Sunday, August 10

It didn’t take long for outfielder Drew Gilbert to get his first look with the Giants. 

Eight days after being acquired from the Mets as part of the Tyler Rogers trade, Gilbert earned his first callup from Triple-A Sacramento and made his Major League debut in Friday night’s series opener against the Nationals.

Gilbert, 24, probably won’t be the only member of the Giants’ Trade Deadline haul to reach the Majors this year, as several other newly acquired prospects have also been making fast impressions down in the Minors. 

Here’s a look at how three others fared in their organizational debuts this week:  

Blade Tidwell, RHP, Triple-A Sacramento (Giants’ No. 12 prospect)
Tidwell, another piece of the Rogers return, struck out nine while giving up two runs over five innings in his first start for the River Cats on Tuesday. The 24-year-old topped out at 98.5 mph with his fastball and generated 11 swinging strikes with his sweeper and slider in the impressive 86-pitch outing. 

Tidwell surrendered 15 runs over 15 innings (9.00 ERA) in four appearances for the Mets, but if he continues to pitch well at Triple-A Sacramento, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him develop into a rotation option for the Giants this year. Tidwell is already on the 40-man roster, but the Giants want to continue to monitor his progress before determining when to fold him into their pitching plans. 

“Probably the first thing is to watch him pitch a little bit first before we kind of get a handle on when he gets here,” manager Bob Melvin said last week. “But he was a key part of the trade. Somebody that’s on the verge of being in the big leagues. It’s just what the need is. But I think getting a handle on him down there and figuring out what works for him and getting to know the player a little bit is probably step one.”

Jesus Rodriguez, C, Triple-A Sacramento (Giants’ No. 16 prospect)

Rodriguez, the most advanced prospect in the four-player package the Giants received from the Yankees in exchange for closer Camilo Doval, entered Friday 2-for-14 with four walks and an RBI over his first four games for the River Cats. 

The 23-year-old Venezuelan has been limited to designated hitter duties thus far and will likely need more reps to shore up his defense behind the plate. Still, the Giants have been intrigued by Rodriguez’s bat-to-ball ability, which is a skill that Buster Posey has been prioritizing since taking over as the club’s president of baseball operations.

“Rodriguez, I know, is not ranked very high, but all he’s done is hit,” Posey said. “He’s been a player that’s kind of come onto the scene a little bit later. He’s never really been a famous guy. A .308 career hitter in the Minor Leagues. You watch the swing, he sprays the ball all over the field. We’re happy and excited about him.”

Trystan Vrieling, RHP, Double-A Richmond

Vrieling, who was acquired from the Yankees alongside Rodriguez, fired 5 1/3 innings of one-run ball in his Flying Squirrels debut on Wednesday. The 24-year-old didn’t allow a run through his first five innings before surrendering a triple and a sacrifice fly in the sixth. He ultimately departed after giving up six hits, striking out two and walking none.

A 2022 third-round Draft pick out of Gonzaga, Vrieling missed the entire ‘23 campaign with an elbow fracture, but he has a good feel for spin and his velocity has been trending up this year. He was born in Lewiston, Idaho, but he grew up a Giants fan and said he was thrilled to learn that he was joining his childhood team last week.

“I was pretty excited,” Vrieling told Flying Squirrels broadcaster Trey Wilson on The Funnville Nine podcast. “I had watched Doval throw for a long time. He had been really good for a long time. I was kind of shocked that, honestly, I was in that trade because that’s kind of a big time trade. That was their guy, their closer. It was exciting to hear that I was going back to the San Francisco Giants.”

Single-A San Jose recently got a massive infusion of talent, with 2025 first-round Draft pick Gavin Kilen and fellow top prospects Jhonny Level (No. 4), Argenis Cayama (No. 8), Keyner Martinez (No. 9) and Luis De La Torre (No. 23) each joining the roster within the last week. 

Kilen and Level teamed up to form quite the 1-2 punch on Wednesday, combining to go 5-for-10 with a home run and five RBIs in San Jose’s 9-3 win over Visalia. 

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