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

Big leaguers Tyler Beede and Donovan Solano added a couple of extra-base hits to his already impressive total this season. Who else stood out?

Make sure to revisit our daily SF Giants prospect rundowns to keep up with each of their minor-league affiliates. 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 5/15: Triple-A

Sacramento River Cats 13 at Oklahoma City Dodgers 1
Performance of the Game: Thairo Estrada (3-4, 2B, HR, 2 BB, 1 K, 2 R, 4 RBI)

The River Cats had a pair of big-league players in their starting lineup on Saturday. Second baseman Donovan Solano took the field for the first time since the Giants placed him on the injured list and played the first five innings for Sacramento. Donnie Barrels looked just like his old self, lining an RBI-double that scored Bryce Johnson in the top of the first inning. He finished the day 3-for-3.

Solano was far from the only player to generate offense for the River Cats in Oklahoma City. Johnson and Thairo Estrada joined Solano with three hits, and while Johnson’s recent power surge was absent (recording three singles), Estrada had a couple of extra-base hits of his own. Like Johnson, the former Yankees prospect was considered a glove-first prospect without pop. However, Estrada began showing a bit more power in 2019. Given his versatility around the diamond defensively, Estrada could be a valuable bench piece.

Every starting position player recorded a hit, but Chadwick Tromp added the only other home run. In fact, while the River Cats scored 13 runs, they relied primarily on a consistent array of singles and walks to generate their offense.

Tyler Beede made his third and easily best rehab appearance on the mound since returning from Tommy John surgery. Beede threw 43 pitches across three innings while surrendering just one hit, walking none, and striking out four. Beede’s stuff matched the best arsenal he’s shown Giants fans over his career. Even though the big-league rotation has been stellar, Beede could be a precious addition to the rotation if it enables a player like Logan Webb to add another valuable piece to the pen.

Scott Kazmir followed Beede’s strong outing with a solid 3.1 innings of work. He allowed one run on a solo homer alongside a walk and two strikeouts. Following Kazmir, Yunior Marte, Gregory Santos (25th-ranked prospect), and Luis Gonzalez retired all eight batters they faced.

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.