PCL Salt Lake Bees

Series Preview: Sacramento in Town for Independence Week

Published on July 3, 2023 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Salt Lake Bees News Release


The Bees are 2-3 in their matchup at Tacoma to start the second half of the 2023 PCL campaign with an opportunity to tie the series by winning Sunday's finale. Salt Lake has not lost a series since May. Salt Lake now looks forward to a six-game series at Smith's Ballpark from July 4 to July 9 with the Sacramento River Cats highlighted by Tuesday's Independence Day celebration and Saturday's Marvel Defenders of the Diamond festivities.

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 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 22 home runs and 22 stolen bases on the season. Jonatan Clase of the Mariners organization was 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 26 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 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.

Previously against Sacramento: Salt Lake has already played two series against their PCL West foes this season, taking a 2-1 series victory in the season opener at Smith's Ballpark and losing five of six in an away series with the River Cats in May. Michael Stefanic and Jo Adell have been the stars of a Bees offense that scored 35 runs on Sacramento in nine games, as Stefanic is batting .333 and Adell is hitting .250 with four RBIs and a homer in the matchup this season. Left-hander Jhonathan Diaz has had success against Sacramento on the mound this season, posting a 0.00 ERA in three outings. Chase Silseth and Kenny Rosenberg have led the way among starters with 0.00 and 5.40 ERAs against Sactown in previous matchups, both earning a win.

Who to Watch: Jo Adell and Trey Cabbage continued their friendly home run race into the second half, smashing back-to-back jacks in Tacoma to bring their MiLB leading totals to 22 each. Adell's 514-foot home run from earlier this season stands as the longest home run ever tracked by Statcast at any level of professional baseball and Cabbage leads the team in hits, doubles and RBIs heading into the homestand after becoming just the second player in Salt Lake history to join the 20-20 club with a strong first half performance. Michael Stefanic is one of the most consistent hitters in Minor League Baseball, as his .345 batting average is second in the league among qualified players to go along with 39 RBIs and 13 doubles. Jordyn Adams is one of the most exciting players in the PCL, entering the series in second place with 26 stolen bases and tied for fifth place with five triples. He finished only a home run shy of the cycle in Saturday's victory in Tacoma, tallying a triple, two doubles, a single and two stolen bases. Among pitchers, Kenny Rosenberg has established himself as one of the best in the league. He's second place with 87 strikeouts and leads the Pacific Coast League in ERA (4.20), batting average (.246) and WHIP (1.41). Chase Silseth, whose previous performance in the season opener with Sacramento propelled him to a Pitcher of the Week award, enters with a 3.09 ERA and a 3-1 record on the year. Jhonathan Diaz is 5-0 on the year, posting a 3.23 ERA with 44 strikeouts in 25 relief appearances.

The Other Guys: Sacramento's ace, left-hander Kyle Harrison, enters the series ranked as the #1 prospect in the San Francisco Giants organization and the 13th overall prospect in all of baseball by MLB.com. Harrison is 1-3 with a 4.73 ERA and 89 strikeouts on the year. The River Cats' Nick Avila leads all of Minor League Baseball with a 10-0 record entering the series. Avila has posted a 3.86 ERA in 30 appearances, holding opposing batters to a .210 batting average on the year. Infielder Will Wilson leads the Sacramento offense with a team-high 11 home runs and 40 RBIs. Outfielder Tyler Fitzgerald is having a great year at the plate, batting .289 with nine home runs and 32 RBIs heading into the matchup.

Promotions:

Tuesday, July 4: Independence Day Fireworks following the game.

Saturday, July 9: Saturday at Smith's Ballpark is Marvel Defenders of the Diamond night! The Bees will wear special edition jerseys and caps along with other superhero fun at the Ballpark.

Check out the Salt Lake Bees Statistics

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Pacific Coast League Stories from July 3, 2023


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