Sunday, May 3, 2015

Down on the Farm: 5/3/2015

AAA  Sacramento River Cats defeated the El Paso Chihuahuas 4-1:

Jarrett Parker(RF)- 1 for 2, 2 BB, 2 SB(5).  BA= .280.
Ty Blach(LHP)- 6 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 4 K's, GO/AO= 9/3.  ERA= 3.94.
Steven Okert(LHP)- 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K's, Save(1).  ERA= 0.68.

That is the kind of line you want to see from Blach and man, that is some kind of relief pitching from Steven Okert!  He could be more than a lefty specialist.

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AA  New Britain Rock Cats downed the Richmond Flying Squirrels 8-6:

Kelby Tomlinson(2B)- 2 for 5, SB(4).  BA= .298.
Mitch Delfino(3B)- 3 for 5, 2B.  BA= .270.
Mac Williamson(RF)- 2 for 5.  BA= .288.
Ricky Oropesa(1B)- 3 for 5, HR(2).  BA= .203.
Joe Biagini(RHP)- 5.1 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 2.45.

Ricky is hitting .270 with 2 dingers over his last 10 games and has two 3-hit games in a row.  Delfino and Williamson continue to make solid adjustments to AA level.

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High A  San Jose Giants edged the Stockton Ports 8-7:

Jesus Galindo(CF)- 2 for 4, 2B, BB.  BA= .275.
Austin Slater(2B)- 2 for 5, 2B, HR(1).  BA= .328.
Ryder Jones(3B)- 3 for 5.  BA= .330.
Matt Pare(Catcher)- 1 for 3, HR(1), SF.  BA= .100.
Brandon Bednar(SS)- 2 for 4, 2B, 3B.  BA= .200.
Austin Fleet(RHP)- 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 0.00.

I think we can say Ryder Jones is red hot.  Austin Slater's bat sure seems real.  Can he stick at a middle IF position?  Do the Giants need him there more than in the OF?  What is Fleet doing back in San Jose?  Do the Giants see him a merely an organizational pitcher?

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Low A  Delmarva Shorebirds beat the Augusta Greenjackets 5-3:

Jonah Arenado(3B)- 2 for 3, BB.  BA= .318.
Raymundo Montero(RHP)- 2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K's.  ERA= 2.65.

The SAL is not an easy league for hitters, but Jonah is making it look easy.

8 comments:

  1. What a day for Giants hitting prospects. Another few games like this (literally just a couple), and Mac is going to suddenly be hitting .300 in Richmond. I really think that Mac as well as 3B Delfino (a true Dr. B special-insight prospect, I tip my cap) have bats that are very for real, and they're sitting right at positions that the Giants are going to be directly looking for as early as 2016. I think folks fell off the Williamson band wagon because he was so rarely showing up in game recaps, such as here at your site. Nice to see that all along he was just plugging away and not falling off the page. Stay Healthy Mac!

    Slater's hit tool - a John Barr special - is also looking very for real. However, even though he's hitting well north of .300 presently, he does not profile as a kid I would rush up into AA. If he's killing it by the end of the season, move him up for the remaining month or two, but I think he can develop greater power in SJ working at an appropriate skill level.

    Ryder Jones was a mystery to me last year. He'd have great stretches, showed very well in his first pro experience, but hadn't really shown any plus tools. He's going to have to keep proving out each year at this point to have a future in the show, but right now he's heating up big time. Let's see that power stroke, Jones!

    And yep, loving the Arenado brother right now. He's getting some helium among Giants prospect hounds, and for good reason. Keep developing JA!

    And finally, it's nice to have two burners with potentially ML-average hit tools. I absolutely hope one of Galindo or Johneshwy keep this up THROUGH AA and the Eastern League. That's the true test for speedsters as far as I'm concerned, but it's a long way still to there. Come on gentlemen, keep up that steam!!

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  2. If Ty Blach continues to throw well, maybe he can challenge for a backend rotation spot in 2016? If Steve Okert continues to throw well, it gives the team nice depth in lefthanded relief pitching and more options.. Maybe Affeldt or Lopez gets dealt in a deadline deal to make room for this kid, or maybe a more likely scenario would be the team lets Affeldt walk in FA in 2016 . Teams like the rival Padres could use a veteran left handed reliever for their bullpen.. Have the Giants settled on 3B as Ryder Jones position? Didn't he play SS last year.. Good to see kids like Ryder Jones and Jonah Arenado off to great starts. Hope one of them are the future 3B for the Giants!

    LG

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    1. Unless Affeldt has an awful year this season (so far, 2.25 ERA, so pretty good, though 4 walks and only 2 K's in 8 IP), I expect him to be resigned to a 2 year contract, maybe with an option. I see Okert as the replacement for Affeldt, someone who could close, a lefty who can get our righties, a guy who Bochy can bring in at any time and shut things down.

      Why can't the Giants carry the three of them in 2016? They clearly like having three lefties in the bullpen, they kept Mijares on the roster all season before.

      Of course, that would mean a spot would need to open up in the bullpen to do that. Kontos looks like he wants to keep his job, but Machi has been a roller coaster this season. He's only 33 YO this season, younger than Affeldt and Lopez, but his strikeout rate has declined a lot since his breakout 2013 season. Still, his FIP is in the mid-3's, much like last season, so he seems to still have the same skill set, roughly, so it seems like he's just having a rough patch right now, regression to the mean relative to his good showing vs. FIP last season. If you combine the two, 3.07 ERA vs. 3.47 FIP, pretty close now. He looks to be one of the possible open spots.

      And I don't know that the Giants will carry Vogelsong next season as a bullpen long reliever, and if so, that would open up a spot in the bullpen as well. Too many good young relievers pushing hard in AAA and AA, I have to think at least two spots are opened by letting go of Machi (who I think would be arbitration eligible as well next season) and Vogelsong (as hopefully the crop of starters between Crick, Beede, Blackburn, Blach, can get close to ready enough to be the first SP call up should we need a replacement SP).

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  3. The Squirrels just keep finding a way to lose. It's incredible! The last two games the bullpen has gotten shelled. They out hit New Britian 34-26, and they only had 1 error to NBs 5. The relievers gave up 10 runs in the 7th innings of the last two games of the series. Granted, they were up against a stacked Rock Cats team with the Rockies number one prospect in David Dahl and the EL's top two hitters in Cuevas and Story.

    Things don't get any better in Altoona. Their starters have a combined ERA of just over 1.0.

    A few bright spots have been Williamson, Delfino, and Oropesa. And even though his box score may not show it, Tomlinson continues to hit the ball hard. He got robbed of three doubles at the fence on outstanding grabs.

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  4. Jarrett Parker... Why isn't there more love?

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  5. Joe Biagini continues to come out of nowhere... 26th round... And he's out-performing a lot of 'top prospects.' It's a remarkable story he's gotten this far and has gotten better at every level. And, of course, since I'm a complete sap for the 'plucky underdog wins' meme, I'm going to root hard for his success...

    Oh, and speaking top prospects, I read the Golden Gate Sports Top-10, Heston is not on it... Susac is #1, Beede is #2, Crick went to #3. But Heston, who's playing pretty well in MLB doesn't even get an honorable mention. Dr. B special Mitch Delfino did make the honorable mention list, as did Williamson, Duvall and Carbonell.

    Also, there was an injury update on Blackburn, he is still in Arizona with a sore shoulder. No mention of how close he is to joining the FS in AA.

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    1. Thanks, Moses. If you are looking for a serious sleeper in the system, Biagini would fit the bill. Local boy drafted out of UC Davis where he hardly pitched at all. Some scout must have seen something and the Giants have been dogged in developing it.

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