The San Jose Giants didn’t win the California League title, but they did leave the Championship Series with a rare piece of history. In the second game against the Lake Elsinore Storm, the SF Giants’ Low-A affiliate threw a combined no-hitter in a playoff game.
San Jose won that game 9-1, and Andy Polanco was again right in the middle of things. After standing out in the division round with the first multi-homer game of his pro career, he came through with three hits and two steals in four at-bats in the no-hitter.
The run prevention was the real story. Argenis Cayama set the tone with five hitless innings and allowed only one unearned run.
Ian Korn and Eric Nachtsheim each followed with two scoreless innings to finish it off. Korn and Nachtsheim were 2026 draftees, and Nachtsheim brought one of the best fastballs in college baseball this year.
On the pitching side, Joe Whitman may have done enough to create an offseason decision for the Giants. He is among the prospects eligible for the Rule 5 draft, though it is still unclear whether baseball will hold the Rule 5 draft in the winter because of the looming lockout. The player-protection process will happen before the Collective Bargaining Agreement expires.
Whitman began the year back at Double-A and quickly pitched his way to another Double-A promotion. Before that move, he was named Eastern League Pitcher of the Month for May.
His time with the Sacramento River Cats was uneven, and he even spent a brief stretch in the bullpen. Still, he closed on a strong note. Over his final eight outings, he posted a 2.80 ERA with 33 strikeouts and eight walks in 45 innings.
Whitman works from a high three-quarters arm slot and leans on a low-80s slider that he’s comfortable using against hitters from both sides. He also mixes in two low-90s fastballs.
Neither fastball is viewed especially well, but the sinker helps him generate ground balls. He rounds out the mix with a mid-80s changeup that he uses to take away the platoon edge from right-handed hitters.
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Giants May Have Found Their Next Valuable Swiss Army Arm
Matt Wilkinson gave the Giants exactly the kind of outing that tends to catch an organizations attention in September and beyond, spinning five scoreless innings against the Dodgers and trimming his ERA to 3.65 on the season. For a club that has long valued pitchers who can wear different hats, the performance fit neatly into a larger conversation about where Wilkinson might fit on the staff.
The appeal is straightforward: the Giants believe he could fill a flexible role similar to what Yusmeiro Petit once provided, working as a long reliever or stepping into the rotation when needed. Wilkinsons pitch mix and velocity profile look familiar in that respect, and the value comes from the same place every contender looks for it - a pitcher who can give real length out of the bullpen without forcing the club to scramble if a start opens up. [Read more 🡒]
Giants Fans Know This Deadline Regret May Not Be Baseballs Worst Anymore
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The 2021 swap that sent Pete Crow-Armstrong from the Mets to the Cubs for Javier Bez and Trevor Williams is one of the moves drawing fresh scrutiny, especially with the Mets now facing the possibility that it may age worse than the Wheeler trade ever did. Add in the Athletics trade of Jess Luzardo to the Marlins for Starling Marte, and the deadline starts to look like a place where the price of urgency can linger for years, even if the full damage only becomes clear much later. [Read more 🡒]
Giants Leave LA With A Dodgers Problem They Need To Answer
The Giants headed out of Los Angeles having run into the same kind of trouble that has dogged them all season against the Dodgers. A 3-1 loss finished off a three-game sweep for the home team, with Emmet Sheehan giving Los Angeles a steady lift in long relief and Enrique Hernandez delivering the go-ahead double in the seventh inning.
Tommy Edman added a home run as the Dodgers stretched their winning streak to four, while San Francisco was left to sort out a familiar divisional problem after another frustrating night. For a club trying to keep pace in a crowded race, the issue is not just the result of this series but the way it exposed the gap they still have to close. [Read more 🡒]