After a lengthy hiatus so I could eat my body weight in pasta, the Minor League Baseball roundup is back! Five of the San Francisco Giants’ six affiliates were in action on Tuesday — the Dominican Summer League season still hasn’t started — so let’s talk about them!
Link to the 2026 McCovey Chronicles Community Prospect List (CPL)
All listed positions in the roundup are the position played in that particular game.
News
Most of the news on the farm is, unfortunately, injury related. AAA Sacramento placed
both RHP Gregory Santos and shortstop Christian Koss on the 7-Day IL. Santos and Koss have both spent time in the Majors this year. AA Richmond LHP Jack Choate (No. 37 CPL) was also put on the 7-Day IL, while the ACL Giants placed RHP Dilan Fernandez on the 60-Day IL.
The Giants signed 31-year old RHP Christian Alvarado to a Minor League deal and assigned him to AA Richmond. Alvarado had been playing professionally in Venezuela, and last pitched in affiliated ball in 2019.
And congratulations to Low-A San Jose RHP Argenis Cayama (No. 13 CPL), who was named the Pitcher of the Week in the Cal League!
AAA Sacramento (30-20)
Sacramento River Cats beat the Reno Aces (D-Backs) 10-6 (10 innings)
Box score
I’m of the belief that the Giants should not make a change to their rotation yet, other than to welcome back Logan Webb in a few days. But …. the rotation keeps underperforming, and down on the farm, LHP Carson Whisenhunt (No. 8 CPL) keeps shining. And there’s only so long that those things can go in alternating directions before a change is made.
Tuesday was another great start for the 25-year old Whisenhunt, who is still looking for his 1st taste of MLB action this season. He went 5 strong innings against the Aces, while allowing just a baserunner per inning: 4 singles and 1 walk. Just as impressively, the 2022 2nd-round pick struck out 7 batters, while ceding just 1 run on the day.
Perhaps most notable was how well Whisenhunt’s fastball played. The velocity still is lacking in the improvements that were teased in the opening week of Spring Training — his 93.4 mph average velo on his fastball is just 1.1 mph higher than in 2025, and it’s logical to assume that will drop a little as the wear and tear of the year grows — but the pitch is performing better this year. 3 of his 7 strikeouts came on swings-and-misses on his fastball, and a 4th was a batter caught looking at it. The penultimate plate appearance of his night was a 3-pitch strikeout featuring 3 swings-and-misses … all on fastballs.
Last year, AAA hitters had a .330 expected batting average, a .513 expected slugging percentage, a 40.3% hard hit rate, and just a 14.8% whiff rate on Whisenhunt’s 4-seamer. This year? A .252 expected average, a .401 expected slugging, a 38.0% hard hit rate, and a 21.1% whiff rate. Needless to say, those improvements bleed through to his star pitch, the changeup, which plays much better when paired with a competitive heater.
It all adds up to a package that’s working very, very well right now: over his last 6 starts, Whiz has thrown 33.1 innings and allowed just 24 hits, 8 walks, and 6 runs, with 34 strikeouts. That’s lowered his ERA to 3.21 and his FIP to 3.53 … numbers that rank 3rd and 1st, respectively, out of the 39 Pacific Coast League pitchers who have thrown at least 30 innings this year. Given that the Giants rotation is 26th in ERA and 20th in FIP, it’s not hard to find reasons why Whisenhunt should maybe get a look in the Majors.
What will be interesting to see is how long the Giants want to see Whisenhunt maintain this level of performance. You may recall that last year he had an utterly dominant May, only to really fall apart for most of the rest of the season. Hopefully he gets over that midseason hump more successfully this year.
Unfortunately, Whisenhunt was followed by a rough outing from RHP Ryan Walker, who made his 3rd appearance since getting optioned. Walker was dominant in his the 1st pair of games he played in, but couldn’t find the strike zone in this one: he threw just 10 of 23 pitches for strikes, while walking 2 batters, allowing 2 hits, and giving up 1 run while recording just 2 outs … though both outs were by way of strikes.
On offense, the River Cats waited until the end to do their damage, as 7 of their 10 runs occurred in the lone extra inning. The biggest hit belonged to one of the team’s newest players, as center fielder Scott Bandura broke open what was then a 4-3 game with a 3-run home run … providing 3 much-needed insurance runs, given that RHP Michael Fulmer would allow 3 runs to score in the bottom half of the inning (after blowing a save by allowing the tying run in the 9th).
Bandura finished the day 2-5, while also stealing his 1st base at the level, as he continues to look comfortable at his new level. The 2023 7th-round pick has only played 6 games since getting promoted to AAA, and while his numbers are so-so (6-25 with 2 extra-base hits, 3 walks, and 5 strikeouts), his at-bats are competitive. He’s certainly not overmatched out there.
Speaking of recently-promoted players, catcher Drew Cavanaugh (No. 19 CPL) had a delightful day, hitting 2-4 with a double, a hit by pitch, 2 stolen bases, and a strikeout. The 2023 17th-round pick has picked up exactly where he left off a year ago, when he had a sensational breakout season, seemingly out of nowhere. The early-season promotion hasn’t fazed him in the slightest, as through 10 games the 24-year old lefty is 14-38 with 9 extra-base hits, 3 walks, 7 strikeouts, and 3 stolen bases in as many attempts, good for a 1.155 OPS and a 190 wRC+.
Despite the gaudy numbers, Cavanaugh is probably still a ways away from the Majors, given that the Giants have the fairly rare 4 catchers on the 40-man roster. But Patrick Bailey has been traded away, and neither Daniel Susac (No. 20 CPL) nor Jesús Rodríguez (No. 16 CPL) is a proven entity yet, so Cavanaugh absolutely could work his way into the plans this year.
And speaking of depth options, nice games for second baseman Nate Furman (No. 39 CPL) and first baseman Buddy Kennedy. Furman hit 3-5 with a double, raising his OPS to .746 and his wRC+ to 108 in his debut AAA season, while Kennedy went 1-5 with his team-leading 8th home run of the year, giving the veteran a .983 OPS and a 157 wRC+.
AA Richmond (31-14)
Richmond Flying Squirrels lost to the Akron RubberDucks (Guardians) 5-2
Box score
A poor game all around for the Flying Squirrels, who were uninteresting on each side of the ball. Their pitchers limited damage, but it wasn’t particularly pretty. The starter, RHP Trystan Vrieling, limited the RubberDucks to just 1 run in 3.2 innings … but allowed 4 hits and 5 walks, while striking out 4.
That’s how the year has gone for Vrieling, a 2022 3rd-round pick who came to the Giants last year in the Camilo Doval trade. He’s up to 25 walks in just 39.2 innings this year, but has somehow kept runs off the board, resulting in quite a gap between his ERA (3.63) and his FIP (5.23).
Things were even uglier at the end of the game, when RHPs Dylan Hecht and Tyler Vogel also couldn’t keep runners off the bases, but had run totals that more properly reflected that (4 baserunners and 3 runs in 1 inning for Hecht, who has as 8.69 ERA and an 8.20 FIP; 3 baserunners and 1 run in 1 inning for Vogel, who has a 2.45 ERA and a 5.09 FIP).
But the pitchers in the middle were the lone bright spot of the day, and it was a pair of names fairly new to Richmond: RHPs Ben Peterson and Christian Alvarado. Peterson, a 24-year old UDFA in his 2nd season, made his 5th appearance since a recent promotion, and tossed 1.1 scoreless innings with 1 hit and 2 strikeouts. He’s been excellent so far in AA, with 11 strikeouts in 7 innings, and just 9 baserunners and 2 runs. As for Alvarado, he was playing in his 1st Minor League game since … wait for it … 2019! And he threw a scoreless inning with a hit and 2 strikeouts.
Alvarado, who had a solid 2019 in AA for the Orioles before losing 2020 to the pandemic and 2021 to injury, and then heading to Venezuela, was just signed by the Giants. We’ll see if the 31-year old can become a great story for San Francisco.
A very quiet day on offense, with Richmond’s stars all having very modest games: center fielder Bo Davidson (No. 4 CPL) went 0-4 and was caught stealing; left fielder Parks Harber (No. 17 CPL) went 0-4 with 2 strikeouts; and right fielder Jonah Cox hit 1-4 with a strikeout and his 25th stolen base of the year. It’s certainly notable, though, that the organization has started using Harber in the outfield.
The best days belonged to a pair of backstops: catcher Adrián Sugastey and designated hitter Ty Hanchey. Sugastey hit 2-4 with a double, though he struck out twice, while Hanchey hit 1-2 with a double and 2 walks, though he was caught stealing. The 23-year old Sugastey is trying to find a rhythm in his 3rd pass through AA, and while his numbers are modest (.747 OPS, 97 wRC+), they represent significant improvements. Hanchey, a 26-year old UDFA, has bounced around this year (he started the year in High-A, and has briefly filled in with AAA Sacramento), but has excelled during his 9-game stint with Richmond, posting a 1.062 OPS and a 181 wRC+.
High-A Eugene (34-12)
Eugene Emeralds lost to the Vancouver Canadians (Blue Jays) 3-0
Box score
Well, just as was the case for Richmond, Eugene had quite a stinker of a game. And, just as was the case with Richmond, even Eugene’s decent pitching performance wasn’t as good as it looked on the surface. When you only allow 3 runs in a game, you assume that the starting pitcher was strong, but that wasn’t the case for LHP Luis De La Torre (No. 14 CPL), who had another tough go of it.
Namely, LDLT once again struggled to find the strike zone. He proved very difficult to hit: in 3.1 innings he gave up just 1 hit, a single, while striking out 3. But he walked a whopping 5 batters on the day, while throwing just 40 of 78 pitches for strikes. In all, he was only tagged with 2 runs, but it’s hard to feel good about a day where you have half as many walks as outs recorded.
Walks have been a huge issue all year for De La Torre, who has a 4.94 ERA and a 5.40 FIP in his 1st pass through High-A. The 22-year old has issued a staggering 30 free passes in just 31 innings this year, and unfortunately it hasn’t really been a case of effective wildness. Not only have his walks per 9 innings spiked year-over-year, from 3.3 to 8.7, but his strikeouts have dropped from 13.2 to 10.5, and his ground ball rate from 48.4% to 32.9%. Things just aren’t clicking right now for the southpaw, though he remains one of the top pitching prospects in the system.
RHP Cole Hillier had a decent outing, with 4 strikeouts against 0 walks in 2.1 innings and just 2 hits allowed. He did give up a solo home run, though, so it wasn’t an outing that will particularly help his ERA (which sits at 4.76), but a good showing for the 26-year old UDFA nonetheless.
A dismal day on offense, with the Emeralds recording just 4 hits and 1 walk while getting shut out. The best day emphatically belonged to right fielder Trevor Cohen (No. 15 CPL), who hit 2-4 with a double, providing 50% of the team’s knocks and 100% of their extra-base hits.
After a slow start to his debut full season, last year’s 3rd-round pick has started to figure things out a bit. Check out the splits:
First 24 games: 19-91, 1 triple, 8 doubles, 20 walks, 21 strikeouts
Next 18 games: 25-73, 7 doubles, 9 walks, 5 strikeouts
On the whole, it’s a .751 OPS and a 113 wRC+ for the 22-year old lefty.
Low-A San Jose (25-21)
San Jose Giants lost to the Fresno Grizzlies (Rockies) 8-5
Box score
Down in Low-A, the starting pitching was the same as in High-A and AA: a walk-filled adventure. For the Baby Giants, it was RHP Keyner Martinez (No. 10 CPL), who simply could not find the strike zone, just as De La Torre and Vrieling could not.
Martinez threw just 49 of 78 pitches for strikes, while issuing 5 walks in only 3.2 innings. That, combined with 3 hits, tagged him for 4 runs on the day, though he did pile up 6 strikeouts along the way.
Like De La Torre, the 21-year old Martinez, who is arguably the top pitching prospect in the system, has seen his walks leap this year, from 2.7 per 9 innings a year ago, to 5.6 this season. But unlike De La Torre, it hasn’t come at the expense of his strikeouts, which have improved, from 12.6 per 9 to a staggering 13.9 this year. The ERA may be a lowly 5.85, and the FIP just 4.83, but Martinez’s K/9 number ranks 8th out of 493 Minor League pitchers with at least 30 innings thrown this year. There’s something special there, even if the total package is still very much a work in progress.
Martinez was followed by RHP Ubert Mejias, who tossed 3.2 shutout frames with 4 hits, 0 walks, and 3 strikeouts. The 25-year old Mejias has just a 3.74 ERA and a 5.00 FIP, but has a stunning ratio of 36 strikeouts to just 5 walks in 33.2 innings this year.
Unfortunately, another rough go of it for RHP Cooper McGrath, who blew a lead in the 8th inning by allowing 5 baserunners and 4 runs in just an inning of action. McGrath, a 25-year old who was taken in the 18th round last year, has had a brutal start to his career, with a 10.38 ERA and an 8.71 FIP through 13 appearances.
Not sure how many of you are aware of this, but “Tuesday” is a day that ends in “Y.” That can only mean one thing: another dominant showing for shortstop Jhonny Level (No. 3 CPL).
Level continues to turn the Cal League into his own personal playground, and certainly looks far too advanced for Low-A … despite being more than 2 years below the league average age. It was another dominant day for the switch-hitter, who went 3-5 and blasted a home run on the 3rd pitch of the game.
Let’s contextualize Level’s success a little bit. With that dinger, he reached 10 homers on the year … a mark that just 4 other hitters in all of Low-A have reached this season. Those 4 include Zach MacDonald, an outfielder who is 22 years and 9 months; Jackson Lovich, a third baseman who is 22 years and 6 months; and Easton Shelton, a first baseman who is 20 years and 8 months.
Level? A shortstop who is 19 years and 1 month old. The only other Low-A hitter with double-digit dingers who is near Level’s age is José Anderson, who is 19 years and 5 months (and plays the outfield). And really, Anderson is the player who most shows how impressive Level has been … because in order to get his 10 homers, Anderson has completely sold out for power, sporting just a .176 batting average, and striking out 42.9% of the time. Level? He has a .331 average and a 16.5% strikeout rate, stats that rank 11th and 40th, respectively, out of the 282 Low-A hitters with at least 100 plate appearances this year.
All while playing awesome defense at shortstop. And hitting from both sides. And, forgive me for repeating myself, being 19 years and 1 month old. There’s a reason that Level jumped into the top 50 in Kiley McDaniel’s recent prospect rankings.
On the whole, it’s a .985 OPS and a 136 wRC+ for Level, and it is starting to feel like he may not be in San Jose for all that much longer.
The other star was third baseman Dario Reynoso, who hit 2-4 with both a triple and a double. The 21-year, 2-month old righty has been on fire for a while now, and has raised his OPS to .974 and his wRC+ to 144, with a scintillating blend of average, extra-base hits, and walks. The strikeouts remain a mixed bag: with a 30.3% rate, he’s striking out way too often, but also has shown considerable improvement over last year.
Reynoso has had a blistering month: since May 2, he’s 21-60 with 4 home runs, 2 triples, 6 doubles, 14 walks, and 20 strikeouts. If he can get the strikeouts in check, he could turn into something special.
Also a nice day for left fielder Damian Bravo, who hit 1-4 with a double, a hit by pitch, an outfield assist, and a strikeout. Last year’s 15th-round pick has an .837 OPS and a 103 wRC+ on the season.
Arizona Complex League (9-9)
ACL Giants beat the ACL Rockies 1-0
Box score
Pitcher’s duels aren’t something you usually see on the Complex League, but here we are!
It began with RHP Nien-Hsi Yang, who had an awesome start, with just 4 baserunners allowed (2 singles and 2 walks) in 4 shutout innings. Yang, a 19-year old from Taiwan, struck out 4 batters in his 5th game of the season. Injuries limited Yang to just 5 innings in his debut season last year, so it’s nice seeing him healthy and finding a rhythm on the mound. He has some really nasty stuff, and Tuesday was the best display of it in his short career.
RHP Samir Chires ended the game with a dominant showing, giving up just 1 hit in 3 shutout frames, while striking out 6 batters. A 22-year old from Venezuela, Chires is in his 4th season in the ACL, so it’s probably go-time for him if he wants his career to continue. This was easily his best outing, and gives him 15 strikeouts in just 10 innings … though funnily enough, despite pitching in just 6 games, Chires has already allowed 6 unearned runs this year, to go with 4 earned runs.
A lot of decent days in the batter’s box, despite the low score. Shortstop Luis Hernández (No. 6 CPL) hit 1-3 with a triple and a walk, though he also had a strikeout and his 4th error of the season. It remains stunning what Hernández is doing: at just 17 years and 5 months, with no DSL time, the slick-fielding righty has a 1.057 OPS and a 148 wRC+ Among the 76 ACL hitters with at least 50 plate appearances this year, Hernández is 12th in average (.329), 31st in on-base percentage (.400), 5th in slugging percentage (.657), 3rd in isolated slugging (.329), and 14th in strikeout rate (16.3%). All while being more than 2.5 years younger than league average. He’s the real deal, folks!
Catcher Yohendry Sanchez continued his strong season, as the 19-year old from Venezuela hit 1-3 with a double and a walk, raising his OPS to 1.064 and his wRC+ to 185. One of the stars of the the team’s 2024 signing class (he received the highest signing bonus of the Giants’ class, a few hundred thousand above Jhonny Level), Sanchez struggled in the DSL last year, but has put that behind him this year. He’s done it with outrageous contact skills: Sanchez is hitting .433 through 9 games, and has just 2 strikeouts in 39 plate appearances.
Second baseman Yulian Barreto and left fielder Oliver Tejada are both very intriguing prospects who are trying to put the pieces together, and they both had good games. The 18-year old Barreto, in his 1st season stateside, went 1-3 with a double and a hit by pitch, boosting his OPS to .787 and his wRC+ to 112. The 19-year old Tejada, who is repeating the ACL, hit 2-4 with a double and a strikeout, raising his OPS to .685 and his wRC+ to 76.
Home run tracker
10 — Jhonny Level — [Low-A]
8 — Buddy Kennedy — [AAA]
4 — Scott Bandura — [1 in AAA; 3 in AA]
Wednesday schedule
Sacramento: 6:05 p.m. PT at Reno (SP: TBD)
Richmond: 3:35 p.m. PT at Akron (SP: Matt Wilkinson)
Eugene: 7:05 p.m. PT at Vancouver (SP: Yunior Marte)
San Jose: 6:50 p.m. PT at Fresno (SP: TBD)
Reminder that almost all MiLB games can be watched on MLB TV
