Minor League Baseball Announces 2023 Triple-A League Awards & All-Star Teams; Fran Riordan named PCL Manager of the Year; OF Cody Thomas named to PCL All-Star Team
Oct. 4, 2023 — Minor League Baseball (MiLB™) today announced the league awards and All-Star teams for the two leagues that make up the Triple-A classification. Votes were cast by league managers, and final decisions were determined by the Commissioner’s Office. Fran Riordan was named the Pacific Coast League Manager
Oct. 4, 2023 — Minor League Baseball (MiLB™) today announced the league awards and All-Star teams for the two leagues that make up the Triple-A classification. Votes were cast by league managers, and final decisions were determined by the Commissioner’s Office.
Fran Riordan was named the Pacific Coast League Manager of the Year for the second time in his career. He guided the Las Vegas Aviators® to an overall record of 75-74 (.503) and 41-34 (.547) in the second half (second place in West Division). The Aviators were in the playoff race for the second half winner until the final weekend of the season. He was also named the 2019 PCL Manager of the Year (83-57, .593) which included a Pacific Southern Division Championship. The .593 winning percentage is a Las Vegas franchise record based on a 140-game season.
“I’m honored to be named PCL Manager of the Year,” Fran Riordan said. “There are so many great baseball men at the helm of these historical franchises. I see the work, preparation and passion that they all put in and it always motivates me to work harder and strive to be better.”
Fran was named the 25th manager (November 8, 2018) in the history of the Las Vegas franchise (1983-2019, 2021-23, 40 seasons). Career Summary: He has recorded 23 seasons overall in professional baseball and has been a member of the Oakland Athletics organization for the past nine seasons (2015-23). He also completed his fifth season as a Triple-A manager (2018 with Nashville and four seasons with Las Vegas: 2019; 2021-23). He also was named manager of the year on one other occasion in 2008 in the Frontier League (Independent) with Kalamazoo. He has compiled an overall managerial record over 22 seasons of 1,235-1,196 (.508).
Aviators outfielder Cody Thomas was named to the PCL All-Star Team. In 2023, he appeared in 107 games and batted .301 (129-for-429) with 27 doubles, 8 triples (T-1st in PCL), 23 home runs, 109 RBI, led Minor League Baseball (Thomas also led Minor League Baseball with 79 RBI when promoted to Oakland on July 7). He was the team leader in games played, at-bats, hits, total bases (241), extra-base hits (58) and grand slams (3).
He opened the 2023 campaign by hitting for the cycle at Reno on March 31 (4-for-5, 4 RBI) and became the first player in franchise history to hit for the cycle on opening day! He recorded a season-high 13-game hitting streak (May 20 – June 4) and batted .411 (23-for-56), 3 HR, 17 RBI over that stretch and was the team leader with 32 multiple-hit games (21 two-hit games; 8 three-hit games; 3 four-hit games).
2023 Oakland Athletics: He appeared in 19 games and batted .238 (10-for-42) with three doubles, HR, 2 RBI. Recorded his first Major League home run against Boston on July 19 (2-for-4, 2 RBI).
Click here for the 2023 Triple-A League Awards and All-Star Teams
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Contact:
Jim Gemma
Media Relations Director
Las Vegas Aviators, Triple-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics
(702) 493-4510