This is the “Catchers hit ball HARD” edition of Minor Lines.

Absolutely CRUSHED.@JBart9GT blasts this ball out of the stadium in Bowie for his first Double-A homer



We've got a 4-0 lead in the top of the 5th inning pic.twitter.com/pdTUmR5Ctx — Richmond Flying Squirrels (@GoSquirrels) August 13, 2019

HIGHLIGHTS: Joey Bart hit his first AA HR; Courtney Hawkins homered twice; Ricardo Genoves had HR, two doubles, six RBIs; Luis Matos doubled twice

Sacramento lost to Nashville Sounds (Rangers), 13-10

losing their series, 1-3

Kyle Barraclough’s debut performance in the Giants’ org wasn’t a great improvement over his time with the Nationals, ending up with the dreaded “infinity” ERA. Barraclough’s rough debut contributed mightily (though not comprehensively) to a 7 run 7th inning that broke a 6-6 tie and sent the RiverCats to defeat.

The offense got big nights from the bottom of the order. Francisco Peña, playing 1b last night, had another big night with two doubles and his 16th home run. Peña’s been yet another big pick up for the Sacramento team this year. The RiverCats also got 4 RBI from Levi Michael and a late 3-run homer from Cristian Adames to make the final score respectable.

CRISTHIAN ADAMES 3-RUN HR YALL LETS GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO pic.twitter.com/qkcSf0Chap — Sacramento River Cats (@RiverCats) August 14, 2019

Richmond split a double header in Bowie BaySox (Orioles)

Winning Game 1 4-1

And losing Game 2-0

The highlight of a long double-header night in Bowie was Joey Bart’s first AA HR, a tremendous blast that went high into the trees beyond the LF fence.

Here’s the video — not sure if it captures the dramatic bounce off the tree or not pic.twitter.com/lToJj6OvGH — Roger Munter (@rog61) August 13, 2019

According to Squirrels Play by Play man Trey Wilson the Trackman had it at 421’ — but it seemed even more impressive than that in person! KUH-RUSHED as Ted Leitner likes to say. Bart seemed to like hitting off Bowie All Star pitcher Alex Wells, as he made solid contact off him in each at bat, also lining a clean single off of the LHP who has been one of the premier pitchers in the Eastern League this year.

Of course, sometimes clean singles don’t work out so well...

The Squirrels also got a solo shot from Jalen Miller, his 10th of the season, a bolt that shot out of the stadium in a hurry, banging off the high back wall.

Without reinventing the wheel, I’ll post a couple of connected thoughts I put out on twitter last night:

Just talking w Jake — virtually every guy in this pen comes out throwing 97 w a high 80s breaker. They’re all big league arms. What’s the one little tweak or adjustment that suddenly puts them over the edge and makes them big leaguers? — Roger Munter (@rog61) August 14, 2019

As Jake Eisenberg, the Squirrels other radio man, noted: the Squirrels really feature a big league bullpen in terms of stuff (especially back when Adon was still a part of it). It’s just one long parade of guys who come in throwing 97-98 mph and breaking off nasty high 80s breaking balls. Ryan Halstead, who started the second game last night, was even throwing what I think was a changeup at 91. And the guys who aren’t pure octane, like Moll and Garrett Williams — who will spend the end of the season in the bullpen to manage his workload — still bring quality secondary pitches. There’s almost nobody in that pen (and yes, some of that is spilling into the rotation now with Chase Johnson and Halstead picking up starts) who couldn’t, with the just the right tweak, the right luck, the right mental approach, suddenly find themselves in the big league being successful.

And that’s a lot of what Matt Daniels and many of the newer hires this winter were brought in to do — find those tweaks, make that luck.

Moll had a productive extended spring training with some pitch design work and has done a nice job of transferring it into games consistently throughout the regular season https://t.co/wYNPgkfgOm — Matt Daniels (@OneGun45) August 14, 2019

UPDATE: Here is the interview with Sam Moll referenced above:

Here's the link to our conversation with Sam Moll from yesterday's pregame show: https://t.co/E7QhngRaUX



Enjoy! (cc: @rog61) — Jake Eisenberg (@JakeEisenberg_) August 14, 2019

San Jose won at Visalia Rawhide (Diamondbacks), 11-3

In a shocking development, the Giants rolled over the Rawhide in Visalia. The Giants were a nice balance of the new and the old last night. They were led by veterans of higher levels like Courtney Hawkins, who blasted two home runs, Heath Quinn, who had three hits, and Brandon Van Horn who contributed a crucial bases-clearing double. But 20 year old Diego Rincones also made a nice impression in his A+ debut, going 3 for 5.

Oh, and speaking of big league arms:

Camilo Doval at 100-101 MPH in a perfect ninth inning tonight for the #SJGiants. Doval last nine outings: 12 1/3 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 19 SO. — Joe Ritzo (@JoeRitzo) August 14, 2019

That’ll work!

San Jose sits 5 games back of Visalia in the 2nd half standings — but again, that’s not the thing to focus on. As the Rawhide appear poised to cruise to a 1st place standing in both halves of the 2019 season, the Cal League playoff procedures then move to a Wild Card entry — the second best overall record in the division. And, by that measure, San Jose currently sits just one-half game behind the Stockton Ports. So, yes, despite being 10 games below .500 for the year, the Giants find themselves right in the midst of a playoff chase down the stretch. Even without their star contingent, San Jose is making a playoff run.

Bring back Heliot!

Augusta beat the Greenville Drive (Red Sox), 11-1

Ricardo Genoves produced a huge night to lead the Greenjackets offense to a laugher over the Drive. One night after the team had fallen into second place for the first time in more than a month, they got a big win that they really needed.

Genoves kicked things off in the bottom of the 2nd inning, jerking a solo shot right down the LF line.

Ricardo Genoves drills his 2nd HR for Augusta, the start of a huge 4 hit night for the Catcher up from Salem-Keizer pic.twitter.com/mTwjcfe56o — Roger Munter (@rog61) August 14, 2019

It would not be the big man’s only highlight of the night! Genoves doubled in each of his next two at bats and would end up with four hits and six RBI on the night! On a night when the team scored 11 runs, Genoves nearly produced half of their hits, and had more than half their RBIs. Wowza! That’s how you make up for the loss of Rincones!

And, oh yeah, the pitching was pretty good as well. You probably didn’t notice that because it was Quiet Assassin Keaton Winn on the bump once again.

Keaton Winn who has quietly had a great 2019 just turned in one of his best performances of the year. A career high 7-innings, 1 ER, 6 K. A guy that doesn’t get talked about enough continues to be lights out. ERA at 3.30 now. Leads the team with 117.1 IP. — Rylan Kobre (@RylanKobrePxP) August 14, 2019

The rout helped Augusta move back into a tie for 1st. It’s going to be a thrilling final two weeks!

Salem-Keizer lost at Tri-City Dust Devils (Padres), 4-1

losing their series, 0-3

Alexander Canario produced two hits, including his 11th double in the NWL, and Armani Smith went deep for the third time as a pro, but otherwise it was a quiet night for the Volcano bats. Hunter Bishop is still walking a whole lot and Marco Luciano is working to get up to speed on this new level, which should come soon enough (hopefully by the time the playoffs roll around, Marco!)

In just 44 games played this year (between the AZL and NWL), Canario has now produced 29 extra-base hits and is slugging .645 on the year. In his 34 games at the NWL level, the 19 year old has produced a .287/.367/.527 line. It’s not quite Heliot Ramos-level age 19 season, but it’s pretty impressive nonetheless!

AZL Giants Orange beat AZL Dbacks, 3-0

AZL Giants Black lost to AZL Indians Red, 4-1

With the guts of their offense now mostly removed, the Giants’ Orange team just continues to win, now with pitching! After Nick Avila’s strong 3 inning start, the Orange team got five innings of shutout work from Luis Moreno, who started the year in Salem-Keizer. Alex DuBord, also an opening day member of the Volcanoes rotation finished things off for the 37-9 Orange team which seems very likely to set the leagues all time records for wins and winning percentage.

3rd round pick Grant McCray had one of his finest days as a pro, knocking out three hits and stealing his 11th base. It’s been a slow transition to pro ball for the 18 year old from Bradenton, FL, but there’s an interesting mix of potential in that package.

I must admit, I’ve been terribly derelict in my duty. I’m often meant to point out — but have never actually done so — that Garrett Frechette, the 5th round pick who signed for the third highest bonus in the draft class, has been out of action for an extended time now. Frechette was last seen back on August 4th, in a game in which he was HBP twice. This year has been a long series of injuries for the 18 year old with the sweet swing. I hope we see him again before the year is out. He’s had an excellent debut, hitting .321/.378/.415 in the desert

DSL Giants lost to DSL Colorado, 4-3

Ah yes, same as it ever was. Luis Matos goes out and puts on a show in the morning, and I’m left trying to devise new ways to describe what he’s doing. So how about this one:

DSL records only go back to 2006, so in the known statistical history of the DSL Giants, the previous record for doubles in a season was 18, accomplished by two different players including former Giant Miguel Gomez (Ehire Adrianza and Alexander Canario both had 17). Matos has long since bested that record, taking the field yesterday with 22 doubles on the year in addition to his team-leading 7 HRs. Then he hit two more! His 1.011 OPS is now 5th best in the DSL. Dude!

This obviously wasn’t from yesterday, but you know...pretend a little

Giants CF Luis Matos, the largest IFA signing behind Luciano and Pomares ($725k), hitting his 7th HR. The Venezuelan has been one of the best players in the DSL this year with some eye popping stats in 51G:



.995 OPS | .217 ISO | 168 wRC+

18 SB | 31 XBH | 11.2% K#SFGiants pic.twitter.com/T0h16WqLyR — tyler j. spicer (@tylerjspicer) August 13, 2019

Today’s Scheduled Starters:

Sacramento: OFF

Richmond (Brandon Lawson) @ Bowie (Michael Baumann)

San Jose (Matt Frisbee) @ Visalia (Shumpei Yoshikawa)

Augusta (Adam Oller) vs. Greenville (Kevin Biondic)

Salem-Keizer (Prelander Berroa) @ Eugene (Ryan Jensen

AZL Giants Black (Cole Waites) vs. AZL Padres2 (TBD)

AZL Giants Orange (Nick Morreale) @ AZL Cubs1 (TBD)

DSL Giants (Jorge Garcia) vs. DSL Royals2 (TBD)