Down on the Farm (2023)

[LHG]

Some good write ups on 2023 minor league standouts today in The Athletic

1b: Wyatt and Roby
2b: Glowenke and this guy

Damon Dues​

Since signing as an undrafted free agent in 2021 out of Wright State, Dues has been an on-base machine when he’s been on the field. He’s been limited to 82 games this season, mostly with Eugene, but has a remarkable .417 OBP and 31 stolen bases in that stretch. He’s received the bulk of his playing time at second base but can play all over the field.

@filosofy29 's favorite minor leaguer?

 

[LHG]

C: These two guys

Adrian Sugastey​

Bailey might be the Giants’ answer at catcher for the next several years, but they have two more intriguing backstop options coming up the ranks in Sugastey and honorable mention Onil Perez (more on him below). Sugastey spent all season with Eugene, where he hit .298/.333/.423 with only 37 strikeouts in 248 at-bats over 63 games. He played well behind the plate, throwing out 27 percent of base-stealers at a level where it can be very difficult to control the running game. The 20-year-old hit only four home runs but is still growing into his lean, 6-foot-1 frame, and Haines sees more power in his future. He has a plus throwing arm and is just learning how to game-plan behind the plate, but Haines was very pleased with Sugastey’s progress this season.

Onil Perez​

Haines was similarly pleased with the progress Perez made in his season, which began in San Jose and finished in Eugene. For the year, the 21-year-old hit .299/.364/.403 with just 31 strikeouts in 253 at-bats and 23 stolen bases. Perez is built differently than Sugastey — more stout and muscular — but has similar bat-to-ball skills and also has a strong arm behind the plate. He threw out 28 percent of would-be base-stealers this season.

I'm always fascinated with catchers who can run, so it will be interesting to see how long Perez can keep that stolen base number in double digits.

 

[LHG]

OF: Meckler, McCray, Ramos, Matos and these guys

Victor Bericoto​

With Jairo Pomares sidelined most of the year by injury, Bericoto stepped into the role as the top power-hitting outfielder in the Giants’ system. After hitting 12 homers in 107 games in San Jose last year, Bericoto leads the farm system with 27 in 122 games split between Eugene and Richmond. The 21-year-old has an .840 OPS despite playing in two pitcher-friendly leagues. Bericoto has always flashed this kind of potential, according to Haines, but this is the first year he’s performed consistently enough to raise his profile significantly. He’s limited to the corners and still has work to do to control the strike zone better, but he will be a player to watch going into 2024.

Guillermo Williamson​

Williamson signed with the Giants in January 2021 but didn’t make his pro debut until last season in the Dominican Summer League. After a solid year, he came stateside in 2023 and was one of the Arizona Complex League’s top hitters. In 56 games, he hit .285/.415/.511 with nine homers. He has some swing-and-miss to his game but also walks a lot and has shown plus power.

“It’s power over bat,” Haines said. “Left-handed power bat. First base, corner outfield profile. He was arguably the most consistent (among the Giants’ ACL players) from start to finish.”

Williamson has been a player I've been watching a bit in the ACL. I will enjoy seeing what he can do in a full season league next year.

Bericoto, I believe, started 2023 a bit slowly so his numbers are even more impressive considering that slow start.

 

[filosofy29]

@filosofy29 's favorite minor leaguer?

Dude should get called up monthly at the very least…

 

[tzill]

@filosofy29 's favorite minor leaguer?

 

[LHG]

Some good write ups on 2023 minor league standouts today in The Athletic

1b: Wyatt and Roby
2b: Glowenke and this guy

Damon Dues​

Since signing as an undrafted free agent in 2021 out of Wright State, Dues has been an on-base machine when he’s been on the field. He’s been limited to 82 games this season, mostly with Eugene, but has a remarkable .417 OBP and 31 stolen bases in that stretch. He’s received the bulk of his playing time at second base but can play all over the field.

I completely missed the names on the 1st base list. Man, the org doesn't have much in terms of 1st base only prospects. Wyatt, Frechette and Cannon were all drafted in the same year (2019) and all fit the 1st base only (or close, in Frechette's case) bat first players. However, none of those bats have really shown up.

Frechette (5th round) hasn't made it out of low A ball yet and got demoted from San Jose to the ACL, where he spent some time in right field. Still, his his numbers outside of the ACL are not good. He's spent parts of 3 seasons with San Jose (2021-2023) and has posted a .242/.283/.329 in 621 PAs over that time period with the junior Giants. He did post some encouraging numbers after his demotion this year, .282/.393/.437 (122 PAs), but did so as a 22 year old in a league where the average player is 20 years old.

Cannon (17th round) had a really impressive start to his professional career, hitting .326/.399/689 in 148 PAs with the AZL Giants Orange squad (although he was also almost 2 years older than the average player). He got a brief 2 game stint with Salem that year, going 2 for 7 with no walks or extra base hits. Of course, all these guys lost the 2020 season but Cannon was injured all of 2021. He got into 43 games in the Yankees' org in 2022 and hit .165/.299/.307 in 154 PAs. The Yankees' org then released him. The Giants signed him for 2023 but he has once again lost another full season to injury.

Wyatt (2nd round) has had the most success but that is not a high standard. He was okay in his debut season, combining a .278/.388/.378 in 183 PAs across 3 levels (AZL, short A and low A ball). His OPS dropped from .865 to .788 to .702 in those 3 levels. The high on base was great but the low slugging was concerning, especially for a guy restricted to a position where slugging is expected to be high. When minor league play resumed in 2021, he struggled with Eugene (.238/.398/.295 in 289 PAs) earning a demotion a 10 game demotion to the ACL (.242/.286/.394). His 2022 season was mainly lost to injury but when he was healthy, he split time between San Jose and the ACL again, combining to hit .213/.286/.245 in 105 PAs (his OPS was .542 in the ACL and .520 in San Jose). So considering this production, 2023 was encouraging. He hit .259/.371/.430 with Eugene (229 PAs). With the shinier slugging percentage, he got bumped up to Richmond. There, he hit .257/.339/.442 in Richmond. Decent numbers but he is now 25 years old (turning 26 in November), hardly prospect level numbers.

Roby is an interesting prospect for this group because he was been historically a 3rd baseman, staying just one level behind Villar in the org. Roby's issue hasn't been slugging, he is the opposite of Wyatt. Roby has had a very poor on base most years. His OBP was good in 2018 and 2019, where it was between .360 (2018) and .367 (2019) and his slugging was okay (.442 and .434 respectively). However, all but 79 of his 419 plate appearances those two years were at the short season levels. When play resumed in 2021, his on base was respectable (.325) with Eugene but combined with his decent slugging (.464) he put up a decent but not really good year. Still, he got bumped to Richmond in 2022 and regressed on the on base front (.286) while improving his slugging (.481) in 89 games. This year has been weird. He was injured for a bit (on Richmond's IL to start the season) but when he was healthy he was immediately activated on Eugene's roster. He was hitting well but, for some strange reason, was sent to the ACL for a month. He hit well there (.271/.358/.542 in 19 games, 4 years older than the average player) and finally got moved back to Eugene, hitting .276/.344/.621 over the course of 22 games (96 PAs). Then he got back to Richmond, where he struggled toward the end of 2023, hitting .182/.232/.284 in 95 PAs (24 games). He still may be considered more of a 3rd baseman too as his games in Richmond were 12 starts at 3rd and only 1 at 1st base (and 10 at DH). However, with Eugene, he played 19 games at 1st (with the 3 other games at DH).

 

[tzill]

Agreed on 1b, and Lockhard points that out in the article.

Pretty slim pickings for this spot, as the Giants, like many organizations, don’t have a lot of true first basemen in their system. “I think a lot of (traditional first base prospect types) are playing in the NFL as tight ends now,” Haines said with a chuckle.

 

[tzill]

Bart placed on AAA IL.

 

[sf1giantfan]

Bart placed on AAA IL.

With a broken heart

 

[LHG]

Minor league schedules are weird. The Richmond Flying Squirrels finished the regular season with a 6 game series in Erie (apparently, 6 game series are a thing, at least at AA). They got a day off and then started the division playoff series . . . against Erie. The Flying Squirrels won 4 of the 6 games in that regular season series finale, only to lose both games in the division series and make a quick exit from the playoffs.

 

[Stokes1931]

Minor league schedules are weird. The Richmond Flying Squirrels finished the regular season with a 6 game series in Erie (apparently, 6 game series are a thing, at least at AA). They got a day off and then started the division playoff series . . . against Erie. The Flying Squirrels won 4 of the 6 games in that regular season series finale, only to lose both games in the division series and make a quick exit from the playoffs.

The minor leagues have all gone to six game series. Play T-Su, Monday is an off day.

In the Cal League, my local Modesto Nuts (Mariners) beat the San Jose Giants in two games, and then crushed the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (Dodgers) in two games. The Nuts are the 2023 Cal League Champions! (We went to Game One on Sunday)

 

[Stokes1931]

With a broken heart

I didn't know a broken heart could land someone on the IL.

 

[LHG]

The minor leagues have all gone to six game series. Play T-Su, Monday is an off day.

In the Cal League, my local Modesto Nuts (Mariners) beat the San Jose Giants in two games, and then crushed the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (Dodgers) in two games. The Nuts are the 2023 Cal League Champions! (We went to Game One on Sunday)

Shows how long its been since I've gone to a minor league game.

As someone who used to attend a lot of games in Modesto back in the 90s, glad to see they won, even if they crushed San Jose on the way.

 

[calsnowskier]

I don’t think I have been to a minor league game since the early 90s. I went to a few SJ Giants games with my pops when I was in HS. I thought Bobby Jr was one of the players when I went, but he didnt get to the Giants until ‘96.

 

[LHG]

I don’t think I have been to a minor league game since the early 90s. I went to a few SJ Giants games with my pops when I was in HS. I thought Bobby Jr was one of the players when I went, but he didnt get to the Giants until ‘96.

Bobby Jr bounced around the Cal League in the mid 90s. He was with Rancho Cucamonga in 1994, Visalia in 1995 (when I met him and got his autograph) and San Jose in 1996 and 1997. Seems like it was spring training 1997 or 1998 that Barry said the Giants should call up his brother to play the outfield.

 

[tzill]

Bobby Jr bounced around the Cal League in the mid 90s. He was with Rancho Cucamonga in 1994, Visalia in 1995 (when I met him and got his autograph) and San Jose in 1996 and 1997. Seems like it was spring training 1997 or 1998 that Barry said the Giants should call up his brother to play the outfield.

He was absolutely the best player I ever faced in HS. By like, a lot.

 

[tzill]

The Giants have signed RHP Spencer Howard to a minor league deal. Howard posted a 3.66 ERA with a 12.0 K/9 in the minors while being regarded as one of the better prospects in baseball not that long ago. He had struggled to a 7.20 ERA in 38 appearances in the majors.

 

[LHG]

The Giants have signed RHP Spencer Howard to a minor league deal. Howard posted a 3.66 ERA with a 12.0 K/9 in the minors while being regarded as one of the better prospects in baseball not that long ago. He had struggled to a 7.20 ERA in 38 appearances in the majors.

Interesting timing on the deal, with one day left in the AAA season. I assume they signed him to a 2 year deal. Or I wonder if it is effectively for 2024 and he won't pitch today or be added to the AAA roster.

 

[Stokes1931]

The Richmond Flying Squirrels' season ended on Thursday with a 7-3 loss to the Erie Sea Wolves, losing the divisional series 2-0.

Sacramento and Salt Lake City are battling over the last place finish in the PCL West Division. (Though still ahead of Sugar Land (HOU), El Paso (SD), and Albuquerque (COL)). I believe the River Cats have clinched the worst record in the West.

 

[tzill]

July 26 the Red Sox acquired RHP Mauricio Llovera from the Giants in exchange for RHP Marques Johnson. Llovera had a 1.69 ERA across 5.1 MLB innings at that point and a 3.97 ERA across 22.2 AAA innings.

Following the trade, Johnson (2022 draftee) posted 18.1 scoreless innings with 20 strikeouts against 9 walks with the San Jose Giants. He will head to the AFL this season.