PCL Salt Lake Bees

Bees Start Second Half in Tacoma

June 28, 2023 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Salt Lake Bees News Release


The Bees earned their sixth series win of the 2023 campaign last week at home, taking four of six games against the Sugar Land Space Cowboys in Smith's Ballpark. Last week's series brought a close to the first half of the 2023 season as Salt Lake finished in fourth place overall with an even .500 record. This season's split structure means that the winner of the second half, or second place team if Oklahoma City finishes in first place, will face OKC in a championship series for the PCL crown.

First Half Recap: The Bees have officially finished the first half of the 2023 season at a .500 record (37-37), good for fourth place in the league behind Oklahoma City (13.5 GB), Round Rock and Reno...and what a memorable first half it was. Salt Lake Bees took home four POTW awards in the first half with Jo Adell and Mickey Moniak winning as position players and Chase Silseth and Luis Ledo winning for pitchers. Arguably the most memorable storyline of the first half was Michael Stefanic's record-breaking on-base streak. Michael Stefanic ran his streak of consecutive games reaching base safely to a staggering 62 games dating from August of 2022 through June 15, 2023. Another record-breaking performance, Salt Lake's David Fletcher broke a franchise record by recording 12 consecutive at-bats reaching base safely. Finally, Manager Keith Johnson broke the record for SL managerial wins earlier in the year and achieved his 500th win as manager of the Bees on June 16.

Salt Lake showed the league that their power is not to be underestimated, as Jo Adell and Trey Cabbage led one of the most explosive offenses in the minors. Adell and Cabbage are tied for the MiLB lead in homers and both had ridiculously long home runs, Adell with a 514-foot shot and Cabbage with a 487-foot shot. Both homers were the longest in pro baseball at the time. Trey Cabbage became just the second player in Salt Lake Bees franchise history to join the 20/20 club alongside Terry Evans (2009, 26 HR and 28 SB) being the founding and only member. Cabbage currently sits at 21 home runs and 21 stolen bases on the season. Jonatan Clase of the Mariners organization is the only other player in Minor League Baseball to have 15+ in each category (15/41). Clase has done it split between High-A Everett and Double-A Arkansas. Jordyn Adams is also threatening to join Evans with 12 home runs and 22 steals so far this season. Cabbage now sets his sights on becoming the first MiLB 40-40 player.

Among individuals, Cabbage led the Bees with 79 hits, Cabbage and Adell led with 53 RBIs and 21 homers, Stefanic led with a .350 average and Jordyn Adams led with 22 stolen bases. Among pitchers, Kenny Rosenberg led among qualified players with a 4.28 ERA, with 82 K's and with 69.1 IP while Andrew Wantz led SL hurlers with three saves. Salt Lake recorded 189 multi-hit games, 100 multi-RBI games, 15 outfield assists and 7 quality starts to go along with two grand slams and two inside-the-park home runs. Salt Lake processed 99 transactions through their first 75 scheduled games.

Previously: Salt Lake has already faced Tacoma this season, taking four of six games for a series victory at home in Salt Lake City. Michael Stefanic was the star of an offensive explosion that saw the Bees average more than six runs a game. He batted .474 with a home run, a double and four RBIs. Among other active players, Jordyn Adams and Jo Adell were excellent, batting .353 and .333 with one and two home runs, respectively, combining for 10 RBIs in the series. Jake Kalish was dominant on the mound, winning his only start of the series by throwing seven one-hit innings with nine strikeouts. Cesar Valdez was also productive on the bump, winning his start with a seven inning, two-run performance.

Who to Watch: Michael Stefanic is one of the hottest hitters in all of Minor League Baseball. He's slashing .412/.500/.549 with 13 RBIs in June, but what's even more impressive, he leads all of Triple-A baseball among qualified hitters with a .476 batting average with runners in scoring position (RISP). Jo Adell and Trey Cabbage are in the midst of a home run race, as both are tied for the lead in all of Minor League Baseball with 21 and have hit the two longest home runs in MiLB this year, with Adell's 515-foot blast holding the title for the longest homer ever tracked by Statcast at any level of professional baseball.

The Other Guys: Cade Marlowe is the highest-ranked Mariners prospect for Tacoma heading into the series. Marlowe, a 26-year-old outfielder, is batting .249 with seven home runs and 37 RBIs to go along with 15 stolen bases. Darren McCaughan, scheduled to start on Thursday, had a great month of June, posting a 1-1 record with a 3.42 ERA in a team-high 26.1 innings. Jake Scheiner leads the Rainiers in power, coming into the series with 18 home runs, good for third in the Pacific Coast League. Other hitters, Taylor Trammel and Zach DeLoach have been the stars for Tacoma, batting .304 and .293, respectively.

Check out the Salt Lake Bees Statistics



Pacific Coast League Stories from June 28, 2023


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