Andy Marlin-USA TODAY Sports
Introducing Giants minors updates, a new feature that aims to keep you up to date on all the Little Giants happenings.
Triple-A Sacramento 4, Fresno 5 (Nationals). The River Cats are 48-45.
Star: Steven Duggar. Remember him? A back injury got him off the big-league Giants, and the emergences of Alex Dickerson and Austin Slater have kept him off. The Giants said they wanted him to work on his bat — particularly his plate discipline — in Sacramento, and it’s coming along. The 25-year-old went 3-for-3 with a walk and two runs scored Sunday, upping his slash line to .368/.442/.632 in 11 games back. He has drawn four walks and struck out 10 times in 38 at-bats, and if injury and/or trades shake up the outfield, he’ll get his next chance.
Double-A Richmond 4, Harrisburg 2 (Nationals). The Flying Squirrels are 33-57.
Star: Bryce Johnson. The center fielder, a sixth-round pick in 2017, was promoted from San Jose in late June and has kept hitting. Johnson had a double, walk and two RBIs in five plate appearances, his Double-A slash line now sitting at .288/.387/.519 in 16 games, all improvements from his time in San Jose. He’s got wheels, a total of 20 steals across the two levels this season.
High-A San Jose 5, Lancaster 3. The Giants are 41-53.
Star(s): Joey Bart and Heliot Ramos. The two are so often linked, we didn’t want to pick one or the other. Bart went 3-for-5 with two doubles, now 7-for-11 in his breakout from a slump. Ramos launched his 11th home run and has been on a tear this month, batting .333 with two homers in his past nine games.
Class-A Augusta 3, Asheville 4 (Rockies). The GreenJackets are 48-44.
Star: Ryan Walker. The right-hander from Washington State, a flier reliever in last year’s draft, is making the case for a promotion. He’s striking out about a batter an inning and showing decent control (3.12 walks per nine), but his pitching is ticking up. After his three innings of shutout ball Sunday, the 23-year-old hasn’t allowed a run in five appearances and 11 2/3 innings, striking out 16 without issuing a walk.
Short-Season Salem-Keizer 3, Hillsboro 7. The Volcanoes are 19-11.
Star: Ricardo Genoves. A catcher from Venezuela who was signed in 2015, the 20-year-old is having his best professional season. Genoves went 2-for-4 with a double, and also went 1-for-2 in throwing runners out. He improved his slash line to .292/.373/.596 in 22 games this year.
AZL Orange 3, AZL D-backs 2. The Giants are 18-14.
Star: Conner Nurse. The 2017 34th-round pick is in his second season at Rookie Ball, but he is getting much better results. The right-hander started Sunday and didn’t allow a run in four innings, striking out four and walking two while allowing four hits. The walks are still an issue (though not as pronounced as last season), as he’s walked 10 in 28 2/3 innings, but his ERA sits at 1.26.
AZL Black 13, AZL White Sox 10. The Giants are 8-14.
Star: Garrett Frechette. A fifth-round draft pick last month, the 18-year-old first baseman has impressed early on. Sunday he went 3-for-5 with two runs scored and an RBI (along with a throwing error), and while he hasn’t yet shown power, he’s batting .333.