
Non-league to top-flight rise 'a killer' on body and mind - Vardy
Jamie Vardy reflects on his tumultuous football journey in a new Netflix documentary.
Luis HernĂĄndez is adjusting well in the minor leagues, with notable performances from several players. The Giants made roster changes, including promoting JesĂșs RodrĂguez and Bryce Eldridge, while pitchers Darien Smith and Charlie McDaniel earned accolades for their performances.
*Sacramento River Cats lost to the Reno Aces (Diamondbacks) 4-0* Box score It goes without saying that Mondayâs promotions of Bryce Eldridge (No. 1 CPL) and JesĂșs RodrĂguez (No. 16 CPL) are incredibly exciting for anyone watching the Major League team. But thereâs a necessary evil in there: it sure makes the AAA team a lot less exciting. And so it was very fitting that the River Cats began the next chapter of their season by getting shut out, and failing to record an extra-base hit at all. With Eldridge and RodrĂguez gone, Sacramento only has 2 position players who appeared on our Community Prospect List, but that pair provided the bulk of the teamâs 6 hits, as right fielder Victor Bericoto (No. 35 CPL) hit 2-4, while second baseman Nate Furman (No. 39 CPL) went 2-5 with a strikeout. Neither player has an outrageous overall line in their 1st real run through AAA â Bericoto has an .822 OPS and a 119 wRC+, while Furman is at .780 and 118 â but their contact skills have been very impressive. For the right-handed hitting Bericoto, that means a .313 batting average and a 19.7% strikeout rate, and for the left-handed hitting Furman, a .287 average and a 12.1% K rate. Center fielder Harrison Bader began his rehab assignment and hit 1-3 with a strikeout. The single was loud contact, but the reports from the McCoven werenât stellar. It was a very rough game for RHP Carson Seymour, who couldnât find the strike zone. Seymour threw just 55 of 91 pitches for strikes while walking 4 batters in 5.2 innings, and hitting another. When he did find the strike zone, things went pretty well for him: he gave up 5 hits in those 5.2 innings, with 4 being singles and 1 a double, and he struck out 6 batters. The strikeouts have been lacking a little bit this year, so that was nice to see for Seymour, who now has a 4.50 ERA and a 4.77 FIP through 7 starts after giving up 4 runs in this game. LHP Sam Hentges made another rehab appearance and pitched 1.1 no-hit innings with a strikeout, though he walked 2 batters. Through 9 rehab games and 9 innings, Hentges has allowed just 2 hits, but the reports continue to be that he isnât looking great ⊠in this game, his fastball sat around 91 and peaked at 92.3, which is quite a drop from his last stint in the Majors, when he averaged 95. Hentgesâ rehab window is about to close, so the Giants will have to make a decision on whether this version of him is an upgrade over Ryan Burucki or not. Hentges is on a Major League deal and doesnât have options, so the Giants hands are a little tied, though if the dip in velo is at all due to physical issues, they could throw him back on the Injured List.
The Giants promoted JesĂșs RodrĂguez and Bryce Eldridge, while catcher Ty Hanchey was moved to AAA Sacramento.
Darien Smith was named Pitcher of the Month in the Eastern League, and Charlie McDaniel earned the honor in the Northwest League.
The Sacramento River Cats lost 4-0 to the Reno Aces, failing to record an extra-base hit and managing only 6 hits overall.
Joe Whitman pitched 6 scoreless innings, allowing only 1 hit and recording 7 strikeouts, improving his ERA to 4.76.

Jamie Vardy reflects on his tumultuous football journey in a new Netflix documentary.
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*Richmond Flying Squirrels beat the Akron RubberDucks (Guardians) 5-0* Box score The Squirrels just keep rolling along, and they did it this game on both sides of the ball, with a dominant pitching performance and a barrage of big flies. Letâs start on the mound, because we havenât had a ton of opportunities to give LHP Joe Whitman (No. 26 CPL) his flowers lately, and this game provided such a chance. Whitman had one of his best games as a pro, pitching 6 dominant scoreless innings, while allowing only 1 hit. He did a good job of staying in the strike zone and staying ahead in counts, and finished the day with 7 strikeouts against just 2 walks. That part is good and dandy, but itâs the 1 hit that really stands out to me. Whitman has had solid strikeout and walk numbers for a while, which is part of why his FIP has dramatically outperformed his ERA ever since he arrived in Richmond at the start of the 2025 season. But the former compensatory round selection (No. 69 overall in 2023) just keeps throwing hittable pitches: he gave up 129 hits in 117.1 innings last year, and was at almost exactly a hit per inning entering this start. With the outing, Whitman lowered his ERA to 4.76 and his FIP to 3.36 ⊠heâll have to keep working on the hit suppression, but his strikeout rate (30.2%) minus walk rate (8.6%) now ranks 7th out of 39 Eastern League pitchers with at least 20 innings thrown this year. Thereâs a solid foundation there. RHP Tyler Vogel followed up Whitmanâs great game with a dominant bounce-back performance. Vogel started the year with 7 consecutive outings without an earned run, but gave up earned runs in each of his last 2 outings. This one? 2 perfect innings with 3 strikeouts, while throwing 16 of 21 pitches for strikes. Fantastic! Walks have been a huge issue for Vogel this year (he has 11 in 12 innings), but heâs been quite a strikeout artist and has limited damage with the bat. He has a 1.50 ERA on the year, though the walks have inflated his FIP to 5.16. On offense there were big swings abounding, and Richmond really took advantage of their hits: they only had 8 of them, but 6 went for extra bases. The biggest hit and biggest day both belonged to shortstop Maui Ahuna (No. 33 CPL), who hit 2-4 with a 2-run home run to cap the scoring.
Maui Ahuna TO THE CONCOURSE đȘ
It's the third @Woodfin home run for your home team tonight! pic.twitter.com/KTrvN3obqY
â Richmond Flying Squirrels (@GoSquirrels) May 6, 2026 Ahuna, who struck out once, has shown some impressive things as he adjusts to AA life after just 11 games in High-A. Concerns remain â his swinging strike rate of 19.8% is the 3rd-highest among the 97 qualified hitters in the Eastern League, while his 31.7% strikeout rate is 15th-highest â but thereâs no denying the impact he can have on the ball when he does make contact. Ahuna now has 10 extra-base hits in 101 plate appearances this year (including 3 home runs), and his .178 isolated slugging percentage is comfortably above league average. Those are highly impressive traits for someone who is a dynamic defensive player at shortstop! First baseman Sabin Ceballos (No. 43 CPL) homered again, in yet another data point suggesting that his lackluster 2025 is well behind him. Happy Cinco de Ceballos đ
(it's actually his sixth homer but we couldn't resist) pic.twitter.com/kFEFwHpR6w
â Richmond Flying Squirrels (@GoSquirrels) May 6, 2026 The 23-year old saw his power evaporate in AA last year, where he had just 6 home runs in 420 plate appearances. But after Tuesdayâs game he has already matched those 6 home runs ⊠and in just 106 plate appearances. Whatever he did this offseason worked, as heâs sitting on a .922 OPS and a 137 wRC+. You have to wonder if he might be one of the earlier promotions this year, given his experience at the level, his current performance, and the fact that his primary position (third base) is currently blocked by a higher-ranking prospect in Richmond, while both corners are fairly open in Sacramento. Rounding out the dinger party was designated hitter Zach Morgan, who went 1-3 with a sacrifice fly and a solo shot, his 1st of the year. A 7th-round pick in 2022, Morgan is more organizational depth than pure prospect at this point, and only has 35 plate appearances on the year as he is behind Drew Cavanaugh (No. 19 CPL) and AdriĂĄn Sugastey on the catcher depth chart. But heâs made the most of his opportunities, as the 26-year old is sporting a 1.020 OPS and a 174 wRC+ through those 35 plate appearances. Z-Mo got it and he KNEW IT đ€
The first homer of the season for Zach Morgan doubles our lead! pic.twitter.com/fz8xxUwrOD
â Richmond Flying Squirrels (@GoSquirrels) May 6, 2026 Left fielder Scott Bandura continued his dynamic season by hitting 1-2 with a double, 2 walks, and a stolen base, while center fielder Bo Davidson (No. 4 CPL) and third baseman Parks Harber (No. 17 CPL) both hit 1-4 with a double and a strikeout. Parks pepperin' the left field corner đ pic.twitter.com/IaK0iP82nk
â Richmond Flying Squirrels (@GoSquirrels) May 6, 2026
*San Jose Giants lost to the Fresno Grizzlies (Rockies) 13-11 (10 innings)* Box score You would think, given the 13 runs allowed, that it was an awful day on the pitching front for the Baby Giants. However, it was not. It was an awful day for the bullpen, but only after one of the best starts of the season in the system, from one of the top pitching prospects: RHP Keyner Martinez (No. 10 CPL). Martinez positively overpowered the Grizzlies hitters, with a dazzling 10 strikeouts and 0 walks in just 5 innings of action. What a performance! He only gave up 3 hits and 1 run in that time, which lowered his ERA to 4.35 and his FIP to 3.82. As those numbers show, it hasnât been a great season for Martinez, who was one of the breakout stars of the 2025 season on the farm. But for the 21-year old Venezuelan, it seems to be a case of just needing a few outings to adjust to the level, which he only got a brief taste of last year. Martinez, who employs a wicked fastball/slider combo meal, gave up 7 earned runs in 6.2 innings over his 1st 2 starts of the year ⊠but in 3 starts since? Just 8 hits and 3 runs in 14 innings, and with 25 strikeouts. My goodness!
Keyner Martinez is DEALING tonight. 10 SO in five innings of work. pic.twitter.com/YyRlmF1uEk
â San Jose Giants (@SJGiants) May 6, 2026 A year after striking out 12.6 batters per 9 innings, Martinez has pumped that number up to an other-worldly 14.8 this season. The walks have also spiked, but thatâs almost entirely due to 1 start, when he issued 5 of them. Itâs been a very impressive season for Martinez, who simply appears to have stuff that is far too nasty for the Cal League. The same cannot be said for the quartet of arms that followed, as each of them allowed 3 runs: RHPs Alix Hernandez (in 2 innings), Cooper McGrath (in 1.1 innings), Fernando Vasquez (who didnât record an out), and Garrett Langrell (in 1.2 innings, with only 2 of the runs earned). In the batterâs box it was a well-balanced day, with production up and down the lineup. But it was the top of the lineup that really shined, with the 1st 3 hitters continuing their excellent seasons. Leading off was shortstop Jhonny Level (No. 3 CPL), who had just another casual day at the office, hitting 3-6 with a double, a stolen base, and a strikeout. Jhonny Level delivers his fifth game of the season with 3+ hits for the @SJGiants đ„
MLB's No. 91 prospect (@SFGiants) ranks in the top 6 in the Single-A California League in TB (59), AVG (.343) and OPS (.967): pic.twitter.com/1KsLKTzG28
â MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) May 6, 2026 Level is no longer hitting an extra-base hit seemingly every at-bat, but heâs still having a magical season that only gets more magical when you remember that heâs a defensively-talented shortstop who just turned 19. Among 71 qualified hitters in the California League, Level is 4th in batting average (.343), 17th in on-base percentage (.405), 7th in slugging percentage (.562), 6th in OPS (.967), 9th in wRC+ (140), and tied for 10th in stolen bases (8). All while being more than 2 years younger than his peers in Low-A. Heâs the real deal, folks! Next up was right fielder Cam Maldonado (No. 34 CPL), who continued his tear, hitting 3-6 with a triple, a double, a stolen base, and 2 strikeouts. Like Level, Maldonado is making the rest of the Cal League look silly: of those 71 qualified hitters, heâs 9th in average (.333), 12th in on-base percentage (.423), 1st in slugging percentage (.644), 1st in OPS (1.067), 2nd in wRC+ (156), and tied for 5th in stolen bases (10). Last yearâs 7th-round pick started the year hitting 6-34 with 0 extra-base hits ⊠and since then has gone 23-53 with 12 extra-base hits. It would seem that the 22-year old figured something out! Cam Maldonado continues his reign of terror over the California League with an RBI triple to put the Giants up early! pic.twitter.com/T8C1lqYMXL
â San Jose Giants (@SJGiants) May 6, 2026 And then it was last yearâs 15th-round pick, left fielder Damian Bravo, who went 2-5 with a double, a stolen base, and 2 strikeouts. Like Maldonado, Bravo was cold to start the year, but has found his groove in a big way, and is up to an .886 OPS and a 110 wRC+ on the season. Third baseman Dario Reynoso also had a very nice day, hitting 1-4 with a home run, a walk, and a stolen base, while striking out twice. As he did last year, the 21-year old right-hander is putting up fabulous numbers despite striking out way too much: he has a .824 OPS and a 120 wRC+, but has a 32.6% strikeout rate. Dario Reynoso with his second homer of the year, and the Giants are rolling! pic.twitter.com/vNN1dOlpNH
â San Jose Giants (@SJGiants) May 6, 2026 Second baseman Lorenzo Meola (No. 23 CPL) had a much-needed nice day, as he hit 2-4 with a walk and a stolen base, though he struck out twice. That broke last yearâs 4th-round pick out of a slump, as he had gone 0-16 with 10 strikeouts in his past 4 games. Itâs been a very rough 1st full season for Meola, who has just a .196 average, a .543 OPS, and a 46 wRC+ with a 30.5% strikeout rate. But itâs early days, and his defense emphatically is *not* struggling. LEAPING LORENZO. Lorenzo Meola goes all the way up to secure the first out of the third. pic.twitter.com/rXUI56V9Ll
â San Jose Giants (@SJGiants) May 6, 2026
*ACL Giants lost to the ACL D-backs 8-6 (7 innings)* Box score If anyone was questioning San Franciscoâs decision to start shortstop Luis HernĂĄndez (No. 6 CPL), the consensus top international signing in the sport in January, in the states, question no more. HernĂĄndez made one hell of an impression on in his professional debut over the weekend, as his 1st career hit was a grand slam that tied the game with 2 outs in the 9th inning. That was not an outlier display of power, as on Tuesday, in his 3rd career game, HernĂĄndez again went deep, this time a solo shot as part of a 1-4 day that had no strikeouts. Those are the only 2 hits that the recently-turned 17-year old has in 13 plate appearances, but who cares. He is fitting in in a big way, and itâs pretty clear that this is the right level for him to start his career at. His fellow star prospect shortstop, Josuar GonzĂĄlez (No. 2 CPL) didnât play in this game, as the Giants are slow-playing the switch-hitter following a mild injury in the spring. GonzĂĄlez did play in each of the ACL Giantsâ 1st 2 games, though he didnât play a full game either time. But even when he doesnât play thereâs good news about him!
Ran into scout friend at field today. He asked me if Iâd seen a better defensive shortstop on the complex. I paused, thought on it. Iâd put him up there with teenage Ezequiel Tovar, who was part of a Rockies minicamp in late 2019
â Jason Pennini (@JasonPennini) May 6, 2026 Yes, folks, it is worth being very, very excited about the Giants young middle infielders! Third baseman Yulian Barreto had a delightful game, hitting 2-2 with a hit by pitch and a stolen base. Barreto, an 18-year old from Venezuela, had a dynamic debut season last year, posting a 134 wRC+ with just a 14.5% strikeout rate in the DSL. So far he seems to be settling into the states quite nicely, as heâs 4-8 with a walk, though he has struck out 4 times. Left fielder Jean Carlos Sio (No. 44 CPL) missed the start of the season with an injury, and is rehabbing in the ACl. He hit 1-3 with a double and a strikeout in this game, before handing the position to 19-year old Oliver Tejada, who doubled in his only at-bat while also recording an outfield assist. A pretty tough game for the pitchers. RHP Alexander Fuentes got the start in his season debut, and gave up 3 hits and 3 walks in just 3 innings ⊠but he struck out 5 batters, and limited the damage to just 1 run. Fuentes, a 21-year old in his 3rd season, is repeating the level despite having a 2.62 ERA last year (though he had a 3.97 FIP and 4.5 walks per 9 innings). Heâs hoping to book a ticket to San Jose soon. RHP Samir Chires had a really nice game, striking out 4 batters in 2.1 shutout innings, while giving up 2 hits and 0 walks. It might be go time for the 22-year old Chires, who is beginning his 4th Complex League season, and has yet to make it to A-ball. A very tough debut for RHP Trey Seeley, the organizationâs 14th-round pick in July. This was his 1st professional game, and he gave up 3 hits, 1 walk, and 3 earned runs, while recording just 1 out.
*Sacramento:* 12:05 p.m. PT vs. Reno (SP: Spencer Bivens) *Richmond:* 4:05 p.m. PT vs. Akron (SP: Trystan Vrieling) *Eugene:* Off day *San Jose:* 6:00 p.m. PT vs. Fresno (SP: Jordan Gottesman) **Reminder that almost all MiLB games can be watched on MLB TV**