After six weeks grinding against some of the stiffest young competition in all of baseball, the Arizona Fall League has come to an end for eight Giants prospects.
In the final game of the fall for the Scottsdale Scorpions, only two Giants farmhands started on Thursday -- the battery connection of starting pitcher Chris Stratton and catcher Eliezer Zambrano. Stratton, the 6-foot-3 26-year-old, finished off with five strong innings. Over five frames, Stratton struck out four and walked one batter as he allowed three hits. The right-hander tossed 67 pitches, 41 for strikes, good for 61 percent strikes.
Over six starts in the AFL, Stratton, who worked mainly as a starter in Triple-A but solely out of the bullpen when called up by the Giants, finished 2-2 with a 3.12 ERA. He struck out 21 batters in 26 innings pitched, compared to just five walks, and also ended with a 1.31 WHIP.
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Zambrano put a wrap to his time in the AFL with a 1-for-4 game and two strikeouts. He only played in eight games, while Giants catching prospect Aramis Garcia, totaled 15.
Though he had more of a limited role, the 30-year-old catcher put together a .316 batting average (6-for-19).
The Giants' top performing prospect in the AFL was on the bench for the final game. Ryder Jones, 22, showcased an impressive bat while displaying his defensive versatility in Arizona.
"Playing on an NL team, I don't really care what position I play," Jones said to Alex Pavlovic on The Giants Insider Podcast about taking reps at multiple positions. "The more positions you can go in and play, the better chance you have to play, so to me it's just getting out there and getting in the game and helping the team, so I'm not too worried about it."
San Francisco Giants
The corner infielder, who also saw time in left field, hit .302/.380/.429 with two home runs and 12 RBI in 18 games.
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-- Jones finished near the top on the Scorpions in multiple offensive categories. He ended second on the team in batting average, fourth in on-base percentage, fourth in slugging percentage, third in hits (19), second in home runs, and second in RBI.
-- While he only hit .191/.304/.277 in 15 games, Garcia ended tied for second on the team in RBI (12).
-- Stratton was an innings eater this fall, ranking second on the Scorpions. He was also the No. 2 strikeout man on the team.
-- Reliever Tyler Rogers ended on a rough note. Rogers, who played in the Fall Stars Game with Stratton, hadn't allowed an earned run in the AFL until his final two appearances out of the bullpen. In those two games, Rogers completed two innings and allowed six earned runs on six hits. He allowed four runs to cross the plate in the final game of the fall and did not record an out.
-- Scorpions teammate Tim Tebow ended his time in the AFL with a .194/.296/.242 slash line and 20 strikeouts in 19 games.