This is the last Minor League Baseball roundup for a while, as I’m heading out on vacation tomorrow. Hold down the Minor League fort while I’m gone! In the meantime, here’s what the San Francisco Giants affiliates did on Tuesday … and Wednesday morning.
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
Some exciting promotions to discuss. Most notably, catcher Drew Cavanaugh (No. 19 CPL) and shortstop
Aeverson Arteaga were both promoted from AA Richmond to AAA Sacramento. Both players have had fantastic offensive starts to the season, and they definitely have the defensive chops for the next level. Promotions this time of year are often about logistics, so we’ll see if that’s the case for this pair, or if they’re there on merit, and there to stay. For Cavanaugh, the answer is probably both: he’s likely in Sacramento to provide an extra catching body after Eric Haase and Jesús Rodríguez (No. 16 CPL) were moved to the Majors, especially since Daniel Susac (No. 20 CPL) should be finishing up his rehab soon.
Taking their place in Richmond are catcher Ty Hanchey and shortstop Zane Zielinski, who were promoted from High-A Eugene. Catcher Daniel Rogers, who had been in Sacramento on emergency duty (but didn’t play), was reassigned to Eugene, which serves as a promotion since he’s only played with Low-A San Jose. And utility player Jean Carlos Sio (No. 44 CPL) finished his rehab in the Complex League, and was assigned to Eugene.
AAA Sacramento (21-17)
Sacramento River Cats beat the Round Rock Express (Rangers) 9-2
Box score
This was a good game for players who might be wearing Giants jerseys soon, notably a player on each side of the ball. On the hitting front, catcher Daniel Susac (No. 20 CPL) continued his rehab assignment and did so quite nicely, hitting 1-2 and drawing 2 walks before leaving the game after 7 innings.
Susac has been awesome during his rehab stint, which certainly results in a lot of fans clamoring to get him back in San Francisco, but rehab assignments are always more about getting up to speed from a health standpoint than a performance one. He’s played 4 games, but just 2 of them were behind the dish, and he hasn’t played a full game in the squat yet. Still, he’s not far off.
As for the pitching, it was RHP Spencer Bivens having a much needed great game. Bivens, interestingly, was given a starting assignment. It wasn’t his 1st start of the year, as he’s opened some bullpen games, but he actually got stretched out a bit in this game, as he threw 63 pitches and made it through 4 shutout innings. Better yet, he didn’t allow a single hit during those 4 innings, with the only baserunners being a pair of walks. He also struck out 5.
I would be shocked if the Giants are toying around with the idea of Bivens transitioning into a starter — there’s really no need for that — but it seems that perhaps the team is prepping him for the long relief role that he has played a few times during his career. That’s been a weakness in the Giants bullpen all year, since they’ve been hesitant to put starters in the bullpen: they don’t have guys who can come in and give them 3-4 innings out of the ‘pen. Either way, it was nice to see Bivens have a great game, as he has really been scuffling lately.
The rest of the pitchers were solid, if not great. LHP Nick Zwack gave up the 2 runs in an inning of work, but LHP Juan Sánchez (No. 41 CPL), RHP Marques Johnson, and RHP Wilkin Ramos all had scoreless outings, albeit not particularly clean ones.
On offense, Susac’s day was the most meaningful, but it certainly wasn’t the best. That belonged to shortstop Osleivis Basabe, who hit 2-4 with both a home run and a double.
Basabe might lose some playing time going forward with the arrival of Aeverson Arteaga, but the 25-year old really is the perfect player to have in AAA. He’s strong defensively across the infield, he has a little bit of MLB experience, and, while his offense isn’t particularly noteworthy (he has a .704 OPS and an 84 wRC+), he has competitive at-bats, with a low strikeout rate and a little bit of pop. He’s the AAA player that you hope you don’t have to see in the Majors, but you feel comfortable with if you do.
Also homering was designated hitter Victor Bericoto (No. 35 CPL), who salvaged a 1-5 day with 2 strikeouts with a 2-run shot in the 7th inning.
Bericoto has not been lighting the PCL on fire the way he did in Spring Training, but it’s still been an extremely encouraging year for the 24-year old. He hasn’t been fully showing off the power that we know is in there — the power that, for instance, hit an organization-leading 27 home runs in 2023 — but his at-bats have been very impressive. He’s rocking a .304 batting average and a sub-20% strikeout rate, en route to an .802 OPS and a 112 wRC+.
Third baseman Buddy Kennedy and left fielder Turner Hill continued their excellent starts to the season, as each player hit 2-4 with a double. Kennedy also drew a walk, as they both look like strong AAA depth pieces, not unlike Basabe.
AA Richmond (27-7)
Tuesday: Richmond Flying Squirrels beat the Erie SeaWolves (Tigers) 7-1 [box score]
Wednesday: Richmond Flying Squirrels beat the Erie SeaWolves 6-5 [box score]
Since I won’t be getting to a roundup tomorrow, it seemed like we might as well talk about today’s AA game, since they played early and the game is already concluded. It wasn’t my initial plan, but I started the roundup late and the Squirrels had an extremely exciting game.
So let’s start with that game. It featured the organizational debut of LHP Matt “Tugboat” Wilkinson, who has arguably been the best pitcher in the Eastern League this year. Tugboat, who came to the Giants over the weekend in the Patrick Bailey trade (along with the No. 29 overall pick in July’s draft) continued his stellar this morning, by tossing 5 scoreless innings. It was a fairly dominant showing for Wilkinson, who only gave up 2 hits all game, both of which were singles. Despite not exactly pounding the strike zone (he threw 46 of 74 pitches for strikes), Wilkinson didn’t walk a single batter (though he hit 1), and he struck out 6.
With that, the burly lefty lowered his ERA to 1.38, a spectacular mark through 7 starts. I don’t know his FIP, since today’s game hasn’t yet made it to the Fangraphs stats, but it was 2.58 before the start, and it will certainly be lower after it. The 23-year old, who was taken in the 10th round in 2023 by the Guardians (3 rounds before they took Jacob Bresnahan!) has really taken off this year. He had a fairly pedestrian season in High-A a year ago, with a 4.24 ERA and a 4.17 FIP, but he’s dramatically lowered his walks, hits, and home runs, while cranking up the strikeouts. Through 33.1 innings this year, Tugboat has 42 strikeouts and just 9 walks. Pretty exciting stuff!
The other star of the game was another non blue-chip prospect acquired in a trade who has been breaking out: third baseman Parks Harber (No. 17 CPL). Harber, the 24-year old undrafted free agent who came over in the Camilo Doval trade (a trade that is looking exceptional, I should add), had a dynamic day, hitting 3-4 with both a home run and a double, while knocking in 4 runs and striking out once (he went 1-5 with a strikeout on Saturday).
That brought his OPS all the way up to .947, as he’s not showing many signs of rust after missing the 1st month of the season with a hamstring injury. He is still striking out too much, but he has a .343 batting average with 11 extra-base hits in 15 games. Phenomenal!
It’s worth noting that Harber has played exclusively at third base so far this year. He played a little bit of outfield last year, and it’s easier to see a path to the Majors in that role, given San Francisco’s employment of Matt Chapman and Casey Schmitt. But for now, he’s sticking to the dirt.
An awesome pair of games for second baseman Diego Velasquez (No. 31 CPL), who hit just 1-5 with 2 strikeouts, but drew 3 walks, stole 2 bases, and made the most of his hit by smashing a solo home run on Wednesday.
Velasquez, who is up to an .809 OPS, will never be a big power guy, but marginal improvements in that area can be the difference between a high-contact, low-strikeout middle infielder having a long Major League career, and no career at all. And so far, in his age-22 season, the switch-hitter is, indeed, showing those marginal power improvements: with Wednesday’s bomb, he now has 3 home runs on the year, in 27 games. That matches the AA home run total he entered the season with, in 170 games. Excellent!
Speaking of power, center fielder Bo Davidson (No. 4 CPL) was a 2-bag beast, as he hit 3-9 with 2 strikeouts over the pair of games, with all 3 of his hits being doubles. It hasn’t yet been a superstar showing for Davidson, who has an .825 OPS (and entered Wednesday’s game with a 114 wRC+), but he’s really showing how dynamic his skillset is. There’s a lot of power in that bat, and a lot of speed in those legs.
Left fielder Scott Bandura rounded out the strong offensive performances, by hitting 4-8 with 2 walks and a strikeout. A brilliant season for the 24-year old lefty, taken in the 7th round of the 2023 draft out of Princeton. He’s up to a .331 batting average and a .943 OPS.
Tuesday’s starter wasn’t quite as good as Tugboat, but he was darn good anyway, as RHP Trystan Vrieling had his best start of the year. Vrieling, who like Harber came over in the Doval trade, tossed 5 shutout innings, while allowing just 2 hits (both doubles). The biggest stain on his resume was 3 walks, but he countered it with 7 strikeouts. Walks have been an issue for the 2022 3rd-round pick, who now has allowed 5.1 of them per 9 innings on the year, a mark well above what he did in prior years (3.3 in 2025, and 2.8 in his debut in 2024). He is, however, suppressing both runs and home runs better than ever before, which is extremely important, and it’s given him a 3.38 ERA on the season, with a 4.39 FIP.
RHP Ben Peterson, a 24-year old undrafted free agent in his 2nd season, made his Richmond debut on Tuesday after a recent promotion, and pitched 2 perfect innings with 3 strikes. That’s a hell of a first impression!
High-A Eugene (26-8)
Eugene Emeralds beat the Tri-City Dust Devils (Angels) 17-4
Box score
Well, this game was a certified offensive explosion! Nearly every hitter in Eugene’s lineup had a day worth mentioning, as the team compiled 21 hits, 7 walks, and 17 runs. 3 of those runs came against a shortstop, but still!
The biggest day belonged to left fielder Carlos Gutierrez (No. 18 CPL), who continues to show dramatic improvements in the power department. The 21-year old lefty looks physically stronger this year, and that’s shown in the results, including on Tuesday when he went 3-5 with a 3-run home run, a double, a walk, a stolen base, and a strikeout.
Gutierrez is still trying to get his average on track — after hitting .351 in Low-A a year ago, he’s at just .229 this season — but his isolated slugging has jumped from .101 to .198, while his walk and strikeout rates have remained incredible (16.2% for each). On the whole, it’s a .786 OPS and a 118 wRC+ for the young lefty, which is pretty impressive considering he began the year having played just 85 games in his career. He’s also been strong on defense, and has 9 stolen bases without yet getting caught.
Catcher Jancel Villarroel (No. 42 CPL) had his 1st notable game of the year, and notable it most certainly was. The recently-turned 21-year old right-handed hitter missed the start of the season due to injury, and has been very rusty in his return: he went 2-7 while rehabbing in the Complex League, and then 1-15 in his 1st 4 games with the Emeralds.
But on Tuesday, the young Venezuelan, who came to the Giants a few months ago in the Kai-Wei Teng trade, positively broke out, hitting 4-6 with a home run. That’s more like it! It’s good to see him find his swing.
Rounding out the dinger party was first baseman Jakob Christian, who hit 2-5 with a 2-run blast and a walk, while also striking out 2.
A 23-year old taken in the 5th round in 2024, Christian also missed the start of the year with an injury, but he’s wasted no time getting up to speed in Eugene. All he’s done is hit, as he now has a 1.321 OPS and a 249 wRC+, with 6 extra-base hits in 9 games. Those are some eye-popping numbers! Christian has also cut back on his strikeouts, but unfortunately his swinging strike rate has gone in the wrong direction, to a slightly terrifying 22.1%.
Also great days for center fielder Dakota Jordan (No. 5 CPL), right fielder Lisbel Diaz (No. 32 CPL), third baseman Walker Martin, and second baseman Zander Darby. Jordan went 3-6 with a stolen base and a strikeout, giving him an .876 OPS and a 136 wRC+, with 6 stolen bases in 7 attempts; Diaz hit 2-5 with a double, a walk, and a strikeout, raising his OPS to .704 and his wRC+ to 84; Martin went 2-4 with 2 walks, a stolen base, and a strikeout, pushing his OPS to .730 and his wRC+ to 104, with 9 stolen bases in as many attempts; and Darby hit 4-6 with a double and 2 strikeouts, boosting his OPS to .926 and his wRC+ to 150.
All the excitement was with the hitting, as the pitching wasn’t very interesting. LHP Charlie McDaniel struggled in the start, though it was kind of a funny outing: McDaniel gave up 4 runs in 5.1 innings, and all 4 runs came on solo home runs. In total, he allowed 8 hits, 0 walks, and struck out 4. The 24-year old undrafted free agent opened his 2nd season by not allowing a single home run in 5 starts, but that all came crashing down on Tuesday. Still and all, he has just a 2.08 ERA with only 5 walks in 26 innings, though that quartet of dingers drove his FIP up to 4.24.
RHP Liam Simon had another nice game, as he threw 2 shutout innings with 2 hits, 1 walk, and 2 strikeouts. He’s still struggling to throw strikes as he works the injury rust off — he tossed just 17 of 32 pitches for strikes — but he’s certainly moving in the right direction. After a brutal start to the season, Simon has thrown 7 straight scoreless outings, and in that time has struck out 15 batters in 9 innings, while allowing just 3 hits and 5 walks.
Low-A San Jose (19-15)
San Jose Giants lost to the Ontario Tower Buzzers (Dodgers) 9-2
Box score
Well, a bit of a bust of a game for the Baby Giants. The offensive bright spot at least came from a nice place, as second baseman Lorenzo Meola (No. 23 CPL) hit 1-3 with a walk, a strikeout, and his 1st home run of the season, a solo shot.
It’s been a tough debut full season for the 22-year old righty, who was the organization’s 4th-round pick in July. After hitting fairly well during a short stint with San Jose post-draft — which included 3 home runs in 16 games — he’s really struggled this year, with a .619 OPS, a 66 wRC+, and a 30.5% strikeout rate … and needed 30 games to put a ball over the fence. Hopefully more games like this are in his near future!
The other nice day belonged to catcher Junior Barajas, who went 2-4 with a double, though he struck out twice. Last year’s 11th-round pick has really slowed down following his outrageous start to the season, but it’s still been a magnificent debut, as he has an .846 OPS, a 109 wRC+, an 18.8% strikeout rate, and solid defense behind the dish.
Not a good pitching day, but RHP Keyner Martinez (No. 10 CPL) again showed off the strikeout stuff. Martinez K’d 6 batters in just 3 innings, though the “3 innings” part of that sentence hints at some serious issues: he gave up 5 hits (including a home run and 2 doubles) and walked 3 batters.
The 21-year old Martinez has had quite a few bumps in the road this year — he has a 5.70 ERA, a 4.30 FIP, and 4.9 walks per 9 innings — but the electricity is on dazzling display night in and night out. He’s now up to 15.2 strikeouts per 9 innings, a mark that ranks 4th out of the 637 pitchers who have thrown at least 20 innings in the Minors this season. Keep that up, Keyner!
RHP Alix Hernandez struck out the side in an inning of work, with 0 hits and 1 walk. The 21-year old is up to 22 strikeouts in just 15.1 innings, though he only has a 5.28 ERA and a 4.42 FIP. His pitches are pretty exciting, though.
Home run tracker
4 — Victor Bericoto — [AAA]
3 — Osleivis Basabe — [AAA]
3 — Diego Velasquez — [AA]
3 — Carlos Gutierrez — [High-A]
2 — Parks Harber — [AA]
2 — Jakob Christian — [High-A]
1 — Jancel Villarroel — [High-A]
1 — Lorenzo Meola — [Low-A]
