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Introducing Giants minors updates, a new feature that aims to keep you up to date on all the Little Giants happenings.
Triple-A Sacramento 12, Salt Lake 11 (Angels). The River Cats are 49-45.
Star: Chris Shaw. The buried outfielder is creeping his head up. Demoted all the way to Double-A out of spring training a season after getting a September look, Shaw hit his way out of Richmond and now is trying to do the same at Sacramento. In a season that has seen the Giants churn through outfielder after outfielder, the 25-year-old is trying to get back on their radar, and going 5-for-6 with a home run and three RBIs will help. He’s now 11-for-26 (.423) with three homers in his past six games, and has 18 long balls between the two levels this season.
Chris Shaw has a huge night at the plate with five hits including his 11th HR with Sacramento pic.twitter.com/tNXxkPsi1t
— Roger Munter (@rog61) July 16, 2019
Double-A Richmond 4, Hartford 5 (Rockies). The Flying Squirrels are 33-58.
Star: Caleb Simpson. The 27-year-old righty reliever got the bump up to Double-A in June, and he’s trying to climb to Sacramento next. The 2013 draft pick threw two scoreless innings, making it 8 2/3 innings of one-run ball with 12 strikeouts and three walks in his past seven games. It’s been a slow progression for Simpson, who’s always struggled with control, but his walks have gone down.
High-A San Jose 5, Lancaster 6 (Rockies). The Giants are 41-54.
Star: Heliot Ramos. Sandro Fabian also had a nice game, but let’s talk about Ramos! The center fielder went 2-for-4 with a walk and his 12th homer of the season, a first-inning shot that was his second in as many games. In his past 10 games, the Giants’ No. 2 prospect is 15-for-43 (.349) with three homers and two doubles.
This isn’t Monday’s, but let’s check out Sunday’s dinger:
Heliot Ramos shoots one out to RF for 11th HR of year. Lancaster conditions apply, still tremendous display of strength for the teenager. Second highest OPS and 4th highest SLG in Cal pic.twitter.com/RPQEfx7hMQ
— Roger Munter (@rog61) July 15, 2019
Low-A Augusta 2, Charleston 3 (Yankees). The GreenJackets are 48-45.
Star: Keaton Winn. The 21-year-old, a fifth-round pick last season, is getting better. The righty starter went five innings, in which he allowed two runs (none earned) on two hits, one walk and five strikeouts. In his past seven starts, the Iowa native has a 2.14 ERA. His strikeouts don’t jump out at you, but Winn is putting together a nice season.
Short-Season Salem-Keizer 3, Hillboro 4 (Diamondbacks). The Volcanoes are 19-12.
Star: Simon Whiteman. The middle infielder from Yale, a ninth-round pick last month, is already showing off his speed. The 22-year-old swiped a pair of bags Monday, his 14th and 15th in just 27 games, and his 2-for-4 day improved his slash line to .283/.411/.358. The 5-foot-10, 165-pound right-handed batter does not have much pop, but he’s showing the skills of a leadoff hitter.
AZL Orange 13, AZL Cubs 3. The Giants are 19-4.
Star: Hunter Bishop. This is a historic moment of being awarded KNBR’s star of the day without recording a hit. Bishop went 0-for-0 with five walks, two runs scored and an RBI. While it’s tempting to imagine the frightened AZL Cubs pitching around him each time, they did hand out 12 walks in total. It boosted Bishop’s OPS to 1.033 in seven games.
AZL Black 6, AZL Angels 8. The Giants are 8-15.
Star: George Bell. The 21-year-old from the Dominican Republic, in his second season in the Arizona League, had his first big day of the season. The corner fielder went 3-for-5 with a double, two runs and an RBI. He went from Salem-Keizer to the Arizona League in late June, and he upped his AZL OPS to 1.073 in eight games.
DSL Giants 3, DSL Mariners 4. The Giants are 15-22.
Star: Ronaldo Flores. The 17-year-old catcher went 3-for-4 with a run scored, raising his average to .320 in 26 games.