Category: Sports News

It was a rough start to the game today in Cleveland. Cole Ragans took the hill in the bottom of the first and started out by striking out Kwan and Martinez. It was looking like he might be dominant, which the Royals could have used going for the series win. Then Jose Ramirez singled off of Ragans, literally.

The come-backer hit Cole in his pitching hand, but he was determined to stay in. That lasted only two batters. David Fry walked on four pitched and then Chase DeLauter hit a 2-RBI double, at which point Ragans was pulled and in came Luinder Avila. Avila allowed DeLauter in, so Cole was charged with 3 runs in just 2/3 of an inning for the start. An already taxed Kansas City bullpen then had to piece together the rest of the game.

Avila did a reasonable job getting through 3 innings, but too many baserunners and too many pitches meant he only got through 3 innings and gave up another run, so the Royals ended up down four to nothing. It was not a good performance, though I am giving him bonus points for warming quickly and coming in well before he was expecting to on the day. The offense started to battle back in the 4th when Bobby Witt Jr. ended the longest stretch of his career without an extra base hit with an RBI double.

Alex Lange was next out of the pen and went 2 1/3 innings to get the team through the 6th. He gave up another run, but Starling Marte also added another run with a double that scored Lane Thomas in the 5th. The run was ruled unearned since the Kwan mishandled the ball off of the wall for an error. Joey Cantillo came one strike away from getting through 6 innings for Cleveland. He had quite a start at 5 2/3 innings, 3 hits, 2 walks, 1 ER, and 9 strike outs. For the second game in a row, the Royals had some issues with striking out. Yesterday, KC struck out 14 times and followed it up with 14 again today.

It seemed like the Royals had a chance to rally at that point as Steven Cruz came in and got through a clean 7th. Unfortunately, the 8th went about as poorly as could have for Cruz. It went single, single, RBI single, walk, grand slam, and strikeout. Five runs was enough that Tyler Tolbert came in and gave up a single then got a double play.

That was a tough end to a disappointing series that sees the Royals fall to 5-7 on the season. Up next is four games at home against a bad White Sox team. Hopefully they can use that to get back on track.

I don’t know about you, but I sure am happy that Minor League Baseball is back. It’s probably easier to be excited about the Minors since the San Francisco Giants aren’t worth being excited about, but it’s also just great having so much baseball around, and optimism in the air.

All four of the Giants A-ball affiliates started a new series on Tuesday night, so let’s dive into the exciting action. Spoiler alert: they all won!

Link to the 2026 McCovey Chronicles Community Prospect List (CPL)

All listed positions in the roundup are the position played in that particular game.

AAA Sacramento (5-3)

Sacramento River Cats beat the Las Vegas Aviators (A’s) 5-3
Box score

In case you missed the Major League news, catcher Daniel Susac (No. 20 CPL) is apparently the best hitter in baseball. He’s 6-7 with a triple and a walk to start his career!

That will probably calm down at some point, but if it doesn’t — and especially if San Francisco’s offense keeps struggling — then the Giants will look for ways to get his bat in the lineup more. But it’s hard to do that, because there are only a pair of ways to get Susac more at-bats: start him at catcher more often, or play him at DH. The former means regularly benching the best defensive baseball player on the planet, and the latter is a very risky move with a backup catcher.

One potential solution down the road? Add catcher Jesús Rodríguez (No. 16 CPL) to the Major League roster.

Rodríguez was the favorite to win the backup catcher position before the Giants acquired Susac in the Rule 5 Draft, and the dude can absolutely hit. After a slow start to the year, the righty has been turning it on lately, and had his best game of the season on Tuesday, when he hit 2-4 with a home run, 3 runs batted in, and a walk.

That’s a mighty impressive swing for someone who isn’t associated with a lot of power!

If Susac and Rodríguez play as well as the Giants expect them to, then the team will have a very good problem on their hands. It helps that Rodríguez can also competently play the non-shortstop infield positions, and can even fake it in the corners of the outfield. And it helps that he has 2 option years remaining, and that Susac will have 3 if he can make it through this year on the roster.

That’s putting the cart ahead of the horse, but the Giants are very high on Rodríguez, who is already on the 40-man roster and who still has a few weeks left of being a 23-year old. If he has more days like this, the team will start looking for ways to get him an MLB debut.

Speaking of contact hitters acquired in deadline deals whom the team is high on, second baseman Nate Furman (No. 39 CPL) also had himself a day, hitting 1-3 with a home run and a walk.

Get used to the hits and get used to the walks, as Furman will rack up both of them in huge quantities. The home runs? Probably don’t need to get used to those, but they’re fun when they arrive.

Furman impressed at his first Spring Training this year, and the 24-year old, who was a 4th-round pick by the Guardians in 2022, got an opening assignment in AAA despite just 22 career games in AA due to injuries. So far he’s making the Giants look very smart there, with a .989 OPS and a 191 wRC+ in 10 games with Sacramento. That’ll play!

In less happy news, it was a rough day at the office for first baseman Bryce Eldridge (No. 1 CPL), who went 0-4 with a strikeout hat trick. Fans have been clamoring for the Giants to call up Eldridge to save the offense and, well, that talk requires a few chill pills.

It’s pretty clear that the Giants optioned Eldridge with the intention of having him work on his swing-and-miss struggles, and it’s equally clear that there’s still work to be done. Eldridge is up to a 33.3% strikeout rate which, for context, is 9th-highest out of 78 qualified PCL hitters. And while some of that is coming from a slightly passive approach — which has also led to a sky-high 18.8% walk rate — much of it is due to having some exploitable zones.

I’m not sure whether this is the good news or the bad news, but Eldridge has been doing a good job staying in the zone this year, and just is missing hittable pitches (though that passivity is also showing, as he’s 25th percentile in zone swing rate). His chase rate is in the 75th percentile in AAA this year, which is great … but it makes his 9th-percentile whiff rate a little terrifying. His in-zone contact rate is just 19th percentile, while his swinging strike rate is 32nd percentile.

I would stop short of calling any of that concerning — it’s only 10 games — but it certainly paints a picture of a prospect who has a lot of development to do before making the Majors, which isn’t a knock for a 21-year old. Hopefully it all comes together for Eldridge, as the combination of passivity and lack of contact has also brought down his good underlying metrics: he’s just 33rd percentile in average exit velocity and 54th percentile in maximum exit velocity, while still searching for his 1st home run of the season.

The other 40-man hitters: left fielder Drew Gilbert hit 2-4 with a walk, raising his OPS to .824 and his wRC+ to 141; right fielder Will Brennan hit 1-4 with a double, putting his OPS at .861 and his wRC+ at 125; and center fielder Grant McCray went 0-3 with a walk, a strikeout, and his 1st stolen base of the year, and now has a .639 OPS and a 90 wRC+.

There was great news on the pitching front: RHP Joel Peguero (No. 27 CPL) made a rehab appearance. Peguero, who was a Minor League journeyman before making his MLB debut last season, figures to play a key role in the bullpen this year, though it may or may not be as soon as he’s back into game shape and in a rhythm. The Giants could certainly use his 100-mph heat out of the bullpen though, and on Tuesday he looked the part, pitching a perfect 6th inning with 2 strikeouts. A very welcome sight.

Speaking of people who will help the bullpen this year, RHP Spencer Bivens had a quality outing as well, tossing 2 scoreless innings while giving up 2 hits (both singles), and striking out 1. He’ll certainly be back in the bigs at some point; he perhaps doesn’t have the nastiness or the upside of the players currently in San Francisco, but he’s a very trustworthy bit of bullpen depth.

While the bullpen shined (that pair, plus RHPs Braxton Roxby and Michael Fulmer combined for 4.1 shutout innings), it was a tough start for LHP John Michael Bertrand, who struggled with command. Bertrand allowed 4 hits (including a home run) in 4.2 innings, but more concerning was the 4 walks he issued, against just 1 strikeout. All of that combined for a 3-run outing, which raised his ERA to 5.40 and his FIP to 6.34 through a pair of starts. The funky southpaw, who recently turned 28, will never be a big strikeout guy, but he gets enough ground balls that, if he can keep the walks in check, he could provide value at the next level in some capacity.

AA Richmond (3-1)

Richmond Flying Squirrels beat the Altoona Curve (Pirates) 3-2
Box score

Richmond kept their strong start to the season going, though it was a fairly uninteresting game for the air-bound rodents. The offense only had 6 hits on the game, but half of them belonged to second baseman Dayson Croes, who hit 3-4 with a double and a strikeout. That was the only extra-base hit of the game for Richmond.

Croes, who has a 1.055 OPS and a 183 wRC+ through 4 games, was one of the more fun stories on the farm last year. The left-hander from Aruba was signed last year — as a 25-year old — out of indy ball, which is something the Giants have been doing a fair amount of lately. The Giants moved him quickly from the Complex League to High-A, to AA, and finally to AAA, and he hit very well at every stop. Despite an .882 OPS and a 137 wRC+ in 14 games with Sacramento, the Giants opted to have the now-26 year old begin the year back in Richmond.

The reasoning there is probably as simple as wanting to prioritize AAA at-bats for fellow second baseman Nate Furman (No. 39 CPL), and honestly, they’re very similar players. Both make a ton of contact (Croes had a .300 average last year, and just a 15.1% strikeout rate), but don’t have a lot of power (Croes had 3 home runs in 90 games), and have suspect defense at second base. Really, it’s a similar profile in AA, AAA, and the Majors for the Giants at second!

While Croes had the best game, the best news was that center fielder Bo Davidson (No. 4 CPL) made his season debut. Davidson missed the first series of the year while on paternity leave (congrats!) but returned on Tuesday, and fit right in, hitting 1-3 with a walk. He’s one of the most must-watch prospects in the farm this year … not just because he’s one of the organization’s top prospects, but because he held his own in a 42-game sample in Richmond last year … meaning he could be promoted to AAA fairly early if he plays well.

Right fielder Jonah Cox only hit 1-3 with a strikeout, but my goodness did he make an impact on the other side of the ball, with an A+ Jo Adell impression.

The pitching featured piggy-backing starters, and the player who actually started was the star on that front. LHP Cesar Perdomo, a recently-turned 24-year old from Venezuela, made his AA debut and it went quite well, as he gave up just 4 hits and 0 walks in 3.2 innings, while striking out 4 batters. Perdomo allowed just 1 run, and it was unearned following a passed ball by catcher Adrián Sugastey.

Perdomo has always had good control, and last year walked just 2.7 batters per 9 innings in High-A, so it’s great to see that carrying with him up a level. He threw 48 of his 66 pitches for strikes.

The other “starter” was RHP Darien Smith, who pitched innings 5-8. Smith, a 26-year old who signed as an undrafted free agent in 2024 and made his debut in 2025, wasn’t quite as clean as Perdomo in his introduction to AA. He only gave up 2 hits in 4 innings, but 1 of those hits was a home run, and he walked 3 batters with just 2 strikeouts. Still, he did a good job limiting damage, as that solo home run was the only run he allowed.

High-A Eugene (4-0)

Eugene Emeralds beat the Vancouver Canadians (Blue Jays) 4-3
Box score

Eugene’s perfect season continued. 4 games, 4 wins! They’re basically the Daniel Susac of Minor League Baseball teams.

The Emeralds are a sneaky-fun team this year, in part because their roster is full of so many players given exciting new challenges, and we’ll get to see how they do there. One such player is left fielder Carlos Gutierrez (No. 18 CPL).

Gutierrez’s opening assignment in High-A is not surprising, given the way that he thoroughly dominated Low-A pitchers en route to an .896 OPS and a 150 wRC+ last year. But injuries have slowed the lefty hitter’s career to this point, including ending his 2025 campaign early. In all, he played just 22 games in the Dominican Summer League, 3 games in the Arizona Complex League, and 60 games in the Cal League. He’s raked every stop along the way, but that still makes it quite a challenge to move up to a higher-level for the 21-year old from Mexico.

Challenge accepted, apparently. Gutierrez’s 3rd game at the level was his best, as he hit 1-3 with a home run, a walk, and a strikeout. Gutierrez, who is far from the largest player on the field, is never going to be a big power guy — that was just the 4th home run in his MiLB career — but he can do damage in a wide variety of ways. I’m excited to watch him this year.

Speaking of exciting players with exciting opening assignments, shortstop Gavin Kilen (No. 7 CPL) is in High-A this year, despite just 10 highly subpar games in Low-A after getting drafted in the 1st round a year ago. And if you’re wondering if he actually belongs at this level, let me give you 2 different things to think about:

Thing the first: He hit 2-5 in this game
Thing the second: That was the worst of his 4 games

Yes, Kilen has been outrageous to start his Eugene tenure. The lefty, who also struck out, is now 8-16 with 2 home runs, 2 doubles, 3 walks, and just 2 strikeouts to start the year. He’s always had the feel of a player who could move quickly if things click and … well … perhaps things are clicking.

Kilen was the team’s 1st draft pick in 2025, and their 2nd, right fielder Trevor Cohen (No. 15 CPL) also has joined him in High-A. Cohen, a left-handed hitter taken in the 3rd round, has some outrageous contact skills, though we haven’t gotten to see those on display yet in the Northwest League. We have, however, seen how he can impact the game in other ways, such as on Tuesday when he was held hitless in 3 at-bats, but drew 2 walks and stole 2 bases. Through 32 career games, Cohen has now drawn 24 walks (with just 17 strikeouts) and stolen 11 bases. That’s a fun player, especially if he can provide above-average outfield defense and/or play center field, both of which seem possible.

There were some bad days to get to, unfortunately. Center fielder Dakota Jordan (No. 5 CPL) is struggling with the adjustment to High-A pitching, as he went 0-4 and struck out 3 times. Jordan has the best power/speed combo of any Giants prospect, but fell to the 4th round in 2024 due to a huge strikeout issue. He did an incredible job starting to get that in check in Low-A last year, but so far has struck out 11 times in 18 plate appearances in High-A. Hopefully it’s just an adjustment period.

Speaking of strikeouts, catcher Diego Cartaya went 0-3 with 3 strikeouts and a walk. The Giants are smartly moving Cartaya — who has a lot of experience in AAA — down to a low level as they attempt to reset the former prized jewel of the Dodgers’ system. But so far it’s been ugly, as he’s 0-11 with 8 strikeouts to start the season. And third baseman Walker Martin, who has put up some big numbers early in the year, went 0-3 with a walk and a strikeout, and committed his 3rd error in as many games.

On the mound, LHP Charlie McDaniel made his season debut, and it went well. An undrafted free agent, McDaniel did well in his inaugural season a year ago, with strong numbers in Low-A, but those numbers fell apart in High-A. He’s back in Eugene to attempt to conquer the level, and so far, so good. In 3 shutout innings, the southpaw gave up just 1 hit and 1 walk, while striking out 2 batters. He didn’t have the best command, as he threw 29 of 45 pitches for strikes, but still a very nice start to the season.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for RHP Cade Vernon, the team’s 10th-round pick in 2024. The Murray State product had a rough High-A debut over the weekend, and followed it up with a brutal outing on Tuesday, ceding 2 hits, 4 walks, and 2 earned runs in just 1.2 innings out of the bullpen. It’s been a rude introduction to the Northwest League for Vernon, who has now allowed 9 baserunners and 4 earned runs in 3.1 innings.

Low-A San Jose (3-1)

San Jose Giants beat the Visalia Rawhide (D-Backs) 11-9
Box score

There were a lot of great days for the Baby Giants, but the night belonged to center fielder Andy Polanco, who had a phenomenal game. Polanco was perfect in this outing, hitting 4-4 while smacking a triple and stealing a base. A day to remember!

Polanco has flown under the radar after being an 11th-round pick out of high school in 2024. But the right-handed hitter, who turns 21 in a few weeks, has some pretty exciting skills, especially with his legs. He spent his entire debut season in 2025 at the Complex League, where he showed a strong ability to handle center field, while also stealing 22 bags in 25 attempts in just 47 games.

So far he’s he followed that up well in Low-A, with 3 stolen bases in as many attempts and games, and strong defense as well. It doesn’t hurt that, after posting an 85 wRC+ in Arizona, he has a 240 wRC+ in San Jose … but, something something sample size.

There were 4 other hitters who shined, and if you’ve been reading these Minor League roundups, you’ll probably know exactly who those 4 are. The Nos. 1-4 hitters in San Jose’s Tuesday lineup were the 4 hitters who starred in their opening series, and all 4 starred in this series opener. They’re carrying the team!

At the top of the lineup was the shining gem of San Jose’s roster, shortstop Jhonny Level (No. 3 CPL), who had his 3rd multi-hit game of the 4-game season, going 2-5 with a double, a stolen base, and 3 runs batted in. Level had a breakout 2025 and he is on his way to another breakout campaign, as he’s started the year hitting 9-18 with 3 extra-base hits, 2 walks, and 3 stolen bases, for a 245 wRC+.

It’s too early to wonder how long he stays in San Jose if he keeps hitting like this, but then again … the just-turned 19-year old switch-hitter sits near the very top of the prospect rankings for a good reason.

Hitting 2nd in the order was Level’s double play partner, second baseman Lorenzo Meola (No. 23 CPL), who hit 3-5 with a double. Meola, a right-handed hitter who was the team’s 4th-round pick in July, is known for his glove more than his bat, but he’s quickly trying to change that … and not by doing anything bad with his glove. After a solid 16-game debut last year, Meola has started his 1st full season by hitting a casual 7-17 with 4 doubles, 2 walks, and just 1 strikeout, which has resulted in a 171 wRC+.

Then came the beef of the order: batting 3rd was catcher Junior Barajas, who continued his stellar debut season by hitting 1-4 with a double, a hit by pitch, and a strikeout. The 11th-round pick last year got a lot of hype in his 1st offseason, and so far he’s making it look justified, by hitting 6-15 with 4 doubles, a 215 wRC+, and strong defense behind the dish.

And in the cleanup spot was someone hoping to become the next great undrafted success story in the organization, first baseman Hayden Jatczak, who hit 2-5 with a double and 2 strikeouts. Jatczak is on the older side for a Low-A hitter — he turns 25 in August — but it’s hard to argue with 6-13 with 4 extra-base hits, 7 walks, and a 284 wRC+ through 4 career games. Talk about an introduction!

It was not a good pitching game for San Jose. 3 of their 5 pitchers gave up not just runs, but multiple runs, while the other 2 were shaky in scoreless outings. It began with one of the most high-profile pitchers in the system, RHP Keyner Martinez (No. 10 CPL). Martinez was one of the breakout stars of 2025, and he has some truly nasty stuff. Some of it was on display Tuesday, as he struck out 4 batters in just 3 innings.

But he also gave up 4 hits, which included a home run and a triple, while walking 2 and ceding 3 runs. Martinez, a 21-year old who was signed out of Venezuela 3 years ago, really shined in his short time with San Jose last year, following a late-season promotion. In 6 games, he posted a 2.86 ERA and a 3.96 FIP, so it’s safe to assume that his season debut was something of an outlier.

LHP Ricardo Estrada and RHP Fernando Vasquez both got rocked fairly hard, while RHP Ubert Mejias pitched 2.1 no-hit innings with 2 strikeouts, but also walked 2 batters.

Home run tracker

1 — Jesús Rodríguez — [AAA]
1 — Nate Furman — [AAA]
1 — Carlos Gutierrez — [High-A]

Wednesday schedule

Sacramento: 6:45 p.m. PT vs. Las Vegas (SP: Trevor McDonald)
Richmond: 4:05 p.m. PT vs. Altoona (SP: Logan Martin)
Eugene: 7:05 p.m. PT at Vancouver (SP: Tyler Switalski)
San Jose: 6:00 p.m. PT vs. Visalia (SP: Cody Delvecchio)

Reminder that almost all MiLB games can be watched on MLB TV

The St. Louis Cardinals will wrap up the first road trip of the 2026 season with a Wednesday afternoon contest against an old friend. While the Cardinals have Michael McGreevy scheduled to make the afternoon start, the Washington Nationals will send Ron BurgundyMiles Mikolas to the mound. Miles has had a rough start to the season with an 0-2 record and an ERA of 14.46. Let’s hope the Cardinals increase that number Wednesday afternoon.

It’s time to paste the Statcast graphic into the body of this post because it wasn’t available when I was doing the lineups post, and also, for the Braves to have a successful West Coast-ish road trip and continue to be unbeaten series-wise in 2026, right? Oy.