Down on the Farm (2017)

[SFGRTB]

Sunday 5/21

Pitching Line: IP-H-R-ER-BB-K

Sacramento River Cats (AAA) lost 3-0 (16-26)

Hitter's couldn't do much against the A's top prospect, Jharel Cotton (former dodger prospect)

Gonor and Hill both played in this game.

Chris Stratton 6.1-7-3-3-2-5. Not terrible, not great.
Kraig Sitton 1.1-1-1-1-0-3
Roberto Gomez 1.0-2-0-0-0-2


Richmond Flying Squirrels (AA) lost 8-1 (17-24)

Slade Heathcott 2-4, 2B, 1 R
Chris Shaw 1-4, 1 RBI, 1 K. Played LF
Miguel Gomez 1-4 (.331). Played 2B

Jordan Johnson 6.1-10-6-4-1-1. Yuck, Harrisburg was not fooled at all.
Rodolfo Martinez 0.2-2-1-1-0-0. Came in with the bases loaded, allowed all runners to score.
Luis Pino 2.0-2-1-1-1-1


San Jose Giants (A+) WON 12-8 (17-27)

Finally, some good news. The 2016 OF draft class is finally back together and they are all on fire.

Bryan Reynolds 5-6, 2B, 3B, 1 R, 4 RBI. Great to see. He was in a huge slump, but has raised his BA 40 points the last 8 games (his OPS went up 56 points in this game alone). K's still a concern, but they are going down from last year.
Heath Quinn 3-3, HR (2), 2 BB, 2 R, 2 RBI. He has been fantastic to start his season. 1.234 OPS so far (6 games).
Gio Brusa 2-5, HR (6), 3 RBI, 2 R. He's found his hitting stroke as well, raising his BA 40 points his last 6 games.
Jalen Miller 2-6, 1 RBI, 2 R. Played 2B.
Ryan Howard 1-5, 2B, 1 BB, 2 R, 2 K.
Jose Vizciano Jr. 1-4, HR (2), 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB

Jake McCasland 5.0-10-6-6-1-2. I've seen reports that he was up to 98 in this game, but I'm not sure I believe that radar run. He was topping out at 89-90 for the most part previously, and this guy isn't a pup (he's 25 y/o) so it's not likely he had a growth spurt. Probably a hot radar gun or mix up of names.
Yordy Cabrera 2.0-2-0-0-1-3
Caleb Simpson 2.0-3-2-2-0-1


Augusta GreenJackets (A) lost 4-2 (13-28)

Jacob Heyward 1-4, HR (5), 1 RBI, 1 R, 1 K

Stephen Woods 7.0-6-4-4-2-10
Jose Morel 1.0-1-0-0-0-0

Woods had the 3rd 10 K game in the Giants MiLB system this year. 8th round 2016 draft pick, he has a sinking fastball that goes up to 94 and a good curveball. I've heard that he could be a pretty good relief prospect right now, but there is enough there to try him as a starting pitcher for now. As with many young pitchers, command is an issue and throwing a consistent 3rd pitch. He's a watch list guy for now, not a throwaway by any means.

 

[LHG]

San Jose Giants (A+) WON 12-8 (17-27)

Finally, some good news. The 2016 OF draft class is finally back together and they are all on fire.

Bryan Reynolds 5-6, 2B, 3B, 1 R, 4 RBI. Great to see. He was in a huge slump, but has raised his BA 40 points the last 8 games (his OPS went up 56 points in this game alone). K's still a concern, but they are going down from last year.
Heath Quinn 3-3, HR (2), 2 BB, 2 R, 2 RBI. He has been fantastic to start his season. 1.234 OPS so far (6 games).
Gio Brusa 2-5, HR (6), 3 RBI, 2 R. He's found his hitting stroke as well, raising his BA 40 points his last 6 games.

This group reminds me a bit of the buzz that Roger Kieschnick, Thomas Neal and Darren Ford were generating in San Jose back in 2009. Hopefully, this group has better results.

 

[SFGRTB]

This group reminds me a bit of the buzz that Roger Kieschnick, Thomas Neal and Darren Ford were generating in San Jose back in 2009. Hopefully, this group has better results.

Great comp. Hopefully it doesn't turn out that way.

I thought Neal was going to be such a stud. I was fucking pissed when we traded him for OCrap.

I wonder what was up with the guy. He had great walk rates, and hit for a good average, decent power, some speed. Too many K's though.

Kieschnick was real exciting too, but there was writing on the wall with him (terrible K/BB ratio, never a good sign. 130 K's, yikes). But his body deteriorating was obviously sucky for him.

Looking back, that 2009 team was absolutely loaded. Posey, Craw, Bum, Gillaspie, then Barnes, Villalona, Alderson, Runzler, and Noonan were all highly regarded and/or made MLB appearances.

 

[SFGRTB]

Monday 5/22

Pitching Line: IP-H-R-ER-BB-K

Sacramento River Cats (AAA) lost 9-3 (16-27)

Jae-Gyun Hwang 1-4, HR (3), 3 RBI, 1 R, SB (3). With 2 outs in the 9th, to avoid the shutout.
Hill (.222) and Gillaspie (.154) can't even hit MiLB pitching right now, and I know that's not necessarily what rehab is about, but I'm just dreading the day Hill is ready.

Dan Slania 5.0-7-6-6-1-4. This was TBD for awhile, so I assume the Giants/Cats were looking at their options regarding Slania, but decided to stick with it. Might be back to relief for him
Dusten Knight 2.0-4-3-2-1-1. Walks have been way up in AAA, but there are the 1st runs since his first game.
Ryan Webb 1.0-1-0-0-0-0
Matt Reynolds 1.0-1-0-0-0-0


Richmond Flying Squirrels (AA) lost 5-4 (17-25)

Chris Shaw 1-4, HR (6), 1 RBI, 1 R, 1 K. Has played LF exclusively since May 6th. A note about his defense, he's been fine going laterally and coming in on balls, but needs more work going back on balls. Has improved quickly, willing to work. Link
Slade Heathcott 1-5, 2B, 1 RBI, 1 K, 1 TE (3)

Andrew Suarez 6.1-7-2-2-2-5. 1-3, 2 RBI. Suarez was quite dominant through 6 innings. He is Ty Blach with a little bit better stuff.
Carlos Alverado 1.2-0-0-0-2-1
D.J. Snelten 0.2-2-3-3-0-1
Reyes Moronta 0.1-1-0-0-2-1. Moronta has just been out of whack since his callup. Snelten gave up 2 singles and a HBP to load the bases. Moronta came in, bases loaded 2 out, and gave up a single and 2 walks and Snelten's runners scored.


San Jose Giants (A+) WON 9-4 (18-27)

Jalen Miller 2-5, 2 2B, 2 RBI, 1 R, 2 K, 1 TE (9). Played SS
Jose Vizciano Jr. 3-3, 2 2B, 3 RBI, 1 BB, 2R
Ryan Howard 3-5, 1 RBI
Bryan Reynolds 1-4, 2 RBI, 1 K

Conor Menez 6.0-9-4-3-2-3
Will LaMarche 2.0-2-0-0-0-1
Caleb Smith 1.0-0-0-0-1-0

Augusta GreenJackets (A) was postponed due to rain (13-28)

 

[LHG]

Great comp. Hopefully it doesn't turn out that way.

I thought Neal was going to be such a stud. I was fucking pissed when we traded him for OCrap.

I wonder what was up with the guy. He had great walk rates, and hit for a good average, decent power, some speed. Too many K's though.

Kieschnick was real exciting too, but there was writing on the wall with him (terrible K/BB ratio, never a good sign. 130 K's, yikes). But his body deteriorating was obviously sucky for him.

Looking back, that 2009 team was absolutely loaded. Posey, Craw, Bum, Gillaspie, then Barnes, Villalona, Alderson, Runzler, and Noonan were all highly regarded and/or made MLB appearances.

Neal is head scratcher because no one really gave him a chance. He was traded before the Giants ever called him up and produced well the one full season he had with the Indians but they only gave him 9 games to showcase his talent at the big league level before letting him walk. The Yankees picked him up and he hit well at AAA for them as well but only got into 4 games before they waived him. The Cubs picked him up, where he played all of 2 games for them. His season at AAA with the Reds was subpar and suddenly he, at 27 years old, is out of affiliated ball.

Neal's numbers were good up to his last affiliated season but it seemed once the Indians picked him up, he was seen as nothing more than organizational filler. A total of 15 games in the big leagues is hardly enough to either show how good one can be or how much one should not play in the big leagues. He last played in 2015 in indy ball and while his numbers weren't bad, they weren't what they should be to escape back to affiliated ball.

 

[calsnowskier]

Neal is head scratcher because no one really gave him a chance. He was traded before the Giants ever called him up and produced well the one full season he had with the Indians but they only gave him 9 games to showcase his talent at the big league level before letting him walk. The Yankees picked him up and he hit well at AAA for them as well but only got into 4 games before they waived him. The Cubs picked him up, where he played all of 2 games for them. His season at AAA with the Reds was subpar and suddenly he, at 27 years old, is out of affiliated ball.

Neal's numbers were good up to his last affiliated season but it seemed once the Indians picked him up, he was seen as nothing more than organizational filler. A total of 15 games in the big leagues is hardly enough to either show how good one can be or how much one should not play in the big leagues. He last played in 2015 in indy ball and while his numbers weren't bad, they weren't what they should be to escape back to affiliated ball.

I have a hard time believing any organization (let alone multiple orgs) would refuse to look at a guy just because he has a rep as a filler. I suspect he had a major hole in his game that was clear as day that just didn't effect him in AAA but that would kill him at the MLB level. I have no clue what that could have been. Maybe it was that he couldn't touch a 90+ fastball. Maybe he could never tell the difference between a FB and a CU. Maybe he was an utter douchebag. Who knows.

 

[SFGRTB]

I totally forgot about him (sorry, Chris), but Marrero hasn't been playing since last Wednesday, apparently it's because the Giants are selling his contract to a Japanese team.

Good luck, Chris.

 

[calsnowskier]

I totally forgot about him (sorry, Chris), but Marrero hasn't been playing since last Wednesday, apparently it's because the Giants are selling his contract to a Japanese team.

Good luck, Chris.

He fits the mold of an Orestes Destrade or Eric Thames or Matt Stairs or Cecil Fielder. Japan could do wonders for him.

 

[SFGRTB]

Chris Shaw has been promoted to AAA

 

[calsnowskier]

Chris Shaw has been promoted to AAA

He is on the Belt track now, officially.

He will sip some java before the season is out.

 

[SFGRTB]

Tuesday 5/23

Pitching Line: IP-H-R-ER-BB-K

Sacramento River Cats (AAA) WON 6-2 (17-27)

Kelby Tomlinson 3-5, 2B, 2 RBI, 1 R. Played 2B
Austin Slater 2-4, 1 BB, 1 K. Played CF and LF.
Aaron Hill 2-5, HR, 3B, 3 RBI, 1 R. Played 3B.

With Shaw now in the fold, it's likely him and Ryder Jones split time in LF and 1B (with Jones peppering in time at 3B).

Tyler Beede 5.1-4-2-2-3-2. Beede was pulled after 83 pitches, after issuing a one-out walk in the 6th. He didn't seem hurt or leave with trainers, and his stuff seemed normal, so maybe the Giants are just limiting his workload a bit, after throwing 96 and 98 pitches his last 2 games. Beede's sinker was 92-94 tonight, and was his best pitch from what I've heard. He threw a lot of cutters in the mid-high 80s that "moved so much it was almost a slider". Good stuff. Curveball was low 80s. The Giants have really done a fine job turning Beede into an all-around pitcher.
Tyler Rogers 1.2-2-0-0-0-0
Matt Reynolds 1.0-0-0-0-0-0
Kyle Crick 1.0-1-0-0-0-2. Crick threw 18 fastballs among his 24 pitches, topping out at 97, sitting at 95/96 mostly. His slider was in the low 80s. Drew 5 swings and misses, 4 from the fastball and 1 from the slider.

Richmond Flying Squirrels (AA) was postponed (17-25)



San Jose Giants (A+) lost 5-4 (18-28)

Gio Brusa 1-3, HR (7th), 1 RBI, 1 R, 1 BB, 2 K.
Jonah Arenado 1-4, 2 RBI

Mike Connolly 5.2-7-4-4-2-2
Caleb Simpson 1.1-2-1-1-1-3
Dylan Rheault 1.0-0-0-0-0-0

Augusta GreenJackets (A) was cancelled -Game 1 (13-28)



Augusta GreenJackets (A) was postponed -Game 2 (13-28)



Tomorrow's (today's) Probables:

AAA: Joan Gregorio
AA: Sam Coonrod (Game 1)
AA: Jose Flores (Game 2)
A+: Matt Solter
A: Raffi Vizciano (Game 1)
A: Domenic Mazza (Game 2)
No, they will not play a triple header.

 

[calsnowskier]

In 18.2 IP, Crick has a 25/8 K/BB ratio.

Who is this guy?

 

[SFGRTB]

In 18.2 IP, Crick has a 25/8 K/BB ratio.

Who is this guy?

Lowest walk rate in his career, and highest strikeout rate since his breakout season in San Jose.

He has really turned the corner. I'm happy for the guy, it must have been some real rough years mentally there for awhile.

 

[SFGRTB]

Wednesday 5/24

Pitching Line: IP-H-R-ER-BB-K

Sacramento River Cats (AAA) lost 9-5 (17-28)

Kelby Tomlinson 3-5, 1 R, 1 SB (6). Played CF, made a real nice play out there.
Ryder Jones 2-4, 2 R, 1 BB, 1 K. Played 1B
Austin Slater 2-4, 2 RBI, 1 BB. Played RF
Jae-Gyun Hwang 2-5, 3B, 3 RBI, 1 K. Played 3B

So I'm hearing that Shaw is pretty much going to be the everyday LFer. Kelby is going to play a lot more CF and Slater is going to bounce around between CF/RF/1B, with Jones holding down 1B most of the time, but also at 3B and LF.

Joan Gregorio 7.0-9-5-5-1-2
D.J. Snelten 1.0-1-2-2-1-0
Ryan Webb 1.0-2-2-2-1-0

Richmond Flying Squirrels (AA) lost 1-0 (Game 1)

Miguel Gomez 1-3, 2B, 1 K.

Sam Coonrod 5.0-4-1-1-1-2
Christian Jones 1.0-2-0-0-0-0
Reyes Moronta 1.0-1-0-0-0-1

Richmond Flying Squirrels (AA) lost 5-0 (Game 2) (17-27)

Miguel Gomez 1-2

Yikes, Shaw is a huge piece of this lineup, but not a good look for the Squirrels who could only get 5 hits combined in 2 games (14 innings).

Jose Flores 4.0-2-0-0-1-1
Collin Balester 1.0-3-3-3-0-1
Rodolfo Martinez 1.0-2-1-0-0-0
Tyler Cyr 0.1-2-1-1-0-0

San Jose Giants (A+) WON 11-7 (19-28)

8 of the 9 starters got a hit, and all 8 were multi-hit games.

Ryan Howard 4-5, 2B, 1 R, 2 RBI. Leads the Cal League in hits with 59.
Bryan Reynolds 2-5, HR (2), 2 RBI, 1 R.
Heath Quinn 2-5, 2 2B, 1 R.
Dillon Dobson 2-5, HR (7), 2 RBI, 2 R, 1 K.
Gio Brusa 2-5, HR (8), 2 RBI, 2 R, 1 K.
Jonah Arenado 3-5, 2 2B, 2 R
Daniel Carbonell 3-5, 2B, 3 RBI, 1 R
Aramis Garcia 2-5. Played Catcher for the first time since April 20th, due to a concussion.

Matt Solter 5.2-6-5-5-3-3

Augusta GreenJackets (A) was canceled (Game 1)



Augusta GreenJackets (A) was canceled (Game 2) (13-28)



So Monday's game was postponed to Tuesday, for a double header. On Tuesday, they cancelled Monday's game and postponed Tuesday's game, for a double header Wednesday. On Wednesday, they cancelled Tuesday's game AND Wednesday's game. So, the GreenJackets will play 3 less games this year.

 

[calsnowskier]

Evans was on KNBR after the game today, and he was selling Chris Shaw HARD. Basically said that he will be in SF this year and that he has an MLB-ready bat RIGHT NOW.

They sold on Arroyo hard, but I don't remember them ever saying he was ready to go. I don't remember hearing anything like this since Belt. Is Shaw now our #1 prospect in the org's eyes?

 

[SFGRTB]

Evans was on KNBR after the game today, and he was selling Chris Shaw HARD. Basically said that he will be in SF this year and that he has an MLB-ready bat RIGHT NOW.

They sold on Arroyo hard, but I don't remember them ever saying he was ready to go. I don't remember hearing anything like this since Belt. Is Shaw now our #1 prospect in the org's eyes?

It's possible. They really didn't want to include him in the Moore/Duffy deal, they basically rather would have thrown away their International prospect investment (Fox, and 2 years probation) than Shaw.

I keep thinking though, unless he's just utterly destroying AAA, I don't think they should call him up. We have some prospects that will need to be added to the 40 man if we want to keep them around next year, and Shaw is not one of them. Tyler Beede, Slater, and Coonrod are the biggest names, but also Aramis Garcia, Hunter Cole, and probably a few others that I'm overlooking.

 

[calsnowskier]

It's possible. They really didn't want to include him in the Moore/Duffy deal, they basically rather would have thrown away their International prospect investment (Fox, and 2 years probation) than Shaw.

I keep thinking though, unless he's just utterly destroying AAA, I don't think they should call him up. We have some prospects that will need to be added to the 40 man if we want to keep them around next year, and Shaw is not one of them. Tyler Beede, Slater, and Coonrod are the biggest names, but also Aramis Garcia, Hunter Cole, and probably a few others that I'm overlooking.

I am OK with keeping him down this year. He does not need to be added to the 40 for at least another year, so there is certainly no rush.

I would rather Mac be given a legit shot (2 more months?) and see what Slater or Heathcott or Jones or Hwang can do. With all the Cueto-to-DL talk, I would like to see Gregorio get the call for the spot start. He has to be in SF next year.

 

[SFGRTB]

Thursday 5/25

Pitching Line: IP-H-R-ER-BB-K

Sacramento River Cats (AAA) WON 5-3 (18-28)

Jae-Gyun Hwang 3-4, 2B, 3 B, 2 RBI, 1 R, 1 K. Played 1B
Chris Shaw 1-4, 2B, 1 RBI, 1 R. Double went to the opposite field. Played LF.
Kelby Tomlinson 1-3, 2 BB, 2B. Played CF.
Juan Ciriaco 1-4, HR (1), 2 RBI, 1 K.

Michael Roth 6.0-3-1-1-2-5
Kraig Sittion 1.0-1-0-0-0-0
Roberto Gomez 1.0-1-2-0-1-1
Kyle Crick 1.0-2-0-0-0-3. Crick has a ton of confidence with his fastball right now, from what I've heard. Throwing it most of the time, putting it where he wants (<--!!!). If he get's consistent with that slider or change (or both), look out. Even now his fastball is really friggin good (always has been) and he could probably be effective enough with just that.

Richmond Flying Squirrels (AA) lost 6-3 (17-28)

Slade Heathcott 1-4, HR (5), 1 RBI, 1 R, 2 K. Slade has takenover the cleanup spot in Shaw's absence.
C.J Hinojosa 2-4, 2 CS, 2 PO. I think it's just a technical thing, Hinojosa was put-out on the bases twice. Played 2B

Cory Taylor 5.0-6-6-6-5-2. Yikes
Christian Jones 2.0-2-0-0-1-1
Collin Balester 2.0-0-0-0-0-2

San Jose Giants (A+) WON 4-2 (20-28)

Jonah Arenado 2-4, 2B, HR (2), 1 RBI, 2 R. Played 3B
Heath Quinn 1-4, HR (3), 1 RBI, 1 R

Matt Krook 6.0-3-2-2-2-1. Really, really impressive start for the kid. The Giants are working hard on this kid, not unlike Beede when he was a pup. The Giants are really trying to get Krook comfortable with his fastball, A because it's a damn good fastball, and B because things tend to fall into place with fastball command. In his last start (2 walks, 4 hits), 90 of his 92 pitches were his fastball and he got 11 groundball out. Very similar outing tonight, almost exclusively fastballs and he got 13 groundball outs. Hitters know it's coming and can't do anything with it. He has great offspeed offerings, but they are just getting him to simplify his stuff for now. Giants did this exact same thing with Beede and they slowly added layers and layers to his game, until they basically let him loose late last year. And Krook has better stuff than Beede.
Carlos Diaz 2.0-1-0-0-0-3
Ryan Halstead 1.0-0-0-0-0-2

Augusta GreenJackets (A) lost 6-2 in 10 innings (13-29)

Jacob Heyward 1-4, HR (6), 1 RBI, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 K.
Kelvin Beltre 1-4, 2B, 1 R, 2 K.

Melvin Adon 6.0-5-1-1-1-4. Very good start for the hard throwing Adon. Batters have a .217/.305/.304 batting line against him. Very nice.

 

[SFGRTB]

Friday 5/26

Pitching Line: IP-H-R-ER-BB-K

Sacramento Rivercats (AAA) lost 13-3

Orlando Calixte 2-4, HR (7), 2 RBI, 1 R, 2 K. Played CF.
Kelby Tomlinson 2-4, 2 R, 1 BB, 1 K. Played SS.
Chris Shaw 1-4, 1 K. Played LF.

Chris Stratton 5.0-10-8-8-2-6
Tyler Rogers 0.2-2-4-2-3-1
Dusten Knight 2.1-1-0-0-0-1
D.J. Snelten 1.0-1-1-1-0-1. That's 2 homers in 2 games, looks like he's leaving that sinker up right now.

Richmond Flying Squirrels (AA) lost 5-2

Hunter Cole 2-4, HR (2), 2 B, 2 RBI, 1 R. 17 of his 30 hits have gone for extra bases. Definition of "making them count"
Ali Castillo 3-4, CS (3).

Matt Gage 7.0-7-2-2-1-7
Carlos Alverado 0.2-5-3-3-0-1. Jeez
Luis Pino 0.1-0-0-0-0-0

San Jose Giants (A+) lost 7-3

Bryan Reynolds 2-3, 1 BB
Heath Quinn 1-4, 2 RBI

Mark Reyes 5.0-6-6-5-6-2

Augusta GreenJackets (A) lost 5-3

Kelvin Beltre 2-3, 2 BB, 1 R, TE (6)
Jacob Heyward 2-4, 2 RBI

Garrett Williams 6.0-7-2-2-2-5. Real nice start to the season for Williams. Big stuff lefty.
Greg Brody 1.0-0-0-0-0-0
Wilson Santos 2.0-2-3-2-2-1

 

[Stokes1931]

In 32 games in San Jose, Garcia has 30 RBI's. He doesn't hit for high average, nor with a ton of power, but he loves to drive in runs.