Three SF Giants minor league affiliates are off to torrid starts in 2026

There is a lot of fun baseball to watch in the SF Giants farm system at the moment. The San Jose Giants, Eugene Emeralds, and Richmond Flying Squirrels are off to torrid starts in 2026.

Three SF Giants minor league affiliates are off to torrid states in 2026

In fairness, the Sacramento River Cats are off to a strong start as well. They are 12-9, which highlights how strong the rest of the affiliates have been.

Sacramento sits in first place in the Pacific Coast League West Division.

The goal for minor league teams is development. Sometimes, winning is secondary when players play out of position, or pitchers are removed from the game due to pitch counts. Major league players also do their rehab assignments in the minors, so the goal for that is building up reps.

In total, I have typically viewed minor league win-loss records as a sign of organizational health. The winning percentage of the major league team matters most, but winning in the minors percolates up as well.

Winning in the minors matters, too. It is a sign of the talent on each roster. 

The San Jose Giants are off to a blistering start, posting a 14-4 record while being the best team in the California League. The roster is headlined by Jhonny Level and Argenis Cayama, with the former popping up on nearly every top-100 prospect list. 

The 2025 draft class has anchored that roster as well, including Junior Barajas, Damian Bravo, Cam Maldonado, and Cody Delvecchio. In particular, Maldonado is off to a strong start and is quickly showing that California League pitching might not be enough of a challenge.

Similar to San Jose, the Eugene Emeralds are also off to a 14-4 start. They lead the Northwest League by a comfortable margin.

This should not be all that surprising. After all, San Jose won the California League last year, and many of those same players have graduated to Eugene. Gavin Kilen and Dakota Jordan are some of the notable names on that roster. 

The biggest surprise might be the Richmond Flying Squirrels. That affiliate’s roster has often been filled by minor league signings and depth players. In recent years, the team’s top prospects have not spent much time, as the Giants seemingly prefer to observe them on the West Coast.

Richmond leads their league with a 14-3 record. A lot of players have contributed to that, but the lineup has a lot of length to it. The offense is averaging 7.41 runs per game. 

This was a team that had a .415 winning percentage last year. Jonah Cox, Drew Cavanaugh, and Scott Bandura have propelled the offense so far. 

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