San Francisco Giants Minor League Affiliates Open Their Seasons

The San Francisco Giants’ minor league affiliates opened their seasons on Thursday, so here are some notable stats from the day.

AAA Sacramento River Cats (at Tacoma Rainiers)

Southpaw Andrew Suarez (#10 prospect) received the nod for Opening Day with the AAA squad, but struggled a bit with his command. He walked four batters, but only allowed one hit and kept the Rainiers off the board in his four innings of work. He struck out four batters.

Another southpaw, D.J. Snelten (#27 prospect), followed up with a clean fifth inning, but unraveled in his second inning of work. Snelten started the inning by giving up a bloop single and then two walks, and was quickly removed with the bases loaded and nobody out. Righty Madison Younginer allowed all three inherited runners to score. Snelten took the loss on the day.

Center fielder Steven Duggar (#3 prospect) laced a double but struck out twice in four at-bats. Chris Shaw (#2 prospect) played left field again, and also collected a double while striking out once. Austin Slater (#5 prospect) started his year with a double in his first at-bat and picked up another hit later in the night.

Miguel Gomez (#23 prospect) made his AAA debut, but it wasn’t a great night. He went hitless in four at-bats while striking out three times. Mac Williamson played designated hitter Thursday, and picked up a single to go with a hit-by-pitch and strikeout. Ryder Jones also had a hit on the night.

AA Richmond Flying Squirrels (at Trenton Thunder)

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In the capital of New Jersey, the Flying Squirrels started their season. Catcher Aramis Garcia (#7 prospect) is back at the level, and started his year with a pair of singles. Jonah Arenado made his AA debut after three seasons in San Jose, but it was a night to forget for him. He went 0-4 at the plate with a hat trick, and committed a throwing error at third base in the seventh inning. The miscue led to three runs for the Thunder, which turned out to be the difference in a 5-2 loss.

Cactus League fan favorite Jerry Sands went 0-3 with a couple strikeouts, but also walked and scored a run. He scored on Dylan Davis’ two-run home run in the second inning, which was the first home run of the season within the Giants’ organization.

On the pitching side, righty Cory Taylor got the Opening Day nod and pitched pretty well. In 4.2 innings, he gave up five hits and two walks, but struck out five and held Trenton to just two runs. He reached his pitch limit and was pulled in favor of Dusten Knight, who struck out four batters and allowed a single in his 1.1-inning outing. Dan Slania, who made his MLB debut last season, pitched a clean ninth inning, complete with a pair of punchouts.

A+ San Jose Giants (at Island Empire 66ers)

The Baby Giants had a surprise starting pitcher for their season opener. With rain threatening the River Cats’ entire series in Tacoma (first pitch on Thursday was delayed by about 90 minutes), Tyler Beede was sent to San Jose to ensure that he could get his work in. He started shaky, walking the first two batters he faced, but settled in to retire 14 of the next 16 hitters he faced with a caught stealing mixed in.

Overall, Beede (#4 prospect) threw five innings of one-run ball, allowing just one hit and three walks to go with four strikeouts. His fastball command was shaky all day, but made up for it by getting a lot of groundballs with his secondary stuff. It’s quite possible that Beede’s next start will be as a major leaguer when the Giants need a fifth starter.

Hard-throwing righty Melvin Adon (#19 prospect) was supposed to start, but was instead pushed into relief duty by Beede’s presence. He struck out six in his three innings of work, but gave up four hits, two walks, and two runs to take the loss. His fastball was as advertised, reaching triple-digits during his stint on the mound.

Highly-touted Sandro Fabian (#6 prospect) started in right field, but struck out twice in three official at-bats. Heath Quinn (#12 prospect) also struck out two times in three at-bats, but added a walk. Center fielder Bryce Johnson collected a hit in four at-bats, stole a base, and worked a walk. Shortstop Brandon Van Horn also had a hit, and made a nice, charging play at short on a softly-hit grounder. Catcher Jeff Arnold had two hits on the day.

A Augusta GreenJackets (at Columbia Fireflies)

Both of the Giants’ top-two draft picks from last season made their full season debuts with Augusta, but neither had a great day. Center fielder Ramos (#1 prospect) went hitless in five at-bats, including two strikeouts, while third baseman Gonzalez (#11 prospect) went 0-3 with a strikeout, but reached on a walk and an error.

Second baseman Orlando Garcia did pick up two hits, including a double in the fifth inning that broke up a no-hit bid. Left fielder Malique Zeigler (#30 prospect) had an RBI single in the ninth inning, and also worked a walk earlier in the game. He was picked off and caught stealing after his third-inning walk.

On the mound, righty Jason Bahr got the Opening Day start. The 2017 fifth-round pick allowed a run on three hits and two walks in three innings, and also struck out four.

Next: 2018 Already Better Than 2017

*Please note, prospect rankings listed in parentheses are according to MLB.com’s top-30 list.

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