SAN FRANCISCO — The solution to the Blake Snell-sized hole in the Giants’ rotation may exist just up the I-80 corridor.
At Triple-A Sacramento, Mason Black is off to a sizzling start. The 24-year-old right-hander was one of the final cuts in spring training, and in four starts to begin the season in the minor leagues has allowed a run in only one of them.
With 20 strikeouts to only four walks, that has produced a 1.53 ERA for the 2021 third-round pick from Scranton, Pennsylvania. In the difficult pitching conditions of the Pacific Coast League, only one pitcher with as many innings has a lower ERA.
Black, rated the Giants’ No. 7 prospect by MLB.com, was slated to take the mound Thursday night at Sutter Health Park, but could his next start come in the major leagues? Thanks to a set of favorable off days, the Giants don’t have to cover Snell’s turn through the rotation until the first week of May, when they are in Philadelphia.
“He would definitely be one of the options,” manager Bob Melvin said Wednesday. “It seems like every time he pitches five innings and does well.”
When Snell wasn’t ready to start the season, the Giants gave the start to Daulton Jefferies, which a month later may be Black’s biggest obstacle. He needs to be added to the 40-man roster, and Jefferies by all accounts is clinging to the final spot.
Since being optioned April 1, Jefferies has appeared in four games (two starts) for Sacramento with a 3.44 ERA, 17 strikeouts and five walks in 18⅓ innings. A survivor of two Tommy John surgeries and a stint with the A’s, the 29-year-old right-hander has a good story and a strong relationship with Melvin.
Black, who was on his way to medical school when the Giants drafted him, has a polished four-pitch mix, which he used to reach Triple-A for the first time in the second half of last season, earning his first invitation to major-league spring training this year.
Now to check in on the rest of the farm …
Sacramento River Cats (AAA)
Record: 15-8
The red-hot River Cats lost Wednesday night for only the third time in their past 13 games, but it wasn’t all bad news. Shortstop Marco Luciano, the Giants’ top position player prospect, launched his first home run of the season.
Luciano, 22, ended spring on a strong note — and a memorable one with a 460-foot drive off the scoreboard at Scottsdale Stadium — and had ridden that momentum into a .300/.412/.413 batting line at Triple-A but was still seeking his first home run.
This one was measured at a mere 391 feet.
Luciano has some work to do to catch up to Heliot Ramos (six home runs), Casey Schmitt (four) and David Villar (three), who are all batting .280 or better and have combined to drive in 56 runs, nearly half the River Cats’ total.
Luis Matos doesn’t have the same kind of production but has struck out only eight times in 81 plate appearances, contact ability that stands in contrast to Ramos and Luciano, who are running strikeout rates north of 25%.
The Giants have already had four rookie relievers make their major-league debuts this season, and Randy Rodriguez is making a convincing case to become the fifth. The 24-year-old right-hander is already on the 40-man roster and appears to have harnessed his arsenal, with a 1.04 ERA, six strikeouts and two walks over his first eight appearances.
Left-hander Juan Sánchez, who put himself on the radar this spring, has been even better in his first eight appearances. He has surrendered one earned run in 13⅓ innings, a 0.68 ERA, with 15 strikeouts and four walks.
Richmond Flying Squirrels (AA)
Record: 9-8
Reggie Crawford, the 30th overall selection in the 2021 draft, earned the first win of his Double-A career Wednesday night, pitching an inning of relief in Richmond’s 6-3 win to move above .500. The 6-foot-4 left-hander struck out two but was nicked for a solo home run, the first run he allowed in three appearances since joining the Flying Squirrels last week.
In his debut, Crawford flashed a fastball that reached 98 mph.
Crawford is accompanied on the pitching staff by another top-10 prospect, Hayden Birdsong, who has struck out 19 batters in 11⅓ innings, the highest K/9 rate (15.75) in the Eastern League (min. 6 IP), with a 2.38 ERA.
Eugene Emeralds (A+)
Record: 13-4
Not a roster that features many of the Giants’ top prospects, what the Emeralds lack in pedigree they have more than made up for on the field. The pitching staff, with not one of the organization’s top 30 prospects, leads the Northwest League with a 2.58 ERA and 162 strikeouts, and three hurlers combined to throw a no-hitter last week.
Dylan Cumming, who started the game, was named the Northwest League pitcher of the week and owns a 0.64 ERA in four games (three starts). The 24-year-old was signed as non-drafted free agent out of Liberty in 2021.
San Jose Giants (A)
Record: 5-11
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Bryce Eldridge returned to the field Wednesday night for the first time since leaving an April 10 game with a lower body injury. The 6-foot-7 19-year-old whom the Giants selected 16th overall last summer is batting .238 through his first six games, but four of his five hits have gone for extra bases.
Not much has gone well for the Little Giants, but Cole Foster, a third-round pick in 2023, has been a bright spot. Shifting over to second base to share the middle infield with fellow 2023 shortstop Maui Ahuna (fourth round), Foster is batting .281 with a homer and three doubles. Ahuna missed time after being hit by a pitch early in the season and is batting .224 with one extra-base hit.
Jonah Cox, the outfielder acquired from the A’s for Ross Stripling, has also torn up the base paths for a league-leading nine steals in 14 games. He hasn’t been thrown out yet.
The rookie-level Arizona Complex League, where Rayner Arias (Giants No. 5 prospect) and Walker Martin (No. 4) are set to debut, begins its season next Saturday, May 4.