All four of the San Francisco Giants Minor League Baseball affiliates are still in action, though their two A-Ball squads are done with the regular season and in playoff mode. Let’s dive into the action over the last few days!
Link to the 2025 McCovey Chronicles Community Prospect List (CPL)
All listed positions in the roundup are the positions played in that particular game.
News
The biggest news on the farm is that the Giants announced their Arizona Fall League selections. Per the usual, they’re sending
eight players to the desert: RHPs Spencer Miles, Jose T. Perez, and Ryan Murphy, LHPs Juan Sánchez and Ricardo Estrada, third basemen Walker Martin and Parks Harber, and shortstop Maui Ahuna. You can read more about those players here.
LHP John Michael Bertrand was promoted from AA Richmond to AAA Sacramento, and will start tonight’s game for the River Cats. It’s the second consecutive season that Bertrand has spent the year in Richmond before a late-season cup of coffee with Sacramento. Catcher Zach Morgan, who had been providing some depth in Sacramento, will in turn head back to Richmond.
And finally, LHP Jordan Gottesman, the team’s 6th-round pick in July, has been assigned to High-A Eugene. We’ll see if he gets in a playoff game.
AAA Sacramento (73-67)
Tuesday: Sacramento River Cats beat the Oklahoma City Comets (Dodgers) 6-4 [box score]
Wednesday: Sacramento River Cats lost to the Oklahoma City Comets 5-1 [box score]
Not a very robust set of games for Sacramento as they started their penultimate series of the season, though Tuesday’s win did come against Rōki Sasaki, so that’s something!
Very limited offense to highlight. First baseman Bryce Eldridge (No. 1 CPL), who is trying to end what he hopes is his final Minor League season on a strong note, went 3-8 with 2 doubles, 1 walk, and 2 strikeouts.
Eldridge has been hanging right around league average offensively for a while, and has an .818 OPS and a 101 wRC+ with Sacramento. The power, however, has been wildly on display. Among the 118 Pacific Coast League hitters with at least 200 plate appearances this year, Eldridge ranks 6th in isolated slugging percentage, at .262. There’s work to be done (such as addressing the 30.9% strikeout rate and continuing to improve the defense), but Eldridge’s carrying tool has, if anything, only grown more impressive at the highest level of the Minors.
On the other end of that isolated slugging list is center fielder Wade Meckler (No. 13 CPL), who ranks 114th out of those 118 hitters, but he was one of just three River Cats to have an extra-base hit, along with Osleivis Basabe. Meckler smacked a double and drew 3 walks, but also hit just 1-6 with 3 strikeouts. It’s been a fairly disappointing year for Meckler, who has a .733 OPS and a 103 wRC+ but, most damningly, just doesn’t appear to be at all in the plans for the Major League team.
A pair of sluggers had an absolutely brutal start to the series. Designated hitter/left fielder Marco Luciano hit 0-8 with a walk and 6 strikeouts. After a serious hot streak, Luciano has now gone 0-12 with 10 strikeouts over his last 3 games. If statistics are your thing, that probably just looks like a standard awful stretch, which happens. But if psychology is more your vibe, you might be wondering if Luciano is accepting the fate of this season: with the Giants now in the postseason push, any chance he had to make the Major League roster has effectively disappeared. He’s down to a .792 OPS and a 107 wRC+, and it feels like he’s auditioning for other teams right now. Unfortunately, not well.
The situation is slightly different for left fielder/designated hitter Jerar Encarnación, though the results were similar. Like Luciano, Encarnación is trying to crack the 2026 roster (like Luciano, he can’t be optioned next year), but unlike Luciano, he seems to at least have a good chance of accomplishing that goal, as the front office remains fairly high on him it seems. He’s trying to work his way back to the Majors this year as he rehabs yet another injury, but so far the results have shown a lot of rust: over these two games he hit 0-7 with a hit by pitch and 6 strikeouts, and he’s now 0-14 with 7 strikeouts since beginning his rehab assignment.
The other 40-man hitters: catcher Jesús Rodríguez hit 1-3 with a walk, a strikeout, and an error; second baseman Brett Wisely hit 0-5 with 2 strikeouts; and shortstop/right fielder Tyler Fitzgerald hit 0-7 with a walk and 6 strikeouts. Not good, folks!
On the mound, the highlights came in relief, as the pair of starting pitchers struggled. On Tuesday it was LHP Nick Zwack, recently promoted to AAA, who got the start, and he allowed 9 baserunners and 4 runs in just 3.1 innings, with 2 strikeouts. Zwack, who gave up 2 home runs, has only made 2 starts at the level, and this is all about getting acclimated ahead of 2026. This season was about getting healthy, and he finally is.
On Wednesday it was RHP Trevor McDonald (No. 15 CPL), who couldn’t build on his brilliant start last week. McDonald did make it through 6 innings, but allowed 7 hits — including 5 extra-base hits — and 2 walks, which tagged him for 3 earned runs and 5 runs total. McDonald, who struck out 5 batters, is up to a 5.31 ERA and a 5.53 FIP on the season, and given that he’ll only have one option year remaining entering 2026, it might be time to think long and hard about a move to the bullpen.
Speaking of moves to the bullpen, RHP Mason Black (No. 7 CPL) pitched in relief on Tuesday and threw a scoreless inning, with 1 hit and 1 strikeout. It’s unclear if the relief role is about Black winding down (he’s thrown 115 innings this year), or about getting starts for other pitchers (such as Zwack and tonight’s starter, recently-promoted John Michael Bertrand), or an actual permanent move to the bullpen given his performance and situation (5.79 ERA, 5.63 FIP, and, like McDonald, will only have one option year remaining next season).
RHPs Trent Harris (No. 20 CPL) and Braxton Roxby had delightful outings. Harris struck out 3 batters in 1.2 scoreless innings, with a hit and a walk, while Roxby struck out 4 batters in 2 shutout frames, allowing just 1 hit. Both pitchers, who were promoted to Sacramento in-season, have somewhat poor overall numbers as they’re getting acclimated to the level. But both look like they could be parts of the Major League bullpen next year.
AA Richmond (53-78)
Tuesday: Richmond Flying Squirrels lost to the Hartford Yard Goats (Rockies) 8-2 [box score]
Wednesday: Richmond Flying Squirrels beat the Hartford Yard Goats 2-1 [box score]
A pair of stars — one on each side of the ball — for the Flying Squirrels as they began their final series of the season. On offense, the star was center fielder/designated hitter Bo Davidson (No. 11 CPL), who is putting a bow on a second straight breakout season, if such a thing is possible.
Davidson only hit 1-7 over the pair of games, but that hit was a home run, and he also drew 2 walks while striking out just once.
There are always a lot of questions when a less-heralded prospect moves to the upper Minors after dominating lower levels, but Davidson has left no question that he’s the real deal through two months in the Eastern League. Arguably the most meaningful metrics have translated well from High-A to AA, as his isolated slugging has only dipped a little, from .199 to .170, while his strikeout rate has jumped only modestly, from 22.1% to 23.9%.
His overall numbers are very far down after the promotion, due to a sizable drop in both his walk rate and batting average. But the power and strikeout rates suggest those things should normalize as he grows more accustomed to the level, and the overall numbers — a .717 OPS and a 111 wRC+ — are still very nice. Especially when you remember that he’s 1.5 years younger than league average!
After bursting onto the scene, from unheard of to a good prospect last year, Davidson has risen from a good prospect to a top prospect this year, and it really feels like the sky is the limit. He’s fast, an impact defensive player, can hit for average, can draw walks, can limit strikeouts, and can absolutely destroy the baseball. He’s one of the team’s must-watch prospects heading into 2026. He’ll surely begin the year still in AA, but you’ve got to think he won’t be too many hot streaks away from getting the call to fly back across the country to Sacramento.
First baseman Victor Bericoto (No. 24 CPL) also had a nice pair of games, as his tremendous end to the season continues. The righty slugger hit 3-8 with a triple, a double, and 2 strikeouts, and over the last 15 games he’s now 26-60 with 2 homers, 1 triple, 3 doubles, and 5 walks, which has brought his OPS up to .793 and his wRC+ to 133. He’ll still be disappointed to be ending the year in Richmond for the third consecutive season, but things are set up for him to open 2026 in AAA, and he’ll be on the young side of 24 when he presumably does.
On the mound, the star was RHP Trystan Vrieling, who had an utterly dynamic performance on Wednesday. Vrieling through 50 of 76 pitches for strikes in cruising through 5 innings, allowing just 5 hits (all singles), no walks, and 1 unearned run, while striking out 8 batters. Vrieling, a 3rd-round pick in 2022, has been hot-and-cold since coming to the Giants in the Camilo Doval trade, but some of the highs have been exhilarating. He has a 5.14 ERA and a 4.01 FIP in 7 starts with Richmond, which should be the line he ends with since their season is about to conclude. He ended it with his best performance, and what more can you ask for?
Tuesday’s start wasn’t so pretty, as RHP Ryan Murphy continued to show struggles as he works his way back from more than a year on the sidelines. Murphy allowed 3 hits and 3 walks in just 3.2 innings, though he only gave up 1 run and struck out 5 batters. Those walks are to be expected post-Tommy John, and it’s exciting that Murphy is heading to the AFL to get a little extra derustification before 2026.
He was followed by RHP Shane Rademacher who got rocked, allowing 5 baserunners and 5 runs while recording just 2 outs. After an awesome year with High-A Eugene, Rademacher has really been roughed up in AA, where he has a 7.43 ERA and an 8.55 FIP in 9 games.
Some really good relief performances, though. RHP Cole Hillier handled the final 3 innings on Tuesday, and allowed 3 baserunners and no runs, while striking out a pair of batters. Hillier, an undrafted free agent in his 3rd season, was recently promoted and has appeared in 3 games for Richmond, tossing 8 shutout innings while allowing just 2 hits and 3 walks. RHP R.J. Dabovich, fighting so desperately to get healthy, tossed a scoreless inning on Wednesday.
And after Dabovich came RHPs Evan Gates and Tyler Vogel. Gates, who allowed just 1 hit in 2 scoreless innings with a strikeout, now has a tidy 3.34 ERA and 3.76 FIP. I’d assume the 27-year old, who was a UDFA in 2021, will be ticketed for AAA next year. And Vogel, who threw a perfect frame, has just a 1.26 ERA and a 2.60 FIP through a dozen games with Richmond since a promotion.
High-A Eugene (championship tied 1-1)
Tuesday: Eugene Emeralds lost to the Everett AquaSox (Mariners) 9-6 (11 innings) [box score]
Wednesday: Eugene Emeralds beat the Everett AquaSox 4-2 [box score]
The Emeralds split the opening games of their championship series against Everett, which means the best-of-five series is now effectively down to a best-of-three affair. The teams will reconvene on Friday for Game 3, and conclude the series at some point over the weekend (Game 4 is Saturday, while Game 5, if necessary, is on Sunday).
Unfortunately, playoff numbers don’t count for season stat lines so, while I’m still adding up the home run tallies in the tracker, some players lost an opportunity to build on their season lines. One such player was third baseman Parks Harber, who had a nearly perfect season split between the Yankees and Giants systems. Harber hit 4-8 over the pair of games, while smacking a home run, getting hit by a pitch, and striking out once. They ultimately lost Tuesday’s game, but it was no fault of Harber’s, as he hit a game-tying 2-run shot in the 8th inning.
Harber finished his season with Eugene with a 1.097 OPS and a 195 wRC+ in 25 games, and will, after the weekend, head to the desert for the Arizona Fall League, before trying his stuff against AA pitchers come April. What a magnificent player he’s shaping up to be.
Also homering was catcher Luke Shliger, who didn’t play on Tuesday but went 2-4 with a solo shot on Wednesday. Shliger, the team’s 6th-round pick in 2023, has found playing time sporadic this year, but posted a .746 OPS and a 109 wRC+ this season.
Also a nice pair of games for first baseman Charlie Szykowny (No. 43 CPL) and shortstop Zane Zielinski. Szykowny, who ended the year on a heater to finish with an .816 OPS and a 120 wRC+, hit 3-7 with a double, 2 walks, a stolen base, and a strikeout. Zielinski, who posted a .642 OPS and an 85 wRC+ in his debut season this year, went 3-8 with a triple, a walk, and 2 strikeouts.
Wednesday featured yet another star performance from RHP Josh Bostick (No. 27 CPL), who really ended the season looking like the real deal. His dominance won’t improve his season numbers (3.71 ERA, 4.59 FIP), but they still count for evaluation’s sake. He allowed just 3 baserunners (2 singles and a walk) in 6 shutout frames, while striking out 8 batters and throwing 60 of 80 pitches for strikes.
Including this playoff start, here are Bostick’s numbers since the calendar turned to July: 12 starts, 68.1 innings, 49 hits, 11 walks, 17 earned runs, and 84 strikeouts. Just an outstanding end to the year, and one that should have everyone excited about seeing him in AA next year.
LHP Greg Farone and RHP Darien Smith piggy-backed the extra-innings affair on Tuesday with split results. Farone started and got tagged in 5 innings, allowing 8 hits, 1 walk, and 4 runs, with 4 strikeouts. Last year’s 7th-round pick finished his regular season with Eugene with a 4.25 ERA and a 4.63 FIP, after an exceptional run with Low-A San Jose.
Smith was terrific, throwing 5 no-hit innings, while allowing just 3 hits and 1 unearned run, with 3 strikeouts. The 25-year old UDFA, who is in his debut season, was exceptional across both Low and High-A this year.
Low-A San Jose (lead division series 1-0)
Tuesday: San Jose Giants beat the Fresno Grizzlies (Rockies) 2-0 [box score]
San Jose opened the playoffs with one of the most dominant pitching performances on the farm this year, with a pair of arms combining for an utterly dynamic shutout.
It began with LHP Luis De La Torre, who is part of a trio of pitchers — along with RHPs Argenis Cayama (No. 28 CPL) and Keyner Martinez — who have had extreme breakouts in Arizona and San Jose this year. Those three weren’t familiar names to most people when the year began, but are now among the best pitching prospects in the entire system.
De La Torre ended his breakout campaign with a bang, throwing 5 scoreless innings while allowing just 2 hits and 0 walks, and striking out 6 batters. It was a remarkable bout of strike-throwing for the southpaw, who turned 22 a few days earlier, as 53 of his 66 pitches were strikes.
He posted a 3.72 ERA and a 3.36 FIP in the Complex League this year, then was even better in A-Ball, with a 1.77 ERA and 2.46 FIP in a similar amount of playing time. Between the two levels, and including his postseason start, De La Torre had a staggering 115 strikeouts against just 27 walks this year, in a mere 79.1 innings. Even though just 40.2 of those innings occurred in the Cal League, it wouldn’t be shocking to me if De La Torre opens the 2026 season in High-A, though either A-Ball assignment would make sense to me.
He was followed by RHP Hunter Dryden who, remarkably, was even better! Dryden handled the final 4 innings with just 1 hit and 1 walk allowed, while striking out a stunning 10 batters. 10 strikeouts is a remarkable achievement regardless, but especially when you only face 14 batters! Like De La Torre, Dryden pounded the zone, with 41 strikes on 57 pitches.
Dryden, the team’s 17th-round pick last year, had a dynamic debut season, with a 2.90 ERA and a 3.82 FIP. He had hit quite a wall during the bulk of the summer, but in his final regular season start threw 6 shutout innings with 6 strikeouts. Add in his playoff outing, and what a way to end his first season!
Pretty lackluster offense. Left fielder Lisbel Diaz (No. 17 CPL) had the only multi-hit game, going 2-4 with a strikeout, while third baseman Walker Martin (No. 14 CPL) and right fielder Cameron Maldonado had the only extra-base hits, with the former going 1-4 with a double and a strikeout, and the latter hitting 1-3 with a triple. For Martin, who is headed to the AFL to hopefully fix his strikeout struggles, it was his first extra-base hit since doubling on August 8.
Home run tracker
18 — Bo Davidson — [8 in AA; 10 in High-A]
14 — Parks Harber — [11 in High-A; 3 in Low-A]
5 — Luke Shliger — [High-A]
Thursday schedule
Sacramento: 5:05 p.m. PT at Oklahoma City (SP: John Michael Bertrand)
Richmond: 3:35 p.m. PT vs. Hartford (SP: Jack Choate)
Eugene: Off day
San Jose: 6:30 p.m. PT vs. Fresno (SP: Jacob Bresnahan)
Reminder that almost all MiLB games can be watched on MLB TV.
