First Place Bees Head to Sacramento for First Meeting With River Cats
The Salt Lake Bees will head to Sacramento, California this week for a six-game series against the Sacramento River Cats (San Francisco Giants affiliate), the first of four meetings between the two teams in 2022. Salt Lake is coming off of a series win over the Albuquerque Isotopes, winning four
The Salt Lake Bees will head to Sacramento, California this week for a six-game series against the Sacramento River Cats (San Francisco Giants affiliate), the first of four meetings between the two teams in 2022.
Salt Lake is coming off of a series win over the Albuquerque Isotopes, winning four of six at home against the Colorado Rockies’ affiliate. The Bees outscored the Isotopes 38-25 in the series, including a 8-0 shutout on Utah Prevention Day. David MacKinnon hit .391 (9-for-23) with four home runs and eight RBI and had an on-base percentage of .481 in the series. He was named PCL Player of the Week for his performance, becoming the first Bee to win the award since Brennan Boesch on June 23, 2014.
David MacKinnon led the league with 4 home runs, 24 total bases, and 8 RBI last week on his way to being named Pacific Coast League Player of the Week! pic.twitter.com/bRfreo0A01
— Salt Lake Bees (@SaltLakeBees) May 23, 2022
Jake Kalish got the win on the mound in the 8-0 shutout, pitching seven innings and allowing just five hits while striking out seven batters. Bees’ starters overall had an ERA of 4.07 in the series and Kalish, Kenny Rosenberg, and Davis Daniel combined to allow just two runs over 18.2 innings.
After taking four out of six last week, Salt Lake will start this week with a one game lead in the Pacific Coast League West. The Bees are 23-19, one game better than Las Vegas and Reno, who are both 22-20. Their 23-19 record is also the third-best record in the PCL, trailing only Oklahoma City and Round Rock, who are both 26-16.
The Bees own the third-highest batting average in the PCL and all of Triple-A, hitting .274 through their first 42 games. They are also ranked second in on-base percentage (.360), runs scored (264), and RBI (243). They have a run differential of +71, which is tied with Oklahoma City for the highest in the PCL and the fourth-highest in Minor League Baseball.
Michael Stefanic comes into the week tied for ninth in Triple-A and fourth in the PCL in batting average amongst qualified hitters, posting a .325 so far in 2022. David MacKinnon is ranked seventh in Triple-A and fifth in the PCL in both slugging (.605) and OPS (1.005). He also has the 10th-most total bases in the PCL with 72. Dillon Thomas has the fifth-most RBI in the PCL (30) and is ranked ninth in on-base percentage (.410) in the league.
The River Cats come into this week with a 20-22 record, having lost four of six last week against Tacoma. They shut out the Rainiers 5-0 on Wednesday, but then failed to score a run in their next two games, losing 11-0 on Thursday and 2-0 on Friday. Ultimately, Sacramento was outscored 32-20 in the series.
Infielder David Villar has been one of the best hitters in Triple-A this season. He is currently ranked second in home runs (14), RBI (40), slugging percentage (.682), and OPS (1.109). The 25-year-old is also ranked fourth in total bases with 88 and sixth in on-base percentage with a .427.
The River Cats currently have five of the San Francisco Giants’ top-30 prospects on their roster in No. 5 Heliot Ramos, No. 14 Gregory Santos, No. 19 Kervin Castro, No. 26 Sean Hjelle, and No. 29 Ricardo Genoves.
The Bees and the River Cats will open their six-game series in Sacramento on Tuesday at 7:35 p.m. Mountain time.