Minor League round up, August 17

The ACL and DSL had the day off on Wednesday, but the San Francisco Giants A-ball affiliates were in action, and my oh my were there some fun performances to talk about.

Link to the 2022 McCovey Chronicles Community Prospect List (CPL)

All listed positions are the positions played in that game.

AAA Sacramento (49-65)

Sacramento River Cats lost to the Las Vegas Aviators (A’s) 3-2
Box score

Shortstop Dixon Machado may not have had a long stint in San Francisco, and he may not get back there (he was outrighted, not optioned), but he made his case on Wednesday with his best game since joining the organization. The 30-year old righty hit 2-3 with both a home run and a double.

Not much else on offense. Second baseman David Villar (No. 19 CPL) hit 2-4 with a double, continuing his dynamic season (he has a 1.020 OPS and a 146 wRC+).

Catcher/first baseman Yermín Mercedes had a hitless day, making him just 3-22 with no extra-base hits since getting optioned, while first baseman/catcher Ford Proctor, who has been playing all over the infield with Sacramento, got his 2nd appearance behind the plate.

Also worth noting that outfielder Heliot Ramos (No. 4 CPL) didn’t play, and hasn’t played in a week. I’m guessing there’s a mild injury that I haven’t heard about.

A bullpen game for the pitchers, with RHP Gregory Santos (No. 32 CPL) striking out 2 in a perfect inning of work. The Giants would love to see the hard-throwing righty put things together to end the season. LHP Scott Alexander, playing in his 4th game with the team, struck out 4 in 1.2 scoreless innings. He’s yet to allow a run since joining Sacramento.

AA Richmond (53-56)

Richmond Flying Squirrels beat the Binghamton Rumble Ponies (Mets) 9-0
Box score

It’s LHP Kyle Harrison’s (No. 5 CPL) world and we’re all just living in it. Harrison had perhaps his best outing of the season, which is impressive when you consider that he’s been having one of the best seasons in all of Minor League Baseball.

Maybe it’s the beer? Harrison was making his first start since turning 21, and celebrated in style, pitching 6 scoreless innings in which he allowed just 2 hits (both singles), 0 walks, and hit a batter. But, as is often the case with him, it was all about the strikeouts, and he had 10 of them, striking out exactly half of the batters he faced.

We know he’ll strike out a lot of dudes, but walks have been the closest thing to a concern with Harrison this year, so seeing him have none of them is great. He’s now sporting a 2.56 ERA, a 3.54 FIP, and a blistering 94 strikeouts in 63.1 innings, with 30 walks. I’m guessing we see him in Sacramento pretty soon.

Offensively it was all about shortstop Tyler Fitzgerald (No. 35 CPL), who had a pretty damn perfect day. Fitzgerald hit 2-2 with a home run, a double, a walk, a hit by pitch, and a stolen base. That’s one hell of a line.

Fitzgerald isn’t having a great season — he has a .733 OPS and a 99 wRC+ — but the power from the position is exciting. His home run put him just 1 away from tying the Richmond franchise record that Villar set a year ago (though it’s worth noting that Sean Roby broke that record earlier this year). The Giants like developing power bats and hoping they can find the tweak to fix the other issues later, and they’ve done the first part of that equation with Fitzgerald.

Left fielder Tristan Peters had a nice day, hitting 2-4 with a double.

He struggled in his first week with the organization after coming over in the Trevor Rosenthal trade, but now has 3 doubles in his last 3 games.

High-A Eugene (66-41)

Eugene Emeralds lost to the Hillsboro Hops (Diamondbacks) 5-3
Box score

Not a dynamic start from RHP Jake Wong, but a good one nonetheless, as he allowed just 1 run in 5 innings, giving up 3 hits, 2 walks, and a hit batter, while striking out 3. Wong is still trying to get back on track after missing all of 2021 with an injury (after missing 2020 for obvious reasons), but don’t be fooled by his ERA — it may be sitting high at 4.96, but his FIP is much prettier at 3.83. Perhaps we’ll see him in Richmond this year? Maybe after Harrison gets promoted?

Another tough outing for RHP Mat Olsen, who gave up 3 baserunners and 2 runs in an inning of work. After an incredible run in Low-A to start the year (0.53 ERA, 1.99 FIP, 0.71 WHIP, and 24 strikeouts to 3 walks in 17 innings), Olsen got promoted to High-A. He’s kept up his sky-high strikeout rate, but is having a hard time limiting hits, walks, and runs, as he has a 4.98 ERA, a 3.23 FIP, a 1.63 WHIP, and 47 strikeouts to 20 walks in 34.1 innings.

The offense didn’t do much, with no extra-base hits. They showed good control and discipline, with more walks (6) than strikeouts (5), but that’s the only highlight. Designated hitter Andy Thomas, a recent addition to the organization, had the best day, hitting 1-2 with 2 walks.

But the best news was the return of shortstop Marco Luciano (No. 1 CPL), who played his first game for Eugene since June 3. He came off the bench and hit 0-1.

Low-A San Jose (61-49)

San Jose Giants lost to the Inland Empire 66ers (Angels) 6-4
Box score

My goodness what a game for third baseman Yorlis Rodriguez. The recently-turned 23 year old hit 3-4, hitting a home run and 2 doubles to lead the charge. What a performance!

Still not a very good year for him — he has a .741 OPS and an 87 wRC+ in his 3rd year at the level — but a few more 8-base days and he’ll be sitting pretty.

A pair of other Baby Giants homered: right fielder Alexander Suarez (No. 37 CPL), who is trying to find his footing as he has just a .693 OPS and a 76 wRC+; and left fielder Jared Dupere, who has been destroying pitchers since joining San Jose in early July, as he has a .972 OPS and a 141 wRC+.

Suarez’s homer was an inside the parker, though it almost cleared the fence.

As mentioned with Fitzgerald, the Giants are definitely prioritizing getting power into some of these bats, as all 3 players have nice home run tallies, despite 2 of them having below-average offensive seasons.

RHP Eric Silva (No. 38 CPL) continues to rack up the strikeouts but struggle with run prevention. The 19 year old struck out 5 in 4 innings, but gave up 8 hits and 4 runs, driving his ERA to 5.95 and his FIP to 4.84. But 95 strikeouts to 31 walks in 78.2 innings is pretty swell for a player his age who had all of 1 inning of professional baseball to his name prior to this season.

DSL Orange (24-29)

DSL Giants Orange lost to the DSL Phillies White in a previously postponed game 5-2
Box score

The DSL and ACL were off, but the DSL Giants Orange team finished a game that was postponed on July 27. RHP Melvin Javier (19, 2021 J2) finished off the pitching, hurling 2.1 innings of scoreless ball, with 1 hit, 1 walk, and 1 strikeout. Javier has had a tough debut season, with more innings, runs, and walks than strikeouts, so good to see him throw some good stuff.

Third baseman Dennys Riera (17, 2021 J2) and right fielder Erick Arosemena (17, 2021 J2) both hit 2-3 with a double. Riera has a .502 OPS and a 41 wRC+, while Arosemena has a .583 OPS and a 62 wRC+. Not exactly exciting numbers, but they’re 17 year olds with fewer than 100 at-bats in their careers.

Home runs

AAA Dixon Machado (1)
AA Tyler Fitzgerald (19)
Low-A Yorlis Rodriguez (13)
Low-A Alexander Suarez (11)
Low-A Jared Dupere (9)

News

Shortly after yet another dominant start, High-A RHP Landen Roupp was promoted to AA. Roupp, a 23-year old 12th-round pick from the 2021 draft who started the season in Low-A, had a 1.67 ERA, a 1.60 FIP, and 52 strikeouts to 9 walks in 32.1 innings with Eugene.

Joining him in the promotion to AA is RHP Keaton Winn, a 24-year old 5th-round pick from 2018. Winn also started the year in Low-A, and in High-A had a 3.16 ERA, a 2.93 FIP, and 46 strikeouts to 10 walks in 37 innings. Both pitchers are being developed as starters.

In less good news, AA outfielder Michael Gigliotti suffered a shoulder injury in Wednesday’s game.

Thursday schedule

Sacramento: Off
Richmond: vs. the Binghamton Rumble Ponies (Mets), 3:35 p.m. PT
Eugene: @ the Hillsboro Hops (Diamondbacks), 1:05 p.m. PT
San Jose: vs. the Inland Empire 66ers (Angels), 6:30 p.m. PT
ACL Orange: vs. the ACL Angels
ACL Black: vs. the ACL D-backs Red
DSL Orange: vs. DSL TEX Blue
DSL Black: vs. the DSL Phillies Red