SF Giants prospects rundown 5/7: Logan Wyatt’s unique streak

Minor league baseball is finally back. After MLB canceled last year’s slate of affiliate games due to the COVID-19 pandemic and began an unprecedented consolidation of minor-league ball, fans finally have official box scores to track and highlights to watch on MILB TV. The SF Giants had all four of their affiliates on the field for the first time since 2019.

If you do not feel well acclimated to the prospects throughout the farm system, you might want to revisit our prospect week articles that detailed the system from the top prospect to lower-level fringes. If you’re just interested in the biggest names, then the preseason SF Giants top 31 prospects list is the one-stop-shop for you.

SF Giants Prospects Rundown 5/7: Triple-A

Sacramento River Cats 6 at Las Vegas Aviators 4
Performance of the Game: Thairo Estrada (2-4, 2B, HR, BB, K, R, 4 RBI)

For the second consecutive day, Thairo Estrada went deep in Las Vegas, blasting a powerful fourth-inning grand slam that gave the River Cats an early 6-3 lead they never looked back from. Coming off a four-hit day on Thursday, Estrada is making a strong early-season case to receive an opportunity in San Francisco.

Nick Tropeano has looked on the cusp of the big-league bullpen for some time. However, one of the stars of spring training struggled in his first Triple-A appearance of the season. Tropeano surrendered a leadoff single to Luis Barrera, who scored almost immediately after catcher Joey Bart airmailed second base when Barrera attempted to steal second. Still, while Tropeano struck out six in 2.2 innings of work, he allowed plenty of hard contact. He finished the day allowing three runs on six hits and one walk.

Speedy center fielder Bryce Johnson had a noteworthy performance of his own. The normally soft-hitting Sam Houston State alum blasted a solo home run off of Parker Dunshee and later added a double. Johnson has always been a great defender with excellent speed on the bases. If he were to find some semblance of power, he could very easily become a fourth outfielder.

SF Giants Prospects Rundown 5/7: Class-A

Fresno Grizzlies 4 at San Jose Giants 9
Performance of the Game: Nick Swiney (4 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K)

The young prospects in San Jose finally recorded their first victory of the season behind a strong start by one of their top draft picks in 2020 and a well-rounded offensive performance. With that said, before I get into the specifics of the game, I want to take a quick aside on the underestimated impact of scoring decisions on stat lines in minor-league baseball.

The Rockies’ 2020 third-round pick, Sam Weatherly, got the start for the Grizzlies and immediately struggled with command. With two outs and the bases loaded, Armani Smith drove a hard-hit liner to left fielder. Daniel Montano ranged to his right and almost made a great catch, but it bounced off his glove. Had it been scored an error, Weatherly would have had no runs charged to his ERA. Instead, Smith gets credit for a 3-RBI triple, and Weatherly’s ERA was 36.00 through 1. Just something to think about as we get deeper into the season when looking at minor-league statistics. Obviously, they are a valuable tool, but with far inferior defensive play than what many expect from watching MLB games, it’s worth remembering that they may not quite be as they appear.

Smith finished the day 2-4 with a run and four runs batted in, but his line could have easily been better. His two outs came on hard-hit flyballs to the outfield, with one impressive play by Montano in left and another hit directly at the right fielder.

Alexander Canario cooled off, finishing the day 0-4 with a walk and three punchouts. Marco Luciano made some solid contact but is still looking to get rolling as well. He finished the game 0-5 with a strikeout. Otherwise, the rest of the lineup got in on the action. Harrison Freed and Luis Matos recorded a walk and three singles apiece. Ricardo Genoves doubled in two. Brett Auerbach had another all-around offensive performance, going 1-2 with a double and three walks.

On the mound, Nick Swiney was the star of the night. The 66th overall selection in last year’s draft looked a bit out of sorts initially, walking the first batter he faced but quickly locked in after inducing a 5-4-3 double play. He struck out six and allowed just two more baserunners over 4 shutout innings. His fastball sat in the upper-80s and has yet to match the 92-94 mph he flashed throughout his college career at NC State. However, he mixed his curveball and changeup well and managed to keep hitters off-balance without great velocity.

All four of the organization’s full-season affiliates are once again scheduled to take the field tomorrow. We’ll be back with looks at the SF Giants farm system throughout the minor-league season.