The man only hits doubles or HRs

"You know, we're trying to win based on pitching and defense and timely hitting. And, you know, you look back at '10, '12 and '14, those teams, you know, those teams didn't slug...And that's a recipe that works here, you know. And so, look, it's a tough place to score runs, right?”

That would make sense if other teams weren't scoring either.

Last 7 games in 22 ab .409/.458/.864 with 2 Hr 2 SB and 3 rbi

The DSL Giants Black team picked up their suspended game to fight for their survival chances, which saw them blow a huge lead, come back in the 9th, and a back-and-forth battle in the extra frames before the Giants prevailed…but they’re still out of the playoffs after the other game on Sunday.  Elsewhere, two big players leave their game with injuries today.  Plus, I was at San Jose, so I have a couple of in-person thoughts and observations about Keyner Martinez’s worst game and also kind of best game in San Jose so far, and Jhonny Level’s defense and injury.

AAA: El Paso 16, Sacramento 5

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Player of the Game: DH Jesus Rodriguez (16): 4-4, 1 BB, 1 2B (2)

Jesus Rodriguez responded to playing his first game in the field for the Giants yesterday with his first 4-hit performance of the season.  His Triple-A batting line was pushed up to .317/.406/.414, although with Sacramento, he’s just at .314/.392/.343, with only two doubles so far.  He had 14 doubles, three triples, and five home runs in 78 games with the Yankees Triple-A affiliate.

Other Players to Spotlight:

• 3B Thomas Gavello: 2-5, 1 R, 2 RBI, 2 K, 1 HR (6) - Another strong game for Gavello, whose Triple-A batting average peeked back above .300.  He now has 11 home runs in total over 81 games this season over three levels.
• LF Marco Luciano: 1-3, 1 R, 1 RBI, 2 BB, 1 HR (21) - Luciano returned to the lineup for the first time since coming out of the August 19th game with an injury, and hit another home run anyway.
• C Sam Huff: 1-2, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 2B (5), 2 PB 96) - Huff had a strong game, playing just seven innings as he’s still working back.

Top Prospect Lines:

• 1B Bryce Eldridge (1): 0-5, 3 K
• SP Trevor McDonald (19): 4.0 IP, 6 H, 8 R, 7 ER, 4 BB, 3 K, 3 HR

Other Notable Lines:

• CF Wade Meckler: 2-6, 1 RBI, 2 K, 1 2B (11)
• RF Grant McCray: 0-5, 2 K
• 2B Brett Wisely: 0-3, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 HBP
• RP Sean Hjelle: 0.2 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 HR

AA: Richmond 5, Chesapeake 1

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Player of the Game: 1B Victor Bericoto: 2-5, 1 R, 3 RBI, 2 K, 1 HR (11)

Victor Bericoto continues to have a strong August, with a slash line of .286/.386/.443 with two doubles and three home runs in the month.  Overall, Bericoto’s slash line in Richmond is at .235/.330/.408 with 12 doubles, a triple, and 11 home runs.

Other Players to Spotlight:

• 2B Dayson Croes: 3-4, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 HBP - Croes had another strong game, and is slashing .352/.410/.481…but in the 9th inning, Croes was hit on the hand or wrist by a pitch and was in obvious pain as he was taken out of the game.  No status has been given.
• DH-2B Diego Velasquez (21): 2-4, 1 R, 1 K, 1 2B (16) - Velasquez has just two doubles and a home run this month, as he’s slashing .257/.361/.316.
• 3B Sabin Ceballos: 2-4, 1 RBI, 1 K, 2 2B (17) - Ceballos has had a rough year, but he’s finishing strong, with a .286/.375/.490 slash line in August, and now two 2-double games in the last five games.

Top Prospect Lines:

• CF Bo Davidson (5): 1-3, 1 R, 2 BB, 1 SB (6)

Other Notable Lines:

• SP Jack Choate: 3.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K, 1 HBP - This was Choate’s first start since August 1st, six appearances ago.

High-A: Hillsboro 2, Eugene 1

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Player of the Game: SP Charlie McDaniel: 6.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K

In five games since getting promoted to Eugene, McDaniel has two games where he’s allowed 7+ runs, two games where he’s given up two runs, one earned, and now six shutout innings for his best start.  It’s still a 6.75 ERA in High-A, after he had a 2.59 ERA in San Jose.

Other Players to Spotlight:

• 2B Nate Furman: 1-3, 1 R, 1 2B (3), 1 HBP - Furman now has 15 games at High-A as he works back, slashing .321/.438/.434.
• C Onil Perez: 2-4, 1 2B (3), 1 SB (6) - Perez now has back-to-back 2-hit games after four games back in High-A.  He’s slashing .310/.444/.405 in High-A, with a struggle of .189/.290/.245.

Top Prospect Lines:

• None

Other Notable Lines:

• 1B Charlie Szykowny: 0-2, 2 HBP

Low-A: Fresno 6, San Jose 2

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Player of the Game: Keyner Martinez (11): 4.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 9 K, 1 HR

This was the most earned runs that Keyner Martinez has given up in a game this season, and yet…this was still a mostly overwhelming performance by him.  He was throwing 96-97 gas, and his slider was getting whiffs.  But a couple of hits came off of weak grounders that got through the infield, and one of those hits plus a walk came ahead of a first-pitch home run he gave up, his first home run given up in San Jose and second overall this season.  But also, the nine strikeouts are the most he’s had in his four games at San Jose, and second-most in any game this season.  Overall, he has 89 strikeouts to 17 walks in 62.0 innings this season.

Other Players to Spotlight:

• RP Argenis Cayama (10): 3.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K - Cayama had one of his best games, giving up scattered singles but shutting down the free passes that have plagued his first three San Jose appearances, and thus didn’t allow any runs.
• CF Lisbel Diaz: 2-3, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 SB (23) - Diaz’s hot August continued, and is now slashing .355/.425/.513 on the month.
• SS Jhonny Level (4): 0-2, 1 K, 1 E (2) - Level had a rough 6th inning that led to him leaving with an injury.  After just whiffing on a ground ball on the first play of the inning, he chased down a high bouncer, and as he tried to swipe at it with his glove, he accidentally caused a ricochet that caught him right between the eyes (with sunglasses), and he went down.  He left the game with a cut to the bridge of his nose, but there were no checks for concussion on the field and he was walking normally off the field.  (But honestly, this inning is the literal wake-up call for him to improve the foundations of his defense, and hopefully when Wotus sees the replays of this, they talk.  The entire infield had a bad day today defensively, too.)

Top Prospect Lines:

• DH Trevor Cohen (24): 1-5, 1 K
• SS Lorenzo Meola (30): 0-3, 1 K
• 3B Walker Martin (29): 1-3, 1 BB, 1 K

Other Notable Lines:

• C Juan Perez: 2-4
• 2B Dario Reynoso: 1-3, 1 BB, 1 K
• RF Cameron Maldonado: 1-3, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K

ACL: Season Over

DSL Orange: Season Over

DSL Black: DSL Giants Black 16, DSL Angels 14 (11 Innings)

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Okay, what a crazy game.  When it was suspended, the game was 9-3 in the Top of the 4th in favor of the Giants.  Then the Angels scored nine runs between the 5th and the 7th, which set it up for the Giants to need to come back in the top of the 9th with an Albert Jimenez home run to have a chance to win to try and keep their chances to advance open.  They traded two runs each in the 10th, and then the Giants got two more in the 11th to finally win.

But the season is still over for the DSL Giants Black.  The DSL Athletics won their game 8-5, leaving the Giants Black and Athletics both at 2-1 in Pool Play.  The Athletics hold what I assume is the tiebreaker, by virtue of the Athletics defeating the Giants Black team on Friday.  So…yeah.  That’s it for the DSL this season, and we’re left with four minor league teams as the season is winding down.

Notable Lines:

• SS Josuar Gonzalez (2): 0-5, 1 R, 1 RBI, 2 BB, 3 K, 1 SB
• DH Albert Jimenez: 2-6, 3 R, 3 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 HR
• 3B Dennys Riera: 3-6, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 3B, 1 E
• CF Luis Frias: 2-3, 1 R, 4 BB, 1 K, 1 SB, 

That Jung Hoo Lee has a higher slugging percentage (.409) than Heliot Ramos (.400).

Frame is 16x20. I want to trade for ONE baseball card. I’ll package it up well and pay the shipping. Leaving this up for 5 days and best offer gets the McCovey. DM me with your one baseball card offer, I’ll choose my favorite and send the frame your way!

This is from the 2024 All Star game collection and I just came across it. Yes I am late but am wondering if anyone has seen it for purchase because I can't find it online at all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5vGR9BZsgk&t=3331s

They break down their top 12 ranked Giants prospects individually.

They also break down a few more in the "names to watch."

I responded to the calls for Eldridge as follows. Eldridge has many options, and the organization feels much more confident about his future. But, as with Matos who I think is out of options, Luciano is also out of options, so this is the time to give him an extended look. September allows for two extra players, so it costs the team nothing to give him a runway, when we are out of contention anyway. There is no reason to be confident about him, but he had been quite good against lefties and the team has a problem hitting lefties. If he does poorly, it would discourage another team from using a slot to put him on their roster. If he does well, we might want to keep him as a fifth outfielder, or make him part of a trade package to enhance the return. Biven what we learned about Matos, although a small sample, it is incumbent to explore what we have in Luciano one last time before he is out of options.