The minor league affiliates of the San Francisco Giants recently concluded another week of play in the MiLB, and mostly fared pretty well. The Fresno Grizzlies, Richmond Flying Squirrels, San Jose Giants, and Augusta Greenjackets all shared some form of success this week, let's take a closer look at how each team fared.
Fresno Grizzlies (AAA): The Grizz were 2-5 last week on their Southern swing road trip, including a 10-2 loss to the Memphis Red Birds on Sunday. They currently sit in 3rd place in the PCL South with a 18-20 record overall, 7 games behind the leading Sacramento RIvercats. Emmanuel Burriss has been doing very well since his return frrom the majors, bumping his batting average up to .366 with 15 stolen bases after a 3-5 night on Saturday with a double, triple, and 2 runs scored. He also recently set a Grizz team record with 4 stolen bags in a game. And just in case you were wondering, Brandon Belt is still hitting a cool .388 with a 1.100 OPS. Fresno will have two more games in Memphis before heading down to New Orleans for a four game set with the Zephyrs.
Richmond Flying Squirrels (AA): Dave Machemer's down in Richmond have themselves amidst a very tight race in the EAS Western division, and were 3-3 last week including a postponement due to rain on Saturday and a 11-4 win over the Harrisburg Senators on Sunday. At 17-19 on the season the Flying Squirrels are only 1.5 games behind the Altoona Curve for the lead in the very tight EAS Western division, although all the teams currently are within 2 games of Altoona as well. Juan Perez had a great night against Harrisburg on Saturday going 5-5 with 2 RBI, 2 runs, a double, and a triple. He's batting at a nice .270 clip with 4 RBI and 7 stolen bases. The Squirrels will have 3 games with the Bowie Bay Sox next week followed by a 3 game series at the Reading R-Phils.
San Jose Giants (A): San Jose has been the crowning jewel of the Giants minor league teams so far this season, sporting a 5-1 record last week including a 2-0 win versus the Stockton Ports on Sunday. The currently sit atop the CAL North league with a 24-13 record one game in front of the Stockton Ports. Pitcher Zach Wheeler has been shining for San Jose so far this season with a 3-1 record and a 3.66 ERA with 41 strikeouts. In his last outing May 11 he pitched for 5 innings, allowed 4 hits, 1 run, 4 walks and 7 strikeouts. He's had at least 7 K's in his last 5 starts, all under 6 innings of work. Gary Brown also has been killing it for the Giants, batting a sweet .367 with 3 HR, 30 RBI, and 22 stolen bases already. Also, Santiago Casilla will be making his first minor league assignment start Monday vs the Ports, then the Giants will have a 4 game series in Modesto against the Nuts and a 3 game trip in Stockton to face the Ports agin.
Augusta Greenjackets (A): Lipso Nava has had his struggles with his Augusta squad so far this season, sporting a 4-3 record last week with a 4-1 loss to the Hickory Crawdads on Sunday. Overall they are 14-23 in the SAL South, 4.5 games behind the Ashville Tourists for first place. San Francisco GIants skipper Bruce Bochy recently had his son Brandon added to the Augusta squad as a relief pitcher, and made his first appearance on Sunday against the Crawdads pitching 2 scoreless innings with a hit and a strikeout. Adam Duvall has been swinging the lumber though, batting .273 with 8 HR and a team high 26 RBI, including a 1-2 game on May 13 with a 3 run homer, 2 runs scored, and 3 walks.