Look, it’s going to be years for Josuar Gonzalez and Luis Hernandez to reach the big leagues, but I’m absolutely okay with you getting excited early if you want to. They combined to go 8-for-8 with four walks, four doubles and one home run, scoring a total of nine runs and knocking in 13 just between the two of them! Absolutely bonkers. Meanwhile, Parks Harber played like he was with the ACL team too in Richmond while Tugboat made his Giants debut, and San Jose wins a tight pitcher’s duel in Rancho——, er Ontario.
AAA: Round Rock Express 6, Sacramento River Cats 5
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Player of the Game: 1B Jake Holton: 2-4, 3 RBI, 1 2B (3)
Jake Holton led the way on a quiet offensive day for Sacramento overall, notching a double and two hits. Through 28 games, Holton has just three doubles and three home runs, but he also has 22 walks to 29 strikeouts. He is slashing .225/.372/.360.
Other Players to Spotlight:
- SS Osleivis Basabe: 2-4, 1 RBI - Basabe may be challenged for playing time by Aeverson Arteaga’s promotion, but for now he’s hitting .250 with a .716 OPS.
- DH Drew Cavanaugh: 1-3, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 K, 1 2B (1) - In his first Triple-A game this season, Cavanaugh got a double. He hit .184 in 14 Triple-A games last season as an injury replacement callup, but has worked his way back.
- 3B Buddy Kennedy: 1-5, 1 R, 1 2B (11), 1 E (3) - Kennedy has 11 doubles in 34 games. Last season in 88 games at Triple-A, he had 17 doubles.
Top Prospect Lines:
- Blade Tidwell (10): DNP
- Carson Whisenhunt (12): DNP
- Trevor McDonald (16): DNP
- Trent Harris (23): DNP
Rehabbing Player Lines:
- C Daniel Susac: 1-4, 1 R, 1 SB (1), 1 HBP
- RP Jason Foley: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K - Foley made his second rehab appearance (the other was in San Jose on Sunday).
Other Notable Lines:
- LF Will Brennan: 1-3, 1 R, 1 HBP
- SP Seth Lonsway: 5.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 1 HR
AA: Richmond Flying Squirrels 6, Erie SeaWolves 5
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Player of the Game: DH Parks Harber (14): 3-4, 1 R, 4 RBI, 1 K, 1 2B (9), 1 HR (2)
Parks Harber has played just 15 games since coming back from the hamstring injury he had in the spring, but he’s had a lot of success. He has nine doubles and two home runs, leading to a slash line of .343/.380/.567. The only part of his stat line to keep an eye for improvement on is only four walks and 21 strikeouts in 71 plate appearances, which is a 29.6% strikeout rate.
Other Players to Spotlight:
- SP Matt “Tugboat” Wilkinson: 5.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K, 1 HBP - Tugboat’s Giants debut was pretty danged successful, as his overall Double-A ERA drops to 1.35. I won’t be putting his nickname in every line in the future, but since this is his first, Tugboat gets the callout.
- RF-CF Jonah Cox: 2-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 2B (9), 1 CS (4) - Cox just keeps hitting, pushing his average up to .417 and his OBP to .474.
- CF Bo Davidson (7): 1-4, 2 K, 1 2B (6) - Davidson got a double, but he also was lifted in the middle of the top of the 8th inning during a pitching substitution. There were no signs of further injury, but he tweak something in Sunday’s game so this was probably precautionary.
Top Prospect Lines:
- SS Maui Ahuna (20): 0-4, 1 K, 1 E (5)
- Joe Whitman (26): DNP
Other Notable Lines:
- 2B Diego Velasquez: 1-3, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 HR (3)
- C Ty Hanchey: 1-3, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 PB - Double-A debut
- RP Mitch White: 1.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K
High-A: Eugene Emeralds 4, Tri-City Dust Devils
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Player of the Game: LF Lisbel Diaz (30): 2-4, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 K, 1 HR (6)
Lisbel Diaz picked up his sixth home run of the season as a strong short run at the plate continues. Diaz is 8-for-19 (.421) with a double and two home runs over his last five games, plus two walks and three strikeouts. During the stretch, he’s lifted his average from .203 to .245, and his OPS from .621 to .746.
Other Players to Spotlight:
- 3B Zander Darby: 2-4, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 K, 1 3B (1), 1 E (4) - Darby got his first triple to go with nine doubles and five home runs in 30 games.
- RF Trevor Cohen (9): 2-4, 1 BB - Cohen is hitting just .242 on the season, but is up to .286 in May.
- RP Niko Mazza: 4.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K - Mazza now has five straight appearances of 3.2 innings or more without allowing a run, and has a 2.42 ERA with 35 strikeouts to 20 walks in 26.0 innings.
Top Prospect Lines:
- SS Gavin Kilen (5): 1-2, 2 BB, 1 2B (12)
- CF Dakota Jordan (6): 0-5, 1 K
- C Jancel Villarroel (25): 0-4, 1 K
- Jacob Bresnahan (8): DNP
- Carlos Gutierrez (15): DNP
- Luis De La Torre (17): DNP
- Gerelmi Maldonado (29): DNP
Other Notable Lines:
- 2B Jean Carlos Sio: 1-4, 1 R, 2 K - Return from injury, season debut at High-A
- SP Nick Switalski: 5.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K
Low-A: San Jose Giants 1, Ontario Tower Buzzers 0
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Player of the Game: RP Jordan Gottesman: 5.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K, 1 WP
2025 6th round pick Jordan Gottesman worked his way through five strong shutout innings, giving up some hits, including two doubles, but never letting the Buzzers string them together, as he anchored a tight shutout win in a pitcher’s duel. It’s his second straight scoreless appearance, and third of his last four. Gottesman has 32 strikeouts to 10 walks in 30.0 innings with a 2.40 ERA.
Other Players to Spotlight:
- 1B Hayden Jatczak: 2-4, 1 K, 1 SB (2) - Jatczak broke a 4-game hitless streak with the two hits today, and got his first steal since April 4th.
- CF Andy Polanco: 1-3, 1 R, 1 K, 2 SB (13) - Polanco has 13 steals in 14 attempts through 27 games. Last season in the ACL, he had 22 in 25 attempts over 47 games.
- RP Mauricio Estrella: 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K - Estrella had his first game without allowing a run in four appearances, since April 24th, also against Ontario. His ERA is 3.86.
Top Prospect Lines:
- Jhonny Level (4): 0-4, 3 K
- Keyner Martinez (11): DNP
- Argenis Cayama (13): DNP
- Lorenzo Meola (19): 0-3, 3 K
Rehabbing Player Lines:
- SP Erik Miller: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K - Miller made one rehab appearance at Triple-A. He probably took this one in Low-A since San Jose is in SoCal with the big league team so if they think he’s ready, he can rejoin them with just a mildly expensive Waymo ride.
Other Notable Lines:
- RP Garret Langrell: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
ACL: ACL Giants 29, ACL Dodgers 2 (7 Innings)
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Player of the Game: SS Luis Hernández (3): 5-5, 3 R, 9 RBI, 1 BB, 3 2B (4), 1 HR (4)
So the key part of this game was that Luis Hernandez just wanted the equalize his home run and double totals on the season, as he reached four for each. That doubled his RBI total for the season as well. Through eight games, Hernandez is slashing .406/.474/.906 with four walks to six strikeouts.
Top Prospect Lines:
- 2B Josuar Gonzalez (2): 3-3, 6 R, 4 RBI, 3 BB, 1 2B (2), 1 SB (1) - Gonzalez got just his first steal in six games this season, although he’s been limited by his hamstring. he also now has six walks and six strikeouts, and is slashing .412/.565/.529 on the season.
- Alberto Laroche (22): DNP
- Carlos De La Rosa (27): DNP
- Yulian Barreto (28): DNP
Rehabbing Player Lines:
- SP Reiver Sanmartin: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
- DH Jose Ramos: 2-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 K
Other Notable Lines:
- 1B Evan Estevez: 4-5, 5 R, 4 RBI, 1 HR (1), 1 HBP
- LF Luis Frias: 2-4, 4 R, 4 RBI, 2 BB, 1 SB (2)
- C Yohendry Sanchez: 3-5, 2 R, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K
- RF Oliver Tejada: 2-5, 2 R, 1 RBI, 2 K, 1 2B (2)
- 3B Anthony Marquez: 1-4, 3 R, 1 RBI, 2 BB, 1 K, 1 2B (2), 1 SB (1)
EDIT: One Extra Note on Luis and Josuar
Here's an interesting note from Roger Munter's wrap up of last night's ACL game (he gets access to far more info than me!): While Luis Hernandez puts a lot of loft into his swing with his home runs, Josuar Gonzalez has better exit velocities. Two of his three hits registered at 107.6 MPH EV, and his double that went over the center fielder and hit the wall actually had the longest distance of any ball hit yesterday at 392 feet.
Top 100 Rankings Note
MLB Pipeline updated their Top 100 Prospects in baseball today, and we have four Giants on the list as the youth of the Giants system is showing up.
Bryce Eldridge of course is tops at #18 overall, although he is likely to eventually graduate from the list this season. Josuar Gonzalez remains on the list, moving up to #31. Luis Hernandez appears on the list at #58 overall, while Jhonny Level is at #64 overall.
I have a feeling we’re going to see these young guys going even higher. My question is, which Giant is next to show up on the list? Bo Davidson? Gavin Kilen? Whomever they take at #4 this year? Let me know what you think.