Wednesday was a good day. For the second day in a row, the San Francisco Giants and their four Minor League Baseball A-ball affiliates all won their games. That\u2019s a whole lot of winning, so let\u2019s talk about it!<\/p>\n
Link to the 2026 McCovey Chronicles Community Prospect List (CPL)<\/a><\/p>\n All listed positions in the roundup are the position played in that particular game.<\/p>\n Sacramento River Cats beat the Las Vegas Aviators (A\u2019s) 8-7 (11 innings) It took a pair of extra innings, but the River Cats managed to win their 4th consecutive game. And they did it with a fair amount of drama. Sacramento allowed the Manfred Man to score in both the 10th and 11th innings, and in the 11th, they started off the bottom half of the inning with back-to-back strikeouts, failing to move the runner over. But shortstop Osleivis Basabe, who hit 1-3 with an error, drew his 2nd walk of the day, and center fielder Drew Gilbert put the ball in play, reaching base safely \u2014 and knocking in the tying run \u2014 on an error.<\/p>\n And that brought up second baseman Jes\u00fas Rodr\u00edguez (No. 16 CPL), who ended the game by smashing an RBI double.<\/p>\n Rodr\u00edguez finished the day 2-5 with a walk, and is really heating up after a slow start. After being held hitless in the season opener, the righty has hit safely in 7 straight games, and so far in 3 games against Vegas, he\u2019s 6-13 with 2 extra-base hits, 2 walks, and just 1 strikeout, which has brought him up to a .754 OPS and a 104 wRC+. He\u2019s still a few weeks away from turning 24, and he\u2019s on the 40-man roster \u2026 don\u2019t be surprised if he makes his Major League debut in the coming months, whether as a backup catcher, a fill-in second baseman, or a utility player.<\/p>\n But while Rodr\u00edguez provided the winning hit, the most notable hit belonged to the most notable player on the roster: first baseman Bryce Eldridge (No. 1 CPL). Eldridge needed just 1 at-bat in this game to provide a sight for sore eyes: a towering, majestic, absolutely gorgeous 2-run home run, though we sadly were deprived of audio for it.<\/p>\n It\u2019s weird to say, but we hadn\u2019t seen Eldridge\u2019s power in a little while. Counting Spring Training, he had gone 24 consecutive games without putting a ball over the fence, with just 6 total extra-base hits during that time (though, admittedly, he wasn\u2019t playing full Spring Training games).<\/p>\n But no more. Eldridge has his 1st home run of the year \u2026 and the 1st of many, I\u2019m sure. The only question is how many will be in a Sacramento jersey, and how many will be in a San Francisco jersey.<\/p>\n Still, the warnings I issued in yesterday\u2019s roundup are still true for Eldridge, who finished the day 2-5 with 2 strikeouts. While the nice day boosted his batted ball metrics, which had been lagging behind what we\u2019ve grown to expect, the strikeout issues are still concerning, as the tall lefty is 16th percentile in strikeout rate, 11th percentile in whiff rate, 12th percentile in in-zone contact rate, and 32nd percentile in swinging strike rate. Work to be done, but a big step forward.<\/p>\n Another player who figures to hit a lot of home runs this year in either Sacramento or San Francisco went deep as well: left fielder Victor Bericoto (No. 35 CPL), who went just 1-5 with 2 strikeouts, but bashed a tie-breaking home run in the 8th inning.<\/p>\n Like Eldridge, Bericoto is striking out a little too much (26.2%), though that\u2019s not been a big issue in his career, so probably something that will lower as he adjusts to the level. The sample is small, but through 9 games this year, Bericoto looks nothing like the hitter who struggled in 11 games at the level last year. Then he hit .196\/.196\/.283 with a wRC+ of 16; this year, he\u2019s hitting .306\/.381\/.583, for a 155 wRC+.<\/p>\n And the final member of the home run party was center fielder Drew Gilbert, who hit just 1-6 but smacked a solo home run.<\/p>\n Gilbert had a rough Spring Training as he dealt with a shoulder injury and never was able to find a rhythm. But he\u2019s been hitting very well in Sacramento, with an .833 OPS, a 135 wRC+, and more walks than strikeouts. Unfortunately, the same can\u2019t be said for right fielder Grant McCray, whose strikeout issues are starting to return, as he hit 0-4 with a walk and 2 Ks. McCray is mired in quite a slump at the moment: in his last 5 starts, he\u2019s 0-16 with 7 strikeouts. He does have 6 walks in that time, and that\u2019s been his saving grace this season: he\u2019s hitting just 6-35 with 0 home runs, but has drawn 10 walks and been hit by a pitch.<\/p>\n While the hitters who are on the 40-man roster mostly had good days, the same cannot be said for the pitchers. Unfortunately, it was another rough outing for RHP Trevor McDonald (No. 12 CPL) who got the start but simply could not find the strike zone. The silver lining (if you really squint) is that McDonald was unhittable, ceding no hits all game. But that was because he was wild, and not effectively wild, either. He needed 52 pitches to get through 2.1 innings, and threw just half of them for strikes. While that did earn him a pair of strikeouts, it also resulted in 4 walks, a hit batter, and 2 runs to his name \u2026 and it could have been more than that, as he left with the bases loaded and just 1 out, but only 1 of the inherited runners scored.<\/p>\n McDonald was one of the stars of the start of Spring Training, but it\u2019s been all downhill since then for the recently-turned 25-year old. In his last 6 games \u2014 3 each in Spring Training and AAA \u2014 McDonald has pitched 12.2 innings and allowed 13 hits, 7 walks, 3 hit batters, and 14 earned runs, albeit with 14 strikeouts. He\u2019s got some ironing out to do to catch the other young, unproven pitchers on the 40-man roster.<\/p>\n Replacing McDonald was RHP Tristan Beck, who is trying to work his way back to the MLB bullpen. He didn\u2019t enter the rosiest situation, but also didn\u2019t pitch his best, allowing 3 hits and 1 earned run in 1.2 innings of work, with 1 strikeout. Beck\u2019s been fine so far this year \u2014 he has a 3.18 ERA, a 1.87 FIP, and 9 strikeouts against 3 walks in 5.2 innings \u2014 but isn\u2019t yet forcing the issue.<\/p>\n Unlike McDonald and Beck, RHPs Gregory Santos and Will Bednar (No. 24) aren\u2019t on the 40-man roster, but they have some of the best fastballs in the organization, and are hoping to become part of the Major League bullpen plan at some point soon. They had so-so days: Santos gave up 2 hits and an earned run in 2 innings, with a strikeout, while Bednar pitched the 10th and 11th innings and allowed both Manfred Men to score, but gave up just 1 hit and no earned runs, with 1 strikeout. Bednar is performing much better than he did in his brief glimpse of AAA last year. His velo was notably down in this game, but that could potentially be due to the fact that he wasn\u2019t supposed to pitch in this game, and was called into action when it went to extra innings.<\/p>\n Richmond Flying Squirrels beat the Altoona Curve (Pirates) 5-3 It was a very well-balanced attack for the Squirrels on Wednesday, as they, too, drove their winning streak to 4 games. The biggest contribution came from the hitter at the very bottom of the lineup: center fielder Jonah Cox.<\/p>\n By now, you\u2019re likely familiar with the story of Cox, the 2023 6th-round pick whom the Giants stole from the A\u2019s in the Ross Stripling trade. He\u2019s arguably the best baserunner in the system (Jared Oliva takes the cake if we\u2019re including the Majors), and plays quality defense at all 3 outfield positions. It\u2019s an Oliva-esque 4th\/5th outfielder profile, and that\u2019s Cox\u2019s ceiling unless he can start hitting better. Last year he spent the full season in High-A Eugene, where he had a modest .731 OPS and a 103 wRC+.<\/p>\n But he\u2019s off to quite a start in Richmond. On Wednesday the 24-year old righty hit 2-4 with a double and a strikeout, raising his OPS to .831 and his wRC+ to 124. There will be some regression \u2014 he has a 27.3% strikeout rate and a .500 BABIP \u2014 but still. It\u2019s good to see him making things happen with the bat.<\/p>\n His legs, meanwhile, did what we\u2019re accustomed to them doing, as he stole a pair of bases. Through 5 games he now has 5 thefts in 6 attempts. What a fun player.<\/p>\n Third baseman Dayson Croes had yet another nice game, hitting 2-5 with a double. He\u2019s hit safely in all 5 games this year, which includes 3 multi-hit games, and he\u2019s 10-24 on the year. I talked quite a bit about Croes in yesterday\u2019s roundup<\/a>, so you can get a refresher there if you missed it, but don\u2019t be surprised if the Giants find a way to get him in AAA soon. He spent a chunk of time there last year, and hit quite well, and is probably only in AA because Nate Furman (No. 39 CPL) is occupying a very similar role for the River Cats.<\/p>\n Catcher Drew Cavanaugh (No. 19 CPL) continues to make an enticing case that last year\u2019s breakout season was no fluke. The lefty hitter, who had the breakout season of all breakout seasons after 2 middling years following a 17th-round selection, hit 1-3 with a double and a walk. It\u2019s only been 3 games \u2014 he\u2019s splitting catcher duties with Adri\u00e1n Sugastey \u2014 but Cavanaugh is hitting about as well as you could possibly hope, as he\u2019s 6-11 with 5 extra-base hits and 4 walks. Perhaps most impressively, though, is that a year after running a 28.3% strikeout rate in AA (and a 27.4% rate across 4 levels), Cavanaugh has yet to strike out.<\/p>\n Also great days for second baseman Diego Velasquez (No. 31 CPL) and right fielder Turner Hill. Velasquez, a contact maven who is lacking a bit in power and physicality, hit 1-2 with a double, 2 walks, and a strikeout, raising the 22-year old switch-hitter\u2019s OPS to 1.264 through 3 games, with a 263 wRC+. Hill, a lefty who just turned 27 and who has a very similar profile to Cox, went 1-3 with a triple, a walk, 3 RBIs, and a strikeout, boosting his OPS to .818 and his wRC+ to 105 through 5 games.<\/p>\n It was an odd pitching game for Richmond. They gave up just 3 hits on the day, but walked 9 batters. The only player immune from the walks was the closer, RHP Tyler Vogel, who pitched a scoreless inning with a hit and 2 strikeouts. Vogel has been sensational through 3 appearances this year, giving up 3 hits, 1 walk, and 0 runs, while striking out 7 batters. He was dominant in 16 innings with Richmond last year, and earned a cup of coffee in Sacramento, so I\u2019d say he\u2019s not going to be a Squirrel for much longer. He\u2019s really meeting the moment, and since he\u2019s Rule 5 eligible, I\u2019d guess the Giants would like to see what he can do in AAA.<\/p>\n The start was the organizational debut for RHP Logan Martin. A 24-year old taken in the 12th round in 2023, Martin came to the Giants over the winter in the Mason Black trade. It was also Martin\u2019s AA debut, as he spent all of last year with Kansas City\u2019s High-A affiliate, where he had a 3.45 ERA and a 3.79 FIP in 22 starts.<\/p>\n It was a so-so introduction to the level, as Martin pitched 4 innings and gave up 2 hits, 3 walks, and 3 runs, with 5 strikeouts. Only allowing 2 hits is great, though they were both extra-baggers, including a home run. But needless to say, the walks will need to come down. Still, the strikeouts proved encouraging: Martin only K\u2019d 7.7 batters per 9 innings last year, so it will be interesting to see if the Giants have untapped some better swing-and-miss stuff, or if this was just an outlier where his wildness made amateur hitters uncomfortable.<\/p>\n Really funny scoreless relief appearances from LHPs Jack Choate (No. 37 CPL) and Dylan Carmouche. Neither of the 24-year old late-rounders (9th round in 2022 for Choate, 15th in 2023 for Carmouche) could find the strike zone, for better and for worse. Choate tossed 2.2 no-hit innings with 4 strikeouts, but walked 3 batters. Carmouche was even more extreme, with 3 walks and 2 strikeouts in just 1.1 no-hit innings.<\/p>\n
Box score<\/a><\/p>\n
Box score<\/a><\/p>\n