With the minor league season all but over, we'll get started with some season reviews before kicking it up a notch in the postseason.
The 2019 DSL Giants were not a very good team, finishing with a 31-41 record good for 4'th place in the DSL Northeast division. Fortunately, while it is nice to see our minor league affiliates win, that's not the point and this year's DSL Giants featured some pretty darn exciting players. Age is a critical factor in the DSL, more so than at higher minor league levels. The kids you want to pay attention to are the 17 year olds, maybe 18. By 19 years old, they are most likely just organizational players. A successful 16 year old is definitely someone who stands out. Most of the prospect buzz from this year's team came from the offensive side of the ball, which is one big reason why the team record was not better. The pitching was the weakest I can recall since I have followed the DSL.
The standout player was 17 yo OF Luis Matos. He was the ohbytheway 3'rd top signing from what is looking like a massive talent haul from the 2018 international signing period. While SS Marco Luciano and OF Jairo Pomares were sent directly to Arizona for their pro debuts, Matos started his pro career in the DSL but quickly proved he deserved to be in Arizona too with a dominating offensive performance from beginning to end. He finally got his promotion late in the season and performed well in Arizona too.
There were several other outstanding young offensive players on this year's DSL squad. 17 yo 1B/OF Victor Bericoto hit all season long and got promoted to Arizona along with Matos in August. Then there was C/1B Rayner Santana who played most of the season at age 16. All he did was lead the team in HR's with 10. C Ronaldo Flores(17 yo) and IF Jose Peralta(turned 18 yo on July 4) are two more names to remember.
There is not much to get excited about on the pitching side, but you might want to remember Luis Castillo, a LHP who did not turn 17 until August 24 and struck out 52 batters in 53.1 IP.
Team Leaders:
BA: Luis Matos- .362. Victor Bericoto- .344. Ronoldo Flores- .325.
HR: Rayner Santana- 10. Luis Matos- 7. Victor Bericoto- 5.
SB: Luis Matos- 20. Adolfo Valdez- 17. Carlos Cuevas- 12.
Luis Matos also led the entire DSL in doubles with 24.
There were no pitching Qualifiers. In addition to the aforementioned Luis Castillo, RHP Jose Mullings(19 yo) led the team with 66 K's in 53.1 IP. BTW, age is not as critical for pitchers as for hitters in the DSL.
Sunday, September 15, 2019
Game Wrap 9/15/2019: Giants 2 Marlins 1
Mike Yastrzemski dove home on a wild pitch to break the tie in the bottom of the 8'th inning and Will Smith came back from a short absence due to back issues to record the Save. Key Lines:
Mauricio Dubon 2B- 1 for 3, HR(3). BA= .291. Here's what has impressed me about Dubon(other than his obvious athleticism, defense and game awareness): He seems to be equally adept at going the other way when he needs to, but can still turn on a mistake on the inner half and pull it down the line. If this is an audition for next season, which it appears to be, I'd say Dubon has passed with flying colors and should be the presumptive starter at 2B going in.
Johnny Cueto RHP- 5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 0.00. Cueto was not as dominant as his first start and really had to dig deep in a long 4'th inning, but he battled through that and came back with a quick 5'th to preserve his scoreless innings streak.
Tyler Rogers RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 1.59. Those of you who are longtime readers know I've been irrationally exuberant about Tyler Rogers pretty close to forever. He has not disappointed me in his MLB debut. One less bullpen spot for Farhan Zaidi to worry about over the winter.
Will Smith LHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K, Save(33). ERA= 2.95. Good to see Smith not miss a beat after a back pain issue. $18 M question: Do the Giants give him a QO? Does he accept or reject?
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Notes from the Sluice Box: Giants added RHP Enderson Franco to the 40 man roster. He was a meh SP all season for the River Cats but kicked it up several notches when he became the Closer. I've seen reports of him consistently hitting the high 90's and was lights out in the PCL playoffs. The corresponding move was placing LHP Tony Watson on the 60-day IL.
Mauricio Dubon 2B- 1 for 3, HR(3). BA= .291. Here's what has impressed me about Dubon(other than his obvious athleticism, defense and game awareness): He seems to be equally adept at going the other way when he needs to, but can still turn on a mistake on the inner half and pull it down the line. If this is an audition for next season, which it appears to be, I'd say Dubon has passed with flying colors and should be the presumptive starter at 2B going in.
Johnny Cueto RHP- 5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 0.00. Cueto was not as dominant as his first start and really had to dig deep in a long 4'th inning, but he battled through that and came back with a quick 5'th to preserve his scoreless innings streak.
Tyler Rogers RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 1.59. Those of you who are longtime readers know I've been irrationally exuberant about Tyler Rogers pretty close to forever. He has not disappointed me in his MLB debut. One less bullpen spot for Farhan Zaidi to worry about over the winter.
Will Smith LHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K, Save(33). ERA= 2.95. Good to see Smith not miss a beat after a back pain issue. $18 M question: Do the Giants give him a QO? Does he accept or reject?
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Notes from the Sluice Box: Giants added RHP Enderson Franco to the 40 man roster. He was a meh SP all season for the River Cats but kicked it up several notches when he became the Closer. I've seen reports of him consistently hitting the high 90's and was lights out in the PCL playoffs. The corresponding move was placing LHP Tony Watson on the 60-day IL.
Game Wrap 9/14/2019: Marlins 4 Giants 2
Madison Bumgarner battled the home plate ump and poor run support and came away with a QS and No Decision in another uninspiring loss. Key Lines:
Brandon Crawford SS- 2 for 3, BB. BA= .230. Crawford is 4 for 9 with 2 BB's over his last 3 games. He started the Giants only scoring rally in the 7'th with a single.
Mauricio Dubon 2B- 3 for 4, 2B. BA= .288. Dubon had been in a mini-slump going 0 for 9 in his previous 3 games. His double set up the Giants only scoring of the night in the 7'th.
Donovan Solano 2B- 1 for 1, 3B. BA= .333. Solano tripled in Crawford and Dubon in the 7'th to pick up Bumgarner who had fallen behind in the top of the inning. The triple put Solano at 3B with just 1 out. Of course, he was left standing there which ended the Giants scoring for the night.
Madison Bumgarner LHP- 7 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 3.73. Bummy took a 2-hit shutout into the 7'th inning only to fall behind on a gargantuan 2-run blast by Jorge Alfaro. His battle with the home plate ump was actually a more interesting story line than the game itself. It started with with a called ball early in the game that was a fairly egregious mistake. Bummy kept staring and chirping from the mound which caused the ump to step in front of the plate gesturing and Buster to start walking out between them. Bummy turned his back just in time. In two later AB's, Bummy took obvious exception to borderline calls and appeared to be this close to getting tossed. In the end, he stayed in for a full 7 innings. I thought Bumgarner had a legitimate beef on the first disputed call, but the ump was probably right on the second two and Bum kept the theatrics going too long which he has been known to do.
Shaun Anderson RHP- 0.1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 0 K. ERA= 5.26. Not sure why Boch brought in Anderson in the 8'th the day after he got a Save and in a tie game. If the idea was to see if Anderson could go back-to-back games, well, it didn't go well as he had neither the velocity or command he displayed the night before.
Kruk and Kuip- Kuip didn't have a good game as he made a couple of pretty glaring mistakes. I'm forgetting the first one myself, but on the second one, he appeared to mentally put the Giants ahead after Solano's triple and exclaimed that Bumgarner could only win the game at that point. Kruk had to point out that a No Decision was still in play, which it would have been even if the Giants had taken the lead. They did give me a LOL moment after YtY got hit on the toe and hit the deck in obvious pain. As Yaz was walking it off, Kuip said "if I see Mike after the game, I'll tell him that 40 years from now, he'll still feel that." Kruk: "Well yeah, the whole time he was on the ground, you were rubbing your foot!" Maybe that wasn't as funny as it seemed at the time, but just the way he said it had me doubled over.
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Johnny Cueto tries to close out the homestand with a W this afternoon facing RHP Elieser Hernandez.
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Sluice Box Notes: IF Corban Joseph was released and OF Mike Gerber and IF Cristhian Adames were called up. IF Abiatal Avelino is apparently still in the doghouse from his baserunning error and did not get called up.
Brandon Crawford SS- 2 for 3, BB. BA= .230. Crawford is 4 for 9 with 2 BB's over his last 3 games. He started the Giants only scoring rally in the 7'th with a single.
Mauricio Dubon 2B- 3 for 4, 2B. BA= .288. Dubon had been in a mini-slump going 0 for 9 in his previous 3 games. His double set up the Giants only scoring of the night in the 7'th.
Donovan Solano 2B- 1 for 1, 3B. BA= .333. Solano tripled in Crawford and Dubon in the 7'th to pick up Bumgarner who had fallen behind in the top of the inning. The triple put Solano at 3B with just 1 out. Of course, he was left standing there which ended the Giants scoring for the night.
Madison Bumgarner LHP- 7 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 3.73. Bummy took a 2-hit shutout into the 7'th inning only to fall behind on a gargantuan 2-run blast by Jorge Alfaro. His battle with the home plate ump was actually a more interesting story line than the game itself. It started with with a called ball early in the game that was a fairly egregious mistake. Bummy kept staring and chirping from the mound which caused the ump to step in front of the plate gesturing and Buster to start walking out between them. Bummy turned his back just in time. In two later AB's, Bummy took obvious exception to borderline calls and appeared to be this close to getting tossed. In the end, he stayed in for a full 7 innings. I thought Bumgarner had a legitimate beef on the first disputed call, but the ump was probably right on the second two and Bum kept the theatrics going too long which he has been known to do.
Shaun Anderson RHP- 0.1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 0 K. ERA= 5.26. Not sure why Boch brought in Anderson in the 8'th the day after he got a Save and in a tie game. If the idea was to see if Anderson could go back-to-back games, well, it didn't go well as he had neither the velocity or command he displayed the night before.
Kruk and Kuip- Kuip didn't have a good game as he made a couple of pretty glaring mistakes. I'm forgetting the first one myself, but on the second one, he appeared to mentally put the Giants ahead after Solano's triple and exclaimed that Bumgarner could only win the game at that point. Kruk had to point out that a No Decision was still in play, which it would have been even if the Giants had taken the lead. They did give me a LOL moment after YtY got hit on the toe and hit the deck in obvious pain. As Yaz was walking it off, Kuip said "if I see Mike after the game, I'll tell him that 40 years from now, he'll still feel that." Kruk: "Well yeah, the whole time he was on the ground, you were rubbing your foot!" Maybe that wasn't as funny as it seemed at the time, but just the way he said it had me doubled over.
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Johnny Cueto tries to close out the homestand with a W this afternoon facing RHP Elieser Hernandez.
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Sluice Box Notes: IF Corban Joseph was released and OF Mike Gerber and IF Cristhian Adames were called up. IF Abiatal Avelino is apparently still in the doghouse from his baserunning error and did not get called up.
Saturday, September 14, 2019
Down on the Farm(Postseason Edition): 9/13/2019
AAA Sacramento River Cats outscored the Round Rock Express 7-5:
Abiatal Avelino SS- 2 for 4, BB, SB.
Sam Wolff RHP- 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K.
Enderson Franco RHP- 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, Save.
The River Cats completed a sweep of the 5 game PCL Championship series. It was the first time a Giants AAA affiliate has won a championship in over 40 years. Gotta say, the way they ran players in and out this year, if they give rings to everyone who was on the roster at any point, they are going to be giving out a whole lot of rings!
And that closes out the 2019 minor league season. Arizona Fall League starts on Sept. 18.
Abiatal Avelino SS- 2 for 4, BB, SB.
Sam Wolff RHP- 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K.
Enderson Franco RHP- 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, Save.
The River Cats completed a sweep of the 5 game PCL Championship series. It was the first time a Giants AAA affiliate has won a championship in over 40 years. Gotta say, the way they ran players in and out this year, if they give rings to everyone who was on the roster at any point, they are going to be giving out a whole lot of rings!
And that closes out the 2019 minor league season. Arizona Fall League starts on Sept. 18.
Game Wrap 9/13/2019: Giants 1 Marlins 0
The Giants mustered just 1 run but Tyler Beede pitched like the ace they hope he will be and shut out the Marlins with some help from the bullpen. Key Lines:
Brandon Belt 1B- 3 for 4, 2 2B. BA= .235. Terrific game from Belt but he did not figure in the scoring.
Steven Vogt LF- 2 for 3, 2B. BA= .275. Vogt scored the only Giants run when he doubled in the 6'th inning, advanced to 3B on a groundout and came home on Buster Posey's chopper through the left side of the IF. Vogt is a free agent at the end of the season. Giants might want to try to re-sign him.
Tyler Beede RHP- 6.1 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 5.02. Beede had command of 3 excellent pitches: A 2-stage FB, as Kruk put it, a hard curveball and a fading changeup. He cruised into he 7'th inning but fell behind Magneuris Sierra and gave up a single. He then fell behind the next batter, but Buster Posey threw a strike to 2B to nail Sierra on a SB attempt on a play that was overturned on replay. Beede worked his way back to a 3-2 count to Harold Ramirez but lost him on a very close curveball. That's when Boch decided it was Time for a Change.
Tyler Rogers RHP- 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 1.74. Not only does Rogers come at hitters from a completely different angle than they are used to seeing, he also varies the tempo of his delivery to disrupt timing. He also economizes pitches with just 12.1/IP which enables him to stay out there for more than 3 outs at a time. He got one K on a frisbee curve that brought back memories of Sergio Romo's no-dot slider.
Shaun Anderson RHP- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, Save(2). ERA= 5.09. Anderson ticks up the velocity by 2-3 MPH when he's relieving while retaining his SP repertoire. You don't have to squint to see next year's setup/closer team in Tyler Rogers and Shaun Anderson.
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Madison Bumgarner will try to pass Matt Cain for most Wins at Oracle Park tonight facing RHP Robert Dugger.
Brandon Belt 1B- 3 for 4, 2 2B. BA= .235. Terrific game from Belt but he did not figure in the scoring.
Steven Vogt LF- 2 for 3, 2B. BA= .275. Vogt scored the only Giants run when he doubled in the 6'th inning, advanced to 3B on a groundout and came home on Buster Posey's chopper through the left side of the IF. Vogt is a free agent at the end of the season. Giants might want to try to re-sign him.
Tyler Beede RHP- 6.1 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 5.02. Beede had command of 3 excellent pitches: A 2-stage FB, as Kruk put it, a hard curveball and a fading changeup. He cruised into he 7'th inning but fell behind Magneuris Sierra and gave up a single. He then fell behind the next batter, but Buster Posey threw a strike to 2B to nail Sierra on a SB attempt on a play that was overturned on replay. Beede worked his way back to a 3-2 count to Harold Ramirez but lost him on a very close curveball. That's when Boch decided it was Time for a Change.
Tyler Rogers RHP- 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 1.74. Not only does Rogers come at hitters from a completely different angle than they are used to seeing, he also varies the tempo of his delivery to disrupt timing. He also economizes pitches with just 12.1/IP which enables him to stay out there for more than 3 outs at a time. He got one K on a frisbee curve that brought back memories of Sergio Romo's no-dot slider.
Shaun Anderson RHP- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, Save(2). ERA= 5.09. Anderson ticks up the velocity by 2-3 MPH when he's relieving while retaining his SP repertoire. You don't have to squint to see next year's setup/closer team in Tyler Rogers and Shaun Anderson.
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Madison Bumgarner will try to pass Matt Cain for most Wins at Oracle Park tonight facing RHP Robert Dugger.
Friday, September 13, 2019
Game Wrap 9/12/2019: Pirates 4 Giants 2
The Giants may not be winning, but they sure are boring....wait, what? Evan Longoria's 2-run HR in the 6'th was the only sign of life in the Giants offense while Jeff Samardzija blew a Quality Start in the 7'th inning. Key Lines:
Evan Longoria 3B- 1 for 4, HR(19). BA= .259. Longo's longball inches him closer to 20 on the season. Kevin Pillar leads with 21 and YtY also has 19 to give the Giants a shot at having 3 players top the 20 mark.
Jeff Samardzija RHP- 6.1 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 1 BB, 2 K's. It's not just that the Giants are losing right now, it's the way they are losing. This is a boring pitching line from a boring boxscore.
Andrew Suarez LHP- 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, GO/AO= 3/0. ERA= 6.11. In his last 11 appearances dating back to August 2, Suarez has a 2.34 ERA in 15.1 IP making a case for a lefty reliever role next season.
Burch Smith RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 6.06. It was a mathematical inevitability that the well travelled Smith would pass through Farhan Zaidi's sluice box of a roster. So far, he's pitched 3.2 scoreless innings in 4 appearances.
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All this losing and the Giants are still stuck with the 13'th overall draft pick for 2020.
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The Marlin come to town for a 3-game weekender with Tyler Beede starting game 1 vs Sandy Atlantara tonight. BTW, Alcantara has a 2.77 ERA over his last 7 Starts.
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Despite a pretty good run in the middle of the season, I'm not convinced this team is any closer to contending than it was on Opening Day. In fact, between a the probable loss of Bummy, Will Smith and Tony Watson to free agency plus Kevin Pillar and YtY likely having peak seasons I would argue they are farther away than on Opening Day. Farhan needs to spend all or most of the $90 M between him and the CBT threshold or else do a total tank for next season and probably the next after that.
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In response to the first comment: I agree. They should have either been all in or all out. I personally favored buying, adding a SP or 2 and possibly a bat. But if they were not going to be buyers, they should have sold off everything including Smith and Bummy. What they actually did was a partial sell, but that took a team with a long shot chance and turned it into a team with no chance. And again, you can go back and check my posts at the time.
Evan Longoria 3B- 1 for 4, HR(19). BA= .259. Longo's longball inches him closer to 20 on the season. Kevin Pillar leads with 21 and YtY also has 19 to give the Giants a shot at having 3 players top the 20 mark.
Jeff Samardzija RHP- 6.1 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 1 BB, 2 K's. It's not just that the Giants are losing right now, it's the way they are losing. This is a boring pitching line from a boring boxscore.
Andrew Suarez LHP- 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, GO/AO= 3/0. ERA= 6.11. In his last 11 appearances dating back to August 2, Suarez has a 2.34 ERA in 15.1 IP making a case for a lefty reliever role next season.
Burch Smith RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 6.06. It was a mathematical inevitability that the well travelled Smith would pass through Farhan Zaidi's sluice box of a roster. So far, he's pitched 3.2 scoreless innings in 4 appearances.
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All this losing and the Giants are still stuck with the 13'th overall draft pick for 2020.
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The Marlin come to town for a 3-game weekender with Tyler Beede starting game 1 vs Sandy Atlantara tonight. BTW, Alcantara has a 2.77 ERA over his last 7 Starts.
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Despite a pretty good run in the middle of the season, I'm not convinced this team is any closer to contending than it was on Opening Day. In fact, between a the probable loss of Bummy, Will Smith and Tony Watson to free agency plus Kevin Pillar and YtY likely having peak seasons I would argue they are farther away than on Opening Day. Farhan needs to spend all or most of the $90 M between him and the CBT threshold or else do a total tank for next season and probably the next after that.
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In response to the first comment: I agree. They should have either been all in or all out. I personally favored buying, adding a SP or 2 and possibly a bat. But if they were not going to be buyers, they should have sold off everything including Smith and Bummy. What they actually did was a partial sell, but that took a team with a long shot chance and turned it into a team with no chance. And again, you can go back and check my posts at the time.
Thursday, September 12, 2019
Down on the Farm(Postseason): 9/11/2019
AAA Sacramento River Cats defeated the Round Rock Express 4-2:
Cristhian Adames 3B- 2 for 4, 2B, HR(1).
Chase Johnson RHP- 5.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 1.59.
River Cats are within a win of taking the PCL championship.
Cristhian Adames 3B- 2 for 4, 2B, HR(1).
Chase Johnson RHP- 5.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 1.59.
River Cats are within a win of taking the PCL championship.
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