Today is an off day in Minor League Baseball, but certainly not an off day for our coverage! Here’s everything that happened with the San Francisco Giants affiliates on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
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
The most exciting news is that we have a Jackson Flora sighting! Last month’s No. 4 overall pick hasn’t gotten into an official game yet, but made his pro
debut in the bridge league, which is the unofficial games played in the Complex League after the official season ends. Thankfully for us, Fangraphs has video of the entire thing!
As for roster news, AA Richmond got an infusion of talent, as outfielder Dakota Jordan (No. 5 CPL) was activated off the Injured List, while LHP Jacob Bresnahan (No. 11 CPL) was promoted from High-A Eugene. AAA Sacramento got some depth after having their roster gutted, as Eugene RHP Ryan Slater and LHP Hayden Wynja were sent to Sacramento, as well as Low-A San Jose RHP Samir Chires.
And some hardware to hand out: Eugene swept the weekly awards in the Northwest League, with outfielder Cam Maldonado (No. 34 CPL) being awarded Player of the Week, while RHP Hunter Dryden was named Pitcher of the Week. Meanwhile, MLB Pipeline named shortstop Josuar González (No. 2 CPL) the top MLB prospect in the Arizona Complex League this year!
Finally, Baseball America had some high praise for the system in doling out their best tools awards, which are voted on by the managers of each league.
AAA Sacramento (74-55)
Friday: Sacramento River Cats lost to the Reno Aces 6-1 [box score]
Saturday: Sacramento River Cats lost to the Reno Aces 12-2 [box score]
Sunday: Sacramento River Cats beat the Reno Aces 9-7 [box score]
The Giants are beat up, which means a lot of the River Cats are in San Francisco, which means a lot of lower level players are filling in in Sacramento. It makes for a slightly funny roster with some funny box scores. On Saturday, for instance, Low-A San Jose RHP Samir Chires and High-A Eugene RHP Ryan Slater both pitched, and both got roughed up, as one would expect. High-A infielder Zander Darby also played over the weekend, hitting 0-4 with 2 strikeouts and a walk.
And that’s just the lower-Minors fill-ins! There were also a trio of players recently called up from AA probably more for logistical purposes than because of merit. One of those players was first baseman/third baseman Charlie Szykowny, who made his AAA debut on Friday and got into all 3 games, hitting 2-8 with a double and 2 strikeouts.
Szykowny, who was a 9th-round pick in 2023, wasn’t having a great year in AA, where he had a .733 OPS and a 94 wRC+. But, given that he’s already 26, that he has a controlled bat (he struck out 20.5% of the time with Richmond), that he plays all 4 corner positions, and that he’s a well-respected and liked player, it’s easy to see him getting the treatment that Thomas Gavello got last year: come up for logistical purposes, and end up staying put.
The other call-ups happened on the mound, with RHPs Trystan Vrieling and Darien Smith. Vrieling started Sunday’s game and really struggled, giving up 14 baserunners (10 hits, 3 walks, and a hit batter) in just 4 innings, which tagged him for 6 runs. The 25-year old, who was taken in the 3rd round in 2022 by the Yankees, had just a 4.23 ERA and a 5.02 FIP in AA this year, while walking 5.3 batters per 9 innings. So some struggles are to be expected as he tries to adapt to AAA on the fly.
As for Smith, he’s the one player here whose promotion may have been primarily performance based. The 26-year old undrafted free agent, who is in just his 2nd pro season, had a decent year in AA, with a 2.84 ERA, but a 4.51 FIP, while working as a starter. He hit the Injured List in mid-May, though, and began rehabbing in the Complex League in July. Rather than return to Richmond upon his activation, the Giants sent him straight to Sacramento. He took that promotion well, as he threw 2.1 no-hit innings in his Friday debut, while walking 1 batter and striking out none.
Now, onto the rest of the players. It was a pretty uninteresting weekend, honestly. It was fixing to be an ugly offensive performance from Sacramento’s trio of exciting position player prospects, until left fielder/right fielder Bo Davidson (No. 4 CPL) saved the day. Davidson went just 0-8 with 2 strikeouts on Friday and Saturday, but exploded on Sunday with a sensational game, hitting 2-3 with a double, a walk, a sacrifice fly, a strikeout, and, most critically, a go-ahead 3-run home run in the 9th inning.
That’ll play!!
Davidson has really turned a corner lately, and with Rule 5 protection a certainty for him, it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if the Giants get him some MLB coffee before the season concludes. He has an .871 OPS and a 125 wRC+ in AAA, with just a 16.4% strikeout rate.
Things were a little less fruitful for center fielder Scott Bandura and third baseman Parks Harber (No. 17 CPL). Bandura had some good moments in a quiet weekend, hitting 2-11 with 2 doubles, 2 walks, a strikeout, and an error. Harber had a weekend very much to forget, as he went 1-12 with a walk, 5 strikeouts, and an error. Bandura now has an .880 OPS and a 131 wRC+, while Harber has an .800 OPS and a 111 wRC+.
Decent showings for a pair of players who could factor into the backup infield plans next year, especially since the Giants will likely have to get rid of most, if not all, of Christian Koss, Osleivis Basabe, Shay Whitcomb, and Nate Furman in order to make it through the offseason. Second baseman Diego Velasquez (No. 31 CPL) hit 5-11 with a double, a walk, and 2 strikeouts, while shortstop Aeverson Arteaga hit 2-6 with a triple, a double, and 3 strikeouts. Velasquez, a 22-year old switch-hitter, has an .826 OPS and a 123 wRC+ through 21 games since getting promoted. Arteaga, a 23-year old righty, has just a .631 OPS and a 65 wRC+ through 62 games, but also derives the bulk of his value through his glove.
With so many players in San Francisco (and/or injured), the River Cats are shy on starting pitchers, so both Friday and Saturday were uninteresting bullpen games. MLB LHP Matt Gage continued his rehab assignment and got rocked, giving up 4 hits, 1 walk, and 4 runs, while recording just 2 outs. Just great seeing him healthy again, though. RHP Will Bednar (No. 24 CPL) continues to struggle since returning to AAA, as he allowed 5 baserunners and 4 runs in 2 innings, with 1 strikeout. The 2021 1st-round pick has given up multiple runs in all 6 of his outings since heading back to Sacramento after spending most of the year in AA.
RHP R.J. Dabovich pitched a scoreless inning with a hit, a walk, and a strikeout. Great seeing him healthy. And RHP Alex Carillo, who has had some struggles since recently joining the organization, had an absolutely dominant weekend: the 29-year old pitched twice, and struck out 7 batters over 3 scoreless innings, giving up 1 walk and 0 hits.
AA Richmond (72-52)
Friday: Richmond Flying Squirrels lost to the Portland Sea Dogs 9-3 [box score]
Saturday: Richmond Flying Squirrels lost to the Portland Sea Dogs 14-3 [box score]
Sunday: Richmond Flying Squirrels beat the Portland Sea Dogs 8-7 (10 innings) [box score]
Some very good news on the injury front for the Flying Squirrels this weekend, as Saturday’s game featured center fielder/right fielder Dakota Jordan (No. 5 CPL) and right fielder/left fielder Lisbel Diaz (No. 32 CPL). Jordan was making his return to the lineup after an absence of just over a month; it looked for a while like his stellar season might be over, but thankfully he’ll get some run here to end the season. As for Diaz, he hurt his knee sliding into a wall on Thursday, and it certainly looked like it could be a serious injury. But Diaz only missed 1 game, and that’s fantastic given how gruesome it looked.
Both players are in the top 4 among Giants prospects in home runs this season, and both players added to that tally. Jordan struck out in his 1st 3 at-bats as he started to recalibrate his swing after 5 weeks on the sidelines … and then unleashed with fury in his 4th at-bat of his return game, launching an absolute bomb for his 1st AA home run.
The 23-year old Jordan, taken in the 4th round of the 2024 draft (with quite an overslot bonus), then went 1-3 with 2 walks and 2 strikeouts on Sunday. He has looked quite comfortable through 11 games with Richmond, posting an .814 OPS and a 114 wRC+, while lowering his strikeout rate from what it was in High-A to start the year (though it’s still a not-great 25.5%). I’m looking forward to seeing how he can end the year.
As for Diaz, who was recently promoted, he’s been a little slow to adjust to a new level, but has certainly shown flashes. He hit 2-8 over the weekend, with a hit by pitch, a stolen base and 2 strikeouts, and showed one such flash on Sunday, when he launched a 3-run blast in the 1st inning, pulling him into a tie with Davidson for the organizational lead in dingers.
There’s a lot to work on for the right-hander, as through 11 games he has just a .182 average and a 28.6% strikeout rate, leading to just a .586 OPS and a 44 wRC+. But then again, it’s only 11 games, and he only turned 21 last month! He’s almost 4 years below the league average age in the Eastern League!
Center fielder Trevor Cohen (No. 15 CPL) had a very nice weekend, which was good to see as he had been scuffling for a while. Last year’s 3rd-round selection hit a delightful 6-14 with a solo home run, a stolen base, a strikeout, and an error. He also had something you’ll only ever see in a Minor League game: a walk-off hit off of a position player!
Cohen will likely never hit for a lot of power, but he can put the occasional charge into one. It’s the small-ball stuff that really impresses with the 22-year old lefty: even though he only has a .734 OPS and a 97 wRC+ through 39 games in AA, he’s rocking a .297 batting average and just a 9.3% strikeout rate, while playing awesome defense. He’s also stolen 15 bases in 19 attempts.
The excitement on the mound occurred on Sunday, when LHP Jacob Bresnahan (No. 11 CPL) made his AA debut. Bresnahan, who only turned 21 in late June, had a spectacular season in High-A despite getting a slow start due to injury, and then needing a little time to work the rust off. He finished his 1st and last season in the Northwest League with a 2.92 ERA, and while he did have a 4.32 FIP on account of a lot of home runs given up, he struck out 10.8 batters per 9 innings, while only issuing 3.5 walks. And he ended his tenure on an absolute heater.
He showed a lot of that in his AA debut, though, understandably, he also showed that it will be an adjustment. The 2023 13th-round pick, sent to the Giants in the Alex Cobb trade, struck out 8 batters in just 5 innings in his Eastern League debut. Mighty impressive!
The rest of his performance was a bit less pretty, however. Bresnahan struggled to find the strike zone, throwing just 54 of 92 pitches for strikes, while issuing 5 walks. He gave up 4 hits, which included a home run, and ceded 3 runs. Still and all, that’s a highly encouraging start in my book for one of the best pitching prospects in the system.
LHP Greg Farone made a great start on Saturday, pitching 4 shutout innings with just 4 singles and 2 walks allowed, plus 3 strikeouts. Farone only pitched 4 innings despite throwing only 49 pitches, which is probably just a desire to keep his workload in check. With this start, he moved the bare minimum (a third of an inning) past his innings total in his debut season last year. A 7th-round pick in 2024, the 24-year old Farone has a 5.43 ERA and a 5.67 FIP on the season.
A lot of bullpen struggles, but none from LHP Esmerlin Vinicio, who struck out 4 batters in 2.2 scoreless frames, with just 1 hit allowed. The 23-year old has been quite solid since getting promoted to start the month, as he has a 2.31 ERA and a 3.22 FIP through 5 AA games, with 14 strikeouts in 11.2 innings. He’s given up too many walks (7), but has only allowed 5 hits.
High-A Eugene (75-50)
Friday: Eugene Emeralds lost to the Everett AquaSox 4-3 (10 innings) [box score]
Saturday: Eugene Emeralds beat the Everett AquaSox 12-9 [box score]
Sunday: Eugene Emeralds beat the Everett AquaSox 8-4 [box score]
Certainly some standout performances for the Emeralds. The single best performance of the weekend on the farm arguably came on Saturday from designated hitter Robert Hipwell, who hit a perfect 3-3 with a pair of home runs, while also smacking a double, drawing 2 walks, and knocking in 6 runs. That’s a performance he won’t soon forget!
In the other pair of games, Hipwell hit 1-6 with a double, 2 walks, and 2 strikeouts. It’s been a rough season for the 2024 6th-rounder, who has really struggled in Eugene. Some power and a whole bunch of walks (16.9% rate) have given him a league average line (.736 OPS, 100 wRC+), but his contact issues are severe: he’s repping just a .199 batting average, with a 38.8% strikeout rate and a 16.8% swinging strike rate. That unsightly trio ranks, respectively, 66th, 68th, and 59th out of the 68 Northwest League hitters with at least 200 plate appearances this season.
But Hipwell, who turned 23 in March, has been much better lately. While still residing on the interstate, he hit .269 in July and has hit .264 so far in August, with a .927 OPS. That is, likely, enough improvement to ensure that he stays in the system for at least another season.
Also leaving the yard twice (though spread out over the weekend, rather than in a single game like Hipwell) was third baseman/first baseman Hayden Jatczak, who hit 4-11 with 2 homers, 2 walks, 2 strikeouts, and an error.
After obliterating Low-A competition to start his debut season, Jatczak — an undrafted free agent who turned 25 earlier this month — took a while to get acclimated to High-A. He’s starting to find his groove now, though, and is up to a .727 OPS and a 97 wRC+ through 30 games. Hopefully he can end the year on a high note.
One other player homered, as catcher Daniel Rogers made a 2-run shot his only hit of the weekend, going 1-10 with 3 walks and 5 strikeouts. The home run was a rarity — it was just his 6th of the season — but not as rare as the fact that he was behind the dish for all 3 games. You don’t see catchers catch 3 days in a row much anymore, at any level! A 24-year old undrafted free agent in his 2nd season, the left-handed hitting Rogers has a .658 OPS and a 76 wRC+ with Eugene this year, and has a 35.2% strikeout rate. His numbers were quite good in Low-A, though.
Some good and some bad on the pitching front. It was a sandwich of a performance, with Friday and Sunday’s starters shining and Saturday’s not so much. The star was RHP Hunter Dryden, who put forth one of the best starts of his young career on Sunday, when he went 6 innings and allowed just 2 hits, 2 walks, and 1 run, while striking out 7 batters. What a day!
Dryden, who was a 17th-round pick in 2024, is really ending the season on a high note. In his last 6 games, the D3 Whitworth product has pitched 32.2 innings and allowed just 26 hits, 7 walks, and 6 earned runs, while striking out 28 batters. The recently-turned 24-year old only has a 4.37 ERA and a 5.42 FIP, and home runs continue to haunt him: the big fly he gave up in this outing was his 17th home run in 103 innings. But the 9.6 strikeouts per 9 innings and the strong end to the year should be, in my opinion, enough to get him to AA next season.
On Friday it was RHP Cade Vernon, who had an effective if not overpowering start, as he gave up just 5 hits, 2 walks, and 1 unearned run in 5 innings of work, but only registered a single strikeout. Vernon, who was a 10th-round pick in 2024 out of Murray State, had been working in relief until recently, but has started to get stretched out. The results haven’t been strong … prior to this game, since moving into a bulk innings role, Vernon had pitched 19 innings and allowed 30 hits, 10 walks, and 18 earned runs. But hopefully this step in the right direction is the start of something good for the 24-year old, who has a 4.52 ERA and a 5.15 FIP on the year.
Unfortunately, the meat in the starting pitcher sandwich was LHP Luis De La Torre (No. 14 CPL), and he once again had all sorts of issues. LDLT simply could not find the strike zone in this game, as only 33 of his 72 pitches were strikes, which led to 5 walks and 2 hit batters in just 2.1 innings. The control issues even followed him off the mound, as he committed a throwing error!
Per the usual, when De La Torre did throw strikes, hitters didn’t know what to do with them. He gave up just 2 hits (which resulted in 4 runs), and struck out 5 batters. And that’s the season in a nutshell for the southpaw, who turns 23 this weekend and has a 5.87 ERA and a 5.46 FIP. Among the 70 Northwest League pitchers with at least 40 innings thrown this year, De La Torre is 65th in walks per 9 innings, with 7.5 … but he’s 16th in strikeouts per 9 (11.3) and 10th in batting average against (.202).
Awesome relief outings from RHPs Alix Hernandez and Marty Gair. Hernandez struck out 2 batters in 2 scoreless innings, while allowing a hit and a walk. In 8 games since getting promoted, the 22-year old has a 2.51 ERA and a 5.40 FIP, with 15 strikeouts and 5 walks in 14.1 innings. Gair retired all 3 batters he faced, with 2 strikeouts, lowering his ERA to 2.25 and his FIP to 1.97 since joining the organization. The just-turned 23-year old, who came over in the Luis Arráez trade, has 13 strikeouts to 4 walks in 8 innings with Eugene.
Low-A San Jose (75-51)
Friday: San Jose Giants lost to the Visalia Rawhide 9-6 [box score]
Saturday: San Jose Giants beat the Visalia Rawhide 11-5 [box score]
Sunday: San Jose Giants beat the Visalia Rawhide 5-4 [box score]
Friday saw the Baby Giants lose their 13-game winning streak … but they started a new one on Saturday!
A great pitching performance from one of the organization’s top prospects on Sunday, as RHP Keyner Martinez (No. 10 CPL) was thoroughly dominant, giving up just 2 hits, 1 walk, and 1 hit batter in 5.2 innings, while striking out 7 batters. Martinez did give up 2 runs in the game, though just 1 was earned, but that’s a strikeout-to-baserunner ratio that we will take 8 days a week!
It’s been a bit of an odd season for Martinez, who turned 22 earlier this month. Really, it’s been similar to De La Torre’s just … better. But the same strengths and weaknesses. Martinez has struggled with walks, issuing 4.6 per 9 innings, and he’s ceded 11 home runs in just 88.2 innings, after only allowing 3 a season ago, in 69.1 frames. But, despite those issues — which have led to a 4.87 ERA and a 4.83 FIP — Martinez has been very hard to hit. There are 92 pitchers in the California League who have thrown at least 40 innings this year, and Martinez is 7th in strikeouts per 9 innings (13.1) and 13th in batting average against (.210). It hasn’t been a smooth and seamless follow up to his breakout 2025, and I’m sure both he and the Giants were hoping he’d be in High-A by now, but at the very least, he’s affirmed his status as one of the top pitching prospects in the organization.
LHP Jordan Gottesman had a nice start as well, as last year’s 6th-round pick tries to end his debut season on a high note. Gottesman pounded the strike zone for 5 innings, allowing just 4 hits, 1 walk, and 1 run, and striking out 4 batters. That lowered his ERA into the 3s for the first time since mid-June, as he’s really been on a roll lately: in his last 54 starts, the Northeastern alum — who turned 24 on Saturday — has pitched 21 innings and allowed just 14 hits, 7 walks, and 3 runs, with 23 strikeouts. Gottesman has a 3.96 ERA and a 4.90 FIP on the season, with 9.8 strikeouts to 3.0 walks per 9 innings … solid enough numbers that will make him fun to follow in Eugene next year.
20-year old LHP Leandro Rodriguez also had a really nice showing, giving up 2 singles, 2 walks, and a hit batter in 5 innings on Saturday, while striking out 4 and allowing just 1 unearned run. Rodriguez hasn’t had quite the breakout campaign that Martinez, De La Torre, and RHP Argenis Cayama (No. 13 CPL) had a year ago, but he’s really flown onto the radar in his 1st stateside season. Rodriguez, who signed out of Venezuela last year, had modest overall numbers in the Complex League this year (4.18 ERA, 4.35 FIP), but had a very nice strikeout-to-walk ratio of 58-to-11 in 47.1 innings. He hasn’t been able to parlay that into Low-A success, but starts like this are reason for a whole lot of optimism.
Not much on the bullpen front, but RHP Ian Korn made his professional debut, which is exciting. Korn, a 23-year old from West Virginia who was taken in the 10th round in July, is the 1st (and only, currently) pitcher from the team’s recent draft class to get into an affiliated game. It didn’t go well, as he gave up 4 hits and 2 runs in 1.2 innings, with 2 strikeouts, but still awesome to see.
The offense wasn’t all that exciting. Shortstop Josuar González (No. 2 CPL) saw his numbers fall a little, but only because of how absurd they were to begin with, not because he played poorly. The electric 18-year old switch-hitter went 4-13 with a triple, a double, 2 walks, 3 stolen bases, a strikeout, and an error. Just another weekend for one of the sport’s top prospects!
It’s still just 26 games, but González has a 1.019 OPS and a 155 wRC+ with San Jose, with 12 stolen bases. He’s hitting for average, hitting for power, drawing walks, limiting strikeouts, swiping bags, and playing sensational defense. The total package!
Center fielder Tanner Mally continued looking right at home in Low-A, as he went 4-10 with a double, 3 walks, 3 stolen bases, and a strikeout. July’s 17th-round pick has been so comfortable in San Jose, where he has a 1.053 OPS and a 173 wRC+ through 20 games, with just a 13.2% strikeout rate, and 8 stolen bases in as many attempts. I think it’s safe to say that he’ll start next year in Eugene.
He’ll be joined by shortstop/second baseman Lorenzo Meola (No. 23 CPL), who had a fine weekend, hitting 4-9 with a triple, 4 walks, a sacrifice fly, 2 strikeouts, and a caught stealing. It’s been an up-and-down year for last season’s 4th-round selection, and he has an .825 OPS and a 105 wRC+. The defense, however, is as good as advertised.
Shortstop Luis Hernández (No. 6 CPL) continues to be sidelined following a minor injury a short while ago. Outfielder Peyton Bonds, the team’s 3rd-round pick in July, hasn’t played in a few days, so I’m not sure what’s going on there.
Home run tracker
26 — Bo Davidson — [7 in AAA; 19 in AA]
26 — Lisbel Diaz — [2 in AA; 21 in High-A; 3 in Low-A]
19 — Dakota Jordan — [1 in AA; 18 in High-A]
12 — Hayden Jatczak x2 — [3 in High-A; 9 in Low-A]
8 — Robert Hipwell x2 — [High-A]
6 — Trevor Cohen — [3 in AA; 3 in High-A]
6 — Daniel Rogers — [2 in High-A; 4 in Low-A]
