San Francisco Giants Minor League Major Performers: Anderson Dazzles Again
The minor league seasons have nearly come to an end, but there’s still plenty going in the San Francisco Giants’ organization.
The penultimate week of most minor leagues (and the final week of some) has come and gone, so let’s take a moment and check in on some of the big performers from around the San Francisco Giants system.
AAA Sacramento: Shaun Anderson
The Giants’ top pitching prospect continues to impress at the highest level of the minor leagues. In his latest outing on Friday, righty Shaun Anderson dominated the Las Vegas 51s over seven innings. He kept his opposition off the board, allowing just four hits (all singles) while striking out seven and not walking a batter. He retired 11 of the last 12 batters he faced, and the one that reached was erased on a groundball double play.
That was Anderson’s second career start of seven shutout inning, and his first since joining the Giants. After a really rough second start for Sacramento, Anderson has been strong over his past five games. He owns a 2.59 ERA and 0.989 WHIP during that stretch, and has a 23:5 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
AAA Honorable Mentions: 1B Brock Stassi has been an OBP machine since joining the organization. This past week, he had four hits in 12 at-bats, three of which were doubles, and drew eight walks while striking out only three times. In 13 games since being signed, Stassi has 15 walks compared to eight strikeouts, and a .596 OBP…IF Kelby Tomlinson put together a .308 average (8-26), including two doubles, his first extra-base hits with Sacramento this year…CF Peter Bourjos went 6-21 (.286) on the week, hitting a triple and a home run.
AA Richmond: Ian Gardeck
Right-handed reliever Ian Gardeck continues on his comeback trail after two full missed seasons, and now in AA for the first time, he’s making the most of his chance. The hard-thrower made three appearances, and tossed 3.2-shutout innings. He allowed two hits, both singles, and a walk while striking out four.
Gardeck has now made 12 appearances across three different levels as he tries to re-establish himself. He has a 3.08 ERA and 1.371 WHIP, and is up to 10 strikeouts in 11.2 innings. Gardeck was the workhorse of an incredible bullpen in San Jose in 2015, and he struck out 104 batters in 86.1 innings that year.
AA Honorable Mentions: RHP Dan Slania was also strong out of the bullpen, throwing five shutout innings over four appearances with six strikeouts. His ERA for the year is down to 2.60…SS Ryan Howard was 7-23 (.304), and hit a trio of doubles.
A+ San Jose: Johneswhy Fargas
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Outfielder Johneshwy Fargas had a strong week for the Little Giants, hitting .353 (6-17) with a double and three RBI while scoring three runs. Fargas is best known for his speed, however, and stole three bases to bring his season total up to 43. He’s stolen 180 bases throughout his minor league career, and is well on his way to leading the organization in thefts for the third straight season.
A+ Honorable Mentions: LHP Domenic Mazza struck out 10 in six innings on Thursday, his third 10-plus K game in his pro career…RHP D.J. Myers threw 12 innings in his two starts, allowing three runs and striking out nine…LF Heath Quinn continued his strong season with a pair of home runs and seven RBI…1B Gio Brusa hit his 36th home run in two seasons with San Jose, tying him for fourth-most in team history.
A Augusta: Logan Baldwin
Speedster outfielder Logan Baldwin had a big week for the GreenJackets. He picked up 10 hits in 28 at-bats, including five for extra bases. Three of those extra-base hits came on Tuesday, when he picked up a pair of doubles and a triple while driving in a couple of runs. He hit a solo home run on Monday, then added another double in game two of a doubleheader on Thursday.
A Honorable Mentions: CF Heliot Ramos hit .308 (8-26) with a double, two triples, and a team-leading six RBI. He has six triples this month alone, a number that only eight players have surpassed in the Sally League all season (Baldwin is one of them)…SS Manuel Geraldo continues to hit, going 14-30 (.467) with a double, four RBI, and three steals…1B Ryan Kirby reached base 16 times in seven games (six hits, five walks, five HBP)…RHP Aaron Phillips allowed three runs in 12 innings over two starts, striking out 15 batters.
A- Salem-Keizer: Kyle McPherson
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Second baseman Kyle McPherson has put together a strong year for the Volcanoes, and that continued over the past week. The 2017 26th-round pick had 13 hits in 31 at-bats (.419), leading the team with five doubles, two home runs, and seven runs scored. On the year, McPherson is hitting .307/.362/.494, and leads the Northwest League with 21 two-baggers.
A- Honorable Mentions: IF Wander Franco (the middle Wander Franco brother) hit four doubles and a home run, and led the system with eight RBI….OF Aaron Bond hit .280 (7-25) with a double and two home runs…RHP Trent Toplikar pitched 6.1 stellar innings of relief, not allowing a run while striking out six in two games.
AZL Giants Black: Conner Nurse
Across two starts, 19-year-old right-hander Conner Nurse was impressive. He tossed nine total innings, holding his opponents to one earned run on six hits, striking out 10 batters along the way. Nurse tossed four innings of two (unearned) run ball on Monday, then gave up an earned run over five innings to the AZL Giants Orange team on Sunday. With the season just about over, Nurse, the Giants’ 34th-round pick last year, finishes 2018 with a 3.23 ERA in 12 games (11 starts). He struck out 56 batters in 53 innings.
AZLB Honorable Mentions: IF Abdiel Layer hit .278 (5-18) with a pair of doubles, a triple, and two RBI…CF Alexander Canario hit his team-leading sixth home run of the season on Sunday…Luis Amaya pitched four shutout innings of relief across two outings, striking out three.
AZL Giants Orange: Austin Edgette
Still rather fresh off an injury that kept him off the field for about a month, 2018’s 33rd-round draft pick Austin Edgette had a solid week for the Orange squad. He had his first career three-hit game on Monday, which included a double, then drove in a pair of runs on Wednesday. Edgette also drew five walks, a total that led the team, and stole a base.
AZLO Honorable Mentions: 1B Beicker Mendoza went 5-16 (.313) with a double and an RBI…RHP Chris Roberts pitched long relief twice, allowing one run in 5.1 innings while striking out nine batters.
DSL Giants: Luis Toribio
The Dominican Summer League regular season is over, and the DSL Giants finished strong, sweeping a doubleheader against the Royals 2 on Saturday to end the year two games over .500. For their final week, third baseman Luis Toribio made it a good one. He collected seven hits across six games, leading the team with four doubles and four RBI. In addition, he matched the team’s lead with six walks and stole a base. In the season finale, Toribio mashed a couple doubles and drove in a pair, helping lead the Giants to a win.
With the regular season completed, the 17-year-old Toribio finished the year with 10 home runs, tied for third-most in the league. His 51 walks ranked ninth, leading to a .423 OBP that tied him for 10th.
DSL Honorable Mentions: SS Ghordy Santos went 9-27 (.333) with three doubles and a triple. He also drew three walks, bringing his total to 52 on the season, tied for seventh-most in the league…C Keyberth Mejias only had eight official at-bats, but hit a pair of home runs…LHP Yhonson Rojas threw 5.1 innings in two relief appearances, allowing one run while striking out eight.