AAA: Sacramento River Cats beat the Oklahoma City Comets 8-1.
Marco Luciano LF- 0 for 2, 4 BB. BA= .217.
Brett Wisely SS- 1 for 3, BB, HBP. BA= .227.
Andrew Knizner C- 3 for 5, 2 2B. BA= .600.
Carson Seymour RHP- 6 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 7 K's, 5/1 GO/AO. ERA= 3.59.
Joey Lucchesi LHP(4.19), Joel Peguero RHP(5.19) and Justin Garza RHP(7.53) each pitched a scoreless inning with 2 K's in relief. Andrew Knizner was released by the Nationals rather than exercising an option to promote him to the MLB club. He signed a minor league deal with the Giants. He is the quintessential AAAA player with a career .303 BA in the minor leagues while batting just .210 in almost 900 MLB PA's. His best MLB season was with the team that drafted him, the Cardinals, in 2023 when he hit .241 with 10 HR in 241 PA. It appears that Max Stassi C and Logan Porter C are both still on the River Cats roster.
AA: Richmond Flying Squirrels and Binghampton Rumble Ponies tied at 2 after 5 innings(suspended).
Bryce Eldridge 1B- 2 for 3. BA= .299.
Thomas Gavello LF- 1 for 2, 2B. BA= .368.
Joe Whitman LHP- 5 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 4 BB, 11 K's.
After Whitman's ERA peaked at 7.53 on 4/27, he's pitched to a 2.65 ERA in May with 15 K's and 5 BB's in 17 IP.
A+: Eugene Emeralds topped the Vancouver Canadians 8-4.
Bo Davidson DH- 1 for 5, HR(6). BA= .323.
James Tibbs III RF- 2 for 4, HR(5). BA= .229.
Quinn McDaniel 2B- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .245.
Jack Payton 1B- 3 for 4, 2B, HR(1). BA= .225.
Ryan Vanderhei RHP- 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 6.89.
A: San Jose Giants edged out the Fresno Grizzlies 4-3.
Lisbel Diaz LF- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .248.
Fernando Gonzalez C- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .233.
Charlie McDaniel LHP- 5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 1.88.
Rookie AZL: Giants blanked the Cubs 4-0.
Turner Hill LF- 1 for 3, 2B. BA= .467.
Rayner Arias RF- 1 for 3, 2B. BA= .257.
Alexander Fuentes RHP- 4 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 0.00.
Juan Bello RHP- 2.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 0.00.
Dylan Carmouche LHP- 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 5.63.
I'd keep an eye out for Alexander Fuentes who is listed at 6' 7", 245 lbs.
On the lighter side, since the Giants' 2 catchers are batting .183 and .200 (OPS+ 46 & 54), Knizner's career ,210 (OPS+ 67) could be an improvement!
ReplyDeleteTo highlight how difficult it is to pitch in the PCL, only one (qualifying) pitcher has an ERA under 3.00 which is Carson Whisenhunt's ERA.
ReplyDeleteThe River Cats have 4 (qualifying) pitchers in the top 8 in the PCL: Whisenhunt, Seymour, McDonald, and Black.
Only 8 (qualifying) pitchers have ERA's under 5.00 — half of them are River Cats!
(To qualify, a player must have 0.8 IP per team game.)
Part of the reason that the Giants have so many pitchers doing good in AAA compared to the rest of the league is that their pitching rotation is loaded with legit pitching prospects. Usually if you’re a good pitching prospect and are performing, you don’t last long in AAA because they call you up. In fact, any good pitchers in AAA don’t last their long because they get called up. Usually AAA pitching staffs are stuffed with a bunch of older vets or minor league free agents who haven’t been able to cut it in the majors and frankly aren’t that good. In my 20 years of following Giants minor league baseball, I’ve never seen their AAA pitching staff stuffed with top prospects like it is now. It’s really impressive and something we may not see again for a long time. Whisenhunt definitely deserves a chance to be on the big league staff. McDonald I don’t see as a future big league starter but I think he could have a future in the bullpen. Both of the Carsons should get shots in the bullpen, especially Seymour. Ragsdale is having a bad season but he’s been effective in the lower minors in the last while hitting the AAA wall but at 6’8 the dude should get a chance in the bullpen. Mason Black I like a lot and I think he has potential to be a future back of the rotation starter. While we are at it, can we please get Hjelle out of AAA and back on the big league roster?
DeleteJoe Whitman is picking up the pace in AA. Then farther down the ladder Argenis Cayama looks like a future ace in the ACL and I'm intrigued by Alexander Fuentes size but they both have a long way to go. Have to say I'm not that impressed by the pitching from the Giants last couple of drafts.
DeleteThere are teams that need pitching with offensive logjams in their systems like Baltimore and the Mets. Ronny Mauricio is blocked as well as Coby Mayo and Basallo on the O’s. I love what the Soto trade did to change the Nats farm and outlook over the next 5-10 years. We obviously don’t have a Soto to trade but could Logan Webb and one more of our arms get you Basallo, Mayo, and more? Ronny Mauricio plays all over the infield and has a really intriguing bat could he be worth trading Webb or Ray?
ReplyDeletePoint is I really think there are trades to be made out there and eventually this rotation is going to be a point of pride for years to come and I don’t think we really need Ray or even Webb to be amazing. The affordability of a rotation consisting of Birdsong, Roupp, Harrison, Whisenhunt, and take your pick has to be attractive to the owners and getting some offensive prospects to improve our biggest weekness is necessary.
Buster is doing a pretty good job for his rookie year in the front office but he is yet to hit a homerun! I hope he is at least discussing these kinds of trades and looking towards next year and beyond. Our offense needs an injection of talent and like Washington did when they got Abrams and Wood along with other really good players for Soto. Webb and Ray might be enough to get Basallo and Mayo…
I don't disagree with your basic premise but I don't think I see Buster making a move like that. But yes, I waited 6 years for FZ to make a trade that really impressed me. He made some good ones but none that blew me away. Let's see if Buster can.
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