Four San Francisco Giants prospects took part in an All-Star Game on Tuesday night, and all four represented the organization incredibly well.
Tuesday was another disappointing, heart-wrenching day for the San Francisco Giants, but for some players that hope to one day wear a Giants’ uniform, it was a pretty darn good day. Tuesday saw the short-season A All-Star Game take place, with the Northwest League battling the Pioneer League.
For the four Salem-Kaizer Volcanoes players that were selected as Northwest representatives, they did well for the Giants’ farm system. Three batters into the game, catcher Joey Bart showed what has made him such an exciting prospect less than two months into his pro career. In a 2-2 count, Bart crushed a fastball from Royals’ prospect J.C. Cloney, launching a three-run shot way over the wall in center field.
Bart nearly did it again in his second at-bat, but narrowly missed a second home run. Instead, he settled for a long single that banged off the right field wall. The second overall draft pick showed the power that made him the Northwest League’s Player of the Month in July, a month in which Bart hit nine home runs and slugged .747 in 21 games.
However, Bart was a bit overshadowed by his Salem-Keizer teammate, Diego Rincones. Playing left field and batting fifth, the 19-year-old opened his day with a double into center field, and his bat didn’t stop after that. He doubled to center field again in the fifth then came around to score, and singled in the sixth. He picked up his fourth hit in the ninth, singling to start the inning as the Northwest club tried to mount a comeback that would be unsuccessful.
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He also contributed on defense, picking up an outfield assist in the fifth inning. Following a single, Rincones threw a strike to his catcher Bart to cut down a run at the plate and end the inning.
For his efforts, Rincones was named the Northwest’s MVP, while Rockies’ prospect Coco Montes was the MVP on the other side after hitting a pair of home runs and driving in six runs.
Salem-Keizer was also represented by a pair of pitchers, who both did well for themselves. Right-hander Gregory Santos came in to start the sixth inning, and retired both hitters he faced with groundouts. Santos is just 18 years old, and was part of the Eduardo Nunez trade with the Red Sox last season, along with Shaun Anderson. This is Santos’ first season pitching above DSL ball.
Fellow righty Jesus Tona entered to a sticky situation in the eighth. After the Pioneer League had already taken the league, Tona came in with a runner on first and one out. He struck out the next batter then forced a flyball into right field to end the threat and strand the runner. Tona began his career as a position player, playing catcher and second base, but converted to pitching full-time this season. He owns a 0.42 ERA and 0.891 WHIP in 15 appearances, and has struck out 31 batters in 21.1 innings.
All four players have been big parts of a Salem-Keizer team that is 28-23 on the season, and currently in first place in the South division’s second-half standings. And maybe in a few years, they can all play parts for a big league club that is chasing a postseason spot.