SF Giants prospects rundown 5/18: Clean sweep from Low-A to Triple-A

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SF Giants right-handed pitcher Daniel Alvarez #68 poses during media day at Scottsdale Stadium. (MLB photos via USA TODAY Sports) /

All four of the SF Giants full-season minor-league affiliates pulled out victories on Tuesday. Find out how they all got the job done.

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 prospects 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 5/18: Triple-A

Sacramento River Cats 6 at Oklahoma City Dodgers 1
Performance of the Game: Drew Robinson (2-3, 2B, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 R, 1 RBI)

Former Miami Marlins first baseman Justin Bour got the scoring started in the second inning with a solo home run. The onetime Home Run Derby participant has been a solid contributor in the River Cats lineup early in the season, but his .225/.380/.425 triple-slash leaves a bit of room to be desired given his strong big-league track record. Perhaps his second big fly of the season could be a sign that he’s heating up.

Nick Tropeano and Daniel Alvarez tag-teamed a start for five combined shutout innings. Both pitchers have given Sacramento strong outings through their first three appearances. Tropeano has a 2.79 ERA with 13 strikeouts across 9.2 innings. Alvarez has allowed just one run in 8.2 innings with nine strikeouts. While neither are getting stretched far beyond the three-inning threshold, both are clearly being prepped to handle a long-relief role or emergency start for the big-league team.

Outfielder Drew Robinson extended Sacramento’s lead in the fifth inning with an RBI double before scoring on a wild pitch. Robinson has had some struggles at the plate early in the year, especially with strikeouts, but had a strong all-around day on Tuesday, finishing 2-for-3 with a double, walk, and a strikeout.

The River Cats’ bullpen continued to be a huge strength for the roster. After Alvarez’s appearance, Luis Gonzalez, Yunior Marte, and Trevor Gott combined to allow just one baserunner on a Gonzalez walk while striking out six over three shutout innings. A pinch-hit Jason Krizan double and Peter Maris triple helped extend Sacramento’s lead to six before Silvino Bracho allowed the only Dodgers run of the game on a walk and two hits in the final inning.

SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA – MARCH 04: Heliot Ramos #80 of the SF Giants makes a catch during the sixth inning of a spring training game against the Chicago White Sox. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images) /

SF Giants Prospects Rundown 5/18: Double-A

Bowie Baysox 5 at Richmond Flying Squirrels 6
Performance of the Game: Andres Angulo (2-4, HR, 2 R, 4 RBI)

Andres Angulo is one of many prospects throughout the minor leagues skipping a level to start the 2021 season, having only played at Class-A Augusta in 2019. With more well-regarded catching prospects, like Ricardo Genoves and Patrick Bailey currently playing every day in the lower minors, it was worth wondering whether Angulo was forced to Double-A because the Giants were worried about stunting their other catching prospects’ development. Instead, it seems quite clear that Angulo was ready for an aggressive assignment.

After starting pitcher Sean Hjelle (13th-ranked prospect) labored through a difficult first inning that allowed the Baysox to score two runs, Angulo came to the plate with the bases loaded in the bottom of the second. Angulo fell behind in the count 1-2 but sent a pitch over the left-center field wall for a grand slam. Angulo is just 23 and hit a meager .210/.260/.294 at Class-A in 2019, but the native of Cali, Colombia is pairing his strong defensive acumen with a productive .333/.368/.472 triple-slash. Seemingly out of nowhere, the Giants may have another potential big-league backstop.

Hjelle allowed a leadoff double in the top of the second but did not allow another hit in his outing. He finished his start completing three innings with five strikeouts while surrendering two earned runs on two walks and five hits. The 2018 second-round pick has struggled to limit hits since he was first promoted to Double-A in 2019. Fans have reason to expect his exorbitant batting average on balls in play (BABIP) to regress with time, but the longer the trend continues, there is increasing concern about his ability to limit hard contact. To be fair to Hjelle, aside from a caught stealing by Angulo, his defense did not do him any favors. Shortstop Ryan Howard made a pair of errors during Hjelle’s outing. Neither error cost Hjelle any runs in the scorebook but did not do his already high pitch count any favors.

An Angulo single in the fifth set up a massive home run by Sandro Fabian, but otherwise, the Richmond offense was relatively quiet. Contact-first infielder Kyle Mottice finished the day 2-for-4, but no one else on the roster recorded more than one single. Heliot Ramos (fourth-ranked prospect) finished the day 1-for-4 with a strikeout.

Hillsboro Hop’s pitcher Joe Jones, right, tries in vain for the tag at home on Eugene Emeralds’ (SF Giants Low-A affiliate) Diego Rincones in the 8th inning during the Em’s first home game of the 2021 season at PK Park in Eugene. /

SF Giants Prospects Rundown 5/18: High-A

Eugene Emeralds 7 at Tri-City Dust Devils 0
Performance of the Game: Kai-Wei Teng (5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 K)

Kai-Wei Teng (19th-ranked prospect) bounced back from a pair of uncharacteristically erratic starts with his most dominant outing of 2021. The sturdy 6’4” righty struck out seven over five shutout innings while allowing three hits and one walk. He threw just 44 of his 78 pitches for strikes and still appears to be searching for the elite comfort with his arsenal that he’s flashed in the past. Still, he clearly took a step forward on Tuesday.

Eugene’s bullpen picked up where Teng left off. Bryce Tucker, Travis Perry, Ryan Walker, and R.J. Dabovich struck out seven over four shutout innings, keeping the Dust Devils off the scoreboard. Dabovich, the Giants’ fourth-round pick in 2020, has allowed a pair of solo home runs over his first four professional appearances. However, his strikeout stuff is clearly playing against professional hitters. Dabovich has struck out 10 of the 16 batters he’s faced, an absurdly dominant rate.

Offensively, the Emeralds spread their offensive productivity around. On Tuesday, the power hitters did not deliver many extra-base hits beyond a Patrick Bailey (seventh-ranked prospect) double. Infielder Carter Aldrete finished 1-for-5 with an eighth-inning two-run homer, his first blast of the season.

Otherwise, the Ems built rallies around singles (seven) and walks (10). Of the most notable performances, Sean Roby (24th-ranked prospect) finished the day 2-for-4 with a walk, run, and RBI. Diego Rincones continued his fantastic start to the season, not working any free passes, but spreading three singles around the diamond, raising his batting average to .381.

(5/11/21) SF Giants prospect Marco Luciano chases Stockton Ports’ Tyler Soderstrom after Soderstrom overran first while trying to stretch a single into a double during a California League baseball game. (CLIFFORD OTO/THE STOCKTON RECORD) /

SF Giants Prospects Rundown 5/18: Low-A

San Jose Giants 2 at Fresno Grizzlies 0
Performance of the Game: Ryan Murphy (6 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K)

The Giants’ 2020 fifth-round pick, Ryan Murphy, has easily been the most dominant starter at San Jose and might be the best performer so far in all of Low-A West. After striking out 11 in 4.2 shutout innings on May 11th, Murphy returned to the mound in Fresno and arguably put together an even more impressive outing. While he only struck out six batters, Murphy retired 18 of the 19 he faced. He flashed the ability to generate swings-and-misses at an elite rate in his last outing. This time, he aggressively targetted the zone and needed just 68 pitches over six shutout innings.

Murphy’s outing overshadowed some strong pitching from a pair of relievers as well. Ivan Armstrong made his first appearance since throwing 4.2 shutout innings on May 12th and built off that success. He struck out one and walked one over 1.2 innings. He has not allowed a hit over his last seven innings of work.

Not to be outdone, closer Chris Wright struck out three over 1.1 innings, en route to his third save of the season. Wright did surrender a walk and hit, but the Grizzlies never mounted a rally. On the year, Wright has struck out 14 batters against just three walks across six innings. He’s allowed just one run.

Marco Luciano (top-ranked prospect) and Luis Matos (second-ranked prospect) were once again the only San Jose hitters to record multiple hits in the contest. Matos finished 2-for-4 with a double while Luciano finished 2-for-3 with a double and walk. Matos is rightfully turning heads with his league-leading start to the season, but Luciano has quickly recovered from his difficult first few games, hitting .304/.385/.565 in his last six.

SF Giants prospects rundown 5/15: Beede's rehab continues. Next

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.

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SF Giants Prospects Rundown 5/18: Triple-A

SF Giants Prospects Rundown 5/18: Double-A

SF Giants Prospects Rundown 5/18: High-A

SF Giants Prospects Rundown 5/18: Low-A

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