Minor League Roundup: Gift Keeps Giving

Gift Ngoepe got attention eight years ago when he became the first African player in the major leagues. Where is he now? Visalia. Plus, another solid week from each affiliate.

In May of 2017, the entire baseball world was drawn to the story of Gift Ngoepe, the first African to play major league baseball. He wrote about that experience at the time. But as so often happens, the news cycle and the baseball world turned to other stories. The transaction log tells one part of the story. Traded to the Blue Jays for cash considerations. Released by the Blue Jays and signed by the Phillies, who also released him. He re-signed with the Pirates, and after being released on July 30, 2019, his time in affiliated ball was done.

He bounced around independent leagues for a little while, both in North America and Australia. After a pretty successful year in the Frontier League in 2021, he was done with his playing career.

To anyone who has read the Players’ Tribune piece, the reason shouldn’t be too surprising. Ngoepe married in 2018 and had a kid. “I wanted more time with family” he says, and the travel demands of professional baseball were at odds with that. Still, baseball was what he knew, and was his field of expertise. That made coaching a natural fit. That year in Quebec had been part of the transition, as he was a player/coach. In 2022, the family moved to Australia to work with the Newport Rams.

The fan perception of on-field jobs in baseball (whether they be player or coach) is the result of teams scouting and finding people they want. But Ngoepe’s journey to the Diamondbacks has more in common with a regular job search. “I sent my resume to all 30 teams,” he says, and the Diamondbacks responded to set up an interview. Ngoepe interviewed with Josh Barfield, then the director of player development. While our resumes may differ substantially from his, the process is one that resonates with anyone who has hunted for a job. In January of 2023, he began working with the Diamondbacks. He’s moved through the system at a similar pace to many of the players he coaches, a purposeful decision by the organization to assist with development.

Last season he was the manager in the complex. Despite it being just his second year with the organization, the learning curve was not as steep as might be expected. The Diamondbacks had him fill in as manager some the previous year, which got him experience controlling the game. Still, he says he will “keep learning and growing” along with the players he is coaching. According to Ngoepe, the organization has done well giving him and other young coaches the tools and opportunities needed to succeed. They “involve everyone in every aspect of the game” which helps people find the right fit. As a former infielder, he of course does a lot of work with infielders, but at the lower levels, there’s plenty of work in every aspect of the game to go around.

Ngoepe serves on the board of the African Baseball Project, along with long-time catcher Charles Johnson and Hall-of-Fame outfielder Andre Dawson. He’s still involved in trying to bring baseball to Africa, so many more can eventually follow in his footsteps. He’d like to see an African league formed, the African Continental Baseball League (ACBL), which would have teams in eight cities across seven nations. This is a mammoth project that will require a lot of infrastructure and some insane travel if teams play in their home cities. Great circle distance between Cape Town and Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, is 5,551 kilometres. For reference purposes, Seattle to Miami is a paltry 4,384. But Africa is the only continent (except Antarctica) without a baseball league, according to the ACBL.

Ngoepe brings a unique perspective to the Diamondbacks. He’s still connected with African baseball. While we did not discuss it in our brief conversation, I’ll note that the Dodgers have a baseball academy in Uganda. There is nothing to prevent the Diamondbacks or other organizations from building academies across the continent. It may be a decade or more before they bear fruit, but Ngoepe proves that the world’s second-largest continent (by both land area and population) can produce players capable of playing the sport at the highest level even without support from major league teams.

The Week That Was

Not as good of a week as last week, either with hitting or pitching, but the end results still wound up being pretty good. Reno split with Las Vegas, but were shut out at home for the first time since 2023 on Tuesday, and followed that up with being shut out again two days later. They still managed to score 32 runs, but allowed 43. Amarillo won their second consecutive series, taking four of six from the Tulsa Drillers. Hillsboro maintained a three game lead in the Northwest League by taking four of six from Eugene. Visalia was the lone team to lost their series, dropping four of six, but this was somewhat fortunate, as they did so while being outscored 44-15. The Pygmy Rattlers of Salt River went 3-3 for the week. 11^th round pick Bo Walker made his pro debut, and homered on the third pitch he saw.

Hitters of the Week

Carter Pirtle for the Amarillo Globe-News / USA TODAY NETWORK

Kristian Robinson, Amarillo (.286/.476/.786)

In addition to those numbers, Robinson stole four bases and had a better showing on the basepaths overall, although he did have a couple of hiccups. But for a player who has struck out far too often in his career, it’s notable that he had as many extra base hits as strikeouts, and twice as many walks as strikeouts. His strikeout rate for the season has dropped below 30%, and since April 15^th it is a mere 21.4%. That’s approaching the 20% figure where it probably needs to be in order to be a productive bat at higher levels. If he keeps this up, he’ll be in Reno soon, as right-handed outfield bats are in somewhat short supply system-wide.

Demetrio Crisantes, Hillsboro (.318/.423/.636)

Crisantes led the system in runs batted in for the week, with ten. But runs batted in remains an overrated statistic, unless you are batting yourself in. Crisantes did so twice, which is twice as often as he struck out for the week. Despite a slow start this year, he is now second to Ryan Waldschmidt on the team in terms of home runs, and for the year has walked more than he has struck out. Since failing to reach base twice against Spokane in mid-April (although he did pick up two sacrifice flies in one of those games) he’s reached base in 17 of 20 games. Despite moving up a level (and to a pitching-friendly league at that) he’s increased his walk rate, decreased his strikeout rate, and is homering at a similar rate to his start in the California League last year, and better than his overall rate. Oh, and his BABIP has dropped 122 points. His BABIP combined between the complex and Visalia last year was .397, and in 2023 it was .425. This year it’s .267; among Hops with at least 100 plate appearances, the only player with a lower BABIP is Anderdson Rojas’s .231.

I expected Crisantes to be moved along more slowly. I thought he would be given a few weeks at Visalia. But he started at Hillsboro and has adjusted so quickly that it’s beginning to look as if the level is too easy for him.

Starting Pitcher of the Week

Dylan Ray (Amarillo) and Junior Sanchez (Visalia)

With only Casey Kelly making multiple starts this week, and he not performing particularly well, it was going to be a single-start pitcher. And there was little to separate Ray and Sanchez. Both pitched six scoreless innings. Both walked just one. Sanchez allowed fewer hits (two compared to five) and struck out eight to Ray’s seven. But Ray was doing it in more hitter-friendly conditions against tougher opposition.

Relief Pitcher of the Week

Hayden Durke, Hillsboro (3 IP, 6 K)

There were other pitchers with impressive strikeout numbers (Luke Albright struck out eight in four innings, Rocco Reid struck out six in 3.1 innings.) But no one did what Durke did this week, which was face nine batters and get them all out. But it’s been more than just a week. Over his last six appearances (dating back to April 23) Durke has tossed 9.1 hitless innings. If we’re awarding combined no-hitters to pitching staffs in single games, surely relievers who work nine hitless innings can be credited with a different sort of combined no hitter. He’s struck out 16 of the 31 batters he’s faced and allowed just four to reach base (three walks and one hit by pitch.)

Prior to last season, a lot of people had Durke as a bullpen name to watch, but he didn’t quite live up to it. But this year, he has surpassed even the most hopeful expectations.

Plays of the Week

Next Up

Everyone is on the road this week. Reno sets off on one of their longest road trips (by distance) of the year, going to Sugar Land to face the team that was once known as the Skeeters and really should still be. Amarillo goes to Springfield (Cardinals, not Isotopes), Hillsboro to Tri-City (Pasco, WA), and Visalia to Modesto.

Reportedly, Jordan Lawlar is also next up. He’s played extremely well (although he did struggle this past week) and certainly well enough to earn a call-up. But there is a big difference between Reno and the major leagues. He’s going to have a learning curve. Don’t expect greatness right away; if it happens, it happens. One wonders if this will mark the end of time with the organization for Garrett Hampson or Randal Grichuk.