2025 End of Season Notes
PCL Sacramento River Cats

2025 End of Season Notes

Published on September 29, 2025 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Sacramento River Cats News Release


LAST TIME OUT: Sacramento's two runs in the home half of the third could not keep pace with the Round Rock Express, as the River Cats ended their 2025 campaign on a 4-2 loss...Both OF Luis Matos and IF Dayson Croes closed the game 2-for-4, the former hitting a double and driving in one of the two runs...For Matos, it extended his Triple-A hit streak to nine straight games...Meanwhile, C Jesus Rodri- guez drove in the other run with a 1-for-4 performance...

LHP Carson Whisenhunt made his 21st start of the year in a River Cats uniform, his second straight rehab outing, and allowed only one run on two hits in three full frames...

RHP Will Bednar was charged his first Triple-A loss after allowing two runs on three hits in just one inning...Three River Cats relievers worked scoreless outings in LHP Ethan Small, RHP Cole Waites, and RHP Ryan Watson.

FOLLOW THE LEADER: After a season in which Sacramento dominated the league leaderboards, there were a handful of River Cats that ended among the tops in the Pacific Coast League...Offen- sively, OF Marco Luciano finished fifth in home runs (23) and second in walks (85; second in Triple-A)...

OF Hunter Bishop tied for ninth in triples (six)...From the mound in ERA, RHP Trevor McDonald finished third (5.31)...In innings pitched, McDonald finished first (142.1; third in Triple-A) while RHP Mason Black ended sixth (119.1)...In wins, both McDonald and LHP Carson Whisenhunt tied for third (nine; tied for eighth in Triple-A)...In strikeouts, McDonald finished first (144; second in Triple-A) and Black ended fifth (114)...In games started, both Black and McDonald finished tied for third (24)...In games pitched, RHP Mi- guel DÃ-az tied for second (50; tied for fourth in Triple-a)...In saves, both DÃ-az and RHP Ryan Watson tied for fourth (nine; tied for sixth in Triple-A)...In opposing average, McDonald finished second (.264)...In WHIP, McDonald closed in third (1.45).

YEARLY OVERVIEW: Following a tough start to the season in which they finished 36-39 in the first half, the River Cats posted a 41-33 mark in the second half and closed the year with an overall record of 77-73...This marked the second straight season in which the River Cats finished above the level mark, as they were 80-70 (533) during the 2024 campaign...Sacramento had not recorded consecutive seasons of winning records since they closed both the 2013 and 2014 seasons with identical 79-65 (.549) records...This year was a near exactly reversal of their 2024 fortunes, as the River Cats ended the 2024 first half with a 44-31 record, but went on to finish the second half with a mark of 36-39...Despite the winning record, Sacramento closed the 2025 season batting just .250 (1267-for-5062), which is their new lowest mark in franchise history...The previous franchise-low mark was in the 2022 campaign when they batted only .253 (1278-for-5042)...Of their 1,267 hits, a total of 258 went for doubles which was their most since recording 286 two-baggers in 2019...However, Sacramento hit just 154 home runs in 150 games, their fewest in a single season since they hit only 114 across 140 games in 2018...Additionally, Sacramento's .742 OPS was their lowest since they posted a .726 in that same 2018 season...The River Cats drew a total of 644 walks which, though fewer than the 689 worked in 2024, still ranks seventh most in franchise history...However, Sacramento had a total of 1,370 strikeouts, a new franchise record that surpass- es the old mark of 1,357 from the 2022 campaign...From the mound, the River Cats found much more success as they posted a 4.96 ERA (730 er, 1324.0 ip), just the second time since the start of the 2019 season in which they posted a sub-5.00 ERA (4.91 ERA in 2024)...Sacramento's 1,324.0 innings pitched this year were just two away from the franchise record 1,326.0 that they tossed just last year in 2024...

Meanwhile, River Cats hurlers struck out a total of 1,393 batters, their third most in franchise history, behind only the 1,460 strikeouts from 2022 and 1,430 punchouts from 2024...Further, their 634 walks issued was Sacramento's fewest since they allowed 577 during 2021, leading the River Cats to post a 2.20 strikeout to walk ratio...Sacramento also induced 134 ground ball double plays, their most since they induced 137 during the 2017 season...Oddly enough, the River Cats balked 16 times for a second straight year, which is their franchise record.

CARDIAC CATS: Sacramento frequently played exciting baseball in the 2025 campaign, including extra-innings games and walk-off contests...Though they lost their first walk-off contest on April 12 in Tacoma, the River Cats were never walked off again and finished the year on an eight-game winning streak in such contests...Each of the first six came from different bats, including walk-off homers from IF Drew Ellis on June 26 over Oklahoma City and from IF Bryce Eldridge

on July 23 over Las Vegas...Meanwhile, the River Cats had their first walk-off contest (either win or loss) end on a bunt thanks to a safety squeeze bunt single from IF Thomas Gavello on Aug. 9 over Sugar Land, the second of three walk-offs in a six-game span against the Space Cowboys...The first was a walk-off single in the home debut by OF Drew Gilbert on Aug. 5, while IF Osleivis Basabe produced the first of his three walk-off winners to close the series on Aug. 10...Basabe twice more delivered the game-winning run in walk-off fashion (Aug. 19 & Aug. 23 vs. ELP), making him the first River Cat with three or more game-winning RBI in walk-off fashion since at least 2019...All told, the eight walk-off wins are tied with the 2023 season for the most in a single Sacramento season since at least 2019...Meanwhile, the River Cats were an impressive 7-2 in extra-innings games, winning each of their first two by idential scores of 4-2 before suffering a loss to Reno at home on May 1...However, Sacramento won each of the next five inclduing a wild 15-13 win in Reno over the Aces that saw the two teams combine for 14 runs on 10 hits in the 11th inning alone...Even further, the River Cats held a record of 14-12 in games decided by only one run and a mark of 21-11 in games decided by two runs.

TROPHY CASE: Sacramento enjoyed a unique awards-filled sea- son, but none more special than the honors that they received at the end of the year... LHP Carson Whisenhunt was named the 2025 Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the Year, while both Whisenhunt and RHP Carson Seymour were selected as 2025 Pacific Coast League All- Stars...The southpaw Whisenhunt had an impressive year, going 9-5 with a 4.43 ERA (53 er, 107.2 ip) in 21 starts...In that time, he struck out 95 batters and issued just 35 walks, which included a trio of contests in which he recorded nine strikeouts...Twice in 2025 he was tabbed the PCL Pitcher of the Week, first from April 14-20 and again from May 13-18, both of which coincided with outings against the Salt Lake Bees...The right-handed Seymour made 16 total appearances for Sac- ramento, 15 of which were starts...In that time he logged just a 4-8 record but produced a 3.86 ERA (33 er, 77.0 ip), striking out 90 while issuing only 39 walks...Once this season Seymour was picked as the PCL Pitcher of the Week, his honor coming from April 1-6 in the sec- ond series of the year for the River Cats against the Las Vegas Avia- tors...Sacramento had no players selected to the PCL All-Star team in 2024, meaning Seymour and Whisenhunt are the first River Cats to be named All-Stars since the duo of Tyler Fitzgerald and Trenton Brooks in the 2023 campaign...Overall, it is the first yearly honor in the career for either Seymour or Whisenhunt...Whisenhunt's PCL Pitcher of the Year honor is the first postseason award for a River Cat since IF David Villar's 2022 PCL Most Valuable Player honor, a season in which he hit .275 (82-for-298) with 27 homers, 82 RBI and a 1.021 OPS. It is just the second time a River Cat has been named a PCL Pitcher of the Year, as the first to do so was RHP Justin Duchscherer in the 2003 season in which he was 14-2 with a 3.25 ERA (56 er, 155.0 ip) and 117 strikeouts.

DEFENSIVE DEFICIENCIES: Following a 2024 season in which they set a new franchise record for fielding percentage, Sacramento struggled on defense during the 2025 campaign...The River Cats fin- ished the year with a total of 134 errors, which was their most since they made 137 during the 2015 campaign (the 137 errors are their most dating back to beginning of 2005 advanced media tracking, occurred in both 2015 and 2010)...Overall their fielding percentage of .975 in 2025 ranks sixth lowest for Sacramento since 2005, just ahead of the 2015 season when they had a near identical .975 fielding percentage... During 2024 the River Cats made only 98 errors in 5,390 total chances, the first season in franchise history they did not committ 100 or more miscues, leading to a franchise record .982 fielding percentage.

BYE-BYE, BRYCE!: Sacramento was fortunate to see the top prospect in the San Francisco organization (per MLB Pipeline, Base- ball America and ESPN) and one of the top prospects in all of baseball for a majority of the season in IF Bryce Eldridge ...The No. 13 overall prospect in the country (per MLB Pipeline) had quite the season, who played in 66 total games with the River Cats and batted .249 (63-for- 253) with 18 homers and 63 RBI...His Triple-A season was one of ups- and-downs, starting with hits in his first three games before getting just three more hits in the next seven...The Virginia native was hot just before going down with injury and again upon his return after the All-Star Break, but hit another short slump over a nine-game span... From that point, the southpaw hitter finished his second Triple-A stint by logging hits in 20 of his last 25 games (Aug. 16-Sept. 14)...That in- cludied hits in each of his last seven games in which he was batting .357 (10-for-38) with four doubles and seven RBI...Eldridge had really turned up play since the All-Star Break, as his 50 RBI were the most in Triple-A and his 15 homers were tied for second most in Triple-A since July 18 prior to his promotion on Sept. 15...The first base prospect was full of memorable moments, including: two extra-base hits in the eighth inning on Aug. 26 at Reno; a 406-foot walk-off home run, the second of his professional career (7/23 vs. LV; first walk-off: 8/9/23 w/ ACL Giants); Sacramento's longest homer of the season at 470 feet (110.9 mph exit velocity) in Reno on Aug. 28, allegedly landing in the Truckee River; and two late homers against Sugar Land that included a game-tying three-run blast in the ninth on Aug. 5 and a go-ahead three-run big fly on Aug. 10.

ON THE BOOKS: Now that the season has come to a close, a few of River Cats find themselves in statical relevance in franchise history... RHP Mason Black is fourth in River Cats franchise history in games started with 57 (20 in 2024, 13 in 2023; third: LHP Dan Meyer, 68)... Black also bumped his Sacramento career strikeout total to 273, also fourth in franchise history (third: RHP Bruce Billings, 277)...Again Black ranks fourth, this time in career walks with 132 (third: RHP Tyler Beede, 154)...Finally, Black is just outside the top 10 in innings pitched in 13th place with 264.1 innings (12th: Beede, 266.1)...Meanwhile, RHP Sean Hjelle ranks sixth in innings pitched with 315.0 innings (fifth: RHP Graham Godfrey, 324.1)...Hjelle sits ninth in career strikeouts at 261 (eighth: RHP Erik Hiljus, 267), but is fifth in walks issued at 123... Hjelle is five outings away from the century mark in games pitched, as his 95 total appearances is 12th in franchise history...Additional- ly, the 39 ground ball double plays that Hjelle has induced is second most in franchise history (first: LHP Ty Blach, 43)...Black and LHP Car- son Whisenhunt have made 20 or more starts in each of the past two seasons, the only River Cats to do so since the start of the 2017 campaign...Overall Whisenhunt has 46 starts in a Sacramento uni- form, 11th most in franchise history.

AWARD SEASON: Sacramento's end of the year awards, as voted on by players and coaches, have been unveiled...After such an im- pressive stretch in a short amount of time that led to his MLB debut towards the end of the season, IF Bryce Eldridge cleaned up in the awards department by taking home three different honors: 2025 Most Valuable Player, 2025 Offensive Player of the Year, and the 2025 Most Exciting Player...In 66 games Eldridge showed why he was San Francisco's top prospect and the No. 13 prospect (per MLB Pipeline) in all of baseball, coming up with numerous clutch moments while hitting .249 (63-for-253) with 31 runs scored, 13 doubles, 18 homers, 63 RBI, 28 walks, and an .836 OPS in 66 games...Selected as the 2025 Pitcher of the Year is RHP Miguel DÃ-az, who closed out the year on one of the most impressive stretches of the season...Since July 22, DÃ-az allowed only two earned runs (three total) on 16 hits in 27.2 innings leading to a 0.65 ERA...Though he delivered in clutch moments with the bat, IF Osleivis Basabe has made incredible plays with the glove and was tabbed the 2025 Defensive Player of the Year...Known for his ability and willingness to play all over the field, IF Tyler Fitzgerald was named the 2025 Most Versatile Player, the second time in his career after earning the same honor during the 2023 campaign...That made Fitzgerald the fourth two-time winner along with IF Mark Bellhorn (2000-01), IF Jose Flores (2002-03), and IF Myles Schroder (2016, 2018)...After bursting on the scene and dominating for a total of 51 games, C Thomas Gavello was selected as the 2025 Most Improved Player...Contributing both on and off the field was IF Drew Ellis, who was picked as the 2025 Best Teammate.

WHO ARE YOU?: There were a total of 72 players to take the field in a River Cats uniform this season, split fairly evenly with 37 pitchers and 35 position players...The 72 players used are their fewest since the beginning of the 2019 campaign, just below the 79 players used during the 2021 season...There were just a total of eight San Francisco Giants who made rehab appearances (three pitchers and five position play- ers), two of which also spent time with Sacramento during the season in LHP Carson Whisenhunt and IF Tyler Fitzgerald ...That was the few- est rehab assignments Sacramento has seen since they had just six during the 2019 season...Overall the River Cats made a total of 191 roster transactions in 2025, well below the 238 total roster moves made in 2024 which was their fewest since the beginning of the 2019 campaign. 19 Sacramento played in a total of 19 shutout games this season, posting a record of 7-12 in such games... The seven shutout wins are one shy of the eight they logged in 2024 but otherwise their most since they had 10 during the 2016 season...The 19 shutout games were the most in the PCL this season (next: 16, SUG).

DID YOU KNOW? 2025 AT A GLANCE Day Date Site Result Sunday 9/21 West Sacramento, CA L, 2-4 Saturday 9/20 West Sacramento, CA W, 4-2 Friday 9/19 West Sacramento, CA L, 2-5 Thursday 9/18 West Sacramento, CA W, 17-9 Wednesday 9/17 West Sacramento, CA W, 5-2 Tuesday 9/16 West Sacramento, CA L, 3-8 Sunday 9/14 Oklahoma City, OK L, 2-12 Saturday 9/13 Oklahoma City, OK L, 1-6 Friday 9/12 Oklahoma City, OK L, 2-8 Thursday 9/11 Oklahoma City, OK W, 8-1 Wednesday 9/10 Oklahoma City, OK L, 1-5 Tuesday 9/9 Oklahoma City, OK W, 6-4 Sunday 9/7 West Sacramento, CA W, 3-1 Saturday 9/6 West Sacramento, CA L, 0-12 Friday 9/5 West Sacramento, CA L, 1-2 Thursday 9/4 West Sacramento, CA W, 8-4 Wednesday 9/3 West Sacramento, CA L, 2-3 Tuesday 9/2 West Sacramento, CA L, 2-3 Sunday 8/31 Reno, NV W, 9-7 Saturday 8/30 Reno, NV L, 0-5 Friday 8/29 Reno, NV L, 15-2 Thursday 8/28 Reno, NV W, 21-7 Wednesday 8/27 Reno, NV W, 11-5 Tuesday 8/26 Reno, NV W, 17-1 Sunday 8/24 West Sacramento, CA L, 16-5 Saturday 8/23 West Sacramento, CA W, 5-4 (11) Friday 8/22 West Sacramento, CA L, 1-12 Thursday 8/21 West Sacramento, CA W, 6-5 Wednesday 8/20 West Sacramento, CA W, 9-8 Tuesday 8/19 West Sacramento, CA W, 4-3 (10) LAST 30 GAMES (15-15) 11 The River Cats enjoyed an 11-game winning streak at home this season from July 26 against Las Vegas through Aug. 21 against El Paso...That came just one win shy of matching a franchise record 12 consecutive home wins from July 29-Aug. 31, 2015, Sacramento's first year as a San Francisco affiliate.

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Pacific Coast League Stories from September 29, 2025


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