SF Giants prospects rundown 5/15: Tyler Beede’s rehab continues

SF Giants Prospects Rundown 5/15: Double-A

Richmond Flying Squirrels 3 at Harrisburg Senators 6
Performance of the Game: David Villar (3-5, R, 2 K)

The Flying Squirrels have had a bit of a letdown since their no-hitter, losing their second consecutive game in an unexceptional performance. Richmond scored first in the top of the second inning on a Kyle Mottice double that scored Frankie Tostado. However, within the next half inning, they would fall behind for good.

Tristan Beck (16th-ranked prospect) struck out five in 4.1 innings of work while allowing just one walk but was far from his best self on the mound. The Senators had Beck’s pitches well-timed and tagged him for six hits (including a homer) and four runs. Matt Seelinger did allow one of Beck’s runs to score on a wild pitch, but otherwise was the Flying Squirrels’ most effective reliever, striking out four of the five batters he faced in 1.2 innings.

At the plate, Richmond consistently put runners on base, recording twelve hits, but went just 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position. David Villar continued his hot start to the season, raising his average on the season to .300 with a 3-for-5 performance. Mottice and Shane Matheny were the only other hitters to have multi-hit games. Vince Fernandez added a pinch-hit solo home run in the ninth inning.

Villar has far from eliminated the swing-and-miss that has plagued him throughout his career but given the circumstances of his first appearance at Double-A and lost 2020 season, he’s quietly making progress. Villar is hitting .300/.391/.575 with a career-best 22.0% strikeout and 14.6% walk rate. He’s starting to play his way beyond the peripheries of prospect depth charts and in conversations for the back of prospect lists.

SF Giants Prospects Rundown 5/15: High-A

Hillsboro Hops 11 at Eugene Emeralds 5
Performance of the Game: Will Wilson (1-4, HR, K, R, RBI)

While Richmond was putting plenty of players on the bases without much power or timely hits, Eugene split their six hits among six starters and scored five runs. Granted, the Emeralds’ offense was suffocated for nearly the entire contest, trailing 11-0 entering the bottom of the ninth inning.

The game would eventually get out of hand, but it looked like a pitcher’s duel through four innings. Eugene’s starting pitcher Conner Nurse struck out eight through four shutout innings and allowed just one hit. Then, in the fifth, Nurse walked the lead-off hitter, struck out a batter, gave up a pair of singles before a Tra Holmes home run brought Nurse’s outing to an end.

Then, Jasier Herrera entered and could do nothing to contain the damage. While Herrera finished 1.2 innings of work, he allowed five runs before getting out of the fifth, giving the Hops a nine-run fifth inning.

On the other side of the diamond, the 33rd overall pick in last year’s draft, Slade Cecconi, looked fantastic in his professional debut, allowing one hit in four innings of work.

Longtime teammates at NC State and first-round selections Patrick Bailey (seventh-ranked prospect) and Will Wilson (fifteenth-ranked prospect) led off the bottom of the ninth with back-to-back home runs, which set the tone for a five-run, four-hit, and two-walk inning. While the game’s result had already been decided, the Emeralds did the bulk of their damage against Matt Tabor, the Diamondbacks third-round pick in 2017, and had shut down their offense for nearly half of the game.

SF Giants Prospects Rundown 5/15: Low-A

San Jose Giants 2 at Stockton Ports 0
Performance of the Game: Chris Wright (2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 BB, 5 K, SV)

Outside of Kyle Harrison (fifth-ranked prospect), most Giants fans probably are not paying as much attention to the pitching side of the roster. However, San Jose’s arms carried the load on Friday.

Prelander Berroa just missed the preseason top 31 ranking but has long been a name worth keeping in mind since he was acquired from Minnesota in the Sam Dyson trade. After a couple of solid, albeit unexceptional, appearances to start the season, Berroa flashed his most dominant self more consistently. He struggled to put batters away quickly, laboring through 72 pitches in 3.2 innings of work but struck out five against just two walks and singles.

Luis Moreno picked up right where Berroa left off, shutting down the Ports for 3.1 innings as well. Moreno has quietly progressed up the minor-league chain since debuting at the Dominican Summer League in 2017. Moreno’s combination of control and soft stuff played well at Rookie-Ball but struggled mightily in two short stints at the now-defunct Short-Season Northwest League.

While Berroa and Moreno were both impressive, Chris Wright had the most dominant performance of the day. Wright recorded his second save of the year in a strong two-inning outing when he allowed one single and struck out five. The Giants’ 12th-round selection in 2019, Wright spent the last year refining his pitch arsenal to play in the back of the bullpen.

Stockton’s pitchers were similarly effective, but San Jose’s two runs were more than enough to secure the victory. The Giants’ top prospects, Marco Luciano (top-ranked prospect) and Luis Matos (second-ranked prospect) were responsible for nearly all of the damage. Matos finished 2-for-3 with two runs batted in, while Luciano finished 2-for-4 with a double (the only extra-base hit by either team).

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.