Tag: oakland-athletics

2024: The Good, The Bad, & The Future

2024: The Good, The Bad, & The Future

Dugout TalesLeave a comment

That is a wrap to the 2024 season in Sacramento for the River Cats who finished the second half of the season with a record of 36-39 for sixth place. The Cats fell to the Sugar Land Space Cowboys by a score of 8-3 after leading 3-1 going into the 8th. The game ended with Will Wilson being thrown out at home by a laser from Sugar Land centerfielder Jacob Melton in the bottom of the 9th  which seemed a very River Cats thing to do in 2024.

Overall, the Cats finished the year 80-70, the third best record in the Pacific Coast League behind Sugar Land (93-56) and Tacoma (82-68). This has been the River Cats first winning season since 2019 when they won the National Championship in their 20th Anniversary seaon. While 2024 didn’t end in the same fashion, and while their second half record looks worse than the team actually was, it was two weeks in June that really set the River Cats back this year as they celebrated 25 years in Sacramento.

One of the highlights of the final homestand was the appearance of 2023 Giants first round pick Bryce Eldridge being added to the roster, who at still just 19 was one of the youngest players in Triple-A. He will turn 20 in October of this year, and while he isn’t quite ready at this point in my opinion to start 2025 at Triple-A he looked a lot more comfortable and ready than when I saw Jackson Holliday’s first go at Triple-A with Norfolk at the end of the 2023 season.

I had never been a fan of rushing prospects through the Minor Leagues but I just read an article in Baseball America today that spoke of Eldridge, Holliday, and a handful of other young players out of high school who were making appearances in Triple-A within a year of being drafted. The article by JJ Cooper explained that the new format of how the Minor League schedule has changed since 2021 allows teams to keep their most talented players playing and jumping one or two levels within a couple of weeks. Prior to 2020 Minor League ball usually ended within a day or two of each in early September, but the new format ends Single-A on September 1, Double-A a week after that, and Triple-A yet another week after that. Not only does this allow players to play a little longer it really gives them a taste of what is to come. I do not think the small sample size should be used as a way to exploit the young players weakness and give up hope on their future but it allows them to see what they need to work and hopefully the teams will invest that time into them. I think Holliday is great example of how this can pay off.

The River Cats released their end of year team awards today which highlight some of the accomplishments from the 2024 season. The winners are, Best Teammate: Donovan Walton, Most Exciting Player: Grant McCray, Most Improved: Hunter Bishop, Most Versatile: Brett Auerbach, Defensive POY: Casey Schmitt, Offensive POY: Trenton Brooks, Pitcher of the Year: Carson Seymour, and Team MVP: Donovan Walton. Seymour’s 28 starts were the most by a River Cats pitcher since 2003 when Eric Hiljus started 29 for a River Cats team that would win their first PCL Championship in Sacramento. As of this publishing, Minor League Baseball has not announced the league award winners.

Looking around at the final individual stats we can see how these numbers helped carry their teams into the post season. These numbers are only for the Pacific Coast League Leaders and how the River Cats leaders faired in each category as well.

BATTING

Three Reno Aces were the top three hitters in the PCL this season with Bryson Brigman hitting .334, Andres Chaparro .332, and Adrian Del Castillo .312. Former River Cat Jason Vosler hit .303 for Tacoma and Trenton Brooks led Sacramento with a .302 average,

Nick Allen led the league with 111 Hits for Las Vegas, while David Villar topped River Cats hitters with 106.

Ryan Ward of Oklahoma City led the league with 33, Jason Vosler had 31 for Tacoma, and David Villar hit 16 for the River Cats

The River Cats did better in the RBI category with Hunter Bishop in second place behind Oklahoma City’s Trey Sweeney and his 61 RBI.

The most surprising category to me were stolen bases where Jimmy Herron of Albuquerque, and Trey Sweeney of Oklahoma City tied for the league lead with 16, but Sacramento’s Blake Sabol and Casey Schmitt were not far behind with 11. Sabol runs a lot better than the average catcher, and Schmitt’s numbers are just shocking to me especially after watching him play every day.

PITCHING

Unlike Reno who rode their bats in the second half to a playoff berth, pitching is what carried Sugar Land this year. AJ Blubaugh led the league with 12 wins, while Clay Helvey had 7 for Sacramento. Sugar Land’s Ryan Gusto led the league with 141 strikeouts, followed by Sacramento’s Carson Whisenhunt and Carson Seymour with 135, and 132, respectively.

Three Sugar Land pitchers were atop the ERA leaders with Gusto’s 3.70, Blubaugh’s 3.83, and Colton Gordon’s 3.94. Carson Seymour led the River Cats with an ERA of 4.82. Diving deeper Sugar Land’s pitchers were in the top four of WHIP with Gordon and Gusto in the one and two spots at 1.22, and 1.27. Blubaugh ranked fourth with 1.35, and Carson Seymour was fifth with a 1.57 WHIP. The most impressive pitching stat for Sugar Land this year is Wander Suero’s 37 saves on the season. The closest saves leader was Austin Davis of El Paso with 14. The River Cats leader was Spencer Bivens with 8.

Wrapping this up, the Pacific Coast and International League Championships begin this week. In the Pacific Coast League, the Reno Aces (Arizona Diamondbacks) and Sugar Land Space Cowboys (Houston Astros) will face off in Texas, while over in the International League the Columbus Clippers (Cleveland Guardians) will face the Omaha Storm Chasers (Kansas City Royals) in Nebraska. The winners of these two series will face off on Saturday, September 28 in Las Vegas for the Triple-A National Championship. I can’t speak for the International League teams but I’m pulling for Columbus because that’s where long time River Cats player Tyler Beede is now pitching and would love an opportunity to catch up with him. In the PCL, while the Space Cowboys have dominated the entire league all season, this past week in Sacramento showed that they are not unbeatable, and Reno has remained hot in the second half. My money is on Reno but mainly because I hate the Houston Astros and by default I hate the Space Cowboys too.

Sell Meets Sac

Sell Meets Sac

Dugout TalesLeave a comment

I love Vegas and I’m there at least once a year, especially now that the Triple-A Championship will be taking place there for the third straight year you’ll definitely find me there on September 28th. This past week though I was there for a work conference, and I was excited about taking in a Las Vegas Aviators game; the Aviators are the Triple-A affiliate of the Oakland/Sacramento/Las Vegas A’s. Unfortunately, when I looked up the Aviators’ schedule, I saw that they were on the road this past week, and not only that, but the Aviators were in Sacramento, where I live! I had a laugh, and few tequila shots and all was well.

When I got back to Sacramento, I was able to catch the last two games of the series, including Saturday night’s game in which Oakland’s fans drove up from the Bay along with the Last Dive Bar, and the Oakland 68’s as they brought their “Sell” movement to Sacramento as part of “Sell Meets Sac”. As I pulled up into the parking lot, I noticed a sea of green as fans wore their A’s gear with bright yellow lettering with the word “SELL” across their chest. There was a van with a flag raised high to match the shirt and a bright yellow flag with “LDB” signaling that it was the crew from the Last Dive Bar. There were probably about 100 or so Bay area followers who made the trip to Sutter Health Park, and there was an air of levity yet solidarity among them. Inside the park, the vibe was way much more tense.

Not much was said by River Cat employees although I did hear a couple of remarks about the “protestors”, but the organization made sure to add a few more security in the outfield where the Oakland fans seated themselves. “Better to be safe because you never know” is the word I got, but there was nothing to fear, and no incidents that caused alarm; just baseball fans, and an obviously concerned organization who is stuck in the middle of this latest ordeal. This whole situation seems a little shady if you ask me; the ownership situation in Oakland, the dealings with the cities of Oakland, Vegas, the MLB, and Sacramento all just rub me the wrong way and something seems off and dirty. The timing of Vivek’s purchase of the River Cats two years ago, the back and forth as to where will the A’s play until their home in Vegas is ready, the upgraded clubhouse in Sacramento, and now here we are. Is Sacramento the long-term goal for Oakland, and is Vegas nothing more than a distraction? In my opinion, and in a way, yes. Art Savage, the man who brought the River Cats to Sacramento, had always dreamed of bringing Major League Baseball here, even hoping it could be the A’s. Sutter Health Park (Raley Field) was always designed to be built up to hold a Major League team and now that Sacramento has that opportunity it would be silly of the city and organization not to take it. Setting aside the drama and emotions of this all, I think it will be a great way to showcase what Sacramento has to offer and I’m looking forward to covering it all as it unfolds in real time.

In the end, the most excitement we got from the “protestors” was in the fifth inning the group in the outfield started with their chant of “Sell the team” which got two of those outfield security guards to stand in front of them as menacingly as they could. All in all, it was an uneventful experience. To be concerned over the group’s arrival seemed a bit much as more seats were filled this night than I’ve been used to seeing the past few seasons, and more media attention has been brought to the River Cats and Sacramento as I’ve heard talks about this protest by the Last Dive Bar discussed on various podcasts, and even heard a blurb on NPR this morning.

The River Cats would split the series with Las Vegas 3-3 and come into their next homestand which starts tonight against the Tacoma Rainers who are tied with the River Cats atop the Pacific Coast League West as both teams have a record of 17-10.  It’s going to be an exciting week of baseball here in Sacramento, and its only just begun.