PCL notes: Three's the charm for Stratton

The old expression "third time's a charm" actually might hold true for Chris Stratton.

Stratton said he staged a breakout in his junior year of high school that got the attention of Mississippi State. In his third year with the Bulldogs, he earned Southeastern Conference Pitcher of the Year honors to get drafted in the first round by the San Francisco Giants.

Now in his third full season in the Minors, Stratton is putting himself back on the Giants' radar.

"For some reason, it kind of seems like the third year is always my year," he said. "Like junior year in high school, then junior year in college and now this is my third full season. Maybe there's something about the threes. I'm even wearing No. 33 right now. I don't know what the deal is."

Stratton is 0-3 with a 3.25 ERA in nine starts for Sacramento after coming up from Double-A Richmond, where he went 1-5 with a 4.14 ERA in nine starts.

"It's a lot of learning," Stratton said of Triple-A. "There's a lot of veteran guys up here; being able to talk with them has been really good."

It all represents an impressive comeback of sorts for the Giants' No. 10 prospect, whose pro career got off to a rough start when he was struck in the head by a line drive during batting practice with Class A Short Season Salem-Keizer in 2012.

"At first, I was trying to get back and everything, it was a little slow," Stratton said. "I really got back into it probably about midway through my first full season [in 2013]. It was a little struggle, not being able to do some of the stuff I did [before].

"But I had to learn a lot, especially when your stuff isn't as good. That's just really helped me. Every year, I've learned something new."

Stratton is one of several Giants pitching prospects with the River Cats. Lefty Ty Blach (No. 7) and right-hander Clayton Blackburn (No. 9) are with Stratton in the rotation, while southpaw Steven Okert (No. 5) and righty Cody Hall (No. 12) are in the bullpen. Stratton said they do push each other, though not vocally.

"It's more of a silent thing. It's not like, 'Try to match my start' or anything like that," Stratton said. "I talk to Blackburn a good bit -- Ty Blach and the other guys, too. It's been nice to talk back and forth and pick their brains a little bit. They've been here a little longer than I have."

In brief

Traveling man: Tom Murphy has had quite the July, going from Double-A New Britain to playing for Team USA at the Pan Am Games to playing for Albuquerque. The Rockies' No. 7 prospect went 2-for-4 with a go-ahead RBI single in the Isotopes' 7-4 win at Reno on Thursday in his Triple-A debut.

Sweeney time: Darnell Sweeney is trying to show he can be an option at second base next season. With Howie Kendrick a free agent-to-be, the Dodgers' No. 7 prospect has positioned himself as an in-house candidate by posting a .279/.335/.432 slash line with eight homers, 40 RBIs and 28 stolen bases at Oklahoma City.

Stan(ley) the Man: Memphis catcher Cody Stanley has roared to life in July after a rough start to the season. The Cardinals' 24th-ranked prospect is hitting .371 this month to get his average up from .199 on June 29 to .251 through Sunday.