Yesterday on the farm.
All three of the San Francisco Giants rookie ball teams have completed their season, but all four of their Minor League Baseball A-Ball affiliates are still playing, and all four were in action on Tuesday, beginning their new series. Let’s dive into the action!
Link to the 2025 McCovey Chronicles Community Prospect List (CPL)
All listed positions in the roundup are the positions played in that particular game.
News
A few small bits of news. AA Richmond activated RHP Ryan Murphy off the 60-Day IL. Murphy, the team’s 5th-round pick in 2020, last played for Richmond on June 1, 2024. He then suffered an injury that cost him the rest of the year and much of this one. He returned earlier this month and made 4 rehab appearances with Low-A San Jose. Taking his place in San Jose is RHP Junior Flores, who has also been activated off the 60-Day IL. Flores, who has a serious fastball, has only pitched 5 times this year, and not since April 23.
AAA Sacramento (67-60)
Sacramento River Cats beat the Reno Aces (D-Backs) 17-1
Box score
A 16-run victory to give the River Cats 6 wins in their last 8 games. They’re playing good baseball, folks! And this one was certainly filled with offense, as all 9 players in the lineup recorded a hit, and 7 of them recorded multiple hits.
The star was once again shining on first baseman Bryce Eldridge (No. 1 CPL), who is certainly living up to the billing as one of the best prospects in baseball. It was another delightful day at the grass and dirt office for the 20-year old lefty, who hit 2-5 with 2 strikeouts, but smacked a 422-foot double and bashed an absolute no-doubter of a 2-run home run.
That kind of a swing will likely have Eldridge playing every day in the Majors come March. But the 2 strikeouts, the work-in-progress defense, and not being on the 40-man roster means I still don’t expect to see him until 2026. It’s now been 50 games in AAA this year for the 6’7 slugger, and he has an .821 OPS, a 100 wRC+, and a 31.9% strikeout rate.
Shortstop Brett Wisely is desperately trying to stay in the team’s plans, and he could see some time in September as well. He’s been playing well in AAA lately, and punctuated that on Tuesday by hitting 2-4 with a home run and a walk.
Wisely only has a .686 OPS and an 80 wRC+ in Sacramento this year, though he has a very nice 18.8% strikeout rate. In his last 9 games, the lefty has hit 10-33 with 1 home run, 4 doubles, 6 walks, and just 4 strikeouts.
The team’s 3rd and final home run came courtesy of designated hitter Logan Porter, who finished the day 2-4 with a walk and a strikeout. It was a pretty swing from Porter, though it does carry the disclaimer that it came off of a position player, not a pitcher.
Porter was DH’ing because Jesus Rodriguez was making his 2nd start at catcher, and this time he played the full game. I fully expect Rodriguez, who hit 1-5 with a hit by pitch and a stolen base, to be in San Francisco at some point in September for his MLB debut. He hasn’t hit all that well since coming over in the Camilo Doval trade, but the Giants (understandably) sure do love him.
Another standout game for third baseman Thomas Gavello, who hit 3-5 with 2 doubles and a strikeout. The 2022 13th-round pick, who is from Antioch, has a 4-game hitting streak, and in that time has gone 7-15 with 2 home runs, 3 doubles, and 2 walks, boosting his OPS to .931 and his wRC+ to 135. What a fun story he’s been this year.
And center fielder Wade Meckler (No. 13 CPL) really shined, hitting 3-6 with a double, a stolen base, and a strikeout. Meckler has not been having a particularly good season — he has just a .722 OPS and a 101 wRC+ — but he’s been swinging the bat better lately.
The other 40-man hitters who were in action in Sacramento: right fielder Grant McCray hit 2-6 with 2 doubles and a strikeout, bumping his OPS to .748 and his wRC+ to 94; second baseman Tyler Fitzgerald went 1-4 with a sacrifice fly and a strikeout, and now has a .682 OPS and an 83 wRC+; and left fielder Marco Luciano hit 2-5 with a strikeout in his 2nd game back from injury, moving his OPS to .783 and his wRC+ to 105. It was another day of loud contact for Luciano, whose singles came in at 104.2 and 108.8 mph.
On the mound, it was a mixed bag performance from RHP Hayden Birdsong. On the one hand, it was certainly the best outing the youngster has had since getting optioned, as he tossed 5 shutout innings, allowing just 2 hits and striking out 7. That’s a strong reminder of just how much talent is in his right arm. On the other hand, the issues that led to Birdsong getting optioned — and have made his time in Sacramento so confusing and concerning — were still fully displayed in this one. He walked 4 batters, and hit another, with numerous other deep counts meaning he needed 87 pitches to get through those 5 innings, despite not allowing many hits or any runs. He now has 16 walks and 3 hit batters in just 24.1 innings with Sacramento this year, which is certainly not what the Giants are looking for.
Speaking of optioned players, RHP Kai-Wei Teng made his 1st appearance since getting optioned. He spelled Birdsong and tossed 3 innings, giving up 3 hits, 1 walk, and 1 run, while striking out 3. He would seem to be a prime candidate to return to San Francisco when rosters expand in a few days.
AA Richmond (46-72)
Richmond Flying Squirrels lost to the Akron RubberDucks (Guardians) 10-1
Box score
The River Cats may have achieved a lopsided victory, but their brethren in AA suffered a lopsided defeat in a wholly uncompetitive affair. It was a pretty funny offensive game for the Flying Squirrels, who only had 2 hits all game … and both of those hits came from the guy at the top of the order, center fielder Bo Davidson (No. 11 CPL), who hit 2-4 with a double, a walk, and a stolen base, though he also had a strikeout and was caught stealing.
Davidson, playing in his 29th game since getting promoted, is up to a .699 OPS and a 107 wRC+ at the level, with 7 stolen bases in 10 attempts. He has 5 hits, 3 extra-base hits, and 3 walks in the last 3 games, as he seems to be finding his rhythm at the level.
But, like I said, the offense was funny. No one else got a hit but that didn’t keep them from getting on base, as the Nos. 2-9 batters combined to go 0-23, but drew 7 walks and were hit 5 times. Kind of silly! Right fielder Turner Hill was the biggest contributor, going 0-1 with 2 walks and 2 hit by pitches. It’s been an awesome season for the less-heralded of Richmond’s pair of undrafted outfielders (Davidson being the other) — the 26-year old is up to a .757 OPS and a 127 wRC+ on the year.
Despite giving up 10 runs, it was a fairly solid starting pitching performance, with LHP John Michael Bertrand pitching 5 decent innings, allowing 8 hits, 1 walk, and just 1 earned run, though 3 runs total. Bertrand only struck out 2 batters, which remains the most worrying part of his game: his 5.79 strikeouts per 9 innings is 235th out of 242 qualified pitchers in the Minor Leagues this year, and you just don’t find many — if any — pitchers in the Majors these days with such low strikeout rates. Still and all, the 49.7% groundball rate has led to a 2.93 ERA, though the strikeout epidemic pushes his FIP up to 4.31.
LHP Chris Wright had an awesome game, retiring all 4 batters he faced, with 2 strikeouts. Wright is still shaking the Tommy John off after recently returning, following a lost 2024 and half of 2025. A solid step in the right direction, though, and he should be back in AAA next year, if not sooner.
Very rough outings by RHPs Dylan Hecht and Ian Villers, who combined to allow 7 earned runs in 2.1 innings, resulting in the blowout loss.
High-A Eugene (71-50)
Eugene Emeralds beat the Everett AquaSox (Mariners) 5-4
Box score
A dramatic win for the Emeralds, who trailed 3-2 entering the 9th inning, but scored a trio of runs in the top half to take the lead … and then gave up a run to cut the lead in half, before clinging on to victory.
It was a very modern victory for Eugene, as they used an overpowering, strikeout-heavy approach on the mound, and a dinger derby in the box to accomplish the victory.
On the pitching front it was LHP Cesar Perdomo supplying the heat, as he had one of the best performances of any Giants pitching prospect this season. Perdomo was nearly perfect for 6 innings, giving up no hits and just 1 walk while facing just 1 batter more than the minimum and striking out 7. I don’t care what level you’re pitching at, 6 no-hit innings is a remarkable accomplishment!
The 23-year old from Venezuela hasn’t had an eye-popping season, as he has a 4.13 ERA and a 4.00 FIP, but there’s a whole lot to like under the hood … starting with just 2.6 walks per 9 innings. Perdomo has really struggled with consistency this year, which is a mixed bag. On the one hand, it’s a skill that needs to be addressed. On the other hand, it’s allowed him to show just how good he can be when he’s on his game. Since the start of June, Perdomo has had 5 blowup performances, and has allowed 26 earned runs in 21.1 innings. But in his other 9 starts during that time, he’s given up just 2 earned runs in 50.1 innings. “His numbers are great if you remove his bad games” isn’t exactly how stats work, but it’s valuable information with prospects, since it shows what they’re capable of. Ceilings matter!
On offense, it was a trio of hitters who went to work, as designated hitter Nate Furman and left fielder Parks Harber both hit 1-4 with solo home runs, while second baseman Jean Carlos Sio went 2-4 with a 2-run blast. Harber’s home run tied the game in the 9th inning, while Sio’s gave the Emeralds the lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
Furman, who came over in last year’s Alex Cobb trade, is up to a .900 OPS and a 153 wRC+ with Eugene. He’s now played 16 games with the Emeralds on his rehab assignment, after 1 game in the ACL and 5 in San Jose. He reached AA last year (in Cleveland’s organization — he didn’t play for the Giants after the trade), and is surely ticketed for Richmond when he’s fully up to speed, though there’s a chance that isn’t until 2016.
As for Harber, he’s been fitting in just fine since coming over in the Camilo Doval trade last month. Through 14 games, the 2024 undrafted free agent has hit 13-49 with 5 extra-base hits and 9 walks (.873 OPS, 138 wRC+), and his overall numbers are very similar what they were with New York’s High-A affiliate.
And then there’s Sio, who continues his standout season. The 21-year old lefty was playing in his 19th game since getting promoted, and pushed his OPS to .685 and his wRC+ to 95. Not standout numbers, but pretty nice for a young player facing a midseason promotion. He doesn’t have a lot of power — this was just his 6th home run of the season — but his contact skills are special, as he has a .302 batting average and just a 13.4% strikeout rate across 2 levels.
Low-A San Jose (76-45)
San Jose Giants lost to the Visalia Rawhide (D-Backs) 5-3
Box score
The Baby Giants are limping along. Despite their great record, they’ve now lost 6 out of 7 games, and it’s not hard to see why: they’re pretty banged up! Their 3 best prospects are all sidelined, with July’s 1st-round pick Gavin Kilen and slugger Dakota Jordan (No. 8 CPL) on the IL, while shortstop Jhonny Level (No. 6 CPL) sat out this game after taking a ground ball to the face on Sunday.
That’s made their offense fairly ugly, and Tuesday was no exception, as San Jose mustered just 5 hits (4 singles) and 2 walks. The lone decent day belonged to catcher Daniel Rogers, who hit 1-3 with a double, a hit by pitch, and 2 runs batted in, though he also struck out once and committed an error. Rogers, a 23-year old undrafted free agent from July’s draft, has been decent in his professional debut, sporting a .715 OPS and a 114 wRC+, though he also has a 31.1% strikeout rate.
The other recently-drafted players who played in this one: center fielder Trevor Cohen hit 1-3 with a walk, and the 3rd-round pick now has a .790 OPS and a 128 wRC+ through 19 games; shortstop Lorenzo Meola went 0-3 with a walk, a caught stealing, and an error, dropping the 4th-rounders OPS to .554 and his wRC+ to 51 through 7 games; and right fielder Cameron Maldonado hit 1-4 with a strikeout, moving the 7th-round pick’s OPS to .750 and his wRC+ to 109 in 6 games as a pro.
It was a nice pitching performance, with just 2 arms handling the 8 innings. RHP Hunter Dryden both got rocked and provided some reason for optimism. Last year’s 17th-round pick gave up 7 hits and 5 runs in 4.2 innings, but he also struck out 9 batters with 0 walks. That’s the type of outing that hurts your ERA, which moved to 3.10, but it pushed his strikeouts per 9 innings over 10. There’s certainly an intriguing arm in there, without a doubt.
The last 3.1 innings were handled by LHP Ricardo Estrada, who gave up just 2 hits, 1 walk, and 0 runs, while striking out 4. Estrada, a 2021 international free agent from Mexico who recently turned 23, took a few outings to adjust to A-Ball following a midseason promotion. But he sure seems to have figured things out. Look at his performance over his 12 games at the level:
First 6 games: 17.1 innings, 20 hits, 9 walks, 7 earned runs, 10 strikeouts
Next 6 games: 15.2 innings, 6 hits, 11 walks, 1 earned run, 16 strikeouts
Obviously the walks need to come down, but otherwise there’s a whole bunch to like!
Home run tracker
22 — Bryce Eldridge — [15 in AAA; 7 in AA]
9 — Parks Harber — [6 in High-A; 3 in Low-A]
7 — Brett Wisely — [1 in MLB; 6 in AAA]
6 — Logan Porter — [AAA]
6 — Jean Carlos Sio — [1 in High-A; 5 in Low-A]
3 — Nate Furman — [2 in High-A; 1 in Low-A]
Wednesday schedule
Sacramento: 6:35 p.m. PT at Reno (SP: Seth Lonsway)
Richmond: 3:35 p.m. PT vs. Akron (SP: Joe Whitman)
Eugene: 7:05 p.m. PT at Everett (SP: Greg Farone)
San Jose: 6:35 p.m. PT at Visalia (SP: Niko Mazza)
Category: General Sports
