Fresno Grizzlies Game Notes at San Jose
June 15, 2022 - California League (CalL)
Fresno Grizzlies News Release
The Grizzlies and Giants continue their six-game series today. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 pm PT from Excite Ballpark. Grizzlies RHP Case Williams and Giants LHP Matt Mikulski are the probable starters. I have attached the roster/game notes.
MAGIC NUMBER IS TWO: The Fresno Grizzlies snuck by the San Jose Giants 7-4 Tuesday evening from Excite Ballpark. Fresno won their seventh straight game, tying a season-high and inched closer to clinching a first half title. The Grizzlies have to win just one more game against the Giants to earn a playoff berth for the second consecutive season.
HOW 2022 WILL LOOK IN THE "GROWL"IFORNIA LEAGUE: The 2022 California League regular season will be split into two halves. The first half ends on June 23rd with the second half beginning on June 24th. Four of the eight teams in the Single-A California League will make the playoffs. The first and second half division winners will meet in a best-of-three game series. The winners of those series will meet for a best-of-three championship series. Similar to 2021, each Monday will be a day off in the league except for July 4th. All but two series will be six-game series this season. The break for players and coaches will be four days long from July 18th to July 21st.
GIANT AMOUNT OF MATCHUPS: The Fresno Grizzlies and San Jose Giants (San Francisco Giants Single-A affiliate) continue their six-game series today at Excite Ballpark. This is the second series between the clubs in 2022 and the second meeting in San Jose. This season, the two clubs play 30 times against one another with 18 of those contests being held in San Jose. Of the seven games so far, Fresno has won four of them, with each contest being within four runs or less. Last season, the two clubs faced each other 33 total times with three of those games being held in the playoffs.
FROM FRIEND TO FOE: The San Jose Giants coaching staff have a few names that the Central Valley may recognize. Giants pitching coach Dan Runzler was drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the 9th round of the 2007 MLB June Amateur Draft. He would play for the Grizzlies from 2009-2014, appearing in 144 games. Runzler would then end up pitching in the major leagues for parts of five seasons (Giants 2009-2012, Pirates 2017) before playing overseas and in independent ball. Over 97 big league games, he had a 4-2 record with a 3.89 ERA, 82 strikeouts. 46 walks and 72 hits allowed in 76.1 innings pitched. The other coach and former Grizzlies player fans may remember is Giants hitting coach Travis Ishikawa. He was drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the 21st round of the 2002 Major League Baseball Draft out of Federal Way HS in Washington. Ishikawa would play eight Major League seasons starting in 2006 and ending in 2015 with time spent in San Francisco (2006, 2008-2010, 2014-2015), Milwaukee (2012), Baltimore (2013), New York AL (2013) and Pittsburgh (2014-15). Ishikawa would also don a Grizzlies uniform in 2008, 2011 and 2014, playing in 175 games. In 2008, Ishikawa would bat .310 with a 1.107 OPS over 48 games, one of the best stretches by any Fresno hitter.
CASE CLOSED: Today, the Grizzlies will hand the ball to righty Case Williams. On June 8th vs Visalia, Williams earned the win after twirling a career-high seven innings. Williams allowed a pair of runs on seven hits and two walks while fanning four. The righty continued his impressive stretch of starts, tossing his sixth consecutive outing of six-plus innings. Over his past seven appearances, Williams has allowed two runs or fewer and has struck out 50 batters. The 20-year old is one of the returning pitchers to the Fresno staff after joining the club in the back half of the 2021 season. Williams enters his third professional season with the Colorado Rockies organization despite starting last year in the Cincinnati Reds system. In 2021, he split the season between the Daytona Tortugas (Cincinnati Reds) and Grizzlies. Williams started 2021 in Daytona, appearing in 12 games, 11 for starts. He went 2-5 with a 5.74 ERA over 47 innings. Williams was traded back to the Colorado Rockies on July 28, 2021. The Reds received RHP Mychal Givens and the Rockies got Williams and RHP Noah Davis. He was assigned to Fresno and finished the season with the Grizzlies. Williams went 1-3 with a 5.72 ERA over seven games with six going for starts. In 28.1 frames, he fanned 17 batters and had a good overall second half of the season. Read more about Case Williams' bio on Page 2.
SWWWWWWEEP: Two Fresno Grizzlies were awarded by Minor League Baseball for their outstanding performances last week against the Visalia Rawhide. Outfielder Yanquiel Fernandez received California League Player of the Week, while RHP Brayan Castillo was named Pitcher of the Week. This is the first time the Grizzlies have swept weekly awards since becoming a Rockies affiliate. In five games last week, Yanquiel Fernandez went 8-for-24 (.333/.407/.792) with three homers, two doubles, 14 RBI, six runs, three walks and a 1.199 OPS. Fernandez had multiple RBI in four of his five games, including two contests where he drove in a quartet of runs. One of those four RBI games came on June 7, where he mashed a grand slam. Fernandez is ranked as the Rockies #16 overall prospect on MLB.com and is just 19 years old. On Friday, June 10, Brayan Castillo was nearly untouchable over a career-high six shutout innings, earning his first win of 2022. Castillo permitted one hit and walk while fanning six. He issued a one-out walk in the third and gave up an infield single in the sixth, both courtesy of GJ Hill. Castillo finished his evening after 69 pitches (51 strikes) while facing one batter over the minimum. Castillo was signed by the Rockies in 2017 and has been Fresno's Friday night starter. Fernandez and Castillo are now the fifth and sixth Grizzlies players to earn California League Weekly honors (LHP Mason Green, May 23-29, RHP Victor Juarez, May 16-22, 1B/C Hunter Goodman, May 9-15 and SS Adael Amador, April 25 - May 1).
WEAR THE BEAR: Red (9-8), Beige (6-2), Black & Gold (8-1), Gray (14-6), Specialty Promo (1-2), Fresno Tacos (0-0), Lowriders de Fresno (Copa de la Diversion, 0-0), Fresno Growers (1-0), Fresno Tigers (0-0), Red Pants (2-2).
JUNE 16, 2022 @ SAN JOSE GIANTS (SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS): EXCITE BALLPARK- 6:30 PM PT
RHP McCade Brown (0-2, 6.33) vs RHP Eric Silva (2-5, 4.60)
JUNE 17, 2022 @ SAN JOSE GIANTS (SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS): EXCITE BALLPARK- 6:30 PM PT
RHP Brayan Castillo (1-3, 4.79) vs RHP Keaton Winn (1-1, 5.02)
JUNE 18, 2022 @ SAN JOSE GIANTS (SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS): EXCITE BALLPARK- 6:00 PM PT
RHP Victor Juarez (4-0, 2.41) vs RHP Will Bednar (1-3, 4.19)
JUNE 19, 2022 @ SAN JOSE GIANTS (SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS): EXCITE BALLPARK- 1:00 PM PT
LHP Mason Green (5-1, 2.50) vs RHP Nick Sinacola (3-4, 4.14)
Recent Transactions:
6/11: INF Ben Sems:
Assigned to Fresno from A+ Spokane
California League Stories from June 15, 2022
- Giants Power to 12-6 Victory over Grizzlies - San Jose Giants
- Fresno on Wrong End of Homer Barrage, Fall 12-6 to San Jose - Fresno Grizzlies
- Fresno Grizzlies Game Notes at San Jose - Fresno Grizzlies
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