On Thursday, for the last time in 2026, all seven of the San Francisco Giants Minor League Baseball affiliates were in action. Here’s everything that happened!
Link to the 2026 McCovey Chronicles Community Prospect List (CPL)
All listed positions in the roundup are the position played in that particular game.
News
There’s huge — albeit expected — news today. On Glen Kuiper’s podcast, farm director Kyle Haines revealed that teenage phenom shortstops Josuar González (No. 2 CPL) and Luis Hernández (No. 6 CPL) are headed to Low-A San Jose now that the ACL season is over. The moves aren’t official yet, so it’s not clear when those two will join the team, but very, very, very exciting.
AAA Sacramento (54-42)
Sacramento River Cats beat the Oklahoma City Comets (Dodgers) 4-2 [box score]
It’s not often that you see a team win in the Pacific Coast League without an extra-base hit. But that’s exactly what the River Cats did, which can only mean one thing: great pitching.
Despite the strong pitching performance, it was a so-so day for the starter, LHP Matt Wilkinson. Tugboat did a lot well … primarily the fact that he only gave up 3 baserunners all day, while pitching 4 innings. All 3 of those baserunners were hits (he had 0 walks against 4 strikeouts), and 1 of those hits cleared the yard, with Wilkinson giving up 2 runs on the day.
On paper, that seems like a decent enough day, despite what it does to an ERA. A strikeout per inning, no walks, and fewer hits than innings is all a good sign. Despite the few baserunners, though, Wilkinson did need 66 pitches to get through the 4 innings, an average of 16.5 per inning. Questions remain as to how Wilkinson’s stuff will translate to the Majors … his stuff is funky and has given him 10.1 strikeouts per 9 innings at the level, but it’s hard to project that to the Majors when his average fastball velocity is a tick under 90 mph. You just don’t see a lot of that operating at the highest level of baseball, unless you’re strictly watching Tyler Rogers.
We may get an answer soon enough. Tugboat’s overall numbers (4.03 ERA, 4.94 FIP) aren’t great, but the Giants rotation is about to have some holes that need filling. If they think he’s ready — or even if they anticipate protecting him from the Rule 5 Draft this offseason — his time could be coming.
A great relief showing from RHPs Braxton Roxby and Carson Seymour, with the former throwing 3 shutout innings with 3 hits, 0 walks, and 2 strikeouts (albeit with 2 errors), while the latter tossed 2 scoreless frames with a hit, no walks, and 3 strikeouts. Seymour’s been looking a little bit better lately, and the move to high-leverage relief seems to be suiting him. It’s still not an overwhelming approach (he has just 8.2 strikeouts per 9 innings), but a 3.79 ERA ought to get him some looks in the bullpen again this year, even if he has a 4.66 FIP.
The best offensive days belonged to a trio of hitters who have been performing well lately: designated hitter Scott Bandura, left fielder Turner Hill, and first baseman Dayson Croes, as all 3 reached base 3 times: Bandura hit 1-3 with 2 walks to bring his OPS to .810 and his wRC+ to 115; Hill went 1-2 with 2 walks and an outfield assist, pushing his OPS to .895 and his wRC+ to 137; and Croes hit 2-3 with a walk (though he was caught stealing), and now has a .718 OPS and a 90 wRC+.
A nice day for Bo Davidson (No. 4 CPL) who made his AAA center field debut, while hitting 1-3 with a walk, a stolen base, and a strikeout. Nice to see him in the center of the grass. As for the other AAA newcomers, third baseman Parks Harber (No. 17 CPL) hit 1-5 with a strikeout, and catcher Adrián Sugastey went 1-3 with a sacrifice bunt, a strikeout, and an error.
AA Richmond (55-36)
Richmond Flying Squirrels lost to the Hartford Yard Goats (Rockies) 3-1
Box score
Not a good overall game for the Squirrels, but it featured a superstar performance, as RHP Yunior Marte (No. 25 CPL) showed off just how much potential he has with an utterly sensational start. Marte went 7 innings deep in this game (you don’t see that often in the Minors … or heck, the Majors!), and didn’t give up a single run. He allowed just 4 hits in those 7 innings, walked 2, and struck out 6. It was far and away his best start since getting promoted to Richmond in early June.
The soon-to-turn 23-year old might be considered a tier below the bigger name pitchers in the system (Carson Whisenhunt, Blade Tidwell, Jackson Flora, Carson Bolemon, Kaden Waechter, Keyner Martinez, Jacob Bresnahan, Argenis Cayama, and Luis De La Torre), but he’s a damn good pitcher, and someone who clearly still has MLB starter potential. He’s done exactly what you want a player to do when they move up a level … he’s gotten better. The overall numbers (4.36 ERA, 4.05 FIP) aren’t necessarily an improvement (he had a 3.74 ERA and a 4.09 FIP in High-A), but that’s largely due to a flurry of home runs he’s allowed, which is both something that can be corrected, and something that’s subject to variance.
But, since getting promoted, he’s bumped his strikeouts from 8.5 per 9 innings to 10.0, while lowering his walks per 9 from 4.0 to 2.7. It’s not even a small sample size thing, either, as he’s pitched the exact same amount of innings (43.1) at both levels this year. He has to be thrilled, and the Giants have to be thrilled.
The next step for Marte, who came over in the Mike Yastrzemski trade, is to just be less hittable. He’s getting those strikeouts and limiting those walks in large part because he’s living in the zone more, and the result is that, despite the same amount of innings thrown, he’s allowed twice as many home runs in AA as in High-A, with 13 more hits total.
RHP Christian Alvarado again showed off the heat, striking out 4 batters in 1.2 innings, though he gave up a hit, a walk, and a run. Since the Giants signed the 31-year old, who hadn’t pitched in the Minors since 2019, he’s struck out a stunning 18 batters in 8.2 innings, against just 2 walks and 6 hits.
A bad day on offense, with just 5 total hits and 1 walk drawn. Still, a pair of players had nice games: center fielder Trevor Cohen (No. 15 CPL) and third baseman Diego Velasquez (No. 31 CPL). Cohen hit 2-4 with a double and a strikeout, raising his OPS to .681 and his wRC+ to 80 through his first 6 AA games. Velasquez hit 2-3, as he continues his tear: over the last 21 games, he’s now 29-64 with 1 home run, 6 doubles, 12 walks, and just 8 strikeouts, which has brought the 22-year old switch-hitter’s OPS up to .823, and his wRC+ to 126. With Harber, Croes, Nate Furman (No. 39 CPL), and Osleivis Basabe, it seems there’s not room for Velasquez in AAA … otherwise he would almost surely be there. He’s earned it.
Tough days for the non-Cohen AA newcomers, as shortstop Gavin Kilen (No. 7 CPL) and designated hitter Dakota Jordan (No. 5 CPL) both went 0-4 (the latter with 2 strikeouts), while catcher Jancel Villarroel (No. 42 CPL) hit 0-3 with a strikeout.
And then this happened:
High-A Eugene (56-37)
Eugene Emeralds lost to the Everett AquaSox (Mariners) 10-2
Box score
Well, this was a bad game for the Emeralds. No one had a worse day than the starter, as RHP Hunter Dryden had an absolute ERA-buster of a performance, giving up 10 hits (including 3 home runs) in just 3.1 innings, while also walking 2 and allowing 9 runs to score. Yikes. Shake it off, Hunter!
After a strong start to the year, Dryden, a 17th-round pick in 2024, has really hit a wall. In his first 7 games of the season, he gave up just 8 earned runs in 26.1 innings. But since then, in 11 outings, the 24-year old has ceded 36 earned runs in 44 innings, bringing him up to a 5.63 ERA and a 5.82 FIP. Hopefully he can right the ship and end the year on a strong note. He certainly needs to get the home runs in check … he’s allowed 13 in 70.1 innings this year.
RHP Brayan Palencia had a nice relief outing, though, giving up just 1 hit in 2.2 scoreless innings, though he didn’t have any strikeouts. Palencia has given up just 3 hits and 1 run in 7 innings this month, but on the year he’s really struggled with strikeouts, as the 23-year old has just 22 of them in 30.1 innings … with 18 walks. That’s led to a 5.93 ERA and a 6.90 FIP, and you have to think his spot on the domestic reserve is a little warm, as this is his 6th season of pro ball. He’s also given up 6 home runs in those 30.1 innings, which isn’t helping his case.
Not much at all on offense, though first baseman Zander Darby once again left the yard, hitting 1-4 with a solo blast, but also striking out twice. Darby, a 23-year old lefty taken in the 12th round in 2024, has shown off quite a bit of power this season. He’s got 10 home runs and a .173 isolated slugging, but he’s also striking out 33.2% of the time which is a fairly damning number … there’s a lot of juice in the bat, but Northwest League pitchers have really stymied him. He had just an 18.4% strikeout rate in Low-A San Jose last year, in a 244-plate appearance sample size … but after getting promoted to Eugene at the end of last season, he struck out 42.0% of the time … and now this. In all, it’s still a .775 OPS and a 106 wRC+, but a lot to work on.
Speaking of things to work on, designated hitter Jhonny Level is going through one of the only slumps of his young, exciting career, as he hit 0-4 with a strikeout. Level is 0-12 over his last 3 games, though this was his only strikeout in that time span. He’s 4-24 since his last extra-base hit, and if you’re at all worried, well … don’t be. The 19-year old switch-hitter is 3.5 years younger than his peers in the Northwest League, is holding his own (.740 OPS, 96 wRC+), and is striking out just 16.4% of the time. It’s all very exciting, with or without the slumps.
As for the newcomers, second baseman Isaiah Barkett hit 2-4 with a strikeout, and right fielder Jose Astudillo went 0-4.
Low-A San Jose (54-39)
San Jose Giants lost to the Ontario Tower Buzzers (Dodgers) 7-5
Box score
This was not a good or interesting game for the Baby Giants. Their offense had only 3 hits all day (though they drew 10 walks!) and their pitchers gave up 15 hits. There’s really no need to dwell on this one. Designated hitter Jeremiah Jenkins played well, hitting 1-3 with a double, 2 walks, and a strikeout, which brought him up to an .885 OPS and a 117 wRC+. The 23-year old, who was taken in the 14th round in 2014, has shown tremendous power this season (his .258 isolated slugging ranks 6th out of 90 Cal League hitters with at least 150 plate appearances this year), but the lefty is striking out 30.5% of the time, which is a fairly damning number at such a low level of the Minors.
Shortstop Lorenzo Meola (No. 23 CPL) only hit 1-5 with a strikeout, but did have a triple as his extra-base hit parade continues. Last year’s 4th-round pick now has an extra-base knock in 7 straight games, and 15 total in his last 13 games. It’s been an exceptional month for the righty, as he’s hit .386/.456/.786, which has erased his slow start and brought him up to a .814 OPS and a 100 wRC+ on the year. Still, it’s a touch damning that he missed the waves of promotions, but maybe that will change with fellow shortstops Josuar González and Luis Hernández coming to town.
All of the pitchers got rocked, but RHP Alix Hernandez did strike out 6 batters in 2.2 innings, while RHP Evan Gray struck out 5 in 2.2 frames. Hernandez, who allowed 7 baserunners and 3 runs, is up to 11.9 strikeouts per 9 innings … but with a 4.21 ERA and a 5.41 FIP. Gray, who gave up 6 baserunners and 1 run, has 10.7 strikeouts per 9 … but a 5.34 ERA and a 5.25 FIP.
Arizona Complex League (34-26)
ACL Giants lost to the ACL D-backs 5-1 (7 innings) [box score]
And with that, the ACL season comes to an end. It’s a bummer for people who were enjoying watching/following rookie ball … but tremendously exciting for those who wanted it to end so the top names could get promoted.
There really wasn’t much of note at all in this game. The ACL Giants only had 3 hits on the day, but their departing stars each collected one, as second baseman Josuar González (No. 2 CPL) and shortstop Luis Hernández (No. 6 CPL) both went 1-3, the latter with the team’s lone RBI.
On the pitching front, Low-A RHP Argenis Cayama (No. 13 CPL) continued his rehab with 2 innings, though they didn’t go well, as he allowed 2 hits, 1 walk, 1 hit batter, and 2 runs, without any strikeouts. Cayama is still searching for his sharpness as he rehabs … hopefully he’ll be back in San Jose now that the ACL season is over.
RHP Melvin Pineda ended the Complex League season on a high note, striking out 1 batter in a perfect inning. The strikeout wasn’t surprising, as he ended the ACL season with a staggering 54 of them in 26.2 innings … the lack of a walk was, however, surprising, as he finished with 22 of them.
Now that the ACL season is over, we wait to see what prospects will be joining González and Hernández on the journey to A-ball. I’m particularly curious about outfielder Rayner Arias (No. 38 CPL) … he had another disappointing season, finishing below the Mendoza line and posting a .702 OPS and a 78 wRC+. But Arias, who had the other hit in this game, started to figure things out as the season went on: after posting a dismal .285 OPS in May, he had a .782 OPS in June, and a 1.178 OPS in July. In his final 7 games of the season, he hit 6-19 with 3 home runs, 3 walks, and 3 hit by pitches.
Dominican Summer League Black (22-14)
DSL Giants Black beat DSL Arizona Black 4-2 (7 innings) [box score]
A pair of players who had really nice hitting games, as designated hitter Dennys Riera went 1-3 with a go-ahead 2-run home run, while first baseman Alessandro Duran hit 2-2 with 2 doubles and a hit by pitch. Riera, a 21-year old who was a notable signing in 2022 but had never really been able to put things together, is having a career year, with a .903 OPS, a 123 wRC+, and just a 15.1% strikeout rate. Will that get him the call to the states after 5 years in the DSL? Duran, who was also signed in 2022, is hitting a touch below league average, and it wouldn’t be surprising if this is his final year in the system.
A nice start for 20-year old RHP Simon Colmenares, who gave up 3 hits, 2 walks, and 1 run in 4.1 innings, with 4 strikeouts. This is essentially his debut season (he pitched 3 innings last year), and it hasn’t gone too well, with a 6.17 ERA and a 5.60 FIP.
Dominican Summer League Orange (21-16)
DSL Giants Orange lost to the DSL Mets Orange 9-2 (7 innings) [box score]
Very bad pitching in this game, so we’ll just focus on 3 hitters: 19-year old right fielder Brandon Vasquez hit 2-3 with a triple and a walk, bringing him up to an .804 OPS and a 107 wRC+, far and away the best stats in his 3-year career; 18-year old third baseman Yeison Oviedo went 1-2 with a walk, a hit by pitch, and a stolen base, bringing him up to an .871 OPS and a 128 wRC+, with 7 stolen bases, dramatic improvements in his 2nd season; and 19-year old left fielder Ricardo Crespo hit 2-3 with a stolen base, boosting his OPS to .880 and his wRC+ to 151, the result of a laughable 32.5% walk rate in his 3rd season.
Home run tracker
10 — Zander Darby — [High-A]
3 — Dennys Riera — [DSL]
Friday schedule
Sacramento: 6:45 p.m. PT vs. Oklahoma City (SP: Cesar Perdomo)
Richmond: 4:05 p.m. PT vs. Hartford (SP: Charlie McDaniel)
Eugene: 7:05 p.m. PT at Everett (SP: Jacob Bresnahan)
San Jose: 7:00 p.m. PT vs. Ontario (SP: TBD)
Reminder that almost all MiLB games can be watched on MLB TV
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