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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

 

[San Francisco Giants]

How to make the most of your game day experience at Oracle Park

The refurbished coca Cola sign at Oracle Park celebrates a Giants victory. | Photo by Darren Yamashita/MLB Photos via Getty Images

Everything you need to know ahead of your visit to Oracle Park

Oracle Park is a beautiful gem of a ballpark located in the South of Market area of San Francisco. If you’re visiting the San Francisco Giants’ home for the first time, or simply want a refresher about the park’s attractions, here’s a guide to your trip to the former Pacific Bell, SBC, and AT&T Park, now sponsored by software giant Oracle.

Getting There​

Driving to Oracle Park is not a fun experience. There’s a few official lots, though they’ve shrunk in size thanks to the team’s construction projects at Mission Rock, which is a great place to get food or drinks before or after the game. However, it’s easy to take an N Judah train from Embarcardero BART to the ballpark, or a T Third train from south of the ballpark. If you do have to drive, the team recommends reserving spots in advance at the variety of parking lots in the South of Market area. It’s a nice area to walk through, so we would recommend saving a little money and parking further away if possible. You can also reach the ballpark by ferry.

Statues​

You can’t miss the Say Hey Kid, Willie Mays, outside the ballpark’s main entrance at 3rd and King Streets. It’s called Willie Mays Plaza, after all. But that’s not the only Giants great preserved in statue form. You can see Juan Marichal by the start of the boardwalk south of the ballpark, depicted with his foot higher than his head in his signature high-legged windup.

Spitballer Gaylord Perry’s nine-foot statue is at 2nd and King Streets, and it does not actually have Vaseline on the fingers. Willie McCovey’s statue is located opposite the ball park, fittingly on the side of McCovey Cove. There are also two LEGO statues, of three-time champs Buster Posey and Madison Bumgarner, which are in the Bullpen Boardwalk section.

McCovey Cove​

Especially during day games, the body of water behind the right field wall is full of people in all manner of watercraft, from inflatable rafts to yachts to kayaks. Unfortunately, it’s also the home of “McCovey Cove Dave,” a 69-year-old man who zips around in a kayak trying to scoop up as many Splash Hits as possible wearing a jacket with his own name on it. He picked up a grand slam last season and demanded a discounted parking spot in exchange for returning it. Steer clear of Dave!

Coca Cola Slide​

While the 80-foot Coke bottle in left field never has delivered on its promise to shower the bleachers in bubbles after a Giants home run, the advertisement has become a beloved feature of the ballpark. It’s surrounded by a play area for children and sits next to a giant oversized baseball glove.

There’s a 60-foot slide inside the bottle called “The Guzzler,” which has certainly caused some injuries over the years, mainly to adults. Manager Bob Melvin used to slide down head-first when his teams visited, until the team locked up the slide.

Apparel​

There are two primary rules for dressing for Oracle Park:

1. Don’t wear Los Angeles Dodgers gear.
2. Don’t believe the weather reports. There’s a reason that blanket sales are always brisk at the park, because San Francisco weather can change very quickly. There’s a reason that you see tourists decked out in ugly sweatshirts with cable cars or the Golden Gate Bridge at Fisherman’s Wharf in July: People think summer is warm in SF, when the warmest month is actually September. So bring a hat, bring a jacket, and bring a blanket, but also dress in layers and bring sunscreen. Oracle Park will punish you for assuming anything at all about the weather.

Regarding novelty hats, the Giants no longer have a player with an animal nickname, so the trend of panda hats (for Pablo Sandoval) and giraffe hats (Brandon Belt) has slowed. Belt was also responsible for fans wearing captain’s hats, which served a dual purpose when Klay Thompson was still playing for the Golden State Warriors. Perhaps the team can figure out what adorable animal Rafael Devers most resembles to goose their hat sales.

The 415​

Oracle Park has a club located 415 feet from home plate in the right field stands, and 415 is also the area code for San Francisco. Becoming a member costs $199, but that also gives members $199 in ticket credits to sit there, where games can be as cheap as $5 for the Miami Marlins, or as high as $37 for the Dodgers. If you enjoy sitting in the bleachers, the 415 has a lot of appeal, especially with its own dedicated entrance, access to specialty beers at cheaper prices, and a terrace where you can watch the visiting team’s relievers warm up in their bullpen from behind the glass, often with a DJ’s accompaniment. You’re not supposed to be able to resell 415 tickets, but a cursory glance at StubHub shows you can buy seats there as non-club members.

Food​

There are a few definitive Oracle Park special when it comes to food, beyond the standard hot dog fare. Perhaps the most iconic is the Gilroy Garlic Fries, an item that’s become more common at other sporting venues but originated in SF. There’s the Cha Cha Bowl, named after the late, great Orlando Cepeda, which has rice, black beans, salsa, and your choice of grilled chicken or pork carnitas. Orlando’s Caribbean BBQ, located by the giant Coca-Cola bottle, also sells jerk chicken, nachos, and fish tacos.

Mission Street Taqueria will sell you nachos in a plastic baseball helmet, which makes any food taste better. The Ghiradelli ice cream sundae is the best dessert in the park. If you like Filipino food, the Lumpia Company has very tasty food and a fast-moving line. David Chang’s “fuku” has a variety of spicy friend chicken items, including meatless ones. Rah Rah Ramen offers roasted pork and vegetarian options, though soup isn’t the easiest food to eat in your seat. Tony’s Pizza is quite solid, but one of the tastiest and most unique options is Crazy Crab’z signature Dungeness crab-and-sourdough sandwich. Trust us, the sandwich is much better than the stand’s spelling and punctuation.

The Garden​

Are you going to a major league baseball game to check out an organic garden? If you’re already in the Bay Area, the answer is a strong “maybe.” The Garden is located behind the center field wall and features aeroponic towers and vegetables, many of which are available in the bar and bistros. It’s excellent for vegetarians and is mostly gluten-free.

Lou Seal​

The SF Giants’ mascot doesn’t exactly look like a seal. He’s more of a rotund, rodent-like creature whose signature move is bumping his oversized belly against people. Lou Seal wears a backwards cap, oversized glasses, and is beloved by children of all some ages.

Journey​

They’re probably going to play “Lights” or “Don’t Stop Believing” by Bay Area band Journey, and fans are going to sing along. Deal with it, and try not to think about Tony Soprano.

Public House​

The bar at Willie Mays Plaza is a nice place to get a pre-game snack or a beer, which you can bring with you to your seat. The real appeal is that the Public House has its own entrance to the park, which can save some time spent waiting in lines — without a beer to sip.

Gotham Club​

Behind the right field wall is a “secret” speakeasy-type bar called the Gotham Club. There’s a game room, big windows with views of the harbor, and views of the field through the right field scoreboard. You can also watch through small holes in the “portwalk” sections outside the stadium in right field, an area that also features the Giants’ History Walk, a group of 28 plaques that show important moments in the ballpark’s history.

Source: https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2...o-giants-oracle-park-stadium-guide-food-drink

 

[San Francisco Giants]

Minor League roundup, 7/1: Trevor McDonald dominates

Photo by Suzanna Mitchell/San Francisco Giants/Getty Images

Yesterday’s action on the farm.

Not all of the San Francisco Giants Minor League Baseball affiliates were in action on Tuesday; and not all of the affiliates who were in action were in prolonged action. The ACL team had the day off, while AA Richmond made it to the 3rd inning of their game before weather postponed it. They’ll finish that game today as part of a semi-doubleheader. A one-and-a-half-header, if you will.

Now let’s dive into the action from an otherwise busy day!

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​

Just some small bits of news. Most excitingly, RHP Braxton Roxby was promoted from AA Richmond to AAA Sacramento. Roxby, whom the Giants acquired in the Taylor Rogers trade, had been dominant in AA, so it will be fun to see what he does at the next level.

RHPs Shane Rademacher and Cameron Pferrer, who had been filling in on emergency duty in Sacramento (where neither played), were returned to High-A Eugene.

And Eugene outfielder Scott Bandura, who is having a breakout campaign, was named the Northwest League Player of the Week. Congrats!

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AAA Sacramento (39-43)​

Sacramento River Cats beat the Reno Aces (D-Backs) 9-0
Box score

Well, playing the Diamondbacks went much better for the AAA affiliate than for the Major League team on Tuesday, that’s for damn sure.

This was a fantastic all-around game for the River Cats, but no one shined as brightly as their starting pitcher, RHP Trevor McDonald (No. 15 CPL). McDonald has become something of a forgotten player among the team’s pitching options. Everyone’s waiting for LHP Carson Whisenhunt (No. 2 CPL), while Carson Seymour (No. 21 CPL) just got called up, and Carson Ragsdale (No. 19 CPL) looks like he might be waiting in the wings, to make no mention of Mason Black (No. 7 CPL).

But on Tuesday, McDonald put forth one of the best pitching performances of the season for Sacramento, tossing 7 brilliant, shutout innings, and allowing just 3 hits, plus a walk and a hit batter, while striking out 5. It wasn’t the most economical, strike-filled outing, but he wasn’t poor in that area either, throwing 94 pitches and finding the zone 65 times. McDonald only has a 4.93 ERA and a 5.45 FIP on the season, so he’s perhaps not on the Giants radar as a player who is knocking on the door, especially since this start came after 2 consecutive games in which he got destroyed. But if he puts together a few more starts like this one, he could be back in the Majors, where he’s spent exactly 1 day so far in his career.

Rounding out the shutout was RHP Sean Hjelle, who tossed 2 scoreless frames in his return to Sacramento following a recent optioning. Despite only giving up 2 baserunners, Hjelle needed 40 pitches to get through his 2 innings.

It was a balanced attack on offense. Prior to the game, the Giants called up outfielder Luis Matos to replace infielder Christian Koss, who landed on the 10-Day IL. I openly found it a little odd that the Giants opted for an outfielder rather than placing one of their infielders on the 40-man roster (which, admittedly, would have meant cutting someone from the 40); apparently those infielders also found it odd, as they all had good days. Second baseman Osleivis Basabe hit 3-5 with a pair of doubles, shortstop Sergio Alcántara hit 1-3 with a double and a walk, and third baseman Devin Mann hit 1-4 with a double and a strikeout. Hell hath no fury like an infielder scorned, or something like that.

But the bulk of the damage came by way of the big fly, and the River Cats had a trio of hitters go deep. Most notable was left fielder Marco Luciano, who went 2-5 and bopped a solo home run.

With James Tibbs III (No. 3 CPL) traded, and Bryce Eldridge (No. 1 CPL) injured, Luciano sits alone atop the home run leaderboard for Giants prospects this year, with 13, though this one was a welcome sight, as it was his 1st in 2 weeks. It’s been a delight seeing Luciano access his power again: he’s hitting the ball significantly harder than he did last year, and his .187 isolated slugging is miles ahead of where it was in 2024, when it was a mild .130. But he has just a .222 batting average and a 30.4% strikeout rate, and that’s how the organization’s home run leader has just a .737 OPS and a 93 wRC+. Still, with how power starved the Giants are, you wonder if Luci might get a look here at some point.

Speaking of players who might get looks, designated hitter Hunter Bishop (No. 34 CPL) hit 1-3 with a 3-run blast and a walk.

IT'S ANOTHER BISH BLAST! Bishop's second big fly in as many games further extends Sacramento lead to 5-0 in the third pic.twitter.com/DIunOAapQP

— Sacramento River Cats (@RiverCats) July 2, 2025​

Bishop started to turn his season around in a hurry with a great June, and now he’s starting July in the same manner. After hitting just 14-62 with 0 home runs and 2 doubles in May, the 2019 1st-round pick has gone 17-56 since, with 2 home runs, 2 triples, and 5 doubles. He’s not on the 40-man roster, but I could see him getting a cup of coffee later this year, the way Daniel Johnson currently is getting one.

And finally, catcher Logan Porter reminded us all that he’s ready to step in should something happen to Patrick Bailey or Andrew Knizner, as he went 1-3 with a home run, a walk, and 2 strikeouts.

Porter power! Logan lifts off and crushes his third homer of the season to make it 2-0 Sacramento pic.twitter.com/KsglMuG5zJ

— Sacramento River Cats (@RiverCats) July 2, 2025​

High-A Eugene (39-36)​

Eugene Emeralds beat the Hillsboro Hops (D-Backs) 7-2
Box score

Another affiliate beating up on the Diamondbacks. If you can’t get them where it matters most, at least you can get them somewhere!

Would you believe me if I told you that catcher Drew Cavanaugh homered again? The lefty, who went 1-4 with a strikeout on the day, smashed a 3-run big fly, marking his 3rd straight game with a home run.

Drew Cavanaugh is AUTOMATIC!

This ball left PK Park at 108 mph to the opposite field. 4-1 Ems lead!#Ems70 @drewcav1 pic.twitter.com/wF58Z0UlDK

— Eugene Emeralds (@EugeneEmeralds) July 2, 2025​

Cavanaugh, the team’s 17th-round pick in 2023, remains one of the best stories on the farm this year. After mild-mannered 2023 and 2024s, Cavanaugh has exploded this year. He had a 1.006 OPS and a 173 wRC+ with Low-A San Jose before his recent promotion, and so far has a 1.233 OPS and a 225 wRC+ in 8 games with Eugene. He also has filled in as emergency depth in Sacramento for 14 games, and while his offensive numbers there are justifiably ugly, he’s impressed nonetheless. After just 2 home runs, total, in his 1st 2 years (253 plate appearances), Cavanaugh has already bopped 11 dingers in just 223 plate appearances this season. Add in some quality work behind the dish, and he’s suddenly a name to keep an eye on.

Shortstop Zane Zielinski had the same day that Cavanaugh had, hitting 1-4 with a home run and a strikeout. The 2024 9th-round pick is still trying to find his footing in Eugene, which is understandable given that this is his debut season and the Giants sent him straight to the Northwest League with nary a stop in Arizona nor San Jose. Seen through that lens, a .616 OPS and a 76 wRC+ for a middle infielder seems pretty nice.

Hot diggity dog!

Zane Zielinski sends a BOMB out to left field to give the Ems a 7-2 lead on Mickey Mouse & Friends Night!#Ems70 @zzanezielinski pic.twitter.com/gSAJuJT2er

— Eugene Emeralds (@EugeneEmeralds) July 2, 2025​

Center fielder Bo Davidson (No. 11 CPL) hit 2-4 with a strikeout, which marks his 24th multi-hit game this year, in 62 games. He also has a 9-game hitting streak, and his OPS and wRC+ remain blissfully high, as they have all season (.939 and 154, respectively). It’s almost staggering how consistent Davidson’s numbers have been even as he’s moved up a level. Last year, which he split between the ACL and Low-A, the undrafted lefty hit .327/.437/.605, with a 14.4% walk rate and a 24.7% strikeout rate. This year, spent solely in High-A, he’s hit .320/.418/.520, with a 14.3% walk rate and a 22.3% strikeout rate. I would assume that a promotion isn’t far away!

A pretty nice start for RHP Josh Bostick (No. 27 CPL), who gave up just 1 run in 5 innings of work. Bostick wasn’t missing a ton of bats — he gave up 7 hits and only struck out 3 — but he avoided big mistakes. He didn’t walk or hit any batters, and 6 of the 7 hits he allowed were singles. It’s been a bit of a disappointing year for the 2023 8th-round pick, who has a 4.82 ERA, a 5.59 FIP, and hasn’t looked as electric as many had hoped. But after 3 consecutive outings of giving up 5 runs, he’s now settled in with back-to-back nice starts. Here’s hoping it continues.

A funny outing for RHP Cameron Pferrer, who accomplished something rare: he recorded more outs (5) than batters faced (4). Pferrer entered in the 7th inning with 1 out and a runner 2nd, and proceeded to get a popout and then a rare 2nd-base pickoff. He followed it up by striking out all 3 batters that he faced in the 8th inning to cap a performance that was as dominant as it was uncommon. Pferrer has a 3.26 ERA since getting promoted, though he has just a 5.51 FIP and 19 strikeouts to 7 walks in 19.1 innings.

RHP Ben Peterson, an undrafted free agent in his debut season, made his 3rd appearance for Eugene following a recent promotion, and pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout. He’s retired all 7 batters that he’s faced since his promotion, which I’m told is good.

Low-A San Jose (50-26)​

San Jose Giants beat the Stockton Ports (A’s) 3-2
Box score

The power surge continues for center fielder Dakota Jordan (No. 8 CPL), who went 1-4 with a 2-run home run, his 2nd dinger and 4th extra-base hit in the last 2 games. Is there anything better than a no-doubt opposite-field home run?

Back-to-back games with a jack for Dakota Jordan

The @SFGiants' No. 5 prospect starts the month with a moonshot after posting a .917 OPS in June for the Single-A @SJGiants. pic.twitter.com/7tjL40JdvE

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) July 2, 2025​

I’ve already written a million words on how Jordan, last year’s 4th-round pick, has flipped the script on his profile this year, for better and for worse, so I won’t bore you with the details again. I’ll just say that I’m always far more excited about prospects who find their success through addressing their weaknesses, even if their strengths go on hiatus, than I am about prospects who find their success through doubling down on their strengths while their weaknesses continue to lurk in the corner.

Jordan found his early season success by doing the former, and now we’re starting to see why it excites me so much. The power has started to show up over the last month, but it hasn’t come at the expense of the contact improvements that he’s made. In May, Jordan hit .310; in June, that number was a nearly-identical .311. In May, he struck out 24 times in 100 at-bats; in June, 27 times in 106 at-bats.

But the difference? In May, his slugging percentage was .370; in June, it was .557. He made some adjustments, and now he’s adding the power back into the equation. The results could be tantalizing!

Speaking of players making adjustments, left fielder Lisbel Diaz (No. 17 CPL) hit 1-4 with 2 strikeouts, but bopped his 6th homer of the year. It’s been a fairly quiet offensive year for Diaz, who has a .681 OPS and an 87 wRC+, though I feel compelled to remind you that he’s still a teenager. And also importantly, he’s been turning things around lately. The righty with a cannon for an arm has a 5-game hitting streak, during which time he’s gone 10-23 with 3 home runs, a double, a walk, and just 3 strikeouts. After hitting just .194/.256/.269 in May, Diaz went .280/.320/.430 in June, and is starting July on the right foot.

Right fielder Rayner Arias (No. 4 CPL) made his 1st appearance for San Jose this year after a recent promotion. Arias was promoted despite struggling in the ACL, so it’s probably not too surprising that he struggled in this game, going 0-4 with 3 strikeouts. He seemingly was rushed up early due to an injury to Carlos Gutierrez who, while not appearing on the IL, hasn’t played since June 25.

RHP Cade Vernon shined out of the bullpen, tossing 3.1 no-hit innings with 3 strikeouts, while allowing just a walk. Vernon, a 10th-round pick a year ago who is in his debut season, has now gone 7 straight appearances without allowing an earned run, which covers all 6 of his June games, plus this outing. During that time he’s pitched 15.2 innings and allowed just 6 hits, 3 walks, and 3 unearned runs, though he has just 9 strikeouts. He has a 1.93 ERA on the year, though the lack of strikeouts gives him just a 4.79 FIP.

RHP Hunter Dryden had a funny start. He gave up no earned runs in 3 innings, but allowed 6 baserunners and an unearned run, with just 1 strikeout. It’s been a great year for him, though, even if this was not his smoothest game.

Dominican Summer League ​

DSL Giants Orange (16-5) beat the DSL Giants Black (17-5) 6-2 (7 innings)
Box score

I hate intra-organization games! Hate them! But they persist.

Not a lot of interesting performances. On offense, a player to highlight on each team: for the Giants Orange squad, first baseman Franco Willias (20 years, 2023 IFA) hit 1-2 with a walk and 2 stolen bases. He’s been dominant in his 2nd pass through the level, with a 1.002 OPS, a 149 wRC+, 7 stolen bases, and just a 9.3% strikeout rate. For the Giants Black team, left fielder Yoxander Benitez (18 years, 2024 IFA) had a perfect game, hitting 2-2 with a walk and 2 stolen bases. He’s also having a blissful pass through the DSL on his 2nd attempt, sporting a .824 OPS and a 123 wRC+, with 10 stolen bases and just an 8.3% strikeout rate.

A lot of decent but not dominant pitching performances, so let’s just focus on the best one: LHP Leandro Rodriguez (19 years, 2025 IFA) was a strikeout machine, K’ing 6 batters in just 2.2 shutout innings, while allowing just 1 hit. Rodriguez’s debut season has been one filled with strikeouts: he has 21 of them in 14.1 innings, while allowing 6 walks and 5 hits.

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Home run tracker​

AAA Marco Luciano (13)
AAA Hunter Bishop (6)
AAA Logan Porter (3)
High-A Drew Cavanaugh (11) [4 in High-A]
High-A Zane Zielinski (2)
Low-A Dakota Jordan (7)
Low-A Lisbel Diaz (6)

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Wednesday schedule​

Sacramento: vs. Reno, 6:45 p.m. PT (SP: Mason Black)
Richmond: doubleheader vs. Chesapeake, 2:30 p.m. PT
Eugene: vs. Hillsboro, 6:35 p.m. PT (SP: Cesar Perdomo)
San Jose: at Stockton, 7:05 p.m. PT (SP: Niko Mazza)

Source: https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2...s-trevor-mcdonald-marco-luciano-dakota-jordan

 

[San Francisco Giants]

7/2 Gamethread: Giants @ Diamondbacks

Photo by Melissa Tamez/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Landen Roupp vs. Merrill Kelly

The San Francisco Giants continue this four-game road series against the Arizona Diamondbacks tonight.

Taking the mound for the Giants will be right-hander Landen Roupp, who enters tonight’s game with a 3.43 ERA, 3.71 FIP, with 74 strikeouts to 34 walks in 81.1 innings pitched. His last start was in the Giants’ 3-1 win over the Chicago White Sox on Friday, in which he allowed one unearned run on seven hits with four strikeouts and two walks in five and a third innings.

He’ll be facing off against Diamondbacks right-hander Merrill Kelly, who enters tonight’s game with a 3.49 ERA, 3.33 FIP, with 100 strikeouts to 26 walks in 98 innings pitched. His last start was in the Diamondbacks’ 9-8 loss to the Miami Marlins on Friday, in which he allowed five runs (three earned) on six hits with seven strikeouts and a walk in five innings.

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Game #87​

Who: San Francisco Giants (45-41) vs. Arizona Diamondbacks (43-42)

Where: Chase Field, Phoenix, AZ

When: 6:40 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...backs-how-to-watch-landen-roupp-merrill-kelly

 

[San Francisco Giants]

7/3 Gamethread: Giants vs. Diamondbacks

Photo by Geoff Stellfox/Getty Images

Robbie Ray vs. Brandon Pfaadt

The San Francisco Giants wrap up this four-game road series against the Arizona Diamondbacks tonight.

Taking the mound for the Giants will be left-hander Robbie Ray, who enters tonight’s game with a 2.75 ERA, 3.33 FIP, with 110 strikeouts to 38 walks in 98.1 innings pitched. His last start was in the Giants’ 1-0 loss to the Chicago White Sox on Saturday, in which he allowed one run on four hits with six strikeouts, two walks and zero run support in six innings.

He’ll be facing off against Diamondbacks right-hander Brandon Pfaadt, who enters tonight’s game with a 5.38 ERA, 4.89 FIP, with 72 strikeouts to 21 walks in 85.1 innings pitched. His last start was in the Diamondbacks’ 8-7 loss to the Miami Marlins on Saturday, in which he allowed three runs (two earned) on five hits with seven strikeouts and a walk in five innings.

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Game #88​

Who: San Francisco Giants (46-41) vs. Arizona Diamondbacks (43-43)

Where: Chase Field, Phoenix, AZ

When: 6:40 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...dbacks-how-to-watch-robbie-ray-brandon-pfaadt

 

[San Francisco Giants]

Giants expected to rely on a more ‘scout-driven’ approach in 2025 MLB Draft

Robert Edwards-Imagn Images

Buster Posey is leading a shift in the Giants approach to the MLB Draft, per Baseball America.

The differences between Farhan Zaidi and Buster Posey’s team building approaches as president of baseball operations have already been made apparent. However, a recent writeup by Carlos Collazo of Baseball America revealed another way that Posey’s approach will differ at the helm of the San Francisco Giants. Per Collazo, Posey is expected to rely much more heavily on the team’s scouts than Zaidi, who employed a more model-forward approach, in the 2025 MLB Draft.

“The buzz on the Giants is that their pick will be much more of a ‘scout-driven’ name than previous regimes, largely because of the presence of Buster Posey in the front office,” wrote Collazo in his latest mock draft.

Collazo’s report should come as no surprise, given Posey’s consistent emphasis on a less data-driven approach to team building. Zaidi, who climbed the front office ranks through analytics, had relied heavily on models for his decision making process. Over time, folks in and around the Giants brass seemed to grow frustrated with the way that approach seemed to paralyze the decision-making process.

It would be unfair to characterize Zaidi’s tenure as anti-scout, given how other analytics-forward executives of other teams significantly slashed scouting staffs in ways the Giants did not. However, there were murmurs throughout his tenure that scouts often felt unheard and uninvolved in discussions of the team’s top picks, which tended to be model-favored discount college players. Still, it’s unclear that Zaidi’s draft strategies were a major problem. While there were several significant misses the same apparatus also drafted Patrick Bailey, Casey Schmitt, and Kyle Harrison in the same year while adding Bryce Eldridge in 2023.

Nevertheless, the Giants are operating differently now. Posey hopes that will lead to even better results.

Source: https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2...ster-posey-scout-driven-approach-farhan-zaidi

 

[San Francisco Giants]

7/4 Gamethread: Giants vs. A’s

Photo by Scott Marshall/Getty Images

The Giants head to Sacramento to begin a three-game holiday weekend series against the A’s tonight.

The San Francisco Giants will be kicking off this holiday weekend series against the Athletics tonight from Sacramento.

As of the time this is being written, the Giants have not announced a starting pitcher for today’s game and I am off for the weekend, so check the comments below for updates.

Whoever it ends up being will be facing off against Athletics left-hander JP Sears, who enters tonight’s game with a 5.09 ERA, 5.18 FIP, with 67 strikeouts to 22 walks in 86.2 innings pitched. His last start was in the A’s 7-0 win over the New York Yankees on Monday, in which he allowed two hits and three walks with four strikeouts in five and two thirds innings.

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Game #89​

Who: San Francisco Giants vs. Athletics

Where: Sutter Health Park, Sacramento, California

When: 7:05 p.m. PT

Regional broadcast: NBC Sports Bay Area, NBC Sports California (Athletics coverage)

National broadcast: MLB Network (out-of-market only)

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

Source: https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2...5-san-francisco-giants-athletics-how-to-watch

 

[San Francisco Giants]

Verlander + Giants = loss

Dennis Lee-Imagn Images

A team effort

Even after a resilient extra-innings win on Wednesday, a complete game for Robbie Ray and the team as a whole on Thursday, there were multiple signs that Friday’s opener against the Oakland West Sacramento Viva Las Vegas Athletics might be a rough one for the San Francisco Giants.

First off, they’d be facing a lefty starter. Southpaws have been one of the monkeys on the Giants back this first half. The offense has managed just a 76 wRC+ against those arms going into Friday’s game. Since June 1st, they’ve performed even worse, their 63 wRC+ has been the lowest in baseball over that span (the mark dropped to 61 wRC+ after this one).

Second, the specific lefty they’d square off against was J.P. Sears. This was his fourth start against the Giants in the past calendar year. Two of them have been excellent, dominant even, allowing just one run over 14.2 innings with 18 K. But in his last outing, he got fed to the Wilmer Flores woodchipper. Offensively inept and shutout by a starter, or a three-homer game — which do you think is the anomaly?

The third flashing Danger, Proceed with Caution sign leading up to first pitch: Justin Verlander was the Giants’ starter, which means whether he pitched well or not, he wouldn’t get a win, and San Francisco had a decent shot of losing the game.

He didn’t, and they did.

Verlander lasted just three innings, giving up a season-high 6 earned runs. The Giants are now 4 - 10 in his starts. The Athletics peppered him in the 2nd with four doubles plating four runs. They feasted on his secondary pitches and had a clear opposite field approach against him. Both Jacob Wilson and Brent Rooker in two-out, two-strike holes served Verlander breaking balls into gaps for RBI two-baggers that pretty much ensured a quick exit for the veteran.

A’s players just kept trading places with each other at second. They’d go on to collect 6 doubles, and 9 total extra base hits, including a 471-foot shot by Denzel Clarke off Mason Black, in the 11-2 rout. An unscheduled Fourth of July fireworks display that the A’s were kind enough to treat their visitors to. And who even likes fireworks? They fill up the night sky with vestigial smoke so we can’t even see the stars (which are just space fireworks). So bright in our eyeballs, so loud in our ears, spooking all the neighborhood cats and dogs. No thanks!

For Verlander, it was a crappy way to celebrate the 249th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, a crappy way to celebrate the 20th anniversary of his MLB debut, and well, a crappy way to spend a Friday night.

14 starts in 2025 and still winless — oof.

It was obviously an utterly forgettable night team-wide. Their bats, who looked to be warming up in the second half of the Arizona series, went quiet again. The A’s accumulated a six-run lead quick, but the Giants had opportunities to respond, to get themselves back into the game. Sears (6 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 2 BB, 6 K) retired the line-up in order over the first three frames, but in the next three innings, the Giants had six at bats with multiple runners on, in which one swing would halve the A’s lead, and 8 at-bats with a runner in scoring position. The chance to ignite a light show of their own was there, they had the ammunition — just the matches were damp, the lighter didn’t work. No spark meant no show in the middle innings while the A’s continued to draw oohs and ahhs with their fizz, pop, and bang.

They’d finish the night 0-for-11 with RISP and strand 7 runners on base.

Defensively too this thing was a dud. The Giants were sloppy with the gloves from the jump, and had about as many bungles as hits.

Heliot Ramos bobbled two exchanges in the first two innings. Sergio Alcantara, making his Giant debut and getting the start at third base, had the first playable ball bounced his way clang off his mitt. Patrick Bailey missed a pop-up behind home plate. Clarke shot a tough but catchable drive to deep center that turned Jung Hoo Lee around at the last minute and kicked off his glove for a triple. Brett Wisely, web gem extraordinaire from Thursday night, misread a bounder to third in the 7th that should’ve ended the inning. Instead, the Giants’ third official error of the game, set-up Clarke’s mammoth shot to left-center.

None of these proved overtly costly or directly changed the final result, but that didn’t make it any easier to watch.

The Giants might be the away team in this series, but the A’s are the interlopers here. They are living out of suitcases, strung between three places across two states. Their jerseys are even divided: one arm in Sacramento, the other 560 miles away in Las Vegas. Their gripes have been loud and well-documented. They don’t want to be playing at Sutter Health Park, sharing a clubhouse with San Francisco’s Triple-A affiliate, and their home record, with the lowest win-total in the American League, proves that. And yet, the Giants, playing in front of what was essentially a home crowd, couldn’t capitalize on the opportunities this muddled situation provided.

Add it to the list of recent vexations.

Source: https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2...letics-recap-justin-verlander-loss-mlb-scores

 

[San Francisco Giants]

Sunday BP: What was your favorite highlight of the week?

Photo by Andy Kuno/San Francisco Giants/Getty Images

Another week of Giants baseball comes to a close today, so it’s time to see what Giants fans thought was the highlight of the week!

Good morning, baseball fans!

The San Francisco Giants are closing out another week of baseball today, so it’s time to take a look back at the week that was.

I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry. It’s not nice of me to make you look back at this week. But we have to do it, and it wasn’t entirely devoid of highlights! As I mentioned yesterday, I’m picking exclusively from Wednesday’s win over the Arizona Diamondbacks because that is the only game they’ve won this week as of the time I’m writing this.

Which means that my pick for highlight of the week is Mike Yastrzemski’s home run!

Listen, I know that’s a low bar for the week but that’s the kind of week this was. For baseball, for life, for the universe. Just enjoy the highlights from the one win I got to pick from this week, and enjoy the rest of your holiday weekend!

What was your favorite highlight of the week?​

Source: https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2...nts-sf-highlight-of-the-week-mike-yastrzemski

 

[San Francisco Giants]

7/6 Gamethread: Giants @ Athletics

Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Hayden Birdsong vs. Jacob Lopez.

The San Francisco Giants 10-game road trip comes to a close tonight. It’s been a disappointing trip, and nothing that happens today will change that, but with a win over the Athletics, the Giants will at least have gone .500 on the journey ... and will have ended it with four wins in their last five games.

Taking the mound for the Giants is righty Hayden Birdsong, who makes his 20th appearance of the year and his ninth start. The 23-year old is 3-3 on the year, with a 4.30 ERA, a 4.56 FIP, and 62 strikeouts to 28 walks in 60.2 innings. He’s been scuffling lately though, giving up 16 runs (14 earned) in 12.1 innings over his last three starts, including back-to-back outings with four walks each.

On the other side is lefty Jacob Lopez, a three-year veteran in his first season with the A’s. In 12 games, including eight starts, Lopez is 2-4 with a 3.88 ERA, a 4.26 FIP, and 56 strikeouts against 18 walks in 46.1 innings. After three dominant starts in a row, Lopez got rocked his last time out, giving up four runs (three earned) in just three innings against his former team, the Tampa Bay Rays.

Enjoy the game, everyone! Go Giants!

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Lineups​

Giants

1. Heliot Ramos — LF
2. Rafael Devers — DH
3. Wilmer Flores — 1B
4. Matt Chapman — 3B
5. Willy Adames — SS
6. Luis Matos — CF
7. Mike Yastrzemski — RF
8. Tyler Fitzgerald — 2B
9. Andrew Knizner — C

RHP. Hayden Birdsong

Athletics

1. Lawrence Butler — RF
2. Jacob Wilson — SS
3. Brent Rooker — DH
4. Nick Kurtz — 1B
5. Shea Langeliers — C
6. Tyler Soderstrom — LF
7. Max Muncy — 3B
8. Zack Gelof — 2B
9. Denzel Clarke — CF

LHP. Jacob Lopez

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Game #91​

Who: San Francisco Giants (48-42) vs. Athletics (37-54)

Where: Sutter Health Park, Sacramento, California

When: 7:05 p.m. PT

Regional broadcast: NBC Sports Bay Area, NBC Sports California (Athletics coverage)

National broadcast: n/a

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

Source: https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2...v-station-lineups-hayden-birdsong-jacob-lopez

 

[San Francisco Giants]

Willy has got your back, Back 2 Back

Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images

The sequel

Following his 3-hit, 4-RBI performance on Saturday, Willy Adames stayed locked in at the bat on Saturday, tallying three more runs batted in and a solo home run in the San Francisco Giants 6-2 win over the Athletics on Sunday.

While it was a trio of hard-hit singles that fueled Saturday’s early scoring, Adames showed off the value of a discerning eye on Sunday, working two bases-loaded walks in the 1st and 4th innings.

The walks not only brought in early runs, but picked-up teammates who failed to capitalize on the situation, while extending rallies and providing opportunities for others. In the 1st, starting lefty Jacob Lopez gave up two singles to Heliot Ramos and Wilmer Flores, and hit Rafael Devers to load the bases for Matt Chapman. Still regaining his footing in the batter’s box, the third baseman couldn’t drive a ball deep enough to the outfield to bring in Ramos.

Enter Adames.

During his early season struggles, it felt like Adames went to the plate already at a disadvantage. He couldn’t find his footing, digging into a sandbox rather than a batter’s box. He didn’t look at home at home. Opposing pitchers attacked him with pitches down and away and off-the-plate, and Adames with his big upper-cut swing would oblige with chases and hollow swings. He was a breath of fresh air for pitchers, nothing more than a fan, generating a light breeze with his empty hacks.

The first step in getting out of a slump is not necessarily hitting the baseball, but taking pitches you can’t hit. It’s training and focusing the eye, regaining an innate and instinctive understanding of the zone. The walks came first for Adames. They spiked about thirty games ago when his average was at its lowest. Getting in the habit of spitting at balls out of the zone forced pitchers back over the plate, and that’s when the average started to climb.

The pitch that swung the plate-appearance in Adames favor in the 1st was Lopez’s 2-1 slider.

Location-wise it was a perfect offering, exactly where he wanted it and exactly where April Adames would’ve jumped out of his shoes chasing it. Considering Lopez’s sling-y delivery and cross-over motion, I don’t understand how Adames saw that as a pitch that would eventually drop from the outside corner. Maybe he doesn’t know either — and when you’re hot, you don’t need to ask questions or sweat over answers. He took it and forced Lopez to throw something over the plate. He did, Adames fouled off an inside cutter, and then, having missed the pitch to hit, he sat back and took an off-speed offering well outside for ball four and the Giants first run in the game.

If only every other hitter had that kind of discipline. In a 3-1 count, next batter Luis Matos, getting the start in center, got jumpy and offered at a cutter well above the zone that should’ve brought in another run. Instead, it invited Lopez back into the at-bat. The lefty struck out Matos on the next pitch, struck out Mike Yastrzemski on three pitches to get out of the inning, then proceeded to strike out the next five batters he faced — part of a stretch in which both Lopez and Hayden Birdsong teamed up to strikeout nine consecutivebatters.

But just when Lopez looked unhittable, unfairly peppering the outside of the plate with his sweepy slider, jumping his opponents with his fastball, Adames spot in the order came ‘round again.

A 1-2 count, decent offering below the zone (a tad too far over the plate) — and Adames rocketed it 432 feet.

His next at-bat came an inning later, he got another AB with the bases loaded, this time against righty reliever J.T. Ginn, this time with two outs. The run-driving opportunities have fallen into Adames lap since Matt Chapman’s return. And after Chapman struck out on three-pitches, it became Adames responsibility to pick his teammate up. Another full-count, another disciplined plate appearance. A’s arms were pounding the outside edge and Adames didn’t give in, flinching at, but not lunging at a sinker that Ginn tried to clip the corner with.

San Francisco’s third run, and Adames’s third run batted in. This time, not only did Adames relieve some tension Chapman may have been feeling, but he also provided Matos the opportunity to redeem himself — which he did, driving another outside offering to the right-center gap for a two-run ground-rule double, giving the Giants a 5-1 lead.

On the pitching side of things, it’s hard to read Hayden Birdsong’s performance. Frankly, based on rampant command issues and heavy, self-inflicted traffic on the bases, it was a shock the young right-hander was still on the mound in the 5th and still in-line for the win, having surrendered just one run.

“Effectively wild” is the phrase thrown around to describe Birdsong’s pitching. Artless works too. His pitching is like watching a fencer, in the decorous setting of a bout, who hears “Allez” and snaps, charging their opponent while screaming at the top of their lungs, slashing their foil back and forth like a lightsaber. How do you not cower in the face of that kind of hectic energy? If you’re a hitter, how do you defend against a 95 MPH four-seam fastball that comes in a foot above your head followed by a loopy 12-6 curveball that drops below the zone? The only mode of attack is to take. And that’s what opponents have been doing against Birdsong.

After his 5 walk outing on Sunday, he’s now walked 4+ batters in three consecutive games and handed out 4+ free bases in four of his nine starts. That many gifts isn’t a sustainable way to pitch in the Major Leagues. More often than not, you’ll be punished for it, which Birdsong has experienced first-hand in his last three outings going into this one. But on Sunday, in the midst of finicky command of his four-seam and rallies teetering on the precipice, Birdsong whistled past the graveyard, holding the line, refusing to give in. He scattered three hits of little consequence while on the mound. None of the knocks came with a runner in scoring position, two of them were singles from Jacob Wilson, and the other, a solo shot off the bat of Tyler Soderstrom (a run the left-fielder ultimately gave back), came with a two-run lead.

Birdsong’s 1st inning was a perfect example of how he operates. Two hard-hit flyball outs were sandwiched between two four-pitch walks including a wild pitch. He didn’t earn a called strike until the 13th pitch of the frame. Facing Shea Langeliers with two-on and two-otu, Birdsong went the distance. He worked the extreme poles of North and South, sailing a fastball head-high and burying a slider underground. Mixed up in all that craziness were two perfectly-crafted change-ups that Langeliers swung through to end the frame.

Birdsong would then strike out the side in the 2nd, then fund another Athletics opportunity in the 3rd before getting Langeliers again in a 3-2 count, this time with the bases loaded and with a dotted fastball at the top of the zone that the A’s catcher popped up to shallow left.

Still standing in the 5th with an extended lead to protect, Birdsong provided the all-important shutdown frame — but not without some drama. He allowed two to reach on a single and walk before inducing only his second groundout of the evening for an inning-ending double play.

No, not the prettiest outing but hopefully an impactful one given the young pitcher’s struggles. He’s shone at times, but his record as a starter is spotty. Control of his offerings is fluid. Evidence of his ability to be effective the second or third time facing an order (before Sunday’s start, opponents’ .152 BA the first time facing him jumped to .300 in their second) hasn’t been convincing. After winning two of his first three starts, this was Birdsong’s first “W” in over a month, and the first time he completed the 5th inning since June 12th in Colorado.

A 6-2 win in Sacramento and a series victory — it had been awhile. The Giants are headed home, where things won’t be getting easier with six games against the Philadelphia Phillies and Los Angeles Dodgers before the All-Star Break.

Source: https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2...recap-willy-adames-hayden-birdsong-mlb-scores

 

[San Francisco Giants]

7/7 Gamethread: Giants vs. Phillies

Photo by Andy Kuno/San Francisco Giants/Getty Images

Landen Roupp vs. Cristopher Sánchez

The San Francisco Giants welcome the Philadelphia Phillies to Oracle Park tonight to begin a three-game series.

Taking the mound for the Giants will be right-hander Landen Roupp, who enters tonight’s game with a 3.48 ERA, 3.88 FIP, with 78 strikeouts to 38 walks in 85.1 innings pitched. His last start was in the Giants’ 6-5 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday, in which he allowed two runs on five hits with four strikeouts and walks in four innings.

He’ll be facing off against Phillies left-hander Cristopher Sánchez, who enters tonight’s game with a 2.68 ERA, 2.86 FIP, with 108 strikeouts to 28 walks in 100.2 innings pitched. His last start was in the Phillies’ 5-1 win over the San Diego Padres on Wednesday, in which he allowed one run on five hits with five strikeouts in seven innings.

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Game #92​

Who: San Francisco Giants (49-42) vs. Philadelphia Phillies (53-37)

Where: Oracle Park, San Francisco, California

When: 6:45 p.m. PT

Regional broadcast: NBC Sports Bay Area

National broadcast: MLB Network (out-of-market only)

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

Source: https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2...-how-to-watch-landen-roupp-cristopher-sanchez