jackson had a perfect 9th inning, striking out two of the three batters he faced. He should be back fairly soon.
Before the game, Sacramento released some footage of Jaylin Davis getting some work in at 1b, trying to increase his versatility. Could there be a Wade/Davis platoon in some future version of the Giants’ 1b/COF job?
Richmond beat Erie SeaWolves (Tigers), 7-6
Those scrappy Squirrels just kept on coming back last night. Four times they fell behind in the game and four times they came back to tie. And in the final moments they did even better than that with a three-run bottom of the 9th rally to walk things off. Diego Rincones’ third hit of the night brought Luis Alexander Basabe home with the game-winning run, sending the denizens of the Diamond off into a euphoric Friday night.
The rally was gift-wrapped by Erie reliever Gerson Moreno (bad night for Gersons!) who either walked (3) or hit (2) five of the first six batters he faced. Moreno did mix in a couple of strikeouts that nearly got things to extra innings, but Rincones put a clean swing on a ball to put an end to the evening.
Andres Angulo hit his 3rd home run of the year to tie things up in the 6th. Angulo got off to a hot start to the year, but since the beginning of June he’s hitting just .144/.265/.216. That’s just three extra base hits in three months! He got a fastball up in the eyes last night, though, and blasted it into the night skies. There’s certainly raw power in his swing, even if he struggles to show it in games very often.
The reverse is true for David Villar, who scuffled through a rough May but has been the most consistent power threat in the Richmond lineup ever since then. Villar is slugging .485 since June 1 with 20 doubles and 10 home runs in that stretch. He’s having his greatest success in the season’s waning weeks, slugging .625 with a 1.081 OPS in 68 PA this month. Villar had a huge game last night, reaching base five times with two doubles, a single and two walks. He’s also showing his greatest control of the strike zone this month. After striking out about three times more than he walked through the end of July (29 BB, 85 K), he’s had close to a 1 to 1 ratio in August, walking 11 times and striking out just 13. Bringing his K/BB ratio into better alignment would be a huge step forward for Villar, who certainly has the power and glove to profile at the infield corners.
Matt Frisbee’s gopher ball woes didn’t stay in Sacramento. He’s coughed up six home runs in his three starts since coming back to Richmond, including three last night — two of them to Erie’s Josh Lester, who hit his 20th and 21st of the year. Frisbee did avoid free passes last night — just his second start since the beginning of July without issuing a walk, after giving up just one walk in his first five starts of the year.
Eugene beat Everett AquaSox (Mariners), 8-7
It was Walk-Off City on the farm last night. The Emeralds hit three solo home runs in this game and they came from their first two batters of the night and their final one. Sean Roby’s extra-base tear continued as he blasted his 16th home run of the season off the scoreboard for a dramatic end to last night’s game. That’s seven this month — all coming since I came to watch him and gave him a hearty “let’s get it going, Sean!” What power! (Uh, I mean, what power in his swing!). Roby is slugging .786 in the month of August as 15 of his 25 hits have gone for extra bases. He’s also hitting a hearty .357, raising his season average from .188 to .229.
Ryan Murphy got into trouble immediately, hitting the first batter he faced. An error from Carter Aldrete and a single put Murphy in an instant high stress situation, but he limited the damage to two and his offense very quickly came to his support. It took two batters and two big swings for Eugene to tie it up, when Brett Auerbach and Tyler Fitzgerald left the yard on back to back pitches. These guys don’t miss those fastballs at the belt!
Yep, you can stand there and admire your league leading 18th dinger, Tyler! As Matt said, those two blasts gave Eugene a league lead in homers (124 at the end of the evening) But the Ems weren’t satisfied with just getting things back to even — they’d add four more hits and four more runs before the 1st inning was through. That included an RBI single from Marco Luciano, who measured out a hanger and drilled it cleanly to left field.
Murphy, meanwhile, settled in nicely and put things into cruise control the rest of the way. He allowed just one more baserunner in his five innings of work — walking his penultimate batter of the evening. From the final out of the 1st through that walk he retired 12 consecutive batters (13 of his final 14), including a stretch of five consecutive strikeouts. You might even say he made batters look silly and dominated the game.
His seven Ks allowed to leap back over Cade Cavalli (by one!) to retake the minor league strikeout lead with 148. He’s 24 behind Seth Corry’s organization-leading mark of 172 in 2019 — don’t think he’s quite going to get there but he could certainly make it interesting.
But all of that good work immediately went out the window when reliever John Russell came in and gave up 5 runs, and the lead, in the 6th inning. The normally reliable Russell gave up three bombs in a span of four batters, tying things up in a hurry! To make matters worse, two of the three homers followed immediately after a walk. Five batters. Five runs. Tie ballgame.
But Roby would set things right again with the night’s sixth and final home run, putting Eugene just one game back of 1st place going into today’s double-header. By the time we reach Sunday morning, the Ems could have finally climbed back into sole possession of the top spot in the league.
San Jose beat Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (Dodgers), 8-4
It’s hard to get a good read on how much lower back pains have played a role in Patrick Bailey’s difficult performance this year. He’s twice missed about a week of play due to back issues, though Eugene manager Dennis Pelfrey originally told me that his missed time in Eugene was more of a planned maintenance. The Giants have talked about Bailey’s strength and conditioning some this year, suggesting he wasn’t quite built up enough for a full-season workload.
Regardless, a short stint on the IL seems to have done Bailey wonders, as he returned to active duty last night and enjoyed the first mulit-homer game of his professional career.
Both of the shots were no doubt blasts to the pull side — when I saw him in San Jose last month he was really having trouble getting balls to the pull side, frequently popping balls down the left field line, so perhaps the back was bothering him at the time, limiting his ability to rotate the trunk. Regardless, last night had to feel good for Bailey all over as he gave his team the kind of impact performance he’s likely been expecting from himself all year. Bailey’s two homers gave him five for the year — four of which have come from the left-hand side. The three RBI gave him 24. He’s still hitting just .253 since coming to San Jose, but last night was certainly a step in the right direction! Bailey’s backup Fabian Peña continued to provide production for the team as well, adding a bases-clearing double to provide three RBI of this own.
Bailey wasn’t the only player to provide some instant pop. Before the game San Jose added Grant McCray to their active roster — a very welcome turn of events for the 2019 3rd rounder whose year was delayed by an elbow strain. Fresh off the bus, McCray also gave the (road) crowd a thrill when he demolished a ball in his very first trip to the plate — 455 feet and 108 mph off the bat according to Joe Ritzo. I’ve been saying for awhile that I really hoped we’d see a stretch of full-season play for McCray. Getting him a month in San Jose is really a big development.
San Jose has completely dominated this series and look to take their fifth game in a row tonight. With the one-sided series, San Jose is putting a stranglehold on the second playoff spot, putting 7.5 games of distance between themselves and the Quakes with less than a month remaining in the season.
Arizona Complex League
Giants Orange beat ACL Rockies, 8-7
Giants Black won @ ACL Athletics, 11-0 (7 inn)
Manuel Mercedes struggled through a rough outing, failing to make it through the 2nd inning, walking two and allowing three hits and three runs in the frame. But his teammates picked him up, thanks to some sloppy work from the Rockies (as tends to be the case in the complex leagues). Adrian Sugastey had two more hits and scored two runs, but it was his swinging bunt in the 8th inning that made the difference in the game. The Rockies catcher winged the ball down the right-field line for the team’s third error of the game, bringing the tying and winning runs home for the win. The Giants had previously scored runs on a bases loaded walk and a booted grounder. Anthony Rodriguez added a run-scoring triple. Rodriguez has had a slow start to the year but nine of his 23 hits have gone for extra bases.
Not only was Giants Black’s game limited to 7 innings, but in the final three of those the A’s sent position players to the mound. Limited pitchers is the driving force behind all the 7-inning games we’ve seen in the ACL this year, and apparently already down 11-0, the Athletics saw no need to tire out more arms.
Diego Velasquez had a big game with three hits, bringing his average up over the .250 mark. Velasquez has a modest four-game hitting streak going with six hits in his last 17 AB. Powerful 13th round pick Jared Dupere also had three hits including his second and third doubles of the season, driving in two runs. Dupere also stole his first base as a pro. Nineteen-year-old catcher Ronaldo Flores also had a big game, knocking three doubles (six for the year) and driving in three. Lisander de la Cruz, who turned 20 earlier in the week, had by far his best outing as a pro, throwing four shutout innings and striking out 9. He had just 20 strikeouts in nine appearances (16.1 IP) prior to last night’s game. De la Cruz was an older signing in this year’s international class.
Dominican Summer League
Once again, the weather put a halt to play in the Dominican with rain dominating the day’s action. Giants Orange’s game was halted in the top of the 1st, and Giants Black didn’t even get that far before the game was postponed. Try again another day!
What’s On Tap?
Sacramento (Scott Kazmir) vs. Tacoma (TBD), 7:05 pm, MiLBTV
Richmond (Trenton Toplikar) vs. Erie (Jesus Rodriguez), 3:05 pm, MiLBTV
Eugene (Kai-Wei Teng) vs. Everett (TBD), 5:05 pm, MiLBTV
Eugene (TBD) vs. Everett (TBD), Gm 2, MiLBTV
San Jose (Kyle Harrison) @ Rancho Cucamonga (TBD), 6:30 pm, No Video
ACL Giants Black (TBD) vs. Giants Orange (TBD), 11:00 am, No Video
DSL Giants Orange vs Giants Black: POSTPONED due to rain
It’ll be interesting to see how long the Giants let Kyle Harrison go today, after removing him early in each of his last two starts as the season heads into its final stretch. It seems pretty clear they’re watching his innings carefully. Scott Kazmir keeps auditioning for consideration for a late season call up, while Eugene looks to leap into 1st place in the High-A West.
It’s another great weekend of ball. Enjoy the games, everybody!
And, of course, if you enjoyed this Saturday supplemental, why not subscribe for daily There R Giants posts to keep up on all the action around the Giants’ farm?
In thinking about Bailey, I got to wondering how many unproductive drafts it would take for popular sentiment to turn against Zaidi and Harris. I’m not stating an opinion, just wondering how much time new regimes are given if/when their drafts turn out poorly.