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SF Giants prospects weekly recap: Wade Meckler continues to rake
Welcome to the weekly SF Giants prospect recap, where we take a look at the organization's prospects and minor leaguers who stood out this past week.
Before reading, be sure to check out our top 42 prospects ranking and the prospects who just missed the list to get acclimated to players throughout the system.
SF Giants Triple-A affiliate: Sacramento River Cats
Hitters
This is your weekly Casey Schmitt (Giants #3 prospect) update. Schmitt received his Minor League Gold Glove Award last Saturday and has continued to rack up hits with nine across 26 plate appearances. He is actually in a modest seven-game hitting streak going back to his last game against the Reno Aces. Even though Schmitt keeps on swinging, his 22% strikeout rate is still a solid mark, though his 3% walk rate is certainly something we want to see improvement over the summer.
There were not many bright spots over the River Cats' side last week other than Schmitt and Ricardo Genoves, who posted four hits across 14 plate appearances. The 23-year-old catcher is certainly off to a much better start this season for the River Cats with an OPS of .808 alongside a 14% walk rate and a 24% strikeout rate. He's also been a neutralizer of the run game having already caught six base stealers across 12 attempts.
Pitchers
Kyle Harrison (Giants #1 prospect) kept getting better and better as with more reps with his best outing of the season, going three scoreless innings with just one hit allowed, three walks, and five strikeouts. He was clearly sharp for most of the outing with his mid-90s fastball flashing plus-plus while his low-80s slider also had its great moments. Even though only 30 out of the 55 pitches that he's thrown were for strikes, there are seven pitches that caught the now-tighter ABS system but were called balls and four more that are just at most a couple of inches off the plate.
Let's talk about the ABS system being implemented this year. The objective of the tighter zone is to encourage more offense and so far, it has done its job. The average walk rate in the PCL increased from 10.5% last year to 13.2% this year. On the other hand, the River Cats pitchers have also not helped themselves in terms of throwing more strikes. River Cats pitching prospects that have more walks than innings pitched this season include the aforementioned Harrison, Melvin Adon, Joey Marciano, Cole Waites (Giants #26 prospect), and R.J. Dabovich (Giants #19 prospect). Pitching in a tighter zone results in hitters not biting to chase more often when they want to expand the zone. The pitchers have to adjust to the tighter zone but the zone also has to be more consistent and not miss borderline calls as we've seen with Harrison's start to become trustworthy.
Other pitchers of note: Keaton Winn (Giants #18 prospect) kept improving with another solid outing last Friday where he worked three innings of two-run ball with no walks and four strikeouts. The splitter was nasty as the pitch induced eight swinging strikes. Chris Wright made his Triple-A debut last Friday going 1.2 scoreless innings with two strikeouts. The fastball peaked at 95 mph with good life while his 78-81 mph curveball had its moments. He also threw a high-80s cutter.
SF Giants Double-A affiliate: Richmond Flying Squirrels
Hitters
Ismael Munguia hit his first home run since 2021 last Thursday against Erie and has enjoyed a strong series with 10 hits in his last 25 plate appearances. It has pushed his batting average up to .273 though his OPS stayed at .682 as a result of his home run being his only extra-base hit so far this year. Munguia is not known as a power-hitting threat so let's hope he continues his stretch of good hitting into the next series.
Patrick Bailey (Giants #21 prospect) had unquestionably his best game offensively last Tuesday when he tied a franchise record and got on base six times with four singles and a home run which is his first of the season, and a walk. He's never had this kind of performance since he was drafted by the Giants so this comes as a pleasant surprise. Bailey has been crushing right-handed pitching this season with a .951 OPS, but it might be time to consider scrapping his right-handed swing as he's posted just a .542 OPS against lefty pitching. In my opinion, Bailey has proven himself to be one of the 10 best prospects in the organization after such a strong start to the season.
Luis Matos (Giants #4 prospect) has been ridiculously good to start his 2023 season with seven hits in 20 at-bats against Erie last week with three doubles. The most impressive feat though is the upwards surge in his walk rate where he's more than double the pace of last season with a 16.4% walk rate this year compared to 6.6% last year. He's paired that with an 8.2% strikeout rate which is the lowest since he was playing in the Complex League. Consider also the fact that he's doing this at a similar age as the draft-eligible college prospects this year. I feel Luis Matos is back and better than ever.
Other hitters of note: Riley Mahan hit two home runs last Sunday which brought his total to three for the season. He's struggled for the most part though with a strikeout in every third of his plate appearances. Carter Williams got promoted to Richmond last week after not getting enough playing time with Eugene and he looked solid so far with two hits in seven plate appearances with an RBI.
Pitchers
Kai-Wei Teng clearly wants a promotion to Sacramento based on his dominant start to his 2023 season. Last year's Eastern League strikeout king is once again back at it leading the league in strikeouts once more with 25 in just 11.2 innings pitched at a 54% rate. His slider was potent as usual last Saturday when he posted four shutout innings of one-hit ball. The biggest question mark surrounding Teng last season was the high number of baserunners that he's allowed despite potent stuff with a 1.52 WHIP. This season, he's at 0.86 WHIP after three starts. Teng might be beginning to realize his potential as a big-league pitcher.
Erik Miller (Giants #31 prospect) did Yeoman's work last week with two strong outings totaling five shutout innings of one-hit ball with no walks and five strikeouts. The left-hander worked his fastball up to 96 mph with a couple of off-speed pitches (a slider and a changeup) that looked above average at best. Miller has not yet allowed a hit against lefty batters while righty batters only mustered a .125 batting average so far this season. Miller can overthrow his pitches within a plate appearance but he's kept his walk rate in check at an 8% rate so far.
Other pitchers of note: A trio of pitchers also looked strong this week starting with Evan Gates who logged two saves and struck out six batters across 3.1 scoreless innings of two-hit ball. Randy Rodriguez (Giants #25 prospect) also looked better control-wise with six strikeouts across 4.2 innings of one-run ball. RandyRod has to continue to rein it in so he to not lose his 40-man spot. Nick Swiney continued to look solid as a piggyback with four more scoreless innings of four-hit ball with four strikeouts. He's continued to look good out of the pen which might be his likely role moving forward.
SF Giants High-A affiliate: Eugene Emeralds
Hitters
It makes me chuckle most of the time whenever I see Wade Meckler (Giants #39 prospect) try to keep his batting average above .500 for the season like he's really trying to make it a challenge for himself. He did not quite end above .500 after three weeks of play, but a .489 batting average is still eye-popping nonetheless with both a 20% walk and strikeout rate. Oh, and he also hit his first home run of the season last Saturday which was a grand slam. You could make an argument that he has the best pure hit tool in the organization right now.
Victor Bericoto (Giants #32 prospect) has shown signs of life in their series against Hillsboro with a double, a triple, and two home runs. Aside from flexing his muscles, he's also exhibited a much-improved approach this week with four walks and just two strikeouts across 18 plate appearances. For comparison, he's struck out at least once in his first six games prior to the Hillsboro series. Bericoto should continue to settle in and show us the all-around hitter that he was in San Jose last year.
Other hitters of note: When looking at the hitting data against Hillsboro last week, it was a surprise to see both Jared Dupere and Logan Wyatt post near-identical numbers. Both played six games, posted 22 plate appearances, logged five hits including a double and a home run, drew three walks, and eight strikeouts resulting in an OPS of .837. Adrian Sugastey (Giants #34 prospect) logged five hits, all of which were singles, across 14 plate appearances last week which might be an indication that he's also starting to settle in.
Pitchers
Carson Ragsdale continues to look sharp in his return this season by throwing his best outing yet last Friday with eight strikeouts across four innings of one-run ball with two hits allowed and a hit batter. The fastball touched 95 mph but he's been known to hit even higher velocities in the past so there's room for more excitement. His curveball also looked plus and he's got a cutter now as his legitimate third pitch. We still need to see what he can do once the temperature warms up, but Ragsdale is on track once again to become one of the best pitching prospects in the organization.
Nick Sinacola posted his best start as a Eugene Emerald last Wednesday where he went four shutout innings with eight strikeouts and only allowed just two hits and one walk. The fastball was mostly in the low-90s but carved up Hillsboro batters up in the zone while his bread-and-butter slider was there when he needed something to throw batters off-balance. Sinacola needs to find consistency with his control in order to continue his path as a starter.
Ben Madison has found his footing this week against Hillsboro, notching two wins in both his appearances along with nine strikeouts across five innings of work. A ninth-round pick by the Giants back in 2018, Madison continues to be a story of perseverance after not being able to pitch for over two years due to the pandemic and an arm injury. Madison can touch the upper-90s with his fastball alongside a solid sweeper. If Madison can find the average control that he's shown last year with San Jose, there is certainly a path for him as a big-league reliever.
SF Giants Low-A affiliate: San Jose Giants
Hitters
Thomas Gavello has been the best hitter in the San Jose lineup throughout the first three series of the season leading the team in OPS with .972 where he also hit his first two home runs of the season in his last two games. The 13th-round choice last year from Pacific has been impressive on both sides of the ball, having played catcher twice and nabbing all two would-be base stealers who challenged his right arm. He's also played clean infield defense with no errors so far in both third and second base.
Jose Ramos' first rodeo in full-season ball is off to a good start with a .850 OPS after three weeks of play. He especially enjoyed the series against Inland Empire where he hit three doubles and a triple on his way to a 1.010 OPS. The primary shortstop for the San Jose squad so far, Ramos has shown flashes of becoming a solid defender in the middle infield.
Ramos' middle infield partner Diego Velasquez also posted a strong series against Inland Empire with two doubles and a home run en route to a .981 OPS. Velasquez's 25.5% strikeout rate is still quite concerning for a hitter whose more famous for making contact but he's been grinding out good at-bats for more than a handful of occasions and his 14.5% walk rate this season is a testament to that.
Other hitters of note: Carter Howell enjoyed a strong series against Inland Empire hitting his first home run of the season along with a .982 OPS. Onil Perez has become one of the steady bats in the San Jose lineup this season posting the team's second-best OPS with .869 with double the walks than strikeouts.
Pitchers
Will Kempner (Giants #29 prospect) pitched exclusively out of the stretch in his only start this week, potentially with the hopes of improving his control. He was still more of the same control-wise compared to his first couple of starts but he posted the most strikeouts in an outing so far with six across three innings of work. The fastball topped out at 97 mph and both his slider and changeup flashed big potential. There are tempo or balance issues that Kempner has to work out in order to improve his control but if he can find the secret sauce, he shall find immediate success for a guy with his kind of stuff.
Nomar Medina did great work piggybacking Gerelmi Maldonado who struggled at his start this week. Medina twirled in four innings of one-run ball (unearned) with no walks and two strikeouts. Largely unheralded, Medina is one of the anchors of the ACL Giants Black rotation that took the ACL championship last season. His left arm might not pack a punch with his fastball only touching in the 88-91 mph range but he can pitch and also has a curveball and changeup that plays well with his stuff. There could be an opportunity for Medina to start at the mid-season mark once promotions happen.
Liam Simon (Giants #38 prospect) kept on dominating hitters in the early going with his most impressive outing so far this season last Wednesday with four innings of one-run ball with just one hit allowed, one walk, and eight strikeouts. He's kept on pounding the zone with a 67% strike rate and a 7.3% walk rate while also belonging inside the top five in the California League in strikeouts with 18. If Simon keeps on flipping the narrative of his strike-throwing woes with these kinds of performances in the future, the future is very bright for the Notre Dame product.
Hayden Birdsong also kept on improving with his best start of the season so far as he went 3.2 innings of three-hit ball with two walks and six strikeouts. Birdsong's strikeout rate is close to Simon but his walk rate has to improve although the potential is evident with his fastball running up to 97 MPH paired with a hammer curveball that flashed plus.
