r/SFGiants • u/BruteSentiment san jose giants • 22h ago
Minors Update Arizona Fall League Quick-Notes 10/13/26 - He’s BaaaAAAaaack!
Well, the final Giant assigned to the Arizona Fall League finally made his debut appearance for the fall! Randy Rodriguez returned to the mound in a brief but successful outing. That wasn’t all, as three Giants pitchers went onto the mound today, with Darien Smith having the best outing, as Scottsdale and Peoria had a real pitcher’s duel going for four innings. And then, after he left the game, Scottsdale gave up 11 runs in the next inning alone…oh well. And today, we highlight the opposition pitcher who set the tone for Scottsdale’s offense being held back.
The Minor League Baseball Organization of the Year: Your Richmond Flying Squirrels!
https://www.mlb.com/milb/richmond/news/flying-squirrels-named-2026-milb-organization-of-the-year
This week is the MiLB Business Summit…kind of the Winter Meetings for minor league baseball, and today they announced that the Richmond Flying Squirrels were named the 2026 Organization of the Year Award.
Of course, this year the Flying Squirrels opened the long-awaited new stadium, CarMax Park, culminating literally a decade and a half of work to make it happen. (Ever wonder why “The Diamond” never got a corporate name? For 15 years, the Squirrels thought a new stadium was so close to happening that they never wanted to sign a long-term naming deal that would end early when they moved.) But the Squirrels have been a long-run top organization. The new stadium helped the team average 7,105 fans per game, the 7th-best attendance in all the minors and the highest average attendance in the Eastern League since 2004. But the Squirrels’ performance in attendance is no new-stadium fluke…they have led all 30 DoubleA MiLB clubs in attendance since 2022, increasing their attendance each season.
This is all just more plaudits for the well-deserving Flying Squirrels organization, who I will openly say as a member of the media, is one of the tightest-run and most professional organizations I’ve worked with in over 20 years of experience. As more and more teams have been purchased up by ownership groups, particularly Diamond Baseball Holdings, the Squirrels are run very well as a mostly independent ownership. (OnDeck Partners, a self-described “American baseball holding company”, who owns three minor league clubs, holds a minority stake.)
I love to see Richmond being honored for well-deserved performance over the years. But part of me worries a lot about 2031, which is looming.
Non-Giant Prospect to Highlight of the Day: Luke Holman (CIN #23)
Today’s game between Peoria and Scottsdale started with just one hit allowed between both teams through four innings, none by Scottsdale, and that was led by Luke Holman, who struck out six in his three innings of work. The 23-year old Reds prospect has only rarely pitched since being drafted in the second Competitive Balance of the 2024 draft. He had Tommy John surgery in April 2025 after appearing in just two games in his debut year, and was able to make four rehab appearances in the ACL before that season ended. The LSU pitcher was one of the better SEC pitchers in 2024, working mostly off of a low-90’s fastball with good ride and a good slider. His other pitchers are a bit behind with lost development time. However, he was showing good stuff in this game, and has 10 strikeouts to just one walk in 5.0 total innings so far this fall.
Scottsdale: Peoria Javelinas 13, Scottsdale Scorpions 5
Giants Prospects to Spotlight:
- SP Randy Rodriguez: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K - Look who finally debuted! A good game for him in his first game since August 22nd. He threw 11 pitches, seven of them for strikes. Otherwise, not much to go off of, other than he was back and looked healthy and good.
- RP Darien Smith: 3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K - Smith had his best outing of the fall, allowing only a hit in what was a pitcher’s duel for four innings. The one hit was the only allowed by either team after four. Smith leads Scottsdale in innings pitched with 8.0 over three appearances, and has a 2.25 ERA with nine strikeouts to three walks.
- RP Alexander Fuentes (SF #26): 0.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 1 K, 1 WP - Fuentes came in for the 8th inning and struggled with his command, walking three and allowing a hit. Of 26 pitches, only nine were strikes. He has eight walks to five strikeouts in 3.0 innings over three appearances.
- CF Dakota Jordan (SF #7): 1-4, 2 K, 1 2B (1) - After the slow start, Dakota Jordan is slowing getting his batting average up, going 1-for-4 with a double, he second extra-base hit of the fall, raising his average to .185 (5-for-27), but also adding two strikeouts to give him 12.
- DH Dalton Wentz: 0-2, 1 R, 2 BB, 1 K - No hits for Wentz, lowering his average to .182 (2-for-11), but two walks gives him three walks to go with four strikeouts across five games.
Other Scottsdale Prospect Lines:
- SS Bryce Rainer (MLB #45; DET #2): 0-4, 4 K, 1 E (1)
- LF Brendan Summerhill (TB #28): 0-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 2 K
- 1B Eric Bitoni (MIL #26): 2-3, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 2B (1)
Peoria Notable Prospect Lines:
- CF Tai Peete (STL #17): 0-4, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K
- 1B Ike Irish (MLB #97; BAL #5): 4-5, 1 R, 2 RBI
- C Boston Smith (SEA #13): 1-4, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K
- RF Alex McCoy (SD #26): 1-5, 1 R, 3 K
- SS Carlos Sanchez (CIN #14): 1-4, 2 R, 1 BB, 2 K
- SP Luke Holman (CIN #23): 3.0 IP, 0 H, 1 BB, 6 K
Other Games
Salt River Rafters 6, Glendale Desert Dogs 5 (10 Innings)
Link
Salt River Notable Prospect Lines:
- SS Dax Kilby (MLB #83; NYY #1): 0-4, 2 SB (2), 1 HBP
- 1B Jared Thomas (COL #10): 0-5, 4 K
- 2B Andy Perez (COL #15): 0-4, 1 BB, 2 K
- CF Yasser Mercedes (MIN #17): 1-2, 2 R, 3 BB, 2 SB (2), 1 CS (1), 1-1 ABS
- 3B Core Jackson (NYY #11): 1-4, 1 R, 1 BB, 2 K, 2 SB (5)
- SP Sean Sullivan (COL #20): 3.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, 1 HR
Glendale Notable Prospect Lines:
- SS Tate Southisene (MLB #57; ATL #3): 1-3, 1 R, 1 K, 1 SB (1), 1 E (2)
- 2B Charles Davalan (MLB #84; LAD #6): 1-4, 1 HBP
- DH Dillon Lewis (MIA #11): 1-5, 2 RBI, 3 K, 1 2B (3)
- LF Caleb Bonemer (MLB #27; CWS #2): 1-4, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 K, 1 HR (1)
- CF Eduardo Quintero (MLB #18; LAD #3): 0-4, 3 K
- 1B-SS Colby Shelton (CWS #23): 1-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 2 K, 1 HR (1)
- RF Owen Carey (ATL #21): 0-2
- RF Isaiah Drake (ATL #29): 0-2, 1 K
- RP Mathias LaCombe (CWS #17): 1.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 0 K, 1 HR
Mesa Solar Sox at Surprise Saguaros: POSTPONED
Well, this is a new one. It wasn’t the weather…well, not directly. Officially, this game got postponed due to power loss. As of right now, no makeup date has been announced. Peoria and Surprise are supposed to make up their game from Monday tomorrow on what was supposed to be an off-day. Hopefully the power is back by then!
Programming Note
As noted, Wednesday is an off-day for the league, but there is that makeup game scheduled. No Giants on Wednesday, though.
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u/ericthelostman 16h ago
Righty middle relief should be fine if Doval is kept (RanRod, Smith, Harris, Doval). It's the closing situation that will need to be settled (and lefty relief).
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u/SalsaMan101 Hogs Out! 22h ago
Did anyone have a gun on Randy today? Wondering what his velo looked like (I know it’ll be low just curious)