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San Francisco Giants Farm System Struggling to Rebuild

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San Francisco Giants Farm System Struggling to Rebuild


The San Francisco Giants have spent the bulk of the last month trying to claw their way back into the Wild Card race. They have gotten big contributions from young players like Heliot Ramos and Tyler Fitzgerald this season, but most of their roster is made up of veterans. Although Ramos was no longer a prospect, Fitzgerald, Kyle Harrison and Marco Luciano all graduated this year, leaving the farm system in a rough place.

In the past, both Harrison and Luciano were considered top 30 prospects, but without them, things got worse. In fact, MLB Pipeline moved them back from 17 in this preseason to 23 in their new ranks.

Bryce Eldridge has become their number one prospect. The first baseman has an exciting amount of power, but his position will hold him back in the rankings. The 19-year-old is the number 54 prospect on the top 100 and made the Future’s Game. He has posted an .859 OPS this season, but is still a few years away.

As for their other top 100 prospects, one might not even be considered that anymore. He hasn’t officially graduated, but Hayden Birdsong has become a staple in the San Francisco rotation. Soon, he won’t be prospect eligible, meaning they will have a new number two.

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James Tibbs III was their first round pick in 2024, and ranks 99 on the top 100. While he is expected to be a fast moving college bat, it will still take time. Dakota Jordan, another draft selection, has some elite tools but there is a lot of concern about his swing and miss.

Their top players graduating isn’t the only reason the system has fallen in the rankings, though. Carson Whisenhunt was a top 100 prospect, but has since fallen off that list. The lefty has a great changeup and a 12.6 K/9 in the minors, but has struggled with walks this season. He is currently on the IL.

There are a lot of dart throws for the Giants. Rayner Arias is an 18-year-old outfielder with exciting tools, but hasn’t had the time to develop. Former first round pick Reggie Crawford has a great fastball and plus slider, but looks like a reliever at this point.

Then, there are players such as Wade Meckler and Carson Seymour who have lost some of their prospect shine.

Over the past few seasons, the Giants have relied on short term, high priced contracts for veterans. Even though they have graduated multiple players this season, the system still leaves a lot to be desired.

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Sea lion pup found in San Francisco’s Outer Sunset malnourished but ‘feisty’

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Sea lion pup found in San Francisco’s Outer Sunset malnourished but ‘feisty’


A California sea lion pup found last week on a San Francisco street corner is malnourished but “active and quite feisty,” The Marine Mammal Center said Monday.

The sea lion, believed to be about 10 months old, had apparently wandered into city’s Outer Sunset neighborhood and was discovered early Thursday morning, authorities said.

The pup was spotted near 48th and Irving Streets, one block from Ocean Beach and Sunset Dunes park. A trained responder from the Marine Mammal Center was joined by San Francisco park rangers and police officers to safely corral the pup, now named ‘Irving’, into a carrier crate.

Dubbed ‘Irving’ by his rescuers, Irving weighed in at 40 pounds and is considered malnourished, the Marine Mammal Center said.

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“The sea lion is active and quite feisty which is a positive initial sign in terms of general behavior,” the center said in a news release on Monday.

During an exam by veterinarians, a series of blood samples were also taken to determine whether there’s any underlying ailment.

Irving is being tube fed a fish smoothie blend two times per day to boost hydration and weight; offers of whole herring will also begin shortly.

The quick actions by police, recreation and parks staff and Ocean Avenue Animal Hospital gave the young sea lion a second chance at life, said Lauren Campbell, animal husbandry manager at The Marine Mammal Center.

“As a roughly 10-month-old pup in his first year of learning how to forage on his own, this animal has a long road to recovery due to his severe malnutrition,” Campbell said. “We are hopeful that in the coming weeks with continued specialized care that this pup starts to make positive strides toward recovery and release.”

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Irving will be held in the Center’s Intensive Quarantine Unit until clearing medical protocols, before likely being transferred this week to a traditional rehabilitation pool pen. A long-term prognosis and potential release timeline are not currently known.



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Giants Head Home to San Francisco After Shutout Loss

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Giants Head Home to San Francisco After Shutout Loss


After Sunday’s 3-0 loss to the Washington Nationals, the San Francisco Giants headed back to the West Coast. They’re going back to the Bay Area, too.

The Giants have a date with the Los Angeles Dodgers for a three-game series at Oracle Park starting Tuesday night.

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So, San Francisco probably wanted to get out of Washington, D.C., with a win. That didn’t happen at Nationals Park on Sunday afternoon.

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Nationals reliever Andrew Alvarez, the third pitcher used by the team on Sunday, picked up the victory with 4 1/3 innings of work. Giants starter Robbie Ray absorbed the loss, falling to 2-3 this season.

Ray worked six innings, giving up seven hits, three runs (all earned), walking one, and striking out seven Nationals. If the Giants’ offense had found a way to tack on some runs, then Ray’s outing wouldn’t have looked so bad.

The Giants’ bats, though, had eight hits. The big number for Giants manager Tony Vitello to look at in the box score after this one was, well, pretty big. San Francisco left 10 runners on base on Sunday, going 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position. This indicates that San Francisco had plenty of opportunities to score some runs.

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They just didn’t get the job done.

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Let’s go to the bottom of the fifth with the Giants and Nationals in a scoreless tie. With nobody out, the Nationals’ Keibert Ruiz connected for his third double this season. Nasim Nuñez scored to put Washington up 1-0.

With one out, Curtis Mead sent a Ray pitch over the left-field wall, a two-run blast that gave the Nationals a 3-0 lead.

San Francisco had a scoring threat in the top of the eighth inning. With runners at first and second base and nobody out, Casey Schmitt grounded into a double play. Matt Chapman, who was on second base, went to third. But the Giants were unable to bring him home.

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Rafael Devers and Drew Gilbert went 2-for-4 at the plate for the Giants, producing half of the Giants’ hits.

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The Giants fall to 9-13 this season, sitting in fourth place in the National League West Division. The Nationals’ record goes to 10-12, good enough for third place in the National League East Division.

All eyes now turn toward Oracle on Tuesday night. It’ll be a chance for two longtime rivals to renew their rivalry.

Baseball fans know that the Giants-Dodgers matchups usually are must-see TV.

That’s probably going to be the case once again as Giants fans watch their team battle the Dodgers. Those lucky to have tickets to the three-game series at Oracle Park will show up in Giants colors, hoping to see Los Angeles head back to Southern California with either a series loss or a Giants’ sweep.

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Buckle up, Giants fans. It’s about to get rowdy at Oracle Park.

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Why do gray whales keep dying in San Francisco’s waters?

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Why do gray whales keep dying in San Francisco’s waters?


The 4,140-sq-km bay is the largest estuary on the west coast of the US. Before 2018, this species of whales wasn’t known to stop seasonally or consistently in the bay, bypassing it on their migration route down to Baja California and back up the Arctic, said Josephine Slaathaug, who led a recent study on gray whale mortality in the bay.



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