Apologies for the lateness of today\u2019s Minor League Baseball roundup, but my internet was out for a few hours. Five of the San Francisco Giants affiliates were in action on Wednesday, so let\u2019s talk about them!<\/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 A few small moves to talk about. LHP Seth Lonsway, who opened the year with AAA Sacramento but was recently demoted to AA Richmond, was returned back to Sacramento. High-A Eugene RHPs Ryan Slater and Matt Dunaway were both activated off the Injured List. And Low-A San Jose RHP Cody Delvecchio was placed on the 7-Day IL.<\/p>\n Sacramento River Cats beat the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (Astros) 2-1 A fantastic pitching performance from an unlikely source: LHP John Michael Bertrand. The 28-year old, taken in the 10th round in the 2022 MLB Draft, is finally getting some uninterrupted run in AAA, after more than 300 innings in AA, and brief stints in AAA to end the last 2 seasons. The results have been middling so far, which honestly isn\u2019t surprising for a non blue-chip pitching prospect whose fastball averages exactly 90 mph.<\/p>\n But Wednesday was a fabulous day for the funky southpaw, who breezed through 6 shutout innings, while allowing just 4 singles, 2 walks, and a hit batter, and striking out 6 Space Cowboys. What a fantastic game. The 6 strikeouts were slightly surprising for Bertrand, as, even after that performance, he\u2019s at just 6.5 per 9 innings this year, which is fairly in line with his career averages. His 5.09 ERA and 5.28 FIP are a reminder that it\u2019s very hard to find success at the highest levels without throwing gas \u2026 but games like this one are a reminder that there\u2019s more than one way to skin a cat \u2026 or more than one way to retire a hitter, to use a more PETA-approved phrase.<\/p>\n RHP Spencer Bivens has returned to the bullpen, after filling in in the rotation for a while. He did quite well in that role, and perhaps it will carry over to his more standard role, as he was strong in this outing, allowing just a single in 1.2 innings, while striking out 3 (he did give up the only run Sacramento allowed, but it was unearned).<\/p>\n Bivens really struggled to open the year, giving up 14 earned runs in 17.1 innings over his first 11 games, with 14 strikeouts. In 6 games since, though, he\u2019s allowed only 5 earned runs in 22.2 innings, with 18 strikeouts. There\u2019s still work to do to get fully back on track, but I suspect he\u2019ll be back in the San Francisco bullpen at some point this year.<\/p>\n A quiet day on offense. The star was once again second baseman Nate Furman (No. 39 CPL), who hit 1-3 with a double, a walk, a stolen base, and a strikeout. Furman\u2019s AAA debut hasn\u2019t been scintillating, but he\u2019s been solid really the entire year, and is up to a .798 OPS and a 114 wRC+, with just a 13.0% strikeout rate, and 9 stolen bases in 13 attempts. It will be interesting to see what the Giants do with the soon-to-turn 25-year old lefty, as they probably think he\u2019s about ready for an MLB debut \u2026 but don\u2019t really have a way to play him. Furman only plays second base (and not particularly well at that), and even if\/when the Giants trade Luis Arr\u00e1ez, one can assume it will be so Casey Schmitt can be the everyday player there. We\u2019ll see, though \u2026 these things tend to work themselves out.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a question: has Drew Cavanaugh (No. 19 CPL) surpassed Jes\u00fas Rodr\u00edguez (No. 16 CPL) on the organization\u2019s catcher depth chart? Obviously Rodr\u00edguez would be more likely to get the call if the Giants needed someone tomorrow, but that\u2019s due to being a rostered player. It\u2019s certainly possible that Cavanaugh is viewed more highly by the organization right now, given how brilliantly he\u2019s taken to AAA. He was the designated hitter in this game, and hit 2-3 with a hit by pitch and a strikeout. He\u2019s hitting for average, hitting for power, drawing walks, and limiting strikeouts, and the result is an 1.177 OPS and a 200 wRC+ through 22 AAA games \u2026 all with strong defense. My goodness, Drew! Save some hits for the rest of the guys!<\/p>\n Rodr\u00edguez, on the other hand, has been struggling a bit since getting optioned (though it\u2019s worth noting that he was decent in his debut MLB stint). He played catcher in this game and went 0-4 with a strikeout \u2026 since getting sent back to AAA, the 24-year old righty is just 4-25, with 2 doubles, 1 walk, and 4 strikeouts. Still, the future is extremely bright for both of these young backstops.<\/p>\n Richmond Flying Squirrels beat the Harrisburg Senators (Nationals) 7-2 Richmond\u2019s offense has been a little quiet lately, but that certainly wasn\u2019t the case in this game. The Squirrels had a dynamic offensive game, and just looking at the box score you would have expected them to score a bit more than 7 runs, honestly.<\/p>\n At the middle of it all was the hottest player in the farm, center fielder Bo Davidson (No. 4 CPL). The 24-year old left-handed UDFA was once again a force to be reckoned with, hitting 1-2 with a home run, a walk, a sacrifice fly, a strikeout, and a team-high 3 runs batted in. Davidson\u2019s revival has been one of the best stories on the farm lately. He got off to a bit of a slow start, and while there were reasons to explain it \u2014 he missed time with an injury, he missed time due to the birth of his child, and it\u2019s not uncommon to need an adjustment period at higher levels \u2014 it always gives you a little pause, and makes you wonder if a prospect bubble is popping.<\/p>\n Davidson\u2019s power was sapped in May, as he had just 1 home run in the month, and just a .664 OPS. But June brought on the real Bo, and he has been completely unstoppable: he\u2019s hit safely in all 8 games this month, compiling a 13-32 line along the way, and smacking a stunning 6 home runs. 6 home runs! In 8 games! In the Eastern League! And that is how, despite the power outage in May, Davidson now leads the Giants farm with 12 home runs, while bringing him up to an .835 OPS and a 114 wRC+. He\u2019s also been swinging-and-missing a lot less lately, which is tremendous to see.<\/p>\n Unlike Davidson, shortstop Maui Ahuna (No. 33 CPL) has been having a miserable June. He entered Wednesday\u2019s game hitting just 3-24 in the month, with 0 extra-base hits and 12 strikeouts. But Wednesday was a step towards correcting that, as the smooth-fielding lefty went 1-3 with a solo home run and a walk, though he also struck out twice.<\/p>\n Ahuna\u2019s AA assignment was simultaneously aggressive and necessary (both due to his age and to the shortstops occupying lower levels), and it\u2019s been a mixed bag. He\u2019s shown signs of offensive life, but he\u2019s also struggled a bit, with just a .229 average, a .693 OPS, and an 85 wRC+. He\u2019s shown some thump, but the concern with his offense has not been alleviated: of the 127 Eastern League hitters with at least 100 plate appearances this year, Ahuna is 122nd in strikeout rate (36.1%), and 120th in swinging strike rate (18.3%).<\/p>\n Also clearing the fence was right fielder Jean Carlos Sio (No. 44 CPL), who had an identical day to Ahuna, going 1-3 with a solo home run, a walk, and 2 strikeouts. Sio, a lefty who only turned 22 in April, is still adjusting to his new level, where he has just a .227 average, a .655 OPS, a 77 wRC+, and a 29.2% strikeout rate. But it\u2019s only been 7 games, and it came after a delayed start to the season due to injury, and just 44 games in High-A across last year and this year. Now he has his 1st AA home run, and maybe that will get him going!<\/p>\n Very nice games for left fielder Parks Harber (No. 17 CPL) and designated hitter Jack Payton. Harber went 2-3 with a double, 2 walks, and a strikeout, while Payton hit 2-4 with a triple and a strikeout. Harber has quieted down following his electric start to the season, but is still having a great year, with a .923 OPS and a 143 wRC+ (he\u2019s also playing almost exclusively in the outfield right now). Payton, an 11th-round pick in 2023, is struggling to adapt to the level, and has just a .573 OPS and a 54 wRC+ in 30 games, following an early-season promotion.<\/p>\n A fairly uninteresting game on the mound. LHP Greg Farone was so-so, giving up 4 hits (including a home run) in 5 innings, with 3 walks, 2 earned runs, and 4 strikeouts. The 2024 7th-round pick has some really intriguing stuff, but just hasn\u2019t been able to put it together this year, as he has a 6.23 ERA, a 6.42 FIP, with 8.9 strikeouts and 5.3 walks per 9 innings. There\u2019s something there, but it hasn\u2019t really come together at any point this year.<\/p>\n RHP Will Bednar (No. 24 CPL) is kind of plodding along back in AA, and he pitched 2 no-hit innings in this one, but walked 2 while striking out just 1. Bednar has improved his AA ERA dramatically year-over-year, from 4.97 to 3.86, but that certainly doesn\u2019t tell the story. His biggest issue has been walks, and those have jumped from 6.8 per 9 innings to 7.3 \u2026 meanwhile his calling card, the strikeouts, have tumbled, from 14.9 per 9 to just 10.8. Weird season.<\/p>\n A great game for RHP Shane Rademacher, who struck out 3 batters in 2 scoreless innings, with the only baserunner he allowed coming on an error by his catcher, Ty Hanchey. A 25-year old UDFA, Rademacher has struggled quite a bit this year, with a 6.00 ERA and a 6.96 FIP, but, despite a lack of velocity, he\u2019s pumped up his strikeouts this year, from a lowly 5.9 last season (including just 3.6 during his time in AA), to 9.0 this year.<\/p>\n Eugene Emeralds lost to Spokane (Rockies) 10-9 Some fun offensive performances in this one, most notably from a trio of players: right fielder Lisbel Diaz (No. 32 CPL), catcher Jancel Villarroel (No. 42 CPL), and first baseman Jakob Christian.<\/p>\n Diaz continues to show off some impressive power, as he hit 2-4 with a 2-run home run. The total offensive package still hasn\u2019t quite come together for the right-handed Cuban, who turns 21 next month. He has just a .762 OPS and a 97 wRC+ on the year, but, despite that, he\u2019s showing off some good things, with a lovely strikeout rate (17.0%) and isolated slugging mark (.211). Those are certainly signs that things could click here at some point.<\/p>\n As for Villarroel, all he\u2019s done is get on base once he got healthy (he missed the start of the season). He went 1-3 in this game, smacked a double, and was hit by 2 pitches, though he also struck out twice. Villarroel, a 21-year old acquired in the Kai-Wei Teng trade, hit just 3-22 with 0 extra-base hits, 1 walk, and 5 strikeouts in his 1st 6 games of the year (4 with Eugene, and 2 rehabbing in the Complex League). Since then? 31-88 with 11 extra-base hits!<\/p>\n He\u2019s also been adding value in a painful way, as he\u2019s been hit by 8 pitches already this year \u2026 doesn\u2019t the poor guy take enough damage being a catcher? The result is an .892 OPS and a 142 wRC+, and I recommend focusing on those numbers anytime you find yourself thinking about how good Teng has been for the Astros this season.<\/p>\n As for Christian, the 2024 5th-round pick had the best day of all, hitting 2-4 with a double, a walk, and a grand slam. My goodness what a day!!!<\/p>\n Just as he\u2019s done his entire career, the 23-year old right-handed hitter from the University of San Diego has been mashing, but also striking out. He has an .817 OPS and a 121 wRC+ on the year, but a slightly terrifying 34.2% strikeout rate. Things to love, and things to improve on.<\/p>\n As for Eugene\u2019s top prospects, center fielder Dakota Jordan (No. 5 CPL) hit 1-5 with a double; shortstop Gavin Kilen (No. 7 CPL) went 2-4 with a walk and a strikeout; designated hitter Trevor Cohen (No. 15 CPL) hit 1-5 with a double; and left fielder Carlos Gutierrez (No. 18 CPL) went 1-4 with a walk, a stolen base, and a strikeout. Shortstop Jhonny Level (No. 3 CPL), who has hit safely in every game since getting promoted, got a day off.<\/p>\n It was a pretty decent pitching day, save for the performance from RHP Austin Strickland, which cost Eugene the game. Strickland, the pitcher who came over in the Joey Bart trade, allowed 7 hits and a hit batter in just 2 innings, which torched him for 6 earned runs.<\/p>\n The start went to RHP Niko Mazza, who had a funny game. On the surface, Mazza\u2019s performance looked very nice: the 2024 8th-round pick allowed just 5 hits and 0 walks in 5.1 innings, with 6 strikeouts, and 2 of his 3 runs were unearned due to a Villarroel passed ball.<\/p>\n The cold water is that 4 of the 5 hits that Mazza allowed went for extra bases, including a home run, which was his 4th allowed in 45 innings \u2026 surpassing his total of 3 allowed during his debut season last year, in 93.1 Low-A innings. It\u2019s been an odd season for Mazza, who has a 3.00 ERA but a 4.45 FIP. He has been one of the organization\u2019s top strikeout starters, as he has a blissful 11.2 per 9 innings, which represents a huge boost over last year\u2019s mark of 8.7 at a lower level. But on the flip side, despite his walkless outing on Wednesday, he\u2019s issued 6.2 free passes per 9 innings, which is a concerning figure. But if he can bring that number down, he\u2019ll be cooking, as he\u2019s only allowed 30 hits in 45 innings, which is elite. Here\u2019s to more performances like Wednesday\u2019s; not only was it his 1st time all year without allowing a walk, it was his 1st time all year without allowing multiple walks.<\/p>\n One other Mazza note: in his 1st 2 starts of the year, he gave up 7 earned runs in 5.1 innings. Since then, he\u2019s allowed just 8 earned runs in 39.2 innings.<\/p>\n A very encouraging appearance from the bullpen for RHP Gerelmi Maldonado (No. 21 CPL). Maldonado pitched the 9th inning and retired all 3 batters he faced on just 12 pitches, with 2 strikeouts. The 22-year old Venezuelan touches triple digits with ease, which has led to a staggering 23 strikeouts in 14.1 innings. But he needs more control outings like this one, as he has a terrifying 21 walks on the year. Always great to see him show good command in an outing.<\/p>\n
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