SF Giants’ minor leagues offer bright spot, some reinforcements
SAN FRANCISCO — The Sacramento River Cats wrapped their regular season on Wednesday, but some players from the Giants’ Triple-A affiliate didn’t get the go-ahead to head home for the offseason yet.
Relievers Cole Waites and Luis Ortiz, who have flashed promise in short looks this September, were among a group of players the Giants selected to remain on call with the big-league club entering the final week of its season.
Waites and Ortiz joined the Giants in San Francisco on a taxi-squad basis, while reliever Zack Littell was among another group of players the Giants sent to Arizona at the conclusion of the minor-league season.
“Just to stay ready for anything,” manager Gabe Kapler said.
The River Cats were the last of the Giants’ affiliates to finish their season. At 65-83, Sacramento was one of only two affiliates to miss the postseason in an otherwise promising year on the farm.
While 2022 may have been a disappointment at the big-league level, two Giants affiliates celebrated championships — tied with the Yankees and Rays for the most in baseball — and four of their six minor-league teams made the playoffs.
High-A Eugene won the Northwest League title, while its 81-48 record was the fourth-best of any minor-league team. The Giants’ other championship was won by their rookie ball Arizona Complex League team.
Single-A San Jose finished 74-58 and was eliminated in the semifinals of the California League playoffs.
Double-A Richmond finished 66-71 and was eliminated in the finals of the Eastern League playoffs.
Overall, the .503 winning percentage among Giants’ minor league teams ranked 14th among 30 organizations.
Ortiz, who went 23 innings without allowing an earned run at Triple-A before earning his first promotion this season, struck out three and allowed one run over 6⅓ innings in four appearances with San Francisco (a 1.42 ERA).
Waites, 24, rose from High-A to the big leagues this season and allowed one run over 4⅓ innings in five appearances with San Francisco (a 2.08 ERA).
Whether either gets another chance to make their case in the six games remaining after Thursday will be determined by the health of the Giants’ bullpen, Kapler said.
“There are some guys in our pen right now who are really performing well and we want to see as much of them as possible,” Kapler said. “If we have an opportunity to see Cole again and Luis again, we definitely want to.”
Entering Thursday night, the Giants’ 3.09 bullpen ERA this month ranked sixth in the majors.
One of those arms referenced by Kapler is Shelby Miller, who struck out five more batters over two shutout innings Wednesday night. After fanning seven over 2⅔ scoreless in his first appearance with the Giants, Miller became the first pitcher in the modern era with back-to-back outings of at least five strikeouts, less than three innings and no walks or runs allowed.
Tyler Rogers, who worked a scoreless eighth inning Wednesday, also hasn’t allowed a run this month.
Since allowing three runs (one earned) while recording two outs in a loss to the Padres on Aug. 30, Rogers has strung together 14⅓ scoreless frames, lowering his ERA from 4.58 at the end of August to 3.68 entering Thursday.
“I don’t think there was ever a moment where any of us on the major league coaching staff (or) any of his teammates doubted Tyler’s ability to be an important piece of our bullpen,” Kapler said. “Tyler relies on deception, and he relies on movement, and he relies on staying off barrels. Even through that stretch where there was a ton of warranted criticism, he was still doing all of those things. …
“I didn’t see anything wildly off when he was going through those struggles. I see a pretty similar version of him, perhaps a more confident version. That confidence really makes a difference at the margins, so that’s probably why we’re seeing the success we’re seeing right now.”
Notable
- LaMonte Wade Jr. (thumb) missed his third consecutive game Thursday, despite right-hander Ryan Feltner starting for the Rockies. Wade, who has a .193 average and eight home runs in 202 at-bats this season, “has been dealing with various things all year,” Kapler said. “From the knee to the hamstring … Sort of like we’ve tried to get Craw to 100% of himself, we’re trying to get the same for Wade so he can finish strong.”