Down on the Farm 5/5/2021

Great news out of Richmond as Heliot Ramos hits his first HR of the season in second game.

Heliot Ramos CF AA:  2 for 5, HR(1).  BA= .333.

Andy Sugilio RF AA:  2 for 4, BB, SB(1).  BA= .600.

Ryan Howard SS AA:  3 for 3, 2 2B, BB.  BA= .750.

Patrick Bailey C High A:  2 for 5, 2B.  BA= .500.

Sean Roby 3B High A:  1 for 4, HR(2).  BA= .333.

Diego Rincones LF High A:  2 for 4, 2B.  BA= .556.

Alexander Canario RF Low A:  2 for 3, 2B, BB.  BA= .800. 

Game Wrap 5/5/2021: Rockies 6 Giants 5

 This game started out promising with a 2-run HR by Brandon Crawford SS and 3.1 perfect innings from Logan Webb RHP but fell apart in an avalanche of walks and BABIP-fueled singles which yielded a 6-spot for the Rockies.  The rest of the game was not nearly as close as the final score might lead you to believe.  Game Notes:

In addition to his HR(6) in the second inning, Crawford added 2 BB's.  He is a hot batter slashing .302/.412/.512 over his last 15 games and .412/.583/.941 over his last 7.

Darren Ruf LF also hit a 2-run shot down the RF line in the 7'th inning to make the score 6-4.  4 of Ruf's 9 hits are HR's and another is a double.  Despite his .209 BA, his OPS is .846 with a .340 OBP.  

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The Giants remain 0.5 game ahead of he Padres and 1.5 games ahead of the Dodgers who lost again to the Cubs.  

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The Giants get a day off at home tomorrow then take on the Padres in an Oracle Park showdown series with Anthony DeSclafani RHP facing Blake Snell LHP in the opener Friday night.  Kevin Gausman RHP is reportedly feeling fine after his COVID Vaccine and is slated to start on Saturday with Johnny Cueto RHP scheduled to come off the IL on Sunday.

Game Wrap 5/4/2021: Giants 10 Rockies 4; Rockies 8 Giants 6

 The Giants scored 10 runs in the first inning of a doubleheader(7 innings each game) and gave up 6 in the final inning to come away with disappointing split, but still managed to gain ground on the Dodgers.  Game Notes:

Brandon Belt 1B was the biggest hitting star of the day going 4 for 7 with 2 HR's(6) and a walk.  He became just the second player in SF Giants history, the other being Willie Mays, to hit a HR in the first inning of two games in one day!  He ended up with 7 RBI's on the day.

Buster Posey C went 3 for 4 with a HR(7) in the opener to raise his BA to .382.

Brandon Crawford SS went 2 for 2 with a HR(5) and reached base 4 times in the opener.

Wilmer Flores 2B went a combined 3 for 7 with a HR(2) and a walk and 4 RBI's.

Steven Duggar CF/RF went a combined 3 for 7 with a 2B and BB.

Unfortunately, the most notable pitching story is a negative.  Jake McGee LHP couldn't hold a 4-run lead in the 9'th inning and looked awful in the process.  By the time he gave up his 4'th hit of the inning to Ryan McMahon, his pitches looked like batting practice pitches.  McGee does not look right and Kap keeps hinting that he is not physically 100%.  If that is the case, it might be better to give him a stint on the IL than to keep running him out there because he is not helping the team now.  In 6 appearances since April 14 when he sported a 0.00 ERA, McGee has allowed 8 ER in 5.2 IP and pitched just 1 scoreless frame out of the 6 appearances.  

Camilo Doval RHP who has been impressive so far, appeared to get the 3'rd out of the inning and his first MLB Save but a pop fly by CJ Cron fell between Steven Duggar and Wilmer Flores in short RF.  Charlie Blackmon followed with his walkoff 3-run blast.  I believe all but 3 of Doval's pitches were sliders so by time he hung one to Blackmon, it was like it was set on a T.  After the game, Shawn Estes noted that Doval has thrown very few FB's since giving up a leadoff HR to Jurickson Profar in San Diego which allows batters to sit on the slider.

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As crushingly disappointing as the walkoff loss in game 2 was, the blow was softened by the Dodgers getting swept in their twinbill by the Cubs.  Giants lead the NL West by 1.5 games over the Dodgers and Padres.

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Giants try for a series win in an early game today with Logan Webb RHP facing Jon Gray RHP.

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Down on the Farm:

Patrick Bailey C (High A):  3 for 5, HR, SB.

Sean Roby 3B ( High A):  2 for 5, HR.

Diego Rincones LF (High A):  3 for 5, 2B, HR.

Caleb Kilian RHP (High A):  4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 9 K's.

Alexander Canario RF (Low A):  2 for 2, 2B, 3B, 2 BB.  

I believe in Patrick Bailey's bat which I think could end up being better than Joey Bart's.  Alexander Canario got notices for a nice catch up against the RF wall.  I have Caleb Kilian as a major system sleeper on the pitching side.

Game Wrap 5/2/2021: Giants 7 Padres 1

The Giants offense came to life  to back the typical strong pitching by Kevin Gausman RHP and three relievers.  Game Notes:

Tommy La Stella 2B was the catalyst at the top of the lineup scoring 2 and driving in 2 with a single and triple in 3 AB's before unfortunately leaving the game with an apparent hammy strain.  He'll undergo an MRI but if you saw him hop on one foot into home plate, expectations have to be for a significant stay on the IL.  

Mike Tauchman RF/LF hit his first HR as a Giant and made it count with 2 runners on base.  He added a bases-loaded walk to give him 4 RBI's on the day.

Kevin Gausman RHP went 6 innings giving up just one run with 6 K's and 1 BB.  His overall ERA is 2.04 and he collected his second W of the season.

Caleb Baragar LHP, Tyler Rogers RHP and Camilo Doval RHP each worked scoreless frames.  Doval struck out 2 and hit 100.3 MPH on Gameday gun.  Good that Doval was able to get back on his horse the day after a rough outing the night before.

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The Win kept the Giants 0.5 games in front of the Dodgers for first place in the NL West.

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The Giants move on to Denver and Coors Field for a 3 game set against the Rockies who they are matched up with for the third time already this season.  Aaron Sanchez RHP starts game 1 facing German Marquez RHP.

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The injuries keep piling up with La Stella now likely to miss significant time.  While Mike Yastrzemski OF seems to be on schedule for a return after the Rockies series, Donovan Solano IF remains out indefinitely.  On the pitching side, Johnny Cueto RHP seems to be making good progress and could return as early as May 9.  On the other hand, Reyes Moronta RHP experienced recurrent forearm tightness while warming up for a bullpen session and will be re-evaluated.  That does not sound good!  Brandon Crawford SS missed the game today, and remains DTD with a calf contusion.  

The good part of all this bad injury news is depth and the presumption of injuries is FZ's main MO and the Giants seem well equipped to ride it out as long as they don't get many more out at once.

Game Wrap 5/1/2021: Padres 6 Giants 2

Anthony DeSclafani RHP gave up a 3-run HR to the 3'rd batter he faced in the game.  The Giants never caught up and the Padres added on in the 8'th inning.  Game Notes:

After giving up the first inning bomb, DeSclafani(I refuse to call him Disco) only allowed 3 more baserunners over 6 innings but the damage was done.  He had just 3 K's and 2 BB's but a strong 9/2 GO/AO.

Mauricio Dubon SS cranked his first HR of the season in the 5'th inning.  He lined out to Fernando Tatis Jr SS in his next AB.  Dubon is hitting just .192 but has a 33% LD rate so has definitely had more than his share of bad BABIP luck.

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Kevin Gausman RHP tries to salvage a split of the series today against TBD.

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So, When The Giants Come To Town is facing a bit of a decision point as we approach the opening of the minor league season.  Down On The Farm has been a mainstay of the blog since its inception, but right now I don't have the time or energy to write two posts per day.  I may do weekly minor league updates along the lines of Who's Hot/Who's Not at least at first.  As the season progresses the balance between Game Wraps and Down On The Farm may depend on how long the Giants stay in postseason contention.

Down on the Farm: Rosters for Giants Affiliates

 Three of four Giants minor league affiliates announced their Opening Day rosters for the 2021 season which is scheduled to start on Tuesday, May 4.  I'm not going to post complete rosters here.  If you are interested, you can find them by going to milb.com looking them up on individual team websites via Teams and Affiliates.  

AAA Sacramento River Cats:  

Although he is not listed on the roster yet, it seems apparent that Joey Bart C will be the main attraction for the AAA Sacramento River Cats.  In preparation, Joey is spending the weekend on the Giants taxi squad for the stated purpose of observing Buster Posey and Curt Casali do their pre-game preparations.

AA Richmond Flying Squirrels:  

Heliot Ramos OF will be the top prospect on the AA Richmond Flying Squirrels roster.  Although he has limited AA experience from 2019, the Giants want to see Ramos master the level before promoting him to AAA.  Other position players I will follow with interest include Sandro Fabian OF, Vince Fernandez OF, Frankie Tostado OF and David Villar 3B.  

Pitchers of interest assigned to the Flying Squirrels include Tristan Beck RHP, Sean Hjelle RHP, Matt Frisbee RHP and Sam Long LHP.  

High A Eugene Emeralds:

This is the level where the largest number of Giants top prospects will be gathered.  Former first round draft picks Patrick Bailey C, Will Wilson IF and Hunter Bishop OF will form the top tier but there are several other prospects of note on the roster including Logan Wyatt 1B, Tyler Fitzgerald SS, Sean Roby IF, and Diego Rincones OF.  

The pitching staff will be headed by Seth Corry LHP, RJ Dabovitch RHP, Caleb Kilian RHP, and Kai-Wei Teng RHP.  Conner Nurse RHP is an intriguing name with his 6'8" frame and late-round HS draft pick pedigree.

Low A San Jose Giants:

The California League moves down a level and will have the type of younger prospects we used to see with the Augusta Greenjackets.  That does not mean there won't be great, exciting prospects to watch.  This year's squad features the biggest prospect name in the organization, Marco Luciano SS, and how exciting is that?  Luis Matos OF, whose stock has taken on serious helium over the past year is another player to keep a close eye on as is Alexander Canario OF, and Luis Toribio 3B.  It doesn't stop there as Casey Schmitt 3B, Garrett Frechette 1B, Ricardo Genoves C, Jimmy Glowenke SS and Armani Smith OF are also worthy of note.

On the pitching side, Kyle Harrison LHP and Nick Swiney LHP head up the pitching staff and I will also be watching Carson Ragsdale RHP who was acquired in an offseason trade closely.

Hopefully the COVID 19 Pandemic will continue to recede and be mostly in our rearview mirror by late July when the SJ Giants visit San Bernardino for a 6 game series and I'll get to see some of these exciting prospects in person!

Game Wrap 4/30/2021: Padres 3 Giants 2

They say it's a game of inches and it sure looked like less than an inch that was the difference between a foul ball by Darin Ruf PH/LF and a game-winning grand slam HR.  Game Notes:

Ruf's bases loaded shot down the RF line was initially called a HR which would have put the Giants up 5-3, but replays showed it was clearly foul, sliding past the foul pole possibly by as little as a couple of millimeters.  Heartbreak! 

Buster Posey C hit his 6'th HR of the season in the first inning to even the score at 1-1 after 1.  He added a single later and is hitting .361.  

Logan Webb RHP had his usual great stuff and improved command.  He ended up giving up 3 runs and taking the L, but the process was solid.  He'll likely get at least two more starts in Johnny Cueto RHP's rotation spot.  At this point he's looking like a stronger bet going foreward than Aaron Sanchez RHP.

IDK what was going on between Wilmer Flores PH/2B and the home plate ump in the 9'th inning but that ump called a strike on the first pitch that had at least 2 inches of air between the inside edge of the ball and the outside margin of the strike zone.  Flores had something to say as he backed out of the box followed by an inside 360.  The next two pitches were even farther outside and the ump put on extra english while calling both strikes.  Flores never took the bat off his shoulder, which he should not have had to, and just walked away.  I hope there is some mechanism for the Giants to ask the league to review that sequence as part of that ump's evaluation.

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Webb's Start was moved up due to a slight groin strain for Kevin Gausman RHP.  Gausman reportedly threw and strong bullpen and is set to start Sunday's game.

The endless roster shuffle continued as Skye Bolt OF was DFA'd and Jason Vosler IF was optioned.  They were replaced by Steven Duggar OF and Zack Littell RHP.  Duggar started the game in CF and Littell pitched a scoreless 7'th inning.

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Anthony DeSclafani RHP tries to even the series in a 5:40 PM start facing Blake Snell LHP.