Fresno Grizzlies Game Notes at Visalia
May 11, 2022 - California League (CalL)
Fresno Grizzlies News Release
On May 20th, we have our Mental Health Awareness Night and Friday Night Fireworks. On May 21st, we have a pregame concert for Christian Fellowship Night, Community Outreach Night and the celebration of the 2002 Taylor Cup Champion Fresno Falcons!
The Grizzlies are 20-5 against the Rawhide over the past two seasons. Currently, Fresno is on an 8-game road winning streak, one win away from tying last year's longest road winning streak.
HIGHWAY 99: The Fresno Grizzlies and Visalia Rawhide continue their first series against one another tonight at Valley Strong Ballpark, the first of two meetings at Visalia. Fresno is now 20-5 against Visalia in the last two seasons, outscoring the Rawhide 154-104. The 19 wins against the Rawhide last year were the most against one team in a single season in Grizzlies franchise history. Of those 19 wins, 12 of them came at Chukchansi Park, where Fresno swept Visalia two separate times. The two cities are 39.26 miles from one another, or if you drive non-stop, 43 minutes or so. From Fresno to Visalia, you would drive in a southeast direction, following the CA 99 route.
ROARING ON OFFENSE: In 2022, the Fresno Grizzlies offense has been one of the best at the Single-A level. The Grizzlies lead all Single-A teams in batting average (.276), homers (33), hits (268), total bases (437), slugging percentage (.451) and OPS (.810). Not only is Fresno leading some of these categories, but they are substantially higher than the rest of the level. The Grizzlies batting average is .19 points higher than the teams in second (St. Lucie and Fredericksburg) and their slugging percentage is .24 points higher than the next team (Fredericksburg). They also have 24 more hits and 30 more total bases than the respected second place squads (St. Lucie and Rancho Cucamonga). Overall, the Grizzlies rank seventh in batting average, ninth in slugging percentage and tied for ninth in OPS in all of Minor League Baseball.
"BEAR"ING DOWN ON THE REST OF THE LEAGUE: Currently, four Grizzlies hitters rank in the Top 10 of the California League in batting average. Braiden Ward leads the league with a .388 average and eight hit-by-pitches. The Merced native also ranks first in OBP (.494), slugging percentage (.597) and OPS (1.091). Warming Bernabel currently sits third at a .333 average. Bernabel is riding a 2022-best and team-long 11-game hit streak with three homers, five doubles, 12 RBI and 11 runs in that span. Adael Amador ranks fourth at .326 and Braxton Fulford sits sixth at .315 to round out the Fresno batters. Amador was named California League Player of the Week April 25-May 1 while Fulford had a seven-game hit streak from April 24-May 4.
NO GROWING PAINS BY FRESNO: The Fresno Grizzlies have played in Growers uniforms four times in the past two seasons. In those contests, Fresno is 3-1, scoring 43 runs on 49 hits. In all three wins, the Grizzlies/Growers achieved double-digit hits and runs, which included the only cycle by a Grizzlies player at home (Zac Veen). On Saturday night, the Grizzlies offense scored 16 runs, tying a season high with every starter in the lineup scoring at least once. Five Fresno batters notched multi-RBI games, helping the Growers earn three of their highest scoring innings in 2022. Yanquiel Fernandez and Braiden Ward each had three hits, four RBI and three runs with Fernandez ending his night a homer shy of the cycle.
CASE CLOSED: Tonight, the Grizzlies will hand the ball to righty Case Williams. The 20-year old is one of three returning pitchers to the Fresno staff after joining the club in the back half of the 2021 season. Williams enters his third professional season with the Colorado Rockies organization despite starting last year in the Cincinnati Reds system. In 2021, he split the season between the Daytona Tortugas (Cincinnati Reds) and Grizzlies. Williams started 2021 in Daytona, appearing in 12 games, 11 for starts. He went 2-5 with a 5.74 ERA over 47 innings. Williams was traded back to the Colorado Rockies on July 28, 2021. The Reds received RHP Mychal Givens and the Rockies got Williams and RHP Noah Davis. He was assigned to Fresno and finished the season with the Grizzlies. Williams went 1-3 with a 5.72 ERA over seven games with six going for starts. In 28.1 frames, he fanned 17 batters and had a good overall second half of the season. Read more about Case Williams' bio on Page 2.
NEW RULES IN 2022: Major League Baseball announced in March that experimental rules will expand in the California League for the 2022 season. The following rules include the return of the pitch clock and pickoff limits. Pitchers must deliver a pitch within 14 seconds with the bases empty and 18 seconds with runners on base. Hitters must be in the batter's box and be alert to the pitcher with nine seconds left. Pitchers will also be limited to two pickoff attempts or step-offs per plate appearance; any more without retiring the baserunner will effectively function as a balk. The league also added larger bases, increasing the size from 15 to 18 inches, a rule in place at Triple-A during the 2021 season. The increase is aimed to provide more room for players to operate around the bases, while modestly shrinking the distance between bases themselves. Additionally, the larger bases are composed of material that is expected to perform better in wetter conditions. Finally, teams must have a minimum of four defensive players on the infield when a pitch is delivered, with at least two infielders on either side of second base. The penalty for violation is an automatic ball, but if the hitter swings and gets a better outcome, the offensive team can take that. Goal is to increase batting average on balls in play.
HOW 2022 WILL LOOK IN THE "GROWL"IFORNIA LEAGUE: The 2022 California League regular season will be split into two halves. The first half ends on June 23rd with the second half beginning on June 24th. Four of the eight teams in the Single-A California League will make the playoffs. The first and second half division winners will meet in a best-of-three game series. The winners of those series will meet for a best-of-three championship series. Similar to 2021, each Monday will be a day off in the league except for July 4th. All but two series will be six-game series this season. The break for players and coaches will be four days long from July 18th to July 21st.
WEAR THE BEAR: Red (4-6), Beige (4-2), Black & Gold (1-0), Gray (7-2), Specialty Promo (0-1), Fresno Tacos (0-0), Lowriders de Fresno (Copa de la Diversion, 0-0), Fresno Growers (1-0), Fresno Tigers (0-0), Red Pants (1-2).
MAY 12, 2022 @ VISALIA RAWHIDE (ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS): VALLEY STRONG BALLPARK- 6:30 PM PT
RHP McCade Brown (0-1, 24.00) vs LHP Avery Short (0-3, 6.75)
MAY 13, 2022 @ VISALIA RAWHIDE (ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS): VALLEY STRONG BALLPARK- 6:30 PM PT
RHP Brayan Castillo (0-2, 6.14) vs RHP Peniel Otano (0-2, 3.79)
MAY 14, 2022 @ VISALIA RAWHIDE (ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS): VALLEY STRONG BALLPARK- 6:30 PM PT
RHP Victor Juarez (2-0, 3.20) vs LHP Yaifer Perdomo (0-3, 9.49)
MAY 15, 2022 @ VISALIA RAWHIDE (ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS): VALLEY STRONG BALLPARK- 1:00 PM PT
LHP Mason Green (2-1, 2.96) vs LHP Liam Norris (0-0, 3.66)
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