San Francisco Giants Minor League Major Performers: Pitchers of the Year
Left-Handed Relievers
24-year-old Carlos Diaz has been in the Giants’ system since 2011, and in 2018, he made it back to AA Richmond for the first time in four years. He began the year in San Jose before moving up to the Flying Squirrels, and he was strong at both stops.
Across 40 appearances, all out of the bullpen, Diaz pitched to a 2.72 ERA and 1.189 WHIP while striking out 49 batters in 25 innings. He was good against right-handed hitters, holding them to a .231/.289/.299 slash-line in 128 plate appearances, but he did his best work when he had platoon advantage. Fellow southpaws hit just .179 against Diaz with two extra-base hits in 104 plate appearances (the 16 walks are rather unsightly, though).
Live Feed
FanSided
After a very poor 2016 season, Diaz has put together two excellent campaigns in a row. He has a 2.59 ERA and 1.195 WHIP with 116 strikeouts in 114.1 innings over the last two seasons, and has been a real weapon against lefties. They’ve hit just .190 with a 26.1% strikeout rate against Diaz in 195 plate appearances the last two years.
17-year-old Jesus Gomez had sort of the opposite season of his teammate Sonny Vargas. He spent most of his year in the DSL team’s bullpen, but made four starts late in the season. He was much better out of the bullpen then he was as a starter.
In 13 relief appearances, 10 of which went two or more innings, he put together a 2.43 ERA and 1.112 WHIP while batters hit just .184. He struck out 11.8 batters per nine innings, good for an outstanding 33.3% strikeout rate as a reliever.
Strangely enough, Gomez was better against right-handers than he was fellow lefties. While hitters without platoon advantage batted .286 with a home run in 35 plate appearances, the righties batted a lowly .192 with one home run in 148 plate appearances.
In his debut season after being signed as an undrafted free agent, 6’7” lefty JJ Santa Cruz was constantly on the move. He pitched for both the AZL Black and AZL Orange teams. He made three separate stops in Augusta, and made two other trips to Salem-Keizer.
No matter where he was, Santa Cruz was quite good. The former Fresno State Bulldog had a 1.78 ERA and 1.075 WHIP in 20 appearances, ranging from one-inning outings to 3.2-inning bullpen savers. He struck out 32 batters in 35.1 innings while walking 11.
Santa Cruz didn’t allow a run in three AZL appearances, then threw to a 1.88 ERA in six games with Salem-Keizer. Though his ERA was at its highest in Augusta, it was nothing to be ashamed about at 2.16, and he struck out 16 batters in 16.2 innings, compared to just two walks.
Honorable Mentions:
Steven Okert didn’t have the best year in 2018 after struggling as a big leaguer in 2017. He missed a long stretch between April and June and wasn’t too sharp upon his return, but he settled in and became a great option out of Sacramento’s bullpen. He had a 2.37 ERA and struck out 23 batters in 19 innings over his last 21 outings for the River Cats. Since coming back to San Francisco, he’s thrown three scoreless innings with the only baserunner he’s allowed being on an error. Lefties have hit .185/.239/.262 against Okert this year.
Next. Giants Minor League Hitters of the Year. dark
25-year-old Orleny Quiroz came to pitch stateside for the first time in his career, and pitched at Salem-Keizer, Augusta, and San Jose. He made 29 total appearances, putting up a 3.31 ERA and a 1.335 WHIP with 41 strikeouts in 51.2 innings. His best work came in San Jose, where he allowed only four runs in 18 innings across 11 appearances.