Down on the Farm: 5/16/2015

AAA  Albuquerque Isotopes defeated the Sacramento River Cats 6-4:

Brett Jackson(RF)- 3 for 5, 2 2B.  BA= .310.
Darren Ford(CF)- 2 for 4, HR(2).  BA= .262.

Are the Giants hitter fixers?  Brett Jackson has run K rates consistently well north of 30% for several years now, no matter what level or league he is hitting in.  So far this year, he has cut that to 22.4%.  While he has maintained a healthy walk rate of 11.8%, he has hit 15% several times.  This is the almost identical pattern to what we've seen with Justin Maxwell.  Based on these numbers and comments I've read from Giants beat writers and coaches, it appears the Giants are preaching a philosophy of looking for hittable pitches earlier in the count to avoid getting to 2 strikes and therefore avoid the 3'rd strike.   Maybe we could label this approach Selective Aggression or Controlled Aggression?  Whatever, it seems to be working.  Jackson is a tremendous athlete and still just 26 years old.  The big question right now is how and where he will get a chance to prove himself at the MLB level again as the Giants OF situation is mighty crowded right now due in part to their success with Maxwell who had a very similar profile to Jackson coming in.

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AA  Bowie Baysox pounded the Richmond Flying Squirrels 8-4:

Kelby Tomlinson(2B)- 3 for 5, SB(8).  BA= .305.
Mac Williamson(RF)- 2 for 5, 2B.  BA= .299.
Chris Stratton(RHP)- 5 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 5 K's.  ERA= 4.75.

KelbysDadChris wanted to know what I thought about a promotion to Sacramento.  Promotions in the Giants organization are based on a combination of player performance and organizational needs.  When it comes to AAA, the Giants like to use that level for MLB level depth with players who have prior MLB experience, and for reclamation projects like Brett Jackson.  The current Sacramento roster shows middle infielders Ehire Adrianza, Ronny Cedeno, Juan Ciriaco and Carlos Triunfel.  That's not an impenetrable group, so I think it's possible we may see Kelby in Sacramento before the year is out.  Don't expect anything to happen until after the draft in early June at the earliest.  The next big promotional window is at or after the trade deadline at the end of July/first of August.  Also, remember that most Giants prospects who make it to the major leagues don't generally spend much time in AAA.  Matt Duffy jumped straight from AA to the majors to point out just one example that might comp to Kelby's situation.

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High A  San Jose Giants edged out the Visalia Rawhide 5-4 in 11 innings:

Jesus Galindo(CF)- 2 for 5, BB.  BA= .275.
Hunter Cole(LF)- 2 for 4, 2B, BB.  BA= .326.
Austin Slater(2B)- 3 for 5, 2B.  BA= .314.
Ty Ross(DH)- 2 for 5.  BA= .184.
Nick Vander Tuig(RHP- 4.2 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 2.73.
Jeff Soptic(RHP)- 2.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 2.13.
Ray Black(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 0.00.
Ian Gardeck(RHP)- 2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 3.46.
Dan Slania(RHP)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, Save(6).  ERA= 2.25.

Ray Black comes out of extended spring training.  Anybody hear what his velocity was?  I assume he was throwing pure gas.

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Low A  Hickory Crawdads blanked the Augusta Greenjackets 5-0:

Reyes Maronta(RHP)- 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 2.25.