San Francisco Giants Minor League Major Performers: Saturday Night Beicker
The San Francisco Giants lost on Saturday night and most of their affiliates suffered the same fate, but there were plenty of strong performers to go around.
The San Francisco Giants were in a tight one on Saturday night, ultimately dropping it to the A’s. Seven of their minor league affiliates were in action, with the DSL Giants getting the day off, and four of those seven were on the losing side as well. AAA Sacramento and AA Richmond both fell, while high-A San Jose and Single-A Augusta were winners. Short-season A Salem-Keizer and the AZL Black team both lost, both the AZL Orange club had one of their best wins of the year.
Some of the best performers of the night:
The San Jose Giants scored early on Saturday night, and they scored often. They put a pair of runs on the board in the first inning and kept adding on as the night went on, beating the Visalia Rawhide by a final of 10-2. First baseman Dillon Dobson gave them their early lead, and kept getting on base, reaching four times by the end of the night.
With two on and two out in the first inning, Dobson started his day by lacing a double to left field, scoring a pair to give San Jose the lead they wouldn’t look back from. Later in the night, he drew a walk during a three-run fifth inning, and picked up his second double in the seventh inning. When Jacob Heyward doubled three batters later, Dobson scored the Giants’ 10th run of the evening. He reached for the fourth time in the eighth, drawing his second two-out walk.
Dobson came to the Giants in the 2015 draft as their 23rd-round pick out of Appalachian State, and he began this year by playing in AA Richmond for the first time. He could never get it going in a league that’s notoriously tough on hitters, batting .185/.301/.338 in 53 games. Since going back to the Cal League, Dobson’s hitting .320/.370/.480 with four doubles in six games.
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John Gavin just keeps impressing every time he takes the mound for the Augusta GreenJackets. The left-hander is now the ace of Augusta’s staff, and has probably been the most impressive southpaw in the farm system this year. On Saturday night, he surrendered one run in five innings, allowing four hits and no walks while he threw strike three nine times.
His start against the Rome Braves wasn’t exactly easy. He didn’t have a 1-2-3 inning on the night, but only allowed two baserunners in the same inning once. The lone run against him came on a solo home run by William Contreras in the fourth, and Gavin was able to cut off any potential rallies with excellent swing and miss stuff. Of his 76 pitches, 18 were swung on and missed, his third-highest total this year (he’s reached 21 twice).
The 2017 eighth-round pick continued his huge year for Augusta, and now owns a 1.86 ERA and 0.899 WHIP through 17 starts. His 96 strikeouts are tied for sixth-most in the Sally League, and his nine strikeouts Saturday matched his career-high. For the 13th time in 17 starts, Gavin allowed one or no runs. This year, he was a Sally League All-Star, and named the league’s Pitcher of the Week on June 24th.
Much like in San Jose, the AZL Giants Orange squad scored early and scored often. They found themselves leading by 10 after three innings, and the AZL Reds never really got back into the game. First baseman Beicker Mendoza had four hits on the day, driving in three runs and scoring two more.
As the Orange team jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first inning, Mendoza hit a one-out single and came around to score. They added two in the second and two more in the third, with Mendoza driving in one in the second before scoring, then driving in both in the third. His fourth hit came in the seventh inning, another single.
The 20-year-old Mendoza is now in his fourth season in the organization after signing out of Venezuela in 2014. He’s having a great year in the AZL, hitting .356/.403/.627 with a team-leading seven doubles, three home runs that are tied for the team’s lead, and 14 RBI, second-most on the club. This was his second four-hit games of the year, and fourth career, and his fifth career game with at least three RBI.
Next: Minor League Major Performers 7-13-18
Others of Note:
Mike Connolly (SAC): 5.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 2 K
Dan Slania (RICH): 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K
Bryce Johnson (SJ): 1-1, RBI (28), 3 BB, 3 R, SB (19)
Jalen Miller (SJ): 3-5, 2B (26), HR (12), 2 RBI (50), R
Yorlis Rodriguez (AZL O): 4-5, 2 2B (5), 2 R, BB
Logan Harasta (AZL O): 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K