San Francisco Giants Triple-A Options for September

The San Francisco Giants are in the thick of the playoff hunt, even after having lost three of their last four to the Cardinals and Pirates the orange and black are still just 2.5 games behind the Dodgers in the NL West. Their Triple-A affiliate, the Sacramento River Cats rattled off their 11th straight victory in extras last night defeating the visiting New Orleans Zephyrs (Marlins) by a score of 4-3 in 14 innings.

For the Zephyrs, it’s their 12th loss in a row, with four coming at the hands of the Fresno Grizzlies, the team that leads the Pacific Northern Division. The problem for the River Cats is that Fresno has rattled off a bit of a streak of their own, winning their last ten, and 18 of 19 this month. Because of this, the River Cats sit on the verge of being eliminated from playoff contention, sitting 14.5 games back of the Grizzlies with five games separating them from elimination.

That’s the bad news. The good news for the River Cats is that the Giants could certainly use some reinforcements, and if there was a chance that they would hold off on calling up a player due to a playoff run (however unlikely this scenario may be), they need not worry.

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Looking solely at the club’s 40-man roster, the options the Giants have in Triple-A are catcher Hector Sanchez, outfielder Jarrett Parker and right-handed relievers Michael Broadway and Cody Hall. Parker and Broadway have seen stints in the majors this season, while Sanchez has been Buster Posey‘s backup since 2012 but has been in the minors while Andrew Susac has been taking his turn behind the dish.

Sanchez will undoubtedly get the call once September arrives, giving Posey a chance to rest his knees down the stretch while likely placing the hugging machine at first base where his numbers have been dramatically better this season. In 89 at-bats while manning first, Posey is batting .360 with an on-base clip of .420, hitting five home runs and driving in 20. While calling games (311 at-bats), Posey is batting a solid .309 with an OBP of .364, but has just nine homers, driving in 53. If Posey were to play first base for an entire season at the pace he has set for himself, he’d hit between 33 and 34 home runs, destroying his career high of 24 set in 2012, his MVP year.

Parker struggled in orange and black debut, going just 1-for-9 with five strikeouts in three games back in June. In all fairness, he was just 6-for-27 in the month of June prior to his call to the big leagues, so perhaps the timing wasn’t quite right. Parker is batting .341 over his last ten games, which could lead to a better result if he were to be called up once more.

Broadway has dominated Triple-A this season, posting a 0.97 ERA in 46 1/3 innings to go along with a strikeout to walk ratio of 7.75. His control betrayed him a little in his brief stint in the majors this season, as the 28-year-old allowed three free passes in 7 1/3 innings for the Giants. He posted a decent ERA of 3.68 with San Francisco, so he is another player that should get a look when rosters expand. Broadway has allowed just one earned over his last 19 2/3, dating back to June 24.

Cody Hall may be the only player that could be skipped over from the short list here, as his statistics don’t really stand out. He’s 1-3 on the season with a 3.71 ERA, allowing nearly as many hits (62) as he has innings pitched (63). His walk to strikeout ratio is more modest at roughly two-to-one, leading to a WHIP of 1.35. While Hall could certainly be called up, he would likely only be used in blowout situations to gain some experience heading into next season.

A couple of candidates for a promotion that aren’t currently on the 40-man would be the boom-or-bust Brandon Hicks, who is good for a big hit every now and again, or the recently signed Everth Cabrera, both of whom play second base. Joe Panik‘s timetable for a return to the San Francisco Giants is still up in the air, but sometime in September appears to be the agreed upon date range. While Kelby Tomlinson has been doing a commendable job manning second in Panik’s stead, if the Giants want a more veteran presence, they have options. Of the two, Cabrera brings a little more to the table in terms of speed, but Hicks certainly has more power and is a known commodity for Bruce Bochy and company.

The Giants will be looking for contributions from any fresh faces they bring up on September first, and many of the aforementioned players already hold a coveted 40-man roster spot, making it all the more likely that they’ll be landing in San Francisco before long.

Next: Sano Due For a Slump?

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