SF Giants prospects rundown 6/1: Braden Bishop walks off

Multiple SF Giants pitching prospects put up some impressive performances on Sunday, but an injury to a young infielder could overshadow it all.

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 6/1: Triple-A

Las Vegas Aviators 4 at Sacramento River Cats 5
Performance of the Game: Mitchell Tolman (2-4, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI)

Brother of SF Giants 2019 first-round pick Hunter Bishop, and recent acquisition, Braden Bishop got his first start in the leadoff spot for the Sacramento River Cats. He got things started with a single and came around to score in the bottom of the first inning. Bishop would be far from done making an impact, though.

Shun Yamaguchi made his fourth start (fifth appearance) of the season, surrendering four runs over five innings. The former Blue Jay only struck out three but also issued just two free passes. However, Yamaguchi continued struggling to avoid hard contact, allowing six hits, including a home run.

Former Minnesota Twins and New York Mets reliever Trevor Hildenberger made his first appearance for the River Cats since he was outrighted by the Giants last week. Hildenberger, Sam Wolff, Camilo Doval, and Trevor Gott each threw a shutout inning, which enabled Sacramento’s offense to pull out the victory.

Mitchell Tolman knotted the game up at four with a two-run homer in the bottom of the fifth inning. The Giants minor league Rule 5 selection has been fantastic at Triple-A this year. After blasting his sixth home run of the season, Tolman is now hitting .303/.354/.618.

With strong late-game pitching from both sides, the game remained tied entering the bottom of the ninth inning when Bishop came to the plate with nobody on base. Bishop had yet to hit a home run this season, but he quickly changed that.

SF Giants Prospects Rundown 6/1: Double-A

Altoona Curve 4 at Richmond Flying Squirrels 1
Performance of the Game: Gerson Garabito (5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K)

The Flying Squirrels faced off against top pitching prospect Roansy Contreras and seemed to put him on the ropes early. Heliot Ramos singled, Shane Matheny doubled, and Contreras hit Vince Fernandez by a pitch to load the bases. However, Contreras maneuvered through the inning, kept Richmond off the board, and appeared to lock in from there.

Contreras allowed just two baserunners over the following five innings. Flying Squirrels starter Gerson Garabito was very effective in his own right, but not quite to Contreras’ level, surrendering one run over five innings of work. Mac Marshall replaced Garabito and the Curve added a few runs to their lead. While a pinch-hit RBI double by Sandro Fabian ensured Richmond avoided a shutout, they were never able to cross the plate again.

SF Giants Prospects Rundown 6/1: High-A

Eugene Emeralds 7 at Vancouver Canadians 1
Performance of the Game: Aaron Phillips (6 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K)

Eugene easily had the best all-around performance among the Giants affiliates. Aaron Phillips made his second start of the season and suffocated the Canadians offense for nearly the entirety of his six-inning outing. A fielding error in the bottom of the first inning by Javeyan Williams did allow one run to score, but the Emeralds had already put four runs on the board. The Emeralds led 7-1 after just four innings and never looked back.

Tyler Fitzgerald drove in five runs on two hits, highlighted by a three-run homer in the first inning. Struggling 2020 first-round pick Patrick Bailey also had a fantastic overall offensive performance, finishing the day 3-for-5 with three doubles. Bryce Tucker recorded his first save of the season, completing three shutout innings after Phillips departed.

SF Giants Prospects Rundown 6/1: Low-A

Modesto Nuts 3 at San Jose Giants 4
Performance of the Game: Luis Matos (1-3, HR, BB, K, R, 2 RBI)

Luis Matos blasted a two-run homer in the bottom of the first inning to give San Jose an early lead. The way southpaw Kyle Harrison has dominated Low-A hitters for much of the season, that could have been enough offense for the game with an effective bullpen. Harrison showed some slight progress with control, issuing three walks and completing five innings, but did not record the same amount of punchouts that he had previously, striking out just six over the course of his outing.

Brett Auerbach drove in two more runs in the fourth inning on his second double of the day, extending San Jose’s lead to three. While the Giants bullpen would surrender a pair of runs, their two early offensive rallies were enough to hold off Modesto.

Casey Schmitt and Garrett Frechette, two recent Giants draftees who have struggled mightily at the plate in 2021, both finished the day 2-for-4.

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