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[San Francisco Giants]

6/22 Gamethread: Giants vs. Red Sox

Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images

Robbie Ray vs. Lucas Giolito.

It’s series finale time, and it’s rubber match time! The San Francisco Giants are hosting the Boston Red Sox, and a series win is up for grabs.

Taking the mound for the Giants is southpaw Robbie Ray, who will hope to build on his brilliant start to the year. In 15 starts this season, Ray is 8-2 with a 2.68 ERA, a 3.09 FIP, and 97 strikeouts against 35 walks in 87.1 innings. He gave up three runs in six innings against the Cleveland Guardians his last time out and wasn’t at his sharpest, so he’ll look for a little bit of a rebound.

On the other side is right-hander Lucas Giolito, who makes his 10th start after missing all of 2024 due to injury. He’s 3-1 on the year, with a 4.73 ERA, a 3.96 FIP, and 41 strikeouts to 15 walks in 45.2 innings. He was dominant his last time out, striking out 10 batters in six shutout innings against the Seattle Mariners.

Enjoy the game! Go Giants!

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Lineups​

Giants

1. Mike Yastrzemski (L) — RF
2. Rafael Devers (L) — DH
3. Heliot Ramos (R) — LF
4. Wilmer Flores (R) — 1B
5. Jung Hoo Lee (L) — CF
6. Willy Adames (R) — SS
7. Casey Schmitt (R) — 3B
8. Patrick Bailey (S) — C
9. Tyler Fitzgerald (R) — 2B

LHP. Robbie Ray

Red Sox

1. Rob Refsnyder (R) — DH
2. Roman Anthony (L) — RF
3. Romy González (R) — 2B
4. Carlos Narváez (R) — C
5. Jarren Duran (L) — LF
6. Trevor Story (R) — SS
7. Abraham Toro (S) — 1B
8. Ceddanne Rafaela (R) — CF
9. Nate Eaton (R) — 3B

RHP. Lucas Giolito

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Game #78​

Who: San Francisco Giants (43-34) vs. Boston Red Sox (40-38)

Where: Oracle Park, San Francisco, California

When: 1:05 p.m. PT

Regional broadcast: NBC Sports Bay Area

National broadcast: n/a

Radio: KNBR 680 AM/104.5 FM, KSFN 1510 AM

Source: https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2...how-to-watch-lineups-robbie-ray-lucas-giolito

 

[San Francisco Giants]

Tyler Fitzgerald optioned as Justin Verlander returns from paternity leave

Photo by Andy Kuno/San Francisco Giants/Getty Images

The Giants made two necessary moves for different reasons.

The San Francisco Giants have announced that IF Tyler Fitzgerald has been optioned to Triple-A Sacramento in order to create a roster spot for SP Justin Verlander, who was set to return from paternity leave. If you’ve been watching Fitzgerald closely this season (as I have), then his demotion was overdue.

I’ve been enamored of Fitzgerald for a long time now and labeled him the team’s most exciting player in my 2024 review. A lot of his 3-win value last season came from an extended hot stretch that certainly suggested he was more flash in the pan than genuine development success. But then he hit .284/.341/.432 in his first 90 plate appearances of this season and his stellar defense remained and, well, we were all given permission to continue dreaming big on him. Until the last day of April. That’s when he fractured his rib.

Since returning from the IL following rehab from it, he’s slashed .186/.245/.227 in 110 plate appearances. The defense has still been there, but little else, and now he’ll get the chance to either work his way back to full strength — if the rib injury is the lingering problem — or sort out his swing. He’s swinging outside of the strike zone nearly a third of the time right now, a significant jump off last season. Thankfully, I wasn’t delusional in that end of year review. The organization likes him, too.

This feels like a reset, similar to what they did with Doval last August. Posey has always been a fan and the coaching staff still believes in the talent — even if Schmitt takes time at 2B, this roster needs someone with Fitzgerald’s skill set. https://t.co/n3hryZr6O3

— Alex Pavlovic (@PavlovicNBCS) June 23, 2025​

Casey Schmitt has worked his butt off to put himself in the position to be the everyday second baseman once Matt Chapman returns, but in the meantime, the situation gets no worse keeping him at third base. At least, I find it difficult to imagine that a Koss/Wisely combo could be worse than replacement-level Tyler Fitzgerald.

Meanwhile, congratulations to Justin Verlander and family on the birth of their second child. Great stuff! Have to imagine it’s tough to work across the country from a newborn. On the other hand, Verlander’s performance this season has been shaky enough that he might be on a path to spend a lot more time with the new arrival this year. Is that mean? Maybe.

The 42-year old was in a 6-game stretch where he looked to be straightening out his season (3.80 ERA in 33.1 IP), but his first start off the IL following a pectoral issue was suggestive of the Verlander who began the season (6.75 ERA in his first 18.2 IP). While it’s true the Giants traded away a bit of their pitching depth in the Rafael Devers deal, it stands to reason that the next few starts for Verlander will be critical for determining the team’s needs at the deadline. In other words, he could pitch well enough to minimize the need to acquire another starting pitcher to eat some innings.

On the other hand, 140 innings of 4.50/4.75 ERA ball from Verlander might work out, but in combination with 4.50 ball from Birdsong and Roupp and a similar innings limit (a limit I’m assuming as both youngsters are on a path to bursting through previous innings records on their amrs), that’s going to put a lot of stress on Logan Webb, Robbie Ray, and the bullpen to be well above average. A lot of variables that could spell doom for the Giants down the stretch — unless Verlander can pitch himself above the “back of the rotation” fray.

Source: https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2...rnity-leave-san-francisco-giants-roster-moves

 

[San Francisco Giants]

Not good enough!

Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images

A 4-2 loss.

Part of me wants to berate the San Francisco Giants for losing to the Miami Marlins on Tuesday night, which they did, by a score of 4-2. Part of my wants to say that the Marlins (a bad baseball team) are the type of squad the Giants (a good baseball team) should be sweeping, especially when at home.

That ignores the reality of it all, though. The Marlins hold wins over the Mets, Phillies, Dodgers, Cubs, and Padres, and even a series win over the Rays. Baseball is going to baseball.

And so perhaps we should not be so put off by a loss, even a feckless one, even against a moderate-to-severely untalented team.

Yet it felt like a profoundly put-offable loss. The kind of loss that we were born to be put off by. Not one of those awful losses where everything goes wrong and you can shake it off, sleep it off, and try again tomorrow. Not one of those heartbreaking losses where you feel the pain when you wake up the next morning, but know it was still indicative of a good fight.

Just a mild-mannered, beige-colored loss filled with beige flags that are easy to fear may turn red.

All of their offense came in the fifth inning when Christian Koss, an extremely ninth-place hitter of a ninth-place hitter, top-spinned a liner over the left field wall for the second home run of his career.

Maybe that’s a green flag. Koss, seemingly the temporary everyday second baseman with Tyler Fitzgerald optioned, showing life with the bat. Koss, who made multiple sublime defensive plays, looking the part of a quality Major Leaguer. Koss, just three pitches after Patrick Bailey hit what looked and sounded like a home run but died on the center field warning track, telling his teammate I got you on an 0-2 pitch and dragging the Giants right back into the game.

On maybe it’s a red flag that, against a pitcher who brought a 5.68 ERA into the matchup, the Giants needed to rely on their most unlikely source of offense just to scrape a pair of runs across the plate. That they were so desperate for offense that, later in the inning, even with RBI-leader Wilmer Flores on deck, third base coach Matt Williams felt compelled to send Rafael Devers home from first on a double by Heliot Ramos, prompting a play at the plate so one-sided that Devers conceded before even considering a slide. So desperate for offense that Ramos getting heated when he was hit by a pitch an inning earlier felt like the closest thing they had to life, and was fittingly erased when Flores ground into a double play three pitches later.

On the mound, Justin Verlander was mediocrity personified, needing 86 pitches to get through five innings, giving up six baserunners and three runs, and striking out five. The beigest of pitching performances, followed by four innings with one run allowed by the bullpen.

Maybe that’s a green flag. Verlander, in just his second game back from an injury, and surely sleep-deprived after welcoming a new member to the family over the weekend, looking like a competent pitcher, never looking out of his control. The bullpen, despite not using Camilo Doval, Randy Rodríguez, or Tyler Rogers, keeping the Giants in the game on the off chance that the offense could do something.

Or maybe it’s a red flag. Kyle Harrison ain’t walking through that door and, as Verlander ceded a trio of runs to an awful offense, Carson Whisenhunt was getting rocked once more up the road. And while sure, the bullpen was strong, it was the one vital member of it who did make an appearance, Ryan Walker, who allowed runs to be scored, his ninth such occasion this year, just one shy of his entire 2024 total.

Perhaps they’re all just beige flags. Perhaps they’re green flags on a foggy night. But when Jung Hoo Lee led off the ninth inning with a four-pitch walk and, two batters later, Casey Schmitt — owner of some of the team’s best at-bats on the night — grounded into a game-ending double play, it felt fitting. And when bad things feel fitting, it tends to be a sign no one wants to read.

Not good enough. But maybe tomorrow they will be.

Source: https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2025/6/24/24455288/giants-marlins-christian-koss-justin-verlander

 

[San Francisco Giants]

So many opportunities, so little made of them

Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images

Not the prettiest ball game.

There’s a lot that you can say about the San Francisco Giants 8-5, extra-innings loss to the Miami Marlins on Wednesday night, and most of it is bad. You can say a few good things, like that they showed resilience or had a nice comeback, but most of the things you can say are bad.

It’s a particularly frustrating kind of bad, in that it’s close to being good. The Giants, still in the upper third of MLB teams this year, have not committed to the bit of being bad like, say, their divisional co-habitants in Denver. They haven’t even committed to the bit of being mediocre like their divisional foes in Phoenix. They’ve instead seemingly committed to the concept of being good, but lately seem to only put one foot in to that dance.

Their most egregious offense in this category came across the fifth and sixth innings, when they trailed 2-1. Mostly helpless against Edward Cabrera to that point, the Giants mounted a rally to open the fifth when Jung Hoo Lee drew a leadoff walk, and Willy Adames followed with a single, putting two on with no out.

An inning later they would do the same thing, this time with the walk coming courtesy of Rafael Devers and the single by way of Heliot Ramos.

Between those two instances of runners on first and second with no outs, the Giants squeaked out a combined one run. They scored that run the first time around, with a passive, don’t-get-greedy-just-score-a-damn-run approach, in which Patrick Bailey laid down a lovely bunt and Christian Koss hit a sacrifice fly.

That hitting conservatism proved warranted an inning later when they actually tried to mount a full-fledged multi-run rally and instead fell hilariously short, with Dominic Smith and Casey Schmitt flying out, and Lee whiffing to end the inning.

The second most egregious offense in the category of Almost Good But Also Maybe Not At All Good came in the ninth inning, in the rare comeback-filled frame that managed to fill you with as much pessimism as it did joy. Trailing 4-2 and in danger of losing by that exact score for the second straight night, the Giants were gifted a rally, when Calvin Faucher hit Smith and Schmitt to start the frame, then walked Lee, leaving the bases loaded with no outs.

And here’s where we’re reminded of baseball’s silliness. How sometimes your greatest successes come against your own intentions and, unfortunately, vice versa.

Up stepped Adames with the chance to play a hero. A knock could tie the game. An extra-base hit could send everyone home happy. A home run could ... well, it could be viewed as excessive, but what’s a little excess between friends?

Adames chased the latter, and he almost chased it well enough. It had the look, and the sound. If the Giants were playing in Houston, Boston, or one of the Chicago destinations, it would have even had the distance.

Instead it fell just short. A productive out, to be sure, as it cut the deficit in half and put the tying run at third base with just one out, and the walk-off run in scoring position.

But just short. Sometimes our half-hearted attempts at winning are our own creation, and sometimes they’re cruelly shoved in our faces. Sometimes they’re both.

It wasn’t the dramatic walk-off grand slam that for a brief second we thought we’d been blessed with, but the Giants were still in a good position. And Bailey, whose poor offensive season has been at least mildly negated by the fact that all of his hits seem to come in the final innings, again provided, ripping a single.

But while Bailey’s single provided both the excitement and catharsis of tying the game in a clutch moment, it also swiftly smacked us with the reminder that the Giants are only flirting with goodness, not embracing us, and that means that all good actions must be met with an equal and opposite reaction.

And so, inexplicably, Matt Williams — who has had a fine season and an equally un-fine week — pressed the WIN NOW button as Lee approached third, and sent him on his merry way home.

It didn’t work out. It didn’t come particularly close to working out, though Lee’s creative dance moves as he neared the plate at least made for a mildly interesting viewing experience. Rather than settling for a tie and hoping they could knock in the winning run from third with less than two outs, the Giants had gone for broke, and the baseball gods and goddesses, as they tend to do, laughed at the orange and black for such silliness. It took only one pitch for Christian Koss to rope a 98.4-mph line drive with a .740 expected batting average that found a glove instantly, sending the game to extras.

From there, the Giants could not end the game the way they started it.

They started it blissfully, with Logan Webb setting down the side in order, on 10 pitches, with two strikeouts, and Mike Yastrzemski leading off the bottom of the first with his seventh home run of the season.

They ended it disastrously, with Camilo Doval allowing both a pair of walks and a pair of hits in the 10th, ceding the Manfred Man and then a trio of insurance runs, with a quarter-hearted rally allowing the Giants to recoup just one run.

And throughout the game we were treated to many more highs of decency met by the lows of reality, not just the egregious ones that have already been documented. They actually scored some runs for Logan Webb (who gave up two runs in six innings), the closest thing to Matt Cain since, well ... Matt Cain. But that was met by five earned runs from Doval and Tyler Rogers, a pair of elite pitchers who entered the game having made a combined 75 appearances while allowing multiple runs just five times. They threw out three runners on the basepaths — one from each outfielder — but responded with two outs of their own in such scenarios, one in the biggest moment of the game, and the other a rally killer when Lee squandered a leadoff hit by pitch with a failed stolen base.

Perhaps worst of all, they happily took their free bases — they were plunked three times on the night — but Schmitt, who was roasted on the hands, wasn’t in the on-deck circle when the game ended with his spot up next, and went for an MRI after the game (which thankfully came back negative). It could be that losing with slightly more dignity cost the Giants their new third baseman, weeks before their old third baseman is scheduled to return.

That’s the funny thing about losses. Good things might happen; but more bad things will.

Source: https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2...marlins-recap-scores-logan-webb-casey-schmitt

 

[San Francisco Giants]

Done in by friendly fire

Eakin Howard-Imagn Images

Rafael Devers homered, but it was otherwise ugly.

We knew as early as last night how today would begin. The San Francisco Giants suffered another dispiriting loss on Wednesday and made no attempts to hide their intentions for Thursday. Casey Schmitt, upon becoming the third Giant to get hit by a pitch on Wednesday, slammed his helmet to the ground and yelled multiple NSFW words before the production team at NBC Sports Bay Area had time to cut the mic. Logan Webb, before heading home for the night, told reporters that, “the game finds a way to even itself out.”

Those two moments were the description and language of origin administered by Dr. Jacques Bailly, and all of us sitting at home could fill in the spelling from it. Thursday’s game would feature retaliation, the oft-debated toddler tactic of purposely throwing a baseball at someone to express your disdain that they accidentally threw one at you.

If retaliation has a thousand haters, I am one of them; if retaliation has one hater, it is me; if retaliation has no haters, I hope that they served only the finest and freshest bread, cheese, and tinned fish at my funeral.

I hate retaliation in baseball, and I hate it for myriad reasons.

I hate it for the moral reason that a baseball is a very hard object that, when administered in the direction of a person’s body, can cause great harm and potentially jeopardize one’s career, and I think we should save intentional violence for ... well, perhaps now is not the time to talk politics.

I hate it for the logical reason that it accomplishes nothing. As young Kyle Harrison once taught us while nearly hitting future Hall of Famer Bryce Harper in the face, getting yelled at, and then nearly hitting him in the face again, neither professional pitchers nor professional hitters are easily fazed. Neither the Marlins Janson Jung on Thursday nor the White Sox Aaron Civale on Friday is going to look at the scouting report for Heliot Ramos, see that he struggles with pitches in at the hands and feasts on the outer half of the plate, and say, Well they seem pretty upset about getting hit, better pitch him away and live with the bad results.

I hate it for other reasons, and we’ll get to them shortly. But for now, let’s get back to the baseball game.

Hayden Birdsong took the mound on a sunny San Francisco afternoon, and set forth with the ceremonial plunking, for which I assign him minimal blame — he’s the youngest player on the team, and surely was following marching orders.

He approached it somewhat well, and somewhat poorly. The situational element was handled properly: he faced the first two batters straight up, retiring each with nary a hint of shenanigans. The execution left much to be desired though, as Birdsong eschewed the standard off-speed thud muffin to the tush, opting instead for a 97-mph fastball directly towards the knees. The knees of, to make matters worse, Otto López, who spent the 2024 Spring Training months with these very same Giants.

Hayden Birdsong sends a message and I love it pic.twitter.com/tEdOuqVhJ9

— Coach Yac (@Coach_Yac) June 26, 2025​

Here we must pause to welcome in any sweet innocent souls who remain unconvinced that Birdsong intended to hit López. When the umpiring crew immediately offered warnings, neither Birdsong nor anyone on the Giants mounted a complaint. When Marlins manager Clayton McCullough stormed onto the field and was ejected, the Giants sat and stood quietly, showing neither emotion nor defense. It was standard stuff. They filled out the retaliation form, submitted it, then got back in the car and drove home. This is the way it’s done. Protocol was followed, and the game could resume.

And so too can my list of reasons for hating retaliation, after that brief detour into the actual game we’re here to discuss.

I hate it for the baseball reason that it hurts your team. You give your opponent a free base, which is gold to most teams and the entire mine for a team facing the Giants and their inability to score. You fire up your opponent, offering them free bulletin board material in the middle of the game. And, above all else, you put your pitcher in the precarious position of knowing that one mistake — one slip of a finger, slide of a cleat, or millimeter delay upon release — will result in that pitcher’s ejection. Birdsong entered the game having unintentionally hit three batters this year. If he hit a fourth, his day was over.

Anyone who has dabbled in athletics, or in ... uhh ... life, really ... is familiar with how much excess pressure can throw a wrench into things. Birdsong, to that point, had danced divinely on the edges of the strike zone. But, tasked with the knowledge that a bad pitch could end his day, the equation was altered. After McCullough had left the field and López had inhabited first, Agustín Ramírez stepped into the batter’s box, and Birdsong’s very first pitch was a gift of a fastball that perfectly bisected the strike zone on both the vertical and horizontal axes.

Ramírez absolutely tattooed the baseball, hitting it harder than all but two Giants have hit a baseball this season. He hit it so hard that it hurt him, in that it bounced off the left field wall with such velocity that Heliot Ramos was able to get the ball into the infield in time to keep López at third. Disaster temporarily averted.

But Birdsong had made his bed and he would have to lay in it all game. And so, in a 2-1 count to Kyle Stowers just moments later, Birdsong hung a slider that once again was placed at the sort of location that has made tee companies a whole lot of money, and Stowers annihilated it to the tune of 440 feet, a distance one rarely ever sees at Oracle Park yet, fittingly, would not be the furthest-hit ball of the day.

The Giants, in their quest to stand up for themselves, had instead gifted the Marlins a rally, and a team that had averaged just 3.5 runs per game over their last 35 games suddenly trailed 3-0.

It got worse! Birdsong still looked uncomfortable in the second, even though he made it through the inning. He still looked uncomfortable in the third when, perhaps nervous about the sheer number of meatballs he was chucking, he walked Jesús Sánchez to open the inning.

After retiring López, Birdsong once again faced Ramírez. In an attempt to learn from his previous mistake, Birdsong stayed away from the fastball that had been toasted in the first inning, opting instead for three consecutive sliders. But he forgot to learn from the location mistake, as all three found the heart of the plate, culminating in a true disaster of an 0-2 pitch, and a simply majestic, Galarragaian 443-foot home run with an understandably slow trot.

That was the end of the tape measure homers — for the Marlins, at least — but it wasn’t the end of Birdsong’s struggles. His hesitance to pitch naturally and risk hitting another batter resulted in home run derby pitches, and his hesitance to keep throwing home run derby pitches resulted in trying to nervously nibble, and no one ever pitches well that way.

Birdsong opened the fifth inning by walking Sánchez and López on a combined nine pitches, prompting Mike Krukow to quickly and loudly proclaim, “He’s gotta come out,” even though he stood at just 76 pitches.

It was the obvious thing to do, especially with the Giants having surprisingly tied up the game, and Bob Melvin agreed. In came Spencer Bivens, who briefly appeared to work true magic, striking out both Ramírez and Stowers, before ceding a double to Eric Wagaman and a single to Connor Norby, allowing the Marlins to reclaim the lead at 8-5.

The Giants had come back once, but between their feeble offense and their stupidity in this affair, few had hope that a second comeback would be in the works.

And indeed, it wasn’t. The Giants would give up more runs but gain none, with Sean Hjelle getting shellacked for an eighth-inning five-piece, turning an own goal into an embarrassing bout of unnecessary friendly fire, and an unsightly 12-5 loss.

There was joy in the game, but it was short lived. Rafael Devers put on a show with his best game as a Giant, hitting 3-4 with a walk, a gorgeous double, and an absolute behemoth of a two-run homer to get the Giants on the board in the third inning.

Per the incomparable Sarah Langs, Devers’ homer, when paired with the moonshots from Stowers and Ramírez, marked the first time in the history of Statcast (a decade) that there had been three home runs of at least 435 feet at Oracle Park.

They tied the game with an encouraging rally from a quartet of players in need of good days: Jung Hoo Lee led off the fourth with a defense-assisted triple, and scored on a single by Willy Adames. Christian Koss, starting at third with Schmitt sidelined following the aforementioned plunking, cracked his first double of the season, which was followed by the first hit of the year from Brett Wisely, a game-tying, two-run double.

But it was all the positive that they could muster, while the negatives mounted. And as they did, a clear theme emerged. Mike Yastrzemski, who rarely emotes much anger, got his money’s worth in the third inning contesting a called strike three that was clearly in the zone. Wilmer Flores, normally as mild-mannered as can be, had to be held back as he went after both the umps and the Marlins following a properly-called strike three in the seventh, prompting the benches to clear. Melvin is likely hoarse from barking at the umpires all game long.

The Giants can claim anger at their recent string of being hit by pitches all they want, but on Thursday it was clear the issues are more deeply rooted than that. The hit batters aren’t why they got swept by a lower division team, and they’re not why they can’t score. And as those frustrations mounted, the Giants did little to distinguish themselves from a toddler who has stayed up past nap time, melting into a frustrated and self-harming tantrum.

They chose retaliation on Thursday, and it backfired. Perhaps they should have chosen retaliation on Wednesday night, when they were hit by two batters in the ninth inning, instead of waiting until the next day. Perhaps that retaliation would have looked like using the two free batters to their advantage by mounting a game-winning rally.

I would think that’s the type of retaliation that actually proves a point.

Source: https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2...song-otto-lopez-agustin-ramirez-rafael-devers

 

[San Francisco Giants]

6/28 Gamethread: Giants @ White Sox

Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

Robbie Ray vs. Adrian Houser.

It’s time for Game 2 of the three-game series between the San Francisco Giants and the Chicago White Sox. After breaking their losing streak on Friday with a 3-1 win, the Giants will try to take the series this afternoon.

It’s a matchup between veteran pitchers: lefty Robbie Ray for the Giants, and righty Adrian Houser for the Brewers.

Enjoy the game! Go Giants!

Game #83​

Who: San Francisco Giants (45-37) vs. Chicago White Sox (26-56)

Where: Rate Field, Chicago, Illinois

When: 1:10 p.m. PT

Regional broadcast: NBC Sports Bay Area

National broadcast: n/a

Radio: KNBR 680 AM/104.5 FM, KSFN 1510 AM

Source: https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2...ite-sox-how-to-watch-robbie-ray-adrian-houser

 

[San Francisco Giants]

Sunday BP: What was the highlight of the week?

Photo by Kavin Mistry/MLB Photos via Getty Images

Another week of Giants baseball is wrapping up today, so it’s time to see what Giants fans think was the highlight of the week.

Good morning, baseball fans!

It’s Sunday, which means that another week of San Francisco Giants baseball is wrapping up today. So it’s time for us to find out what your favorite highlights of the week were!

For me, it has to be Rafael Devers’ first home run as a Giant. This was during the Giants’ 3-2 win over the Boston Red Sox last Saturday, which made it extra poignant and fun because it was against his former team.

(Just a reminder, my week includes last weekend because these are written prior to the current weekends.)

Anyway, it’s hard to top a highlight like that in such a charged moment as Devers’ first series against his former team after being unceremoniously traded away. Not that I’m complaining, of course, because it means we get to be the ones to enjoy watching him hit dingers like this:

What do you think was the highlight of the week?​

Source: https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2...isco-giants-highlights-of-the-week-best-plays

 

[San Francisco Giants]

BALK!

Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

More blunders and missed opportunities for the Giants in Chicago!

You won’t believe this, but despite the offense’s dense aura of despair and recent memory bias, the San Francisco Giants have been really good with the bases loaded. In 71 PA so far going into Sunday’s game, the team is slashing .333/ .394/ .667. Their 176 wRC+ is third highest in the league, behind…Arizona and Colorado. A trio of store-brand NL West teams you wouldn’t expect at the top of that split leaderboard — maybe it’s not wise to hit well with the bases loaded?

Wait, no…that can’t be right, because based on what went down in Sunday’s 5-2 loss to the White Sox, it’s the team with the clutch splash that clears the ducks off the pond that typically wins the game, not the team that falls on their face and sucks mud.

To be clear: The Giants were the ones who sucked mud.

In a 1-1 tie with one out in the 5th, Rafael Devers and Wilmer Flores worked walks against reliever Jordan Leasure before Mike Yastrzemski singled a line drive off the second baseman’s Lenyn Sosa’s glove to load the bases. Willy Adames, known to be a bit trigger happy in these positions, bit his lip and closed his eyes to keep from swinging, taking four straight pitches to work the RBI walk.

Gifted the lead, in the midst of a rally funded on Chicago’s dime, the Giants had the opportunity to really blow the lid off Rate Field. They could’ve gotten greedy, demanded more. The Sox were caught with their stirrups down. Even with the current scoring drought, ways of pushing across another run or two far outweigh the scoreless alternatives in that moment. With Jung Hoo Lee in the box, one felt confident at least that he’d put together a good at-bat, not chase, put the ball in play…

I think we’re all Hoo Lee Gans at heart. Most of us aren’t blessed to be numbered among the official 51 in the stands, but when I’m sitting at home on the couch and Lee steps into the box, I don my anime flame wig, shouting Jung. Hoo. Lee. loud and proud. Things haven’t been so loud at the plate for Lee. He’s clearly the spirit and soul of this club, his individual troubles at the plate line up directly with the team’s as a whole. His struggle is our struggle is the team’s struggle…so when he takes a well-elevated first pitch fastball from Leasure only to have it called a strike, it hurts. It hurts bad.

An injustice was what it was. Kicking a man when he’s down. How could someone who had walked three hitters in the inning, who hadn’t thrown a first-pitch strike to four consecutive hitters get that kind of leeway at the top of the zone? Austin Slater stole a double from Lee yesterday, and today, he was framed by the catcher and pushed in a hole by the umpire.

Count leverage isn’t an absolute determinant of result. It’s entirely possible that Lee would’ve grounded into an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play (he did it earlier) in a 1-0 advantage, but the count is still meaningful, especially if you’re a hitter in Lee’s shoes, desperate to reclaim his mojo with any competitive edge. How can you not feel like the world is against you after a pitch like that is called a strike? He was pushed out of his own at-bat. Frazzled by a tough call, already frazzled by a hitless series and by a 12-for-80 June, Lee chased a slider, another pitch well out of the zone, and popped it lifelessly up to short.

Much like Wisely being picked off at third, the inning wasn’t over, the third out not yet recorded, but the rally died there, strangled of its will. Leasure regained the momentum and rode it, got Koss to chase another first pitch slider below the zone before he lined out to the shortstop.

Still, the Giants did score a run. They had the lead, and for a brief series of frames, it looked as if it might be enough to eke out Justin Verlander’s first win in a Giants uniform. The wait has been long. The winless streak sustained through a fair amount of decent starts, a stint on the IL and the birth of his second child. Alas…no ‘W’ in this one either. Though he gave up just one run on a sacrifice fly in the 1st and pitched through 6 innings, Verlander will have to wait a little bit longer thanks to the certain members of the San Francisco bullpen.

Reliever Erik Miller recorded two outs in the 7th but allowed the tying run to reach scoring position with two singles. With right-hander Miguel Vargas coming up, Bob Melvin opted for righty Ryan Walker.

Walker had last pitched on Friday when he stranded an inherited runner in 6th to maintain San Francisco’s 3-1 lead. He pitched a clean 9th before that, albeit in the 12-5 Miami blowout. With a lefty Kyle Teel on-deck and considering Miller had only thrown 9 pitches (7 strikes), it was an aggressive, get the out now mentality. Maybe it would’ve been best for Miller to pitch around Vargas and see if he chased anything, but then you risk forcing Miller and his 16% BB-rate to work with the bases loaded…

If that’s what Melvin wanted to avoid, Walker ended up being the wrong man for the job. He walked Vargas to load the bases to set-up a mis-matched split. Walker threw one pitch in the zone, a sinker Vargas fouled off, before Patrick Bailey stole a low slider for strike-two. The frame job may have fooled the home plate umpire, but it didn’t fool Vargas nor Walker.

Flighty command has been an issue all year for the righty, and when one pitch of his isn’t working, he becomes one-dimensional. A one-pitch Johnny (Cool term, Steven!). When he’s up against it, trying to do too much with limited resources, Walker tends to overthrow. He overthrew two sinkers that missed well-off the outside to walk Vargas and load the bases, and in a 1-0 count, catcher Kyle Teel hooked a slider into right for a 2-out, 2-RBI double.

The lead gone, and the outing just got worse. In an 0-2 count, a pitch away from keeping Chicago’s advantage to one run, Balker, I mean Walker, went into his motion and…forgot to let go of the ball.

I’m being snarky. Walker knows to be a pitcher he must pitch the ball (pitching is about letting go, Ryan) — just balks in consecutive outings will make you wonder. FP Santangelo from the radio booth quickly diagnosed him with the yips. Could be, or there’s something about the Chicago mound that’s messing with him. Perhaps, weak ankles? His back foot lost its footing and went wonky on Friday, leading him to stumble forward.

Sunday afternoon, his ankle flexed towards the ground, uprooting his cleat again and undermining his stride.

Who knows why, and why now, thats happening. The physical issues probably stem from the mental. I’m sure there’s a lot of things bouncing around Walker’s head right now when he takes the mound. A lot of demons of doubt, a lot of voices echoing in his ear, telling him how to attack a hitter, how to tweak his wind-up, telling him not to screw up future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander’s first win again.

You gotta feel for the headspaces of these players. Even the most seasoned players can get trapped up there, locked away in those empty and airless attics of regret and anxiety. It makes sense that these mistakes are compounding. The team is spiraling — but man, the only way thats going to stop is if someone, like...stops it. Someone has got to buckle down and perform in the types of scenarios that cropped up Sunday afternoon. They can’t have their bullpen blow leads, no matter how small, against one of the worst offenses in baseball. They can’t be picked off at third, they can’t let multiple bases-loaded scenarios go to waste, they can’t balk in a run...

Overall, San Francisco recorded 6 hits and worked 8 walks including a HBP. They went 2-for-11 with RISP and left 11 runners on base. Chicago went 2-for-12 with RISP and left 10 on base. The difference? That elusive game-changing knock. Giants fans and players alike watched, green with envy, as the baseball off Teel’s bat found outfield grass. A cannonball into glassy waters. They couldn’t do it in the 5th, and they couldn’t get it done again in the 8th, loading the bases with one out before Heliot Ramos grounded into an inning-ending double play.

A sweep against Miami followed up by a series lost against Chicago. Jeeze, I hope these games don’t come back to bite us in September.

Source: https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2...ecap-chicago-white-sox-ryan-walker-mlb-scores

 

[San Francisco Giants]

Weekend Minor League roundup: So many home runs!

Photo by Norm Hall/MLB Photos via Getty Images

The weekend’s action on the farm.

I apologize that I’ve been slacking on the Minor League Baseball roundups lately! I’ll try to keep that from happening as much as I can. For now, here’s what the San Francisco Giants’ affiliates did over the weekend.

Link to the 2025 McCovey Chronicles Community Prospect List (CPL)

All listed positions in the roundup are the positions played in that particular game.

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News​

A few bits of news on the farm. AAA Sacramento LHP Carson Whisenhunt (No. 2 CPL) has been named as the Giants representative in the Futures Game. That would have been Bryce Eldridge’s spot, but he’s injured.

In exciting but surprising news, outfielder Rayner Arias (No. 4 CPL) was promoted from the ACL to Low-A San Jose, even though he’s been struggling this year.

The Giants signed veteran catcher Austin Barnes to a Minor League deal and sent him to the ACL, and they signed RHP Matt Dunaway and sent him to High-A Eugene to make his professional debut.

Eugene RHPs Shane Rademacher and Cameron Pferrer have been sent to Sacramento as emergency depth following Carson Seymour’s promotion to the Majors.

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AAA Sacramento (38-43)​

Saturday: Sacramento River Cats lost to the Oklahoma City Comets (Dodgers) 7-4 [box score]
Sunday: Sacramento River Cats beat the Oklahoma City Comets 6-2 [box score]

Well, the week certainly ended for the River Cats better than it started. Between last Sunday and Wednesday, Sacramento played 3 games and lost all 3 by a combined score of 40-3. Doesn’t get much worse than that, but thankfully better days emerged.

Sunday’s game was started by LHP Carson Whisenhunt (No. 2 CPL), and the good news is that he had one of his better recent outings. The bad news is that it still wasn’t that good.

Whisenhunt, who had been rocked his last time out, went 5.2 innings in this one, while allowing just 2 runs. On the surface, that’s pretty impressive for the Pacific Coast League. But it was fairly ugly below the surface. He needed 94 pitches to get through those 5.2 innings, and threw just 55 of them for strikes. He gave up 6 hits, which isn’t horrible, but walked 3 batters while striking out just 5.

While he remains a very exciting prospect, Whisenhunt’s short-term stock has taken a massive tumble. Since a brilliant 4-start stretch to open May, which resulted in some rumblings about a potential MLB call-up, Whisenhunt has been nothing short of awful. In those subsequent 7 starts, he’s pitched 38 innings and allowed 44 hits, 18 walks, and 28 earned runs, while striking out just 27 batters. Never a good sign when you’re accumulating more runs than strikeouts, and it’s brought his ERA up to 4.55 and his FIP to 4.80.

As a result, Whisenhunt has fallen on the depth chart, as evidenced by Carson Seymour getting called up this weekend. The 3rd player in that name triad has also probably surpassed Whiz, and he certainly out-pitched him this weekend, as RHP Carson Ragsdale (No. 19 CPL) gave up just 3 hits, 2 walks, and 1 run in 5.1 innings on Saturday, while striking out 7. Like Whisenhunt, Ragsdale struggled a bit to find the strike zone (he threw 48 of 82 pitches for strikes), and that’s been a theme all year for the duo.

Ragsdale has been pitching well following a brutal April. Since the start of May, he’s pitched 30.2 innings and allowed 23 hits, 16 walks, and 9 earned runs, with 30 strikeouts. Needless to say, the walks need to come down.

On Sunday, RHPs Trent Harris (No. 20 CPL) and Tristan Beck had nice outings. Harris, who is still adapting to AAA life after a recent promotion, tossed 1.1 no-hit innings with a walk and 2 strikeouts, while Beck needed just 14 pitches to get through 2 no-hit innings, despite allowing a walk and hitting a batter.

Plenty of decent offensive weekends, but no standout ones. Designated hitter/right fielder Hunter Bishop (No. 34 CPL) played very well, hitting 4-6 with a home run, a double, and a walk.

Bishop, who now has 3-straight multi-hit games with an extra-base hit, used June to turn his season around, as he went .302/.362/.528 in the month. That brought him up to a .714 OPS and an 86 wRC+ on the season.

Also homering was center fielder Grant McCray, though that was the only highlight of his weekend, as he finished 1-8 with 4 strikeouts. He’s starting to come back to earth following a hot streak.

The other young 40-man hitters who are trying to prove they belong: second baseman/left fielder Wade Meckler (No. 13 CPL) hit 3-7 with a double and a walk; right fielder/designated hitter Luis Matos went 1-9 with a stolen base; and left fielder Marco Luciano hit 2-7 with a walk, 2 strikeouts, and an error.

AA Richmond (23-49)​

Saturday: Richmond Flying Squirrels lost to the Reading Fightin Phils (Phillies) 4-2 [box score]
Sunday: Richmond Flying Squirrels lost to the Reading Fightin Phils 5-3 [box score]

As per the usual, a fairly uninteresting weekend for the Squirrels. The starting pitching performances were fairly poor: LHP John Michael Bertrand made it through 6 innings on Saturday, but gave up 4 runs in the process, while RHP Manuel Mercedes gave up 10 baserunners and 5 runs in just 3.2 innings. Mercedes walked 3 and struck out just 1, furthering his hilarious (in the bad way) strikeout-to-walk ratio, which now sits at 31 to 35. Among the 1,259 Minor League pitchers who have thrown at least 30 innings this year, Mercedes is 1,255th in strikeouts per 9 innings (4.62), and 995th in walks per 9 innings (5.22). It’s getting very difficult to see how he’ll be able to have success at the MLB level with that profile (or even at the AA level, where he has a 7.91 ERA and a 5.95 FIP).

A trio of notable relief appearances, though: on Saturday, RHP Dylan Hecht pitched a scoreless, no-hit inning with 2 strikeouts, though he issued a walk and hit a batter. On Sunday, RHPs Marques Johnson and Braxton Roxby both struck out a pair of batters in perfect innings. For Hecht, it was his 2nd appearance since getting promoted to AA, and the made-for-TV story has yet to allow a hit at the level. For Johnson, it was his 3rd appearance since a promotion, and he’s been spectacular. And for Roxby, who has spent all year with Richmond, it lowered his ERA to 1.20 and his FIP to 1.95. Got to think a promotion might be near!

A quiet offensive series. Center fielder/designated hitter Carter Howell and right fielder/designated hitter Victor Bericoto (No. 24 CPL) both homered, but otherwise didn’t do much. Howell finished the weekend 1-7 with a walk, and has a .577 OPS and a 75 wRC+. Bericoto, who went 1-7 with a hit by pitch and 2 strikeouts, now has a .773 OPS and a 128 wRC+, though he’s been struggling since retuning from the IL.

Carter Howell's solo shot gets us on the board in the 6th! pic.twitter.com/6ixbMe2waA

— Richmond Flying Squirrels (@GoSquirrels) June 28, 2025​

BACK-TO-BACK JACKS!

Victor Bericoto now moves into sole posession of fourth place in all-time home runs with his 28th in a Flying Squirrels uniform! pic.twitter.com/h19vM4Nd77

— Richmond Flying Squirrels (@GoSquirrels) June 28, 2025​

High-A Eugene (38-36)​

Saturday: Eugene Emeralds beat the Everett AquaSox (Mariners) 9-3 [box score]
Sunday: Eugene Emeralds beat the Everett AquaSox 19-8 [box score]

Hey, those are some mighty fine scores! Holy offense!

The outfield remains supreme in Eugene. They opened the year with an exceptionally exciting trio: James Tibbs III (No. 3 CPL), Bo Davidson (No. 11 CPL), and Jonah Cox (No. 26 CPL). Like Timon and Pumbaa, the trio was down to two after Tibbs was included in the Rafael Devers trade, but Scott Bandura stepped in to save the day. Bandura has been playing as the regular 3rd in the trio, and all 3 had utterly spectacular weekends.

Let’s start with Bandura, who played in right field. He went 4-9, smashed a home run and a triple, was hit by 2 pitches, drew a walk, and didn’t strike out. My goodness!

Not to be outdone, Cox, playing in left field, put on a clinic, hitting 2-6 with a home run, a double, 2 hit by pitches, 4 walks, and 2 stolen bases. That’s getting it done in every way imaginable!

And rounding out the electric trio is the youngest and best prospect of the group, the center fielder Davidson. He had a relatively quiet Saturday, hitting 1-4 with a walk and 2 strikeouts, but showed off his superstar chops on Sunday, when he went 4-5 with 2 home runs, a double, 2 walks, and 5 runs batted in. Holy cannoli as a Bay Area legend once said!

Bandura, a 7th-round pick in 2023, now has an .845 OPS and a 134 wRC+; Cox, a 6th-round pick by the A’s in 2023 has a .705 OPS and a 94 wRC+, but has stolen 34 bases; and Davidson, an undrafted free agent from the 2023 class is sitting on a .938 OPS and a 153 wRC+.

But while that trio shined, they were far from the only stars, as 3 other hitters dominated. Catcher Drew Cavanaugh continued his ascent and his tremendous story, as he hit a staggering 7-11 over the weekend with 2 home runs (including a grand slam on Sunday!), as well as 1 walk and 1 strikeout.

Another BIG FLY for Drew Cavanaugh!@drewcav1 drills a 2-run HR in the Top of the 1st to give the @EugeneEmeralds a 2-0 lead over Everett. #Ems70

Cavanaugh hits his 9th of the year, second with High-A! pic.twitter.com/tLTCp0BE9u

— Tom Cavanaugh (@tcav30) June 29, 2025​

Cavanaugh, a 17th-round pick in 2023, was a completely unheralded and mostly unheard of prospect entering the year, but dominated in Low-A San Jose to the tune of a 1.006 OPS and a 172 wRC+. That earned him a promotion to High-A where, through 7 games, he has a 1.228 OPS and a 227 wRC+. If you’re new to stats, those are extremely good ones.

Also popping a dinger on both days was first baseman Charlie Szykowny (No. 43 CPL), who went 5-10 on the weekend with 2 homers, a hit by pitch, and a caught stealing. He has had an average season with the bat (.751 OPS, 101 wRC+), but there’s so much talent there.

Charlie Szykowny, Insurance Specialist@cszykown sends another ball onto the berm in Everett, his second of the week and 8th of the year, making this a 3-1 ballgame.#Ems70 pic.twitter.com/fdBvqUqWvv

— Eugene Emeralds (@EugeneEmeralds) June 29, 2025​

And finally, third baseman Dayson Croes, a 25-year old from Aruba who was signed 2 months ago, hit 3-7 with 2 doubles and 4 walks. He has a .932 OPS and a 154 wRC+, and while he’s quite old for the level, he’s doing this after just 9 games on the Complex League and skipping Low-A altogether.

Speaking of older players making their debuts, RHP Matt Dunaway did exactly that. Dunaway, a 26-year old who was signed a few days prior, made his professional debut and pitched 2 innings, giving up 3 hits and 1 run in the process. Welcome to the pros, Matt!

Otherwise, it was a mostly uneventful pitching performance. LHP Nick Zwack, who is still working his way back after nearly 2 years on the sidelines, started on Saturday and pitched 4 innings, ceding 2 hits, 1 walk, 1 hit batter, and 1 run, with 3 strikeouts. It was the 2nd rehab appearance in Eugene for Zwack, who is on AA Richmond’s roster, after 6 rehab games in the ACL.

LHP Dylan Carmouche started on Sunday and pitched 6 innings, giving up 6 hits, 1 walk, and 1 hit batter, but 2 of the hits were homers, so he got tagged for 4 runs, which is also how many strikeouts he had.

Low-A San Jose (49-26)​

Saturday: San Jose Giants beat the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (Dodgers) 12-4 [box score]
Sunday: San Jose Giants beat the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes 20-2 [box score]

What blissful offense the Low and High-A affiliates treated us to this weekend!

It probably goes without saying that there were some good offensive performances in these games. It’s up for debate who had the best weekend, but center fielder Dakota Jordan (No. 8 CPL) most certainly had the best game. After going 0-5 with a walk and a strikeout on Saturday, the team’s 2024 4th-round pick exploded on Sunday, hitting 3-5 with a grand slam, 2 doubles, a walk, a strikeout, and 6 runs batted in. I’ve talked endlessly about Jordan flipping the script by sporting a great average, stealing a ton of bases, and keeping his strikeouts down but not hitting for much power, so it was nice to see his behemoth power show up on Sunday. He’s sitting on an .832 OPS and a 129 wRC+, which is about where he’s been all year.

Dakota Jordan is having a grand day!

The @SFGiants' No. 5 prospect launches a slam, his sixth homer of the year, during a career night for the Single-A @SJGiants pic.twitter.com/iM4czF9smZ

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) June 30, 2025​

First baseman/designated hitter Jeremiah Jenkins had a similar weekend. He went 0-2 with a walk and 2 strikeouts on Saturday, but on Sunday hit 2-4 with a home run and 2 walks. Jenkins, a 14th-round pick last year, has only played in 27 games this season due to injury, and more than half of those games were in the Complex League. But he’s hit very well when he’s been on the field.

Jeremiah Jenkins makes it an even 20! A 3-run blast, his first of the season, and the Giants lead 20-2. pic.twitter.com/rXsgSl7h2q

— San Jose Giants (@SJGiants) June 30, 2025​

Speaking of people who have been hitting well, first baseman/designated hitter Robert Hipwell (No. 25 CPL) showed out over the weekend, hitting 3-7 with a home run, a double, 3 walks, a hit by pitch, and 3 strikeouts. The strikeout rate (29.6%) is still much higher than the Giants would like to see from the 2024 6th-rounder out of Santa Clara, and the batting average is lower (.232), but he has an .824 OPS and a 129 wRC+ thanks to a sky-high walk rate and isolated slugging percentage (16.5% and .216, respectively).

And speaking of people with low averages, high strikeout rates, and a lot of power, shortstop Walker Martin (No. 14 CPL) added to that profile over the weekend, hitting 3-11 with 4 strikeouts ... and all 3 of his hits being doubles. Martin’s season has been a “on the one hand ... on the other hand” season. He has just a .225 batting average .... but 44% of his hits have gone for extra bases. He has a 28.9% strikeout rate ... but that’s down from 46.3% at the level last year. Put it all together and it’s a .770 OPS and a 113 wRC+ for the 2023 2nd-round pick.

When you're the Double-Double batter of the game and you hit a double, fans get free Double-Doubles. Walker Martin just hit a double, and people are very happy. pic.twitter.com/XgNfxIscDL

— San Jose Giants (@SJGiants) June 30, 2025​

Right fielder Jean Carlos Sio was a hit machine, going 6-11 with a double, a walk, and a stolen base. His season has flown under the radar, in part because he doesn’t have much power, but the lefty, who just turned 21, has a .747 OPS, a 112 wRC+, and just a 13.0% strikeout rate.

Jean Carlos Sio with the first RBI of the day, as the Giants take an early 2-0 lead! pic.twitter.com/TyG1Lh2WVo

— San Jose Giants (@SJGiants) June 30, 2025​

Meanwhile, second baseman Zander Darby was unstoppable, hitting 4-5 with 2 doubles, 2 walks, and 3 sacrifice flies (all on Saturday). Last year’s 12th-round pick has sneakily put up an .874 OPS and a 140 wRC+, and had success in every offensive area.

And finally, it was a great weekend for catchers who have been struggling. On Saturday the start went to Nomar Diaz, the team’s 14th-round pick in 2022, who was playing in just his 8th game of the year (and 43rd in his career). He had been struggling entering the game, but went 2-3 with a home run, 2 walks, and a strikeout. On Sunday the start belonged to Juan Perez, a 20-year old playing in essentially his 1st year of A-ball and having a hard time finding hits. He went 2-4 with a walk and 2 strikeouts.

We’ve spent hours talking about the hitters, but there’s not much to mention with the pitchers. We’ll just highlight one arm: Sunday’s starter, RHP Drake George, who was sensational in 4.2 shutout innings, allowing just 2 hits and 1 walk while striking out 7 batters. George, who was the team’s 13th-round pick a year ago, has a 3.20 ERA and a 2.85 FIP in his debut season, and is really starting to click. In his last 4 starts, he’s pitched 18.2 innings and allowed just 12 hits, 2 walks, and 3 runs, while striking out 21.

Arizona Complex League (30-12)​

Saturday: ACL Giants beat the ACL Angels 5-4 (7 innings) [box score]

Not much to talk about here. An awesome game from shortstop Dario Reynoso (20 years, 2023 IFA), who hit 1-2 with a home run and 2 walks. After a subpar debut stateside season a year ago, Reynoso has been a destructive offensive force this year, sporting a .998 OPS and a 160 wRC+. The 29.0% strikeout rate is something the Giants will want to see come down, but a .223 isolated slugging from someone who primarily plays the middle of the infield and just turned 20 is pretty exciting.

And a great performance on the mound from RHP Marlon Franco (22 years, 2019 IFA). Franco was nearly perfect in 4 shutout innings, giving up just 1 hit and 0 walks, while striking out 3. After 4 years in the DSL, Franco is making the most of his Arizona opportunity with a 3.40 ERA, albeit with an accompanying 5.08 FIP.

Dominican Summer League Black (17-3)​

Saturday: DSL Giants Black beat the DSL Pirates Black 3-2 [box score]

No good hitting days in this one, but a pair of nice pitching performances to highlight, as the DSL Black squad continues to thrive. RHP Dilan Fernandez (20 years, 2023 IFA) started and gave up just 1 hit and 1 run in 4 innings, albeit with just 1 strikeout. Fernandez only has 7 strikeouts in 14 innings this season, but he has a 0.57 WHIP and a 1.93 ERA.

Next up was RHP Alfonso Perez (19 years, 2022 IFA), who tossed 3 shutout innings with just 1 hit and 3 strikeouts. He has 14 strikeouts against 3 walks in 12 innings this year, to accompany a 3.75 ERA in his 4th pass through the DSL.

Dominican Summer League Orange (14-5)​

Saturday: DSL Giants Orange beat the DSL Blue Jays Blue 10-2 [box score]

This game was the resumption of a game that was postponed halfway through a few weeks ago. There were a pair of home runs, from catcher Miguel Caraballo (16 years, 2025 IFA) and first baseman Franco Willias (20 years, 2023 IFA). Caraballo, who hit 1-4 and also drew a walk and struck out twice, now has a .935 OPS and a 147 wRC+ ... pretty sensational numbers for a debuting 16-year old who plays catcher. He should be proud!

As for Willias, he now has a .952 OPS and a 132 wRC+ in his 2nd pass through the level, and has dropped his strikeout rate by more than 10 percentage points, all the way down to 11.4%.

Left fielder Brandon Vasquez (18 years, 2024 IFA) hit 2-3 with a double, a walk, a stolen base, and a strikeout, while right fielder Carlos Concepcion (19 years, 2023 IFA) hit 3-4 with a double and a strikeout.

On the mound, RHP Iverson Paulino (18 years, 2024 IFA) had a 6-inning start, which is a huge rarity in the DSL .... but he did it by starting the game that was delayed after a few innings, and then starting it again when it was resumed many days later. Either way, he gave up just 2 hits and 2 runs during that time, but walked 4 while striking out 5.

RHP Kendry Castro (18 years, 2024 IFA) struck out 2 batters in a perfect inning. He has a 1.74 ERA, but has just 6 strikeouts against 6 walks in 10.1 innings this year.

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Home run tracker​

AAA Grant McCray (11)
AAA Hunter Bishop (5)
AA Victor Bericoto (9) [6 in AA]
AA Carter Howell (5)
High-A Drew Cavanaugh x2 (10) [3 in High-A]
High-A Bo Davidson x2 (9)
High-A Charlie Szykowny x2 (9)
High-A Scott Bandura (5)
High-A Jonah Cox (4)
Low-A Robert Hipwell (7)
Low-A Dakota Jordan (6)
Low-A Jeremiah Jenkins (4) [1 in Low-A]
Low-A Nomar Diaz (1)
ACL Dario Reynoso (5)
DSL Miguel Caraballo (3)
DSL Franco Willias (2)

Source: https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2...enhunt-grant-mccray-dakota-jordan-bo-davidson