The Giants A+ affiliate, the Eugene Emeralds, won the Northwest League Championship for the second year in a row. Despite disappointing individual performances from several younger prospects who seemed to struggle with an aggressive placement.
On the offensive side, the Ems featured the "big three" from the international class of 2018:
Marco Luciano SS- .263/.339/.459,10 HR, 257 PA. Luciano's season was interrupted by an extended IL stay due to a back issue.
Luis Matos CF- .211/.275/.344, 11 HR, 11 SB, 407 PA. A strong month of August saved his season from complete disaster. Young for the level at age 20.
Jairo Pomares LF- .254/.330/.438, 14 HR, 386 PA. Slow start but finished the season strong.
The Ems also featured two former first round draft picks:
Hunter Bishop OF(2019)- .235/.320/.406, 13 HR, 20 SB, 358 PA. Looked like he was building toward something with a .284/.393/.547 line in June but collapsed in the second half. Rule 5 draft eligible.
Patrick Bailey C- .225/.342/.419, 12 HR, 15.1 BB%, 22.2 K%, .253 BABIP, 325 PA. Pretty solid ratios here. Low BABIP suggests some upside in the numbers but had a similar number in Eugene last year.
The biggest news out of Eugene was the breakout season for Casey Schmitt 3B- .273/.363/.474, 17 HR, 383 PA. He kept that going after a promotion to AA Richmond and looks like he has a shot at the majors as early as midseason 2023.
Vaun Brown OF also raked after a promotion from San Jose- .350/.454/.611, 9 HR, 21 SB, 194 PA.
Overall, Ems batters had low BA's, lots of HR's and lots of K's. They had 9 players with double-digit HR's
The big news on the pitching side was Kyle Harrison LHP- 0-1, 1.55, 29 IP, 10 BB, 59 K. Earned a quick promotion to AA and appears poised to make his MLB debut in 2023.
Other pitching performances of note:
Cole Waites RHP- 1-1, 3.55, 12.2 IP, 4 BB, 27 K. Made his MLB debut late in the season. Triple digit FB.
Randy Rodriguez RHP- 2-3, 3.38, 50.2 IP, 24 BB, 71 K. Added to the 40-man roster last offseason. Kind of forgotten this year but put up a solid line. Just hoping for a bit faster movement up the system.
Nick Avila RHP- 2-1, 0.95, 28.1 IP, 8 BB, 31 K, 13 Saves. Outstanding on the Closer role. Rule 5 eligible. Do the Giants have room for him on the 40 man roster?
Doc any thoughts on Bochy's return?
ReplyDeleteNot really. I don't think it's that much of a surprise. Even though he "retired" as Manager of the Giants, he never closed the door to an eventual return to managing. In terms of his legacy, I'm not sure it's a great choice on his part. He managed the Giants through a magical time when everything came together in a harmonic convergence. That magic is not necessarily going to happen with the Rangers and in any event, it's a tall order to add to the resume' he already has.
Delete