Week 14 in Review: What Did You Do on Your Summer Vacation, Roger?
July 2-8, 2021 SF Giants Minor Lines
It’s time for the Tuesday Free For All! There aren’t many of these, so if you’d like to receive more There R Giants content, why not subscribe for daily posts, Monday - Friday?
As most of you know, I’ve spent the last 10 days or so making a tour of the system, trying to catch as many of the players as possible. Normally, I get to the minor league spring camp every year, but COVID has made that impossible the last two years, so this trip was a chance to catch up on the backlog of young players I’d never laid eyes on. The whole whirlwind journey was a delight (if rather exhausting) and, now that I’m home, I thought I should try to do a high level summary of what I saw.
Specifically, I wanted to talk about some of the players who really jumped out at me on my trip. I’m going to be putting out a re-ranked Top 30 at the end of the week (now that the trade deadline and my trip are both behind us, I think I need to get this long-promised product taken care of), but I’m not going to go into great detail with those rankings. I’ll save that for the end of the year. So I want to take a moment to talk about players I saw on this trip who really impressed me in some way or other, some of which will inform the new rankings.
Marco Luciano: could I start anywhere else? Luciano didn’t really produce all that much in the games I saw — though he did totally troll me by homering in the game before I got to San Jose, the game after I left, AND the game after I left Eugene. But he showcased his extraordinary power in several BP sessions and a couple of impressive game swings. I think he’s going to hit and he’s going to have some impact power. The defensive side of the equation wasn’t as loud for me. He definitely has the athleticism and range and his hands are fine, but he doesn’t seem to really let go when he makes throws, which I think is the reason he’s collected so many throwing errors. Still, I’d be surprised if he’s not an All Star multiple times in his career.
Luis Matos: Admittedly, it’s pretty easy to like a guy who is getting a hit nearly every time he bats! And Matos came pretty close to that, going 10 for 18 in my looks with a couple of hard hit outs. But it’s more than the numbers. He gets the bat to everything — every quadrant of the strike zone, every speed of pitch, he finds a way to put his bat on the ball. And yes, he’s in swing mode a little too readily and hopefully will learn to temper himself a little, but there’s a god-given ability to get bat to ball that seems special with Matos. Beyond that, he’s a complete player. His instincts in the OF are good, he has a strong accurate arm. He doesn’t look like he should be fast — Matos has a sort of bandy-legged run that doesn’t seem like it should generate great speed — but he is. He also shows some improvisational skills on the base paths that would make Javy Baez proud. The Inland Empire team wasn’t good, but Matos getting caught over-rounding 3b and then somehow scoring anyway thanks to a couple juke moves and a burst of speed was a sight to see.
Jairo Pomares: Pomares is another youngster who doesn’t show an advanced approach at the plate, though I did see some strong takes out of him in San Jose. But the corner outfielder is in absolute Attack Mode at the plate and he swings to do damage every single time. Pomares has tremendous balance and rhythm in his swing, which is equal parts “under control” and “all out vicious.” He makes loud contact with consistency and showed good raw power in BP (and, for that matter, in games). Unlike Matos, Pomares’ game is all about the bat, but it’s a good looking bat! I might have greater conviction about his ability to hit for an average than anybody else in the system at this point.
Casey Schmitt: Schmitt definitely has a carrying tool in his defense, and it might be so good that it’s a survival tool (something that helps him survive at top levels long enough for the bat to catch up). His glove to hand transfer is lightning fast — as fast as anybody I can remember seeing. He comes in on balls well, shows excellent hands, and a strong accurate arm. The Inland Empire team didn’t really hit any balls hard enough to test his range, but he moved well both coming in and going back on pop ups. I think there could be a special defender there. Of course, all corner guys go as far as their bat will take them ultimately, and Schmitt was showing some loud and far contact while I was in San Jose as well.
Tyler Fitzgerald: Fitzgerald has a lithe, lean, athletic build, and looked comfortable at any spot on the infield (though he did make a throwing error from shortstop). He also showed real bat speed and a rotational swing that generates some explosion off of the bat that helped explain why he has a .517 SLG for Eugene this year. There’s a real path for a guy who can handle every infield spot and provide extra-base pop.
Armani Smith had just gotten back on the field after a HBP when I came to town. But he didn’t show much rust going 6 for 14 in my looks, including a tremendous blow that exploded off the bat at 106 mph and ricocheted off the light tower. I talked with Smith about coming back from stints on the injured list, and you’ll probably get to hear that conversation sometime soon, so look for that (here’s a sneak preview: Giants players make great use of Virtual Reality!). Smith is athletic, big, and powerfully built and he’s doing a good job of getting that power into games.
Ismael Munguia: Though the little Nicaraguan maybe doesn’t show a single above average tool (though with a 6% K rate, his contact abilities are pretty elite), he’s good at everything and always, ALWAYS is in the middle of the action. He had seven hits in my three games in Eugene, including four for extra bases. He scored five runs and drove in four. He made a sensational sliding catch that stopped an inning from spiraling out of control. He runs the bases with abandon (he also stole two bags while I was there) and gives his team a jolt of energy every time he steps on the field. He just seems like a winning player to me.
Aeverson Arteaga: I was really anticipating seeing Arteaga, the Giants top signing from the 2019 J2 class, and he absolutely didn’t disappoint. As special as Schmitt’s transfer was, Arteaga’s hands on defense were possibly the single most impressive thing I saw on my three-city trip. He responded effortlessly to some of the less expected hops that he got off the Rookie ball field, made instinctive adjustments mid-play, and showcased a very strong and accurate arm (Arteaga definitely doesn’t have a problem letting loose with his throws). I didn’t see anything to suggest where the home run barrage was come from, but he did make a lot of hard, line-drive oriented contact (despite a lack of hits in the box score). I came away from my brief look incredibly impressed by this youngster, who could grow into an impact-defender with plenty of bat.
Adrian Sugastey: I didn’t see a ton of Sugastey, but his swing impressed me. It was short, direct to the ball, balanced, and had some loft to it. Sugastey had two hits in three at bats in my look, including a hard hit double the opposite way on a 91 mph fastball.
Kyle Harrison: If you listened to last week’s podcast, you heard Harrison talk about trying to find the arm-slot that felt so good to him in spring. Harrison was showing a pretty low slot when I saw him, and that caused him to get under some pitches and push them out of the strike zone. That’s something he’ll continue to work on and refine. Still, even in a short 3.2 inning stint, Harrison induced 18 swing throughs when I saw him. 18! In less than four innings. In my look it was mostly the changeup that caused all of that swing and miss, though the fastball was lethal too. I’ve said this before but Harrison has a legitimate claim (both statistically and prospect-wise) to being the best 19-year-old pitcher in pro ball. He has things to iron out, but there is so much potential with this kid. His stuff is just ridiculous.
Prelander Berroa: Berroa also features some crazy stuff, including a fastball that got up to 99 on a couple of pitches, a 90 mph power change (that he should use more often), and a slider or power curve that completely dominated the Inland Empire hitters in my view. Though he’s had control issues at points this year, he was throwing the slider for strikes at will, while burying it below the zone for chases as well. Berroa is two years older than Harrison, and some of the pieces are starting to come together for him. One scout I talked to called Berroa the best pitcher in the San Jose rotation. He’s certainly not above Harrison for me at this point, but you can visualize a legitimate big league starter outcome for him at this point.
Ryan Murphy: Murphy is another player you’ll be hearing from soon (hopefully I can get his audio suitable for the podcast this week). He impressed me as a bright, thoughtful, and confident kid who has really taken strides as a pitcher over the last few years. Unlike Berroa, his fastball stays down in the 93-94 range, but he can really locate it on the corners to both right and left-handers, and elevates it when he goes for the kill pitch. He was throwing two different breaking balls on my view, and interestingly enough, he told me that both of those pitches had gone through some pretty significant evolutions this year (in fact, he’s changed the grip on his slider multiple times) as he’s sought to craft two distinct pitches that he can use at any point in the count. Murphy throws strikes with everything and really believes in his stuff and his approach. He’s perhaps the system’s most unlikely breakout this year.
Manuel Mercedes: Eric Longenhagen primed me (and you, I’m sure) to be excited about Mercedes when he told of a scout comping Mercedes’ delivery to Jake DeGrom. I was giddy that my two-day stop coincided with a Mercedes’ start and he absolutely did not disappoint. The loose, slingy delivery is already generating high 90s velocity and a scout I spoke with echoed the sentiment that he’s going to be pitching in triple digits as a starter before long. He’s still raw with his command and consistency, especially on the non-fastball pitches, but he did flash a potential plus pitch in his slider and even threw one interesting changeup. It’s very very raw and nascent, but his stuff is undeniable. Mercedes could grow into a monster in relatively short time.
I could actually go on and on. Blake Rivera snapped off a slider that could play in the bigs right now. P.J. Hilson put a jolt into a fastball and showed his plus plus speed running to third. I liked what I saw of Randy Rodriguez and Abel Adames and Chris Wright. Luis Toribio is still a bat that I really love (though I don’t love that he’s spending all of his defensive time at 1b in deference to Schmitt). Carter Williams showed interesting things. Sean Roby had big power. Rafael Martinez had a power slider that was intriguing. Nick Swiney’s changeup totally dominated the youngsters.
Yes, I DID have a pretty great time on my summer vacation. Thanks for asking!
The Week That Was
HITTER of the WEEK: Ismael Munguia, 14 for 24 (.583!), 5 2b, 3b, HR, 3 SB, 5 RBI, 1 K
PITCHER of the WEEK: Ryan Murphy: 10.1 IP, 5 R 0 ER, 3 BB, 16 K
Honestly, you can’t really do much better than Munguia’s efforts this week. Hitting .583 with a 1.000 slugging percentage, while scoring 10 runs, driving in five, and stealing three bases in three attempts. He didn’t draw a single walk in 24 PA, but amazingly (in this day and age) he struck out just once. And, guess what? For his efforts, Ismael is the system’s latest Player of the Week honoree!
Munguia’s new teammate Murphy barely seemed to notice the change in level, striking out 16 in 10.1 innings of work. Apparently, Tyler Fitzgerald has something against Ryan, as two different Fitzgerald throwing errors ended up leading to five unearned runs in his two starts, but I imagine they’ll work things out! How can guys named Fitzgerald and Murphy not get along?
Sacramento River Cats: 36-47
(4-2 week)
Transactions:
Delete C Ronnie Freeman (placed on Development List)
Delete INF Tommy La Stella (reinstated from rehab by ML San Francisco)
Delete and then ADD LHP Conner Menez (designated for assignment, cleared waivers and outrighted)
Add OF Mike Tauchman (cleared waivers and outrighted to AAA Sacramento)
Delete INF Brandon Belt (reinstated from rehab by ML San Francisco)
Add INF Evan Longoria (added by ML San Francisco on rehab)
Delete RHP Matt Frisbee (transferred to Double-A Richmond)
Add RHP Logan Ondrusek (signed to MiLB contract and assigned to AAA Sacramento)
Delete LHP Luis Gonzalez (released by AAA Sacramento)
Delete RHP Zack Littell (recalled by ML San Francisco)
Add RHP Tyler Chatwood (signed to MiLB contract and assigned to AAA Sacramento)
Add OF Steven Duggar (optioned by ML San Francisco)
Add RHP Matt Shoemaker (signed to MiLB contract and assigned to AAA Sacramento)
Delete C Joey Bart (placed on Injured List, retroactive to 8/7)
Add INF Thairo Estrada (optioned by ML San Francisco)
Delete RHP John Brebbia (recalled by ML San Francisco)
Delete RHP Gerson Garabito (re-assigned to Richmond)
You’d think a club that includes so many substantive pieces of the best team in the majors (I’m talking Mauricio Dubón, Steven Duggar, Thairo Estrada, Jason Vosler, Mike Tauchman and more!) could somehow rise above last place in their Triple-A division. But, no, baseball doesn’t work that way!
Fortunately, if these guys had to win in just one location and not the other, they’ve chosen wisely as to which town should be the winner and which the loser (sorry, Sacramentans). It does continue to be something of a mystery how they can lose so much while outscoring their opponents by a healthy margin, but that just seems to be the way things are going to go this year.
Sacramento continues to be Rehab Central. With both Tommy La Stella and Brandon Belt leaving Sacramento this week (and, might I add, JUST IN TIME to save a couple of series), Evan Longoria stepped in to fill the void of those autograph seeking River Cats fans. Longoria has had a couple of singles in 10 at bats, while flashing his usual expert leather at the hot corner. Honestly, a Longo-Dubón-Estrada-Vosler infield really should win some games on its own!
Along with all the rehabs, Sacramento is also becoming a repository for pitching depth that the front office is accumulating for stretch run contingencies. This year MLB has eliminated the August waiver wire trade — no player on an MLB 40-man roster can be traded the rest of the year. In fact, no player who has been taken off of the 40-man roster and outrighted during the course of the year can be traded — so no Conner Menez or Mike Tauchman deals either. However, players who have been released from MLB or MiLB rosters can be signed, and over the last few days, the Giants front office has been busy doing exactly that. None of us really want to see a course of events that ends up with Tyler Chatwood, Matt Shoemaker, or Logan Ondrusek pitching meaningful innings for San Francisco down the stretch. But a smart executive plans for disaster. Plus, Sacramento has had to limp through the season without ever having a full contingent of starting pitchers, at least now they have some guys to send out there for their starts (although Shoemaker immediately gave up four runs in his first inning of work).
There is a vocal contingent of Giants fans who badly want to see Joey Bart on the San Francisco roster (and who say very mean things about poor Curt Casali online). Those fans are going to be disappointed for awhile longer as Bart was placed on the 7-day IL Sunday with an undisclosed injury. That move came in the immediate aftermath of one of Bart’s best games — particularly defensively. Bart picked off a runner, threw out a runner, and picked up two hits, including a run-scoring double on Saturday.
I haven’t talked much about Heliot Ramos since his promotion to Sacramento, and that’s because his introduction to Triple-A has so far been a little underwhelming. Ramos has hit .264 with five doubles over his first 16 games. We’re still waiting for his first Triple-A home run. He has been drawing a lot of walks, boosting his .371 OBP. After his big spring camp, fans anticipated Ramos moving quickly this year, but his performance hasn’t quite lived up to the hype so far, as he’s hit just .242/.332/.419 overall this year. Ironically, that’s almost identical to his line in Richmond as a 19-year-old at the end of the 2019 season (.242/.321/.421).
Two major pitching prospects switched place at the end of this week. Matt Frisbee, who was one of the very first promotions in the system this year, was sent back down after really scuffling with the advanced level. After posting a tiny 1.29 ERA in six starts in Richmond, he was knocked around to the tune of 7.64 ERA in Sacramento with 16 home runs hit against him in 11 games. Frisbee was sent back to Richmond to get his feet back under him again, and in his place, Sean Hjelle was promoted to Sacramento. The Big Man will make his Triple-A debut tonight.
What’s Next: After finishing up with El Paso this afternoon, Sacramento heads out on the road to take on the Salt Lake Bees. Salt Lake, as we can see from the above graphic, is in front of Sacramento in the standings despite having been outscored by 40 runs this year. Let’s say we do something about that this week, Cats!
Richmond Flying Squirrels: 42-42
(3-3 week)
Transactions:
Add INF Mitchell Tolman (re-assigned from Sacramento)
Add RHP Akeel Morris (re-assigned from Sacramento)
Delete LHP Mac Marshall (voluntarily retired)
Delete RHP R.J. Dabovich (placed on 7-day IL)
Delete OF Luis Alexander Basabe (placed on 7-day IL)
Add RHP Ryan Walker (re-assigned from Eugene)
Add RHP Matt Frisbee (re-assigned from Sacramento)
Add RHP Gerson Garabito (re-assigned from Sacramento)
Reading and Richmond, two of the three weakest offenses in the Double-A Northeast League, had a predictably low-scoring week, with a total of just 31 runs crossing the plate in their six games — and that’s with Reading having a nine-run outburst in one of the contests!
The series ended with a flurry of pitchers’ duels (although that may be a euphemism for “teams not scoring”). On Friday night, Richmond suffered a deflating loss, when speedster Simon Whiteman was thrown out at the plate, trying to score the tying run, to end the game.
Every picture tells a story, don’t it? The Squirrels showed admirable grit, however, coming back to take the series’ final two games for a split, despite scoring a total of just three runs! Nice job, fellas. Newly returned Matt Frisbee gave the team five solid innings to help with Sunday’s win. On Saturday, Ronnie Williams continued his role as indispensable arm. Williams struck out four over three brilliant innings to end a 1-0 victory, lowering his ERA to 1.36. Williams was acquired in the minor league portion of last year’s Rule 5 draft, and he’s really impressed me this year. He works at a quick pace, fires strikes with a mid-90s fastball and sharp breaking ball, and just has an “in charge” demeanor on the mound. He’s gone multiple innings regularly and, in many ways, has been the MVP of this pitching staff, giving them valuable innings when they needed it most. Another really nice scouting find by this front office.
Whiteman has taken over as the regular CF with Ramos in Sacramento, giving him a versatile up the middle profile. The speedy (30 SB!) kid from Yale has definitely caught the eye of some members of the organization, and he has a chance to develop into a big leaguer of some stripe. I guess he’s my 2021-version of Johneshwy Fargas and I’ll continue to pound my little drum: players with speed and defense profiles who hit just enough can work their way into opportunities. It’s important to be able to help a team win in multiple ways. Since coming up to Richmond in mid-May, Whiteman has hit .264/.355/.376, while playing shortstop, 2b, and now CF. He’s successfully stolen 14 bases in 15 attempts against Double-A competition.
Will Wilson, on the other hand, has really been getting roughed around by the new level. In just his first full professional season, Wilson has been moved aggressively and it’s definitely been a humbling experience for the young 1st rounder. He’s struck out 42 times with Richmond in 123 PA, while hitting just .168. Going back to June 1 (which includes his final month with Eugene), Wilson is hitting just .196.
Anecdotally, it feels like Wilson has gotten a little pull-happy with some of his home run success earlier in the year. He’s getting beaten pretty regularly by breaking balls away, and probably needs to spend some time using the whole field and getting a little less conscious of yanking the ball out. He’s got a lot of fans in the organization who want to see him figure it out and succeed, but they really have asked a lot of him this year (remember, this is his first full season of pro ball and he’s been pushed aggressively). He’s one of several Giants’ prospects who could really use a good final month!
Diego Rincones has done somewhat better since coming up, hitting .247 and slugging .459 (second best on the club behind Vince Fernandez’ .462). He’s also struck out just 22 times in 99 PA while walking 10 times.
The pitching staff, which lost Caleb Kilian and Jose Marte at the trade deadline, suffered two more blows in the last week. R.J. Dabovich was placed on the 7-day IL with an undisclosed injury after being removed in the middle of an at bat (never a good sign). More happily, Hjelle was deemed “ready for Sacramento.”
What’s Next: Richmond heads back to Bowie to take on the BaySox, who are fighting to regain 1st place. Bowie took five of six in Richmond just two weeks ago — and that was when the Squirrels still had Kilian, Hjelle, Marte, and Dabovich!
Eugene Emeralds: 49-35
(5-1 week)
Transactions:
Delete RHP Cole Waites (sent to ACL Giants Orange on rehab assignment)
Delete RHP Ryan Walker (re-assigned to Richmond)
Add INF Marco Luciano (re-assigned from San Jose)
Add INF Logan Wyatt (re-assigned from ACL Giants Orange)
The one downside to my road trip was that I spent two series watching Angels affiliates, and if there are any closet Angels fans among you — folks, your farm system is pretty bad! In the opening game of Eugene’s series against Tri-City, they scored 11 runs on 13 hits including eight extra-base hits! It turned out, that was just a warmup. By the time Friday night’s 20-2 massacre was completed, the Emeralds had scored 46 runs on 60 hits, including a mind-boggling 32 extra-base hits in just four nights.
That included Munguia’s incredible work (12 for 21, four doubles, a triple and a homer), a five-hit cycle night for Fitzgerald (who had four doubles over the four nights), a .368 week for Armani Smith (including a double, triple, and homer), a .385 week with three doubles for Ricardo Genovés, it went on and on! Even Sean Roby, mired in a season-long slump, got in on the act, pounding three homers and three doubles, and hitting .483 for the week. Roby’s power was definitely on display all week, especially when he hit this rainmaker to the skies that somehow snuck out over the 376’ sign. Marco Luciano’s first High-A home run had an incredible launch angle of 49°, but Roby’s had to be in the 50s — I’d swear he hit it straight up!
Suffice it to say, this was a week for hitters to get healthy in Eugene. Mostly, however, that didn’t include Luciano who also found his new level challenging. He showed how well his tools can play when he blasted a double and moonshot a homer, but he also struggled against a slightly better brand of pitching, going just 2 for 18 with 10 K in his first week. That’s why they have levels, folks!
The week was so prolific, it’s exhausting just to list it all! And if you really want to tire yourself out, try watching the Ems score all 20 of Friday night’s runs!
While most of the attention was on the batters’ box, Eugene did get impressive pitching performances from Ryan Murphy (twice!) and indy ball vet Jake Dahlberg, who performed so well in his start that he became the High-A Pitcher of the Week honoree! The 27-year-old former-ace of the Chicago Dogs struck out nine over six shutout innings.
What’s Next: Eugene hits the road to visit Hillsboro. While not quite Tri-City bad, the Hops are another series with the opportunity to fatten up some batting lines and continue to try to climb back to the top of the standings.
San Jose Giants: 53-31
(2-4 week)
Transactions:
Delete INF Marco Luciano (re-assigned to Eugene)
Add INF Yorlis Rodriguez (re-assigned from ACL Giants Black)
After spending much of the past several weeks a game or two behind the incredible Fresno Grizzlies, San Jose finally had the chance to meet their rivals face on and reclaim 1st place in the Northern Division. On the opening night of the series, the Giants blew a 5-0 lead, and got walked off after allowing four runs to the Grizzlies in the final two innings. In a matter of 30 minutes, the team had gone from possibly tying for the division lead to getting knocked two games back. That blow was immediately followed by the news that their best player had been promoted to High-A. As if that 1-2 punch wasn’t enough, the following night Luis Matos ended another brilliant effort by getting hit in the wrist with a fastball. He’d luckily avoid serious injury, but after sitting out for two nights, Matos was a virtual non-entity the rest of the series.
San Jose ultimately couldn’t overcome this series of obstacles, and they’d drop the series to fall 3 games behind Fresno. They did manage to deliver a gut punch of their own, however, scoring five runs in the top of the 9th on Friday to score a stunning 6-5 victory of their own. That comeback included a Grand Slam from the red-hot Jimmy Glowenke (1.074 OPS in July) and, more improbably, just the second professional home run by Tyler Wyatt for the win.
One hitter who wasn’t fazed by all the changes this week was Jairo Pomares, who just keeps on hitting. After a 9 for 22 week that featured his 12th home run and 19th double in just 45 games, the sweet-swinging lefty is now posting an 1.103 OPS for the year and should probably be joining his friend Marco in Oregon soon (though that won’t do much to help San Jose’s title chances).
One other players who has turned his season around is Luis Toribio. Toribio struggled recognizing breaking balls through the first two months of the year, leading to an average in the low .200s. But he still showed a patient, disciplined approach. As he’s started driving more balls that approach has paid off. Since July 1, Toribio is hitting .308/.410/.452. If he’s going to get pushed over to 1b, he’ll need to show more power, but, watching his BP sessions, it’s definitely in there. I got plenty of positive scouting buzz on Toribio while in San Jose.
We’ve talked about a few players struggling with promotions this year, but there’s only one player in the system who is struggling with a demotion. After hitting just .185 with a .587 OPS in Eugene over 33 games, 2020 1st round pick Patrick Bailey isn’t showing much better after dropping down to San Jose. Over his first three weeks in Low-A, Bailey is hitting just .239 with a .338 slugging percentage. He has drawn a good amount of walks, boosting his San Jose OBP to .345, but there’s no denying that this has been a disappointing start to the 1st rounder’s pro career.
What’s Next: After dropping a tough series in Fresno, the Giants attempt to rebound with a home series against the Modesto Nuts, whom they’ve handled well this year. The Giants swept a six-game series in Modesto last month.
Arizona Complex League
Giants Black: 16-13 (2-3 week)
Giants Orange: 15-14 (4-1 week)
Transactions:
Add Cole Waites (OR) (placed on rehab assignment from Eugene)
Delete INF Yorlis Rodriguez (BL) (re-assigned to San Jose)
Delete RHP Jorge Garcia (BL) (placed on 60-day IL)
Delete INF Logan Wyatt (OR) (re-assigned to Eugene)
I won’t bother adding all of these to the transactions list at this level, but get ready for a lot of pro debuts as more of the 2021 draft class and undrafted free agents start making their way onto the teams (see below).
Besides the brilliant trio of Arteaga, Sugastey, and Mercedes mentioned above, there are a number of other little Giants putting together strong seasons in the desert. Since being demoted from San Jose, Garrett Frechette has found his footing in the ACL, hitting .333/.369/.474. Yorlis Rodriguez was hitting .318 in the ACL prior to his promotion to San Jose. Nineteen-year-old Alexander Suarez is putting together a solid .303/.361/.465 campaign. Suarez is pretty age appropriate for the level, which gives additional perspective on the seasons that Luciano, Matos, and Harrison are having at the same age. Speaking of players who are young for their level, Diego Velasquez is the lone 17-year-old in the ACL this year, and, while he hasn’t hit much yet, it’s notable that he has very rarely struck out (just 9 times in 71 plate appearances), despite facing some premium stuff for players much older than himself. He might need a couple of shots at this level but he’s hanging in there.
The high school class of 2019 is struggling to get out of the desert, with Grant McCray (.243 avg, .742 OPS) still working his way back from injury and mostly DH’ing, and Dilan Rosario struggling to hit this summer, batting just .186 with two home runs and three triples. The same is true of 2018 high school draftee P.J. Hilson, who has all the tools but the contact one. Hilson put a charge into a ball while I was there, but is hitting just .143/.286/.222.
Trevor McDonald is having more success as he works back from a spring injury, striking out a batter per inning over 35.1 IP. McDonald is showing good stuff, but he’s had some issues with command (18 walks) leading to an elevated 4.84 ERA. It will be interesting to see if he can get a few weeks in full season ball before the year is ended. Another pitcher battling command is 18-year-old left-hander Esmerlin Vinicio, but Vinicio has managed to make it work with a 1.84 ERA. Vinicio has struck out 36 and walked 21 in 29.1 innings. But the most striking thing about Vinicio is his body. One look at the left-hander was enough to understand why the Giants have slow-played his development as much as they have. There is skinny….and then there’s “rock star skinny.” Vinicio is rock star skinny, and will really need to be built up physically to help him reach his potential in the future.
Keep eating those apples, kid!
The ACL has begun another hub of Rehab Central as several players are working their way back from injury in the camp, including 2019 1st round pick Hunter Bishop. Bishop is still looking for his timing, with just one hit and five strikeouts in his first 13 ABs. Logan Wyatt has spent the last week in the ACL, going 8 for 33 with 10 strikeouts and 2 walks. He’ll be back with Eugene for this week’s series. On the pitching side, Nick Swiney, Nick Morreale, Cole Waites, and Blake Rivera are all doing rehab work at the complex. I saw Swiney, Waites, and Rivera on Saturday and all looked good. Swiney’s curve and change both looked in mid-season form, while Waites was throwing 98 mph rockets. Blake Rivera might have been the most impressive of the trio. His velocity wasn’t quite up to usual standards (he sat 93-94), but he was unleashing some hellacious sliders.
Dominican Summer League
Giants Orange: 6-10, 6th place in Northeast Division (3-1 Week)
Giants Black: 6-7, 5th place in San Pedro Division (DNP last week)
Team Black has been dealing with a fairly serious COVID outbreak for the past week and a half, keeping them off the field for 10 days. Yesterday was supposed to be their first game back on the field, but the return was short-lived as heavy rains suspended the game in the 2nd inning. Even though the team was back on the field, I’m told there are still some players who are being held out of action due to COVID protocols.
Team Orange did better, actually taking three victories in their four games (the fifth was supposed to come against Giants Black). Despite that success, there haven’t been many standout performances on the team. Only one player on Giants Orange has an OPS above .700, infielder Derwin Laya, leading the team with a .225/.381/.353 line — and Laya didn’t play at all this week. The offensive star for Team Orange this week was 17-year-old corner outfielder Eliam Sandoval, who went 4 for 15 with his team leading 2nd home run. Jhosward Camacho, the only active player in his Age-16 season, also went 4 for 15 with four singles.
On the mound, Rolfi Jimenez continued his excellent start to his pro career. In four starts, Jimenez has an 0.93 ERA, having allowed just two earned runs on two home runs over 19 innings. He’s struck out 16 and walked just three.
About Last Night:
Sacramento lost vs El Paso Chihuahuas (Padres), 7-3
Notable Lines:
Evan Longoria 3b: 3 for 3, HR, Run, RBI, E
Mauricio Dubón SS: 2 for 5, K
Tyler Beede: 2.2 IP, 2 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 6 BB, 1 K, 1 HR
Kervin Castro: 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K
One player’s work last night suggested he’s nearly ready to contribute to the Giants’ stretch run, while another player indicated he’s far from helping. Evan Longoria collected three hits including a home run, looking for all the world like his return to San Francisco could be imminent.
Tyler Beede, on the other hand, could have a role to play in helping the Giants if he could only find some semblance of command. Beede walked the first three batters he faced last night. And though he got out of that jam with a double play, two innings later he repeated the trick, walking three straight batters in the third inning. The second time, he wasn’t so fortunate, surrendering a Grand Slam that broke the game open.
ACL Giants Orange lost @ ACL Rockies, 1-0 (7 inn)
Notable Lines:
Adrian Sugastey C: 2 for 3
Damon Dues 2b: 1 for 3, K, E
Vaun Brown LF: 1 for 2, K
Nick Morreale: 0.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K
Nomar Medina: 2.1, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K
ACL Giants Black beat ACL Athletics, 12-10 (7 inn)
Notable Lines:
Diego Velasquez SS: 1 for 2, Run, 2 BB
Hunter Bishop LF: 1 for 2, Run, RBI, K
Jared Dupere RF: 1 for 3, 2b, Run, RBI, BB, 2 K
Ghordy Santos 2b: 3 for 4, 2 HR (2), 2 Run, 6 RBI
Irvin Murr III 3b: 0 for 3, K, E
Lisander De La Cruz: 2.0 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, WP, HB
Odue Civada: 2.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, HR, WP, HB
There was no breeze blowing in my two games at Papago Park (it certainly would have been welcome in the stifling heat), so I saw no indication that the facility plays small — but the scores last night certainly could indicate that it can play that way on certain nights. Longtime There R Giants favorite Ghordy Santos had a huge night, blasting home runs in his first two at bats and posting a six RBI night to help lead Team Black to a big victory. The Orange Gang, on the other hand, managed just four hits, all singles, in getting shut out. Adrian Sugastey had half the team’s output.
It was a big night for pro debuts, as the Giants saw their 10th (Brown), 13th (Dupere), and 19th (Murr) round picks all take the field for the first time, in addition to undrafted free agent Damon Dues. Dupere, who has big power, made the biggest impact with a double. Several of those guys were taking on an A’s team that also had many players making their pro debut, including A’s 1st rounder “the other” Max Muncy. On the downside, former A’s All Star Khris Davis also appeared in the game, as he’s back in the organization trying to pick up the pieces.
I’m not sure what happened with Nick Morreale last night, but failing to make it through the first inning of a rehab start doesn’t feel like a good thing. Prior to last night, Morreale had only appeared once since July 26, after making three appearances in relatively short order. Nomar Medina, who followed Morreale, is one of the very few left-handers in the Giants ACL camp. Way back in the spring, I noted the dearth of left-handed relievers in the system. Medina is one of just five lefties on the Orange and Black rosters (not counting Swiney).
Dominican Summer League:
The good news: Team Black was back in action after a 10-day layoff (though some of their players are still in COVID protocols).
The bad news: both the Giants Black and Giants Orange teams had their games suspended by rain in the early innings. Both teams will complete their games on September 2.
What’s On Tap?
Sacramento (Sean Hjelle) vs. El Paso (Luke Westphal), 12:05 pm, MiLBTV
Richmond (Trenton Toplikar) @ Bowie BaySox (TBD), 3:35 pm, MiLBTV
Eugene (TBD) @ Hillsboro (Shumpei Yoshikawa), 7:05 pm, MiLBTV
San Jose (Kyle Harrison) vs. Modesto (TBD), 6:30 pm, MiLBTV
ACL Giants Black (TBD) vs. ACL Rockies (TBD), 6:00 pm, No Video
ACL Giants Orange (TBD) @ ACL Cubs (TBD), 6:00 pm, No Video
DSL Giants Orange (TBD) @ DSL Pirates Gold (TBD), 7:30 am, No Video
DSL Giants Black (TBD) vs. DSL Tigers (TBD), 7:30 am, No Video
Sean Hjelle makes his Triple-A debut this afternoon, and hopefully it will be a successful one! Hjelle needs to be added to the 40-man this winter, so if he pitches well and is needed down the stretch, the Giants could be enticed to add him to the roster (though again, let’s hope for enough good health and performances that such contingencies aren’t needed in the next six weeks). Down in San Jose, Kyle Harrison looks to get back on track after a run of short outings. And hopefully in the Dominican, the Giants Black will finally get a game in after a difficult run.
Amazingly, we only have about a month of minor league baseball left. So let’s enjoy what we have.
One program note, now that I’ve finished my tour of the provinces and the trade deadline is behind me, I’ll finally be getting around to a Top 30 system re-rank this weekend, so look forward to that! It won’t be an in depth look at every player — I’ll save that for the off-season. But my last ranking of the system predates even Instrux from last fall, and we’ve learned so much about so many players since then, so this is long overdue. Hope you enjoy it!
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Great report - thanks for making the trip and doing these!!
If everything goes right for Matos and he were to hit his ceiling in MLB do you have a comp for him to a current player?