This story was excerpted from Maria Guardado’s Giants Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Giants’ big leaguers weren’t the only ones who got a chance to soak in the club’s special trip to Rickwood Field on Thursday.
The Giants decided to bring 10 of their Black prospects to the historic ballpark to take part in MLB’s tribute to the Negro Leagues and the late Willie Mays, including left-hander Reggie Crawford, who is ranked the club’s No. 8 prospect by MLB Pipeline.
“It’s something I’m super thankful for,” Crawford said Thursday. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It’s something they didn’t have to do, but they did that and extended the invitation. It completely exceeded expectations going into this. Being able to share the field with all these guys, it’s something I’m really thankful for. I’m really happy to be able to experience this.”
Crawford was joined by Grant McCray (No. 13), Josh Bostick (No. 28), Ben Madison, Scott Bandura, Nadir Lewis, Elijah Pleasants, Donovan McIntyre, Bo Davidson and Michael Rodriguez, all of whom posed on the field with four Cardinals prospects prior to Thursday’s game. The Giants’ contingent of Minor Leaguers flew into Alabama on Wednesday and got a chance to attend the celebrity softball game as well as visit the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute.
Crawford, 23, never got a chance to meet Mays, who died Tuesday at 93, but he recently saw the HBO documentary “Say Hey, Willie Mays!”, which gave him a greater appreciation for the Hall of Famer’s legacy with the Giants.
“Obviously, he had a great relationship with a lot of people here,” Crawford said. “Being able to hear the stories and hear their perspective was really cool. It’s been awesome.”
Crawford, the Giants’ 2022 first-round Draft pick, earned a promotion to Triple-A Sacramento last month, though he hit a minor setback after landing on the seven-day injured list with inflammation in the biceps tendon in his left shoulder. Crawford said he isn’t overly concerned with the issue and hopes to return to action within the next couple of weeks.
“It’s nothing anybody’s losing sleep over,” Crawford said. “My arm wanted to chill for a little bit. … I haven’t been bouncing back as quickly as a lot of the other guys. I think a lot of it is just because I haven’t thrown a ton. So I just need to callus my arm. That’s literally it. Just getting my arm used to the demands of my role. That’s what I’m putting all my focus on.”
Before landing on the IL, Crawford recorded a 2.95 ERA with 30 strikeouts over 18 1/3 innings in 14 appearances between Double-A Richmond and Triple-A Sacramento in 2024. President of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi has said Crawford could reach the Majors this year, though the hard-throwing lefty knows he’ll have to stay healthy to accomplish that goal.
“It’s obviously a great thing to hear,” Crawford said. “I know I have work to do and I’m not there yet, but I’m going to continue to do what I need to do to put myself in the best position to get there and help the team win.”
Here’s a roundup of other notable performances from the Giants’ four full-season Minor League affiliates:
Triple-A Sacramento
Outfielder Luis Matos was named the Pacific Coast Player of the Week for June 10-16 after batting .464 (13-for-28) with five home runs, six doubles and 13 RBIs over the River Cats’ six-game series at Reno. The 22-year-old Venezuelan entered Saturday hitting .321 with a 1.075 OPS in 13 games at Triple-A Sacramento before he was recalled by the Giants prior to their game at Busch Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Double-A Richmond
Outfielder Jairo Pomares (No. 26) has been swinging a hot bat this month, batting .327 with a 1.024 OPS and five home runs over 13 games in June.
High-A Eugene
Left-hander Joe Whitman (No. 10) made the jump to High-A after recording a 4.29 ERA with 54 strikeouts over 50 1/3 innings in 12 starts for San Jose this year. The 2023 second-round Draft pick struck out six and gave up only one unearned run over four innings in his Emeralds debut on Wednesday.
Single-A San Jose
First baseman Bryce Eldridge (No. 3) hammered his 10th home run of the season for San Jose on Wednesday. He currently leads the club in homers, extra-base hits (23), doubles (13) and RBIs (44) in his first full professional season with the Giants, who selected the 19-year-old slugger with the 16th overall pick of last year’s MLB Draft.