Minor League roundup, June 12-15: Reggie Crawford makes a surprise return
· Yahoo Sports
Another busy weekend of San Francisco Giants Minor League Baseball! Let’s quickly cover the games from Friday through Monday.
Link to the 2026 McCovey Chronicles Community Prospect List (CPL)
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All listed positions in the roundup are the position played in that particular game.
News
The big news is that the Giants sent Reggie Crawford to the ACL on a rehab assignment … as a first baseman! More on that later.
AA Richmond RHP Brad Deppermann was activated off the 7-Day IL, while Low-A San Jose outfielder Jose Astudillo was named the Cal League Player of the Week.
AAA Sacramento (39-27)
Friday: Sacramento River Cats lost to the Sugar Land Space Cowboys 4-3 [box score]
Saturday: Sacramento River Cats lost to the Sugar Land Space Cowboys 5-1 [box score]
A very quiet weekend for the River Cats, whose offense is mostly nonexistent these days, and who had their Monday game cancelled due to rain.
With trade season drawing ever closer, it seems likely that the Giants will soon be calling on some pitchers from AAA to fill out the rotation. And arguably the pair most likely to join San Francisco’s quintet took the mound for Sacramento this weekend: LHP Carson Whisenhunt (No. 8 CPL) and RHP Blade Tidwell (No. 9 CPL).
Neither pitcher was particularly poor, but neither provided a bunch of confidence, either, as they both struggled with walks. Whisenhunt pitched on Friday, and walked 4 batters in 5 innings, while throwing just 57 of 97 pitches for strikes. He did limit the damage though, as all 6 hits he allowed were singles, resulting in just 2 runs, and he struck out 5 batters.
As for Tidwell, he handled Saturday’s game and was a bit better, limiting the Space Cowboys to 4 hits and 1 run in 5 innings, with 7 strikeouts … but he walked 3 batters while, funnily enough, also throwing precisely 57 of 97 pitches for strikes. What are the odds of that?
I would assume that Whisenhunt is next in line should Robbie Ray or Adrian Houser be traded or land on the IL … and honestly, with Trevor McDonald (No. 12 CPL) struggling, Whisenhunt could replace him at some point (though Tyler Mahle is nearing a return, so that’s probably his role as the Giants try to rebuild his trade value).
Either way, it will be fun seeing Whisenhunt and Tidwell when the Giants finally punt on this god forsaken season, but these games are a reminder that there’s a bit to work on for each pitcher, especially from a strike-throwing standpoint. Whisenhunt, in particular, has struggled to get deep in games due to the lack of strikes, and I’d guess there’s a little hesitancy for the Giants with calling on a pitcher who will probably max out at 5 innings (I would assume that’s part of why McDonald was promoted over Whiz).
Still, I should contextualize how good Whisenhunt’s season has been: of the 36 pitchers in the Pacific Coast League with at least 40 innings thrown, he’s 2nd in ERA (3.65), 1st in FIP (3.59), and 3rd in strikeouts per 9 innings (10.0). It’s been a really strong season for him, even if there have been a few lumps along the way (and of course, AAA rankings always need the context that the best players usually don’t hit the innings thresholds because they’re called up to the Majors).
In good news for San Francisco’s ever-struggling bullpen, RHP Jason Foley restarted his rehab assignment after a little break, and pitched a perfect inning with 2 strikeouts. He still needs to get over the back-to-back pitching days hump before he’s activated, but hopefully his arm is responding better this time around.
Unfortunately, RHP Spencer Bivens has started struggling again since returning to a reliever role, and gave up 2 hits, 1 walk, 4 runs, and 3 earned runs in just an inning of work, with the unearned run coming on an error he committed. Even with the Giants bullpen being awful, Bivens, with his 4.83 ERA and 5.08 FIP in the PCL, might be feeling like his roster spot is in some jeopardy.
A really uninteresting hitting weekend. Center fielder Jared Oliva continued his rehab, and hit 2-9 with a double, a stolen base, and a strikeout. He’s just about hit the 60 days on his IL stint, making him eligible to return to the Majors. I’ll be curious to see if they call him up so that Jonah Cox can return to the Minors for some more seasoning, or if Cox is here to stay.
Third baseman Thomas Gavello hit 2-3 with a double and a walk, while second baseman Nate Furman (No. 39 CPL) went 2-7 with a walk, a sacrifice fly, and 0 strikeouts.
Catcher/left fielder Jesús Rodríguez (No. 16 CPL) is, unfortunately, still struggling, as he went 1-8 with a walk and 3 strikeouts. Despite hitting so well in AAA at the start of the season, the 24-year old has been unable to find a groove since getting optioned following his MLB debut. In 10 games with the River Cats since getting sent down, the righty is just 5-37 with 2 doubles, 2 walks, and 7 strikeouts. That’s brought him all the way down to a .712 OPS and a 90 wRC+ in AAA this year.
AA Richmond (41-21)
Friday: Richmond Flying Squirrels beat the Harrisburg Senators 3-0 (5 innings) [box score]
Saturday: Richmond Flying Squirrels lost to the Harrisburg Senators 7-6 [box score]
Sunday: Richmond Flying Squirrels beat the Harrisburg Senators 5-4 (10 innings) [box score]
A bit of a funny weekend for Richmond. Weather limited them to just half a game on Friday, and then they walked it off in extra innings on Sunday following a true gift from Harrisburg: with 2 outs and the Manfred Man at second, the Senators intentionally walked Charlie Szykowny, hit Sabin Ceballos (No. 43 CPL) to load the bases, and then hit Maui Ahuna (No. 33 CPL) to end the game. Whatever works!
Friday’s short game cost RHP Trystan Vrieling a chance to go deep in his best game of the year. It hasn’t been the smoothest season for Vrieling, who was part of the Camilo Doval return a year ago, but Friday was a strong game. He pitched all 5 innings and gave up just 3 hits, 1 walk, and 0 runs, while striking out 5 batters. With only 62 pitches thrown (41 of which were strikes), it seems certain that Vrieling, whose season high this year is 5.1 innings, would come out for the 6th inning, and possibly even the 7th, had the game not been halted by the weather.
Still, no reason to bemoan the fact that a great performance wasn’t given the opportunity to be even greater. It was, indeed, a great performance by Vrieling, and a much-needed one given his recent performance — in his last 2 starts, he’d given up 9 earned runs, and 11 runs total, in just 5.1 innings, with only 1 strikeout. He must be feeling a bit better now! He’ll need a few more games like this to turn his season around, as he has a 4.50 ERA, a 5.54 FIP, and 35 walks in 50 innings.
On Sunday, LHP Cesar Perdomo was unable to build on his streak of spectacular starts, though he added to his stellar strikeout-to-walk ratio. Perdomo, who entered the game having allowed just 3 hits and 0 runs in 13 innings over his last 2 starts (with 22 strikeouts!), had a funny game: he only gave up 4 hits in 4 innings, but 3 of those hits were solo home runs. Bizarre! On the happier side, he struck out 5 and walked none … of the 41 Eastern League pitchers with at least 40 innings thrown this year, Perdomo is now 2nd in strikeouts per 9 (11.4), and 10th in walks per 9 (2.8). It’s been a fabulous season for him (3.59 ERA, 3.05 FIP), even with Sunday’s home runs … which were quite an anomaly given that he entered the game with just 1 big fly allowed.
In between, RHP Yunior Marte (No. 25 CPL) had a not very good outing, as he continues to try to adjust to the level. He gave up 8 hits (including a home run), 1 walk, and 4 runs in 4.2 innings, with 5 strikeouts. This was Marte’s 3rd start since getting promoted, and while his ERA is only 4.40, his FIP is 3.92, and he’s rocking 10.7 strikeouts per 9 innings, with just 2.5 walks. Add in the fact that he’s still a few months from his 23rd birthday, and it’s pretty clear that the future is bright for this kid, who came to the Giants in the Mike Yastrzemski trade last year. He’s definitely emerged as one of the better pitching prospects in the system.
Sunday’s game featured a trio of dynamic bullpen appearances: RHP Dylan Hecht, who has really been struggling lately, tossed a perfect inning with 2 strikeouts; LHP Dale Stanavich gave up a hit in 1.2 shutout innings with 3 strikeouts, and RHP Tyler Vogel worked around an error by catcher Ty Hanchey to toss 1.1 no-hit innings with 3 Ks. Hecht has a 10.08 ERA and an 8.00 FIP as he looks to turn his season around; Stanavich has a 3.60 ERA and a 4.04 FIP, but 11.4 strikeouts per 9; and Vogel has a 1.75 ERA but a 4.42 FIP, albeit with 11.6 strikeouts per 9.
A few good hitting performances. Right fielder/left fielder Jean Carlos Sio (No. 44 CPL) continues to fit in at his new level, as he hit 2-6 with a home run, a walk, and 3 strikeouts. In his first 5 games since getting promoted, Sio hit 4-19 with 0 extra-base hits and 0 walks; since then, he’s 5-14 with 3 home runs, 1 triple, and 2 walks. Fitting right in!
First baseman/third baseman Charlie Szykowny also had a strong weekend, hitting 3-10 with a home run, a double, a walk, a hit by pitch, and 3 strikeouts. It’s been impressive how strongly Szykowny has held stable in his numbers year-over-year, despite moving up a level. Despite those strong numbers, and despite his advanced age (he turns 26 at the end of the month), the Giants kept him in High-A for all of the 2025 season. With an .848 OPS, a 120 wRC+, and just a 17.4% strikeout rate this season, will he be handed the same fate in AA? Or will the Giants move him up to AAA Sacramento soon. They don’t have any top prospects blocking the corner infield positions, so hopefully Szykowny gets a chance to prove what he can do at the highest rank of the Minors. He has a sweet left-handed stroke that sure looks like it could play in the Majors.
Left fielder Jack Payton hit 3-4 with a home run, a walk, a sacrifice fly, and an outfield assist. What a weekend! A 24-year old utility player taken in the 11th round in 2023, Payton obliterated High-A for just over a week this year (after doing well there last year) before getting promoted to AA, but has been having a hard time adjusting to this level. He has just a .644 OPS and a 70 wRC+, but days like this show what he’s capable of!
As for the team’s top prospects, center fielder Bo Davidson (No. 4 CPL) had a decent weekend, hitting 3-10 with a double, 2 walks, and 4 strikeouts. Parks Harber (No. 17 CPL) hit just 1-10 with 2 walks, 5 strikeouts, an outfield assist, and a caught stealing. Funnily enough, with Richmond’s outfield sapped (Turner Hill and Scott Bandura are in AAA, while Jonah Cox is in the Majors), Harber moved from left field to center field for the first time in his career on Saturday, so that Davidson could DH.
High-A Eugene (41-22)
Friday: Eugene Emeralds beat Spokane 7-6 [box score]
Saturday: Eugene Emeralds lost to Spokane 11-2 [box score]
Sunday: Eugene Emeralds lost to Spokane 4-2 [box score]
A decent amount of dingers for the Emeralds, who had 5 across the weekend, despite losing 2 of their 3 games. That included a solo shot from center fielder/right fielder Trevor Cohen (No. 15 CPL), who had a dynamic weekend despite playing just 2 games, hitting 4-8 with a homer, a double, 2 walks, a stolen base, and 2 strikeouts.
Cohen, the organization’s 3rd-round pick last year, has really started to come into his own after taking some time to get started this season. After having a .707 OPS in April, the 22-year old lefty bumped that number up to .816 in May, and is sitting pretty with a 1.077 OPS in June. He’s currently riding a 14-game hitting streak, during which time the Rutgers product is 26-64 with 3 home runs (his first 3 home runs of the year), 7 doubles, 5 walks, and just 10 strikeouts. On the year, he has an .832 OPS, a 129 wRC+, and 22 stolen bases in 26 attempts … what once looked like a so-so year, now looks like a dynamic first full season of professional baseball.
Also starting the season slow but heating up in a big way is catcher Jancel Villarroel (No. 42 CPL), who hit 2-4 with a home run and a strikeout on Friday, though he went 0-4 with 2 strikeouts on Saturday, and rested on Sunday.
Villarroel, a 21-year old from Venezuela, missed the start of the season due to injury. Once healthy, he had a few so-so rehab games in the Complex League, and then struggled in his first week with Eugene. Since then he’s caught absolute fire, and has brought himself up to an .891 OPS and a 140 wRC+. When the Giants acquired Villarroel from the Houston Astros in the Kai-Wei Teng trade, he was touted as a contact-driven catcher, but he’s put some power on display with the Emeralds: he has a .216 isolated slugging percentage, and has hit 6 home runs through 28 games.
Right fielder/left fielder Lisbel Diaz (No. 32 CPL) had a tough weekend, hitting just 1-8 with 2 strikeouts, but he did hit his 9th home run of the year, as he continues to show off impressive power for his frame. Diaz, who only turns 21 next month, has never fully been able to put all the pieces together in the Minors, and usually hangs around league-average performance (this year he has a .715 OPS and an 84 wRC+). But there are always intriguing things in his profile, in addition to the quality corner outfield defense and the strong arm. For instance, he has a .213 isolated slugging percentage, and just a 17.5% strikeout rate. Hitting for power and limiting strikeouts, what more could you ask for? Well, despite that, he has just a .242 batting average and only a 5.2% walk rate. Things to work on, but a solid base.
And a pair of players having difficult seasons went deep: designated hitter Robert Hipwell went 1-7 with a solo home run, a walk, and 4 strikeouts, while third baseman Walker Martin hit 2-12 with a solo homer, a double, and 7 strikeouts. Both players are really struggling with contact this year: Hipwell, a 6th-round pick in 2023, has a terrifying 42.2% strikeout rate and just a .148 batting average, leading to a .621 OPS and an 86 wRC+ (numbers that are propped up by a hilarious 21.6% walk rate). Martin, a 2nd-round selection in 2023, has a 32.4% strikeout rate, leading to a .720 OPS and a 94 wRC+.
As for the players who didn’t homer, solid weekends from center fielder Dakota Jordan (No. 5 CPL) and first baseman/right fielder Jakob Christian (No. 40 CPL). Jordan went 3-8 with a double, a walk, 2 stolen bases, and a strikeout, bringing his OPS up to .787 and his wRC+ to 111, with 11 stolen bases in 13 attempts. Christian, who has had a funny season, hit 3-7 with a double and 5 (5!) walks. That brought him up to an .829 OPS and a 125 wRC+. Both players have so much ability and so much power, but need to cut down on the strikeouts as the season goes on (and nice weekends on that front for each).
Shortstop Jhonny Level (No. 3 CPL) saw his hitting streak come to an end … he went 2-12 with a double, a walk, and a strikeout, but had a donut on Sunday, ending his streak of 10 straight games with a hit to begin his High-A career. Still and all, it’s an .843 OPS and a 132 wRC+ for the 19-year old since getting promoted, and it’s safe to say he’s adjusted to the Northwest League very, very well.
LHP Luis De La Torre (No. 14 CPL) took the mound on Friday, and while it wasn’t his best outing, it was once again a sign of how much electricity is in his arm, as he struck out 7 batters in just 5 innings. The rest of the outing wasn’t super smooth, with LDLT ceding 5 hits (including a home run), 2 walks, and 3 earned runs. Walks remain the main issue for De La Torre, as he’s allowing 6.5 per 9 innings … but he really is nearly unhittable when he’s in the zone, as he has 12.3 strikeouts per 9 innings, and has given up only 27 hits in 47 innings this year. In all, it’s a 3.83 ERA and a 4.19 FIP, and while those numbers won’t blow anyone away, they’re solid enough given how excellent the stuff under the hood is.
A so-so outing for LHP Jacob Bresnahan (No. 11 CPL) on Sunday, as he gave up just 3 hits and 1 walk in 5.1 innings, but 1 of the hits was a 2-run home run, and he only struck out 3. Bresnahan hasn’t really been able to find his footing at the new level, but he also got a late start due to injury, and is still a few days away from being able to legally drink.
Some good and some bad out of the bullpen. The worst of the worst came from RHP Austin Strickland who, after giving up 6 runs in 2 innings in his last outing, gave up 5 runs in 1 inning in this one. That’s how you bust an ERA, which is up to 9.13, with a 7.74 FIP.
But great relief appearances by RHPs Ryan Slater, Matt Dunaway, and Cole Hillier. Slater pitched a scoreless inning on Friday, with a hit and a strikeout, then a perfect frame on Sunday, with 2 Ks. The 18th-round pick in 2024, who just turned 24, has a delightful 18 strikeouts to 4 walks in 12.1 innings with Eugene this year.
Dunaway pitched a perfect inning with 2 strikeouts in his season debut for the Emeralds. He was signed as an undrafted free agent last year, and pitched briefly for Eugene, but started this year injured, and rehabbed in the ACL before returning to Eugene.
As for Hillier, he pounded the strike zone in his frame, throwing 15 of 20 pitches for strikes, while striking out the side. The only baserunner he allowed was a hit batter. It hasn’t been a very good season for the UDFA, so nice to see him have a dominant showing.
Low-A San Jose (37-26)
Friday: San Jose Giants beat the Stockton Ports 14-9 [box score]
Saturday: San Jose Giants beat the Stockton Ports 2-1 [box score]
Sunday: San Jose Giants lost to the Stockton Ports 7-1 [box score]
It wasn’t a great pitching weekend for the Baby Giants, but there was some important news for the Major League team, as LHP Matt Gage began his rehab assignment with San Jose. Gage started Saturday’s game and pitched well, allowing just a single in 1.2 shutout innings, with 2 strikeouts. He threw 23 pitches, 16 of which were strikes, and presumably won’t need too many more outings before he’s ready to return to San Francisco’s bullpen.
Other than that, there weren’t a lot of pitching performances to talk about. The rest of the Saturday pitching was nice, though. LHP Ricardo Estrada followed up Gage and was excellent, throwing 5.1 innings with just 4 hits, 2 walks, and 1 run allowed, while striking out 4. Estrada, a 2021 signing out of Mexico who is in his second stateside season, has slowly been turning his season around. His overall numbers aren’t very good (4.89 ERA, 5.83 FIP), but after giving up 13 earned runs in 10 innings in April, he’s allowed just 10 earned runs in 32.1 innings since.
Rounding out that game was RHP Cooper McGrath, who struck out 2 while pitching 2 perfect innings. Last year’s 18th-round pick has had a very difficult debut season, but it’s now back-to-back dominant showings for the Northeastern product.
The offense had a brilliant day on Friday, before falling back to earth for the rest of the weekend. The most surprising performance in that game belonged to left fielder Jose Astudillo, who stamped his Player of the Week case by hitting 2-5 with a home run. For Astudillo, a contact savant, it was his 3rd straight game with a home run … which came after just 1 home run in his 1st 131 career games. Go figure!
Astudillo, a 22-year old from Venezuela, hit 1-7 with a double, a hit by pitch, and 2 strikeouts in the other games this weekend, and now has an .847 OPS and a 110 wRC+. His strikeout rate in San Jose is a tiny 6.2%.
The best day on Friday, however, belonged to right fielder Cam Maldonado (No. 34 CPL). Last year’s 6th-round pick has had a few games this year where he plays like a superstar, and this was one of them, as the righty hit 4-5 with 2 home runs, a triple, a walk, and 4 runs batted in. My goodness what a day!
Maldonado didn’t hit a home run in his 1st 26 games with San Jose — 17 last year after draft day, and 9 to start this season. But in 38 games since, he has a whopping 11 big flies, which has given him an .882 OPS and a 111 wRC+. He’s hitting for average and for power, and while his strikeout rate isn’t great (24.3%), it’s not terrible, either. Add in some strong defense and 13 stolen bases, and his profile is looking quite delightful.
Second baseman Isaiah Barkett also got in on the fun, hitting 3-6 with a solo blast and a double on Friday, though he went 0-5 on Saturday and didn’t play on Sunday. Last year’s 10th-round pick has really had an under-the-radar season, as he’s been fantastic in his debut, posting an .886 OPS and a 123 wRC+. He doesn’t have a ton of power, but he certainly has some, and “some” is all you need when you have a .332 batting average and just an 8.0% strikeout rate. The righty also has some quality defense at second base, and plays third as well.
Also having nice weekends were first baseman Jeremiah Jenkins and corner outfielder Broedy Poppell. Jenkins went 4-12 with 4 doubles, 1 walk, and 4 strikeouts, while Poppell hit 3-7 with a home run, a double, and a strikeout. Jenkins, a 14th-round pick in 2014, has an .847 OPS and a 116 wRC+, albeit with a 32.9% strikeout rate; Poppell, last year’s 13th-rounder, has a .717 OPS and an 82 wRC+.
Arizona Complex League (16-15)
Friday: ACL Giants beat the ACL D-backs 7-2 (7 innings) [box score]
Saturday: ACL Giants beat the ACL Athletics 6-3 (7 innings) [box score]
Monday: ACL Giants beat the ACL Guardians 3-2 [box score]
The big news of the weekend came in Arizona, where Reggie Crawford made his surprise return. It seems no one knew that Crawford, the team’s 1st-round pick in 2022, was going to suit up anytime soon … and then he shocked everyone by showing up in the box score. And not just showing up, but showing up as a hitter.
It’s not entirely clear what the plan here is. Crawford, who was drafted as a two-way player but fairly quickly converted to just being a pitcher, is currently undergoing rehab from a second consecutive shoulder surgery, and hasn’t pitched in almost exactly 2 years. I assumed that the Giants were just giving Crawford some time hitting to keep his competitive juices flowing, and reward him for all the rehab work, which is thankless. And indeed, NBC Sports Bay Area’s Alex Pavlovic reported that the Giants are still hoping to get him on the mound sometime in the next few months.
But in an article published by the Mercury News, Justice delos Santos quoted farm director Kyle Haines as saying, “At some point, we said, ‘Hey, this is not good on him and it’s not good on us to keep having setback after setback pitching.’ We just couldn’t get over humps. He kind of stayed active (hitting), like all of us stay active with our golf swing. He was kind of just twirling around with the bat. Then, finally, we said a month ago or so, let’s just start to hit and focus on hitting.”
So it’s not quite clear whether Crawford is a hitter now, or if he’s a hitter while he waits to pitch again, or if he’s a hitter in case he can’t pitch again.
One thing that is clear, however, is that he still has his swing, as he made his years-in-the-making return to the batter’s box on Friday and smashed a mighty impressive home run. In total, Crawford went 1-5 over the weekend with 3 strikeouts, though he drew 2 walks.
For what it’s worth, while Haines said that Crawford hasn’t been able to get over the hump as a pitcher, he did note that the superb athlete is making strong throws from first base, he just can’t get to that next level of throwing. So I expect that we’ll see Crawford playing in the field at some point over the next few weeks.
As for the other hitters, shortstop Luis Hernández (No. 6 CPL) had a modest weekend, hitting 3-7 with a walk, a strikeout, and a caught stealing, and it speaks to how well the 17-year old has taken to professional baseball that a .500 on-base percentage for the weekend feels modest.
Jose Ramos had a nice weekend while showing off his versatility: he played second, third, and left field, and hit 5-11 with a double, 2 walks, a stolen base, and 3 strikeouts. Ramos, who has an .828 OPS and a 122 wRC+, has always shown some interesting things, but has struggled at higher levels. We’ll see how he does when he gets assigned to an A-ball team soon … he missed the start of the season due to injury, and is rehabbing in the ACL. He’ll likely be in High-A Eugene, though maybe he’ll be in Low-A San Jose instead.
On the pitching front, the highest profile player really struggled, as LHP Carlos De La Rosa (No. 30 CPL) only made it through 2 innings on Saturday, while allowing 5 hits, 1 walk, and 3 runs, and striking out just 1 batter. After really opening eyes in the DSL last year — both with the Yankees and when he came to the Giants in the Camilo Doval trade — De La Rosa has struggled to acclimate to the ACL. The 18-year old from the DR has just an 8.34 ERA and a 5.13 FIP, though he also has 9.9 strikeouts per 9 innings, and a 46.4% ground ball rate.
There were a few really good pitching performances, though, especially out of the bullpen. In particular, RHPs Jose T. Perez and Melvin Pineda really shined. Perez, a 22-year old from the DR, struck out 5 batter in 2.1 no-hit innings, while allowing just a walk. Pineda, a 22-year old from Venezuela, struck out 5 in 2 scoreless frames, with just a hit. Strikeouts have been huge for each player this year: Perez has really struggled between the ACL and Low-A, and is walking more than a batter per inning, but also has 33 strikeouts in just 20.2 innings. Pineda, similarly, has almost exactly a walk per inning between the ACL and Low-A, but has a staggering 43 strikeouts in 22.2 innings. There’s something in there with both players.
Dominican Summer League Black (6-5)
Saturday: DSL Giants Black lost to DSL Arizona Red 5-3 (7 innings) [box score]
Monday: DSL Giants Black lost to the DSL Angels 7-6 [box score]
There was a shining star for the DSL Giants in their pair of losses: shortstop Keiberg Camacaro. The 19-year old Venezuelan, who is in his 4th DSL season, was a star in both games: on Saturday, he hit 2-3 and smacked his 1st home run of the year. On Monday, he one-upped himself by hitting 4-5 with his 2nd home run of the year, while also stealing a base. What a string of games!
Camacaro, whose little brother Alexander is his teammate, has an 1.164 OPS and a 171 wRC+ through 11 games, and already has 8 stolen bases. Most impressively, after struggling with strikeouts in his 1st 3 seasons, he has just a 10.6% rate this year. If he keeps this up, the right-hander will almost surely get a taste of stateside ball in 2027.
RHP Randry De Leon had an interesting start on Monday. He gave up 4 hits, 2 home runs, 1 walk, and 4 runs in just 4 innings, but he also struck out 7 batters. This is the 4th DSL season for the 20-year old from the DR, and unfortunately it hasn’t been a particularly good year for him.
LHP Edwin Reynoso had a nice game on Saturday, striking out 2 batters in 2 shutout innings, with just 1 hit. In his debut last year, Reynoso had just 10 strikeouts in 13 innings … and 18 walks. So he’ll be hoping to rebound from that.
Dominican Summer League Orange (7-4)
Friday: DSL Giants Orange beat the DSL Cubs Blue 6-4 [box score]
Saturday: DSL Giants Orange lost to the DSL Tigers 2, 3-2 (7 innings) [box score]
Monday: DSL Giants Orange lost to the DSL Mariners 10-1 [box score]
A pair of players homered for the Giants Orange squad. On Friday it was center fielder Jose Valdez, a 17-year old from Venezuela who is in his debut season. The left-handed hitter only went 2-12 over the weekend, but smacked a solo home run and drew a walk, while striking out 4 times. He only has a .760 OPS and an 83 wRC+, but he also only turned 17 in March.
On Saturday it was third baseman Jeyson Moya, a 19-year old in his 3rd season. Moya only played once over the weekend but had a great game, hitting 2-2 with a solo shot, a double, and a walk. Moya is being slow-played this year, after really struggling in his 1st 2 seasons.
A pair of really nice pitching performances to highlight, from RHPs Jose Trevizo and Kendry Castro. Trevizo, an 18-year old from Mexico, pitched 2.1 shutout innings with 1 hit, 0 walks, and 3 strikeouts, while Castro, a 19-year old from the DR, threw 2 perfect innings with 3 strikeouts. Trevizo has a delightful 8 strikeouts to just 1 walk in 6.2 innings this year, his 2nd season. Castro, who is in his 3rd season and struggled in the 1st 2, has 4 strikeouts and 0 walks in 3 innings this season.
Home run tracker
11 — Cam Maldonado — [Low-A]
9 — Charlie Szykowny — [AA]
9 — Lisbel Diaz — [High-A]
8 — Jean Carlos Sio — [3 in AA; 4 in High-A; 1 in ACL]
8 — Walker Martin — [High-A]
6 — Jancel Villarroel — [High-A]
5 — Broedy Poppell — [Low-A]
4 — Jack Payton — [2 in AA; 2 in High-A]
4 — Isaiah Barkett — [Low-A]
3 — Trevor Cohen — [High-A]
3 — Jose Astudillo — [Low-A]
2 — Robert Hipwell — [High-A]
2 — Keiberg Camacaro — [DSL]
2 — Jose Valdez — [DSL]
1 — Reggie Crawford — [ACL]
1 — Jeyson Moya — [DSL]