SF Giants prospects rundown 5/13: NO-HITTER! NO-HITTER!

SF Giants Prospects Rundown 5/13: Double-A

Richmond Flying Squirrels 2 at Harrisburg Senators 0
Performance of the Game: Matt Frisbee (6-perfect innings, 6 K)

NO-HITTER!!! NO-HITTER!!! That’s right; the Richmond Flying Squirrels completed their first nine-inning no-hitter in franchise history (they were founded in 2010). Former Giants farmhands Jack Snodgrass and Daryl Maday combined for a seven-inning no-no back in 2013.

Matt Frisbee (22nd-ranked prospect)continued his early-season dominance with a perfect six-inning outing for the Flying Squirrels. With tight pitch counts on the Giants’ young arms, manager Jose Alguacil removed Frisbee from the game and left history in his bullpen’s hands. Were the Flying Squirrels not a minor-league team though, it’s worth wondering how far Frisbee could have gone. Over his first two starts, Frisbee has completed 11 innings without allowing a walk, hit batsman, or run. He’s struck out 11 and surrendered just two hits. Yet, perhaps most impressive of all, it’s taken him just 111 pitches between both outings to do it. He threw 42 of his 56 pitches on Thursday for strikes. After winning the California League Pitcher of the Year award at High-A in 2019, Frisbee has had an impeccable minor-league career. Most, myself included, probably expected Sean Hjelle (13th-ranked prospect) to be the first starter from Richmond to reach Sacramento, but Frisbee is undeniably pitching like he needs another challenge.

Still, the bullpen’s effort should not be ignored. Joey Marciano continued his dominant return to the minor leagues. While he allowed a walk, which ended the team’s bid for a perfect game, he struck out two without allowing another baserunner. Through 4.2 innings on the season, Marciano has struck out 7. When Marciano reached his pitch count with two outs in the eighth, the pressure turned to Matt Seelinger, who struck out Alex Dunlap to finish the inning. Then, all the pressure turned to Patrick Ruotolo, who has served as the team’s closer all season. While Ruotolo hit one batter, he surrendered no hits en route to his third save of the year and the minor-league history books.

By the way, catcher Bryan Torres deserves a special hat tip for his work behind the plate. The 23-year-old catcher is a new member of the Giants organization in 2020, having spent his entire pro career in the Brewers organization, and had never played above Rookie-Ball. In just his second career game in full-season ball, he put the signals down for a  no-hitter.

The offense was surely thankful that the pitching staff could carry the load. Playing in Harrisburg’s spacious park, the offense was shut down well by starting pitcher Sterling Sharp and the Senators bullpen. The Flying Squirrels worked six walks but managed just three hits in the game. Vince Fernandez blasted a solo home run for the team’s lone extra-base hit. Frisbee, actually, scored Richmond’s only other run on an error by Sharp on a pickoff attempt after working a walk.

SF Giants Prospects Rundown 5/13: High-A

Hillsboro Hops 2 at Eugene Emeralds 8
Performance of the Game: Travis Perry (4 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K)

Seth Corry (8th-ranked prospect) was on the hill for the second time this season, and much like in his first outing, showed why he has a long way to go before fitting into a big-league rotation. The southpaw’s repertoire was strong, with his fastball sitting around 93 mph, alongside his changeup and curveball, which each showed flashes as above-average pitches. However, he still spent a lot of time outside of the zone, throwing just 37 of his 64 pitches for strikes. Still, he struck out eight batters, walked three, and surrendered his only run on a solo homer. Corry remains wild but effective against High-A hitters, but he could reach another level if he can find just a little more consistent command.

Yet, while Corry is one of the top pitching prospects in the system, it was arguably Travis Perry who had the most impressive outing for the Emeralds on the mound Thursday. Perry struck out four in three perfect innings. The Giants signed Perry for a $125,000 signing bonus out of Junior College in 2018.

Offensively, the Emeralds were dominated early by Ryne Nelson, who looked unhittable early before fading and surrendering a run in the fifth.

Tyler Fitzgerald has played all over the diamond this season in Eugene. Drafted as a shortstop, the Giants are clearly challenging his positional versatility, moving him between short, second, and third base. He’s had some struggles at third but looks very comfortable at second. He was the Emeralds’ only hitter to record multiple hits on Thursday, scoring and driving in a run on a 2-3 day with a double and strikeout.  However, after he was hit on the back of the head with a fastball in the bottom of the eighth, he was removed from the game. He was vying with the team trainer to stay in the game, but manager Dennis Pelfrey properly made the cautious decision. Hopefully, Fitzgerald is back in action soon, but he could have to miss some time.

The game was tied at two entering the bottom of the eighth before Eugene exploded for a six-run inning. With one out, Diego Rincones singled, and Fitzgerald was hit by a pitch to put two runners on for Franklin Labour, who walked to load the bases. A wild pitch put the Emeralds up one, followed by an Ismael Munguia sacrifice fly that was dropped in left field. Hops reliever Blake Workman hit Javeyan Williams by a pitch to reload the bases and was replaced by Kai-Wei Lin.

Then with the bases loaded and two outs, Will Wilson (15th-ranked prospect) came to the plate and put the game out of reach.

Solomon Bates took over for Perry in the eighth, struck out a pair, but allowed the tying run to score. Then, after the lead was well out of reach, last year’s fourth-round selection R.J. Dabovich struck out the side in a dominant ninth inning, sitting in the upper-90s and touching 98 mph on his fastball.

Catcher Patrick Bailey (7th-ranked prospect) had a tough day in the squat, short-hopping a pair of throws on stolen base attempts and letting a pitch from Corry past him for his third passed ball of the season. Then, in the top of the seventh, Bailey was hit on the back of his catching helmet on a Hops hitter’s backswing. He did remain in the game and later recorded a single, finishing 1-4 with a walk and 2 strikeouts.

*Note: The MiLB gameday box score mistakenly has Perry pitching four innings and omits Dabovich from the game. An earlier version of this article made the same mistake.*

SF Giants Prospects Rundown 5/13: Low-A

San Jose Giants 4 at Stockton Ports 5
Performance of the Game: Robert Emery (2-4, 2 HR, 2 R, 2 RBI)

Rob Emery was signed as a nondrafted free agent last year after completing his fifth-year senior season at the University of San Francisco. A relatively old prospect for Low-A at 24, Emery has two things working for him: power potential and the ability to catch. He finally put that power on display in a professional game, bashing a pair of solo home runs in Stockton.

Emery had to make some late changes to his pregame preparation but seemed to keep it from impacting him behind the plate. 2020 compensatory round A pick Nick Swiney (14th-ranked prospect) was scheduled to make his second start of the season for San Jose but was a late scratch and placed on the injured list. Swiney has seen his velocity dip from the 91-94 mph readings he generated in college at NC State to sitting in the high-80s in his first start this year. The organization has not released any information regarding his scratch, so it might not be connected to his arm, but it will obviously be something worth keeping an eye on.

Wil Jensen and Ty Weber were far from dominant, but given the circumstances, they helped keep the San Jose bullpen from getting stretched too far. They combined to strike out eight over five innings but did surrender four runs, leaving the Giants in an early 4-1 hole.

Then, Emery’s two homers sandwiched around a solo home run by Alexander Canario (10th-ranked prospect) evened the game at 4. While it did not lead to any runs on the board, Luis Matos (2nd-ranked prospect) and Luis Toribio (9th-ranked prospect) added multi-hit games.

Before the game could reach extra-innings, though, Clay Helvey could not shut down the Ports in the bottom of the ninth. Helvey struck out the first two batters he faced, but a two-out walk followed by a double positioned Lazaro Armenteros for a walk-off hit, which he delivered on a ground ball into left field.

We’ll be back with looks at the SF Giants farm system throughout the minor-league season with daily rundowns on the entire organization’s minor-league affiliates.