Evan White started his rehabilitation assignment for the Tacoma Rainiers yesterday at Sacramento, which presented an interesting lineup for the Rainiers that none of us expected to see this season.
Batting 2-3-4 in the lineup were Kyle Lewis, Jarred Kelenic, and Evan White. Lewis and White are on injury rehabilitation assignments, with the recently optioned Kelenic hitting in between them.
All three players have considerable major league experience. Lewis has 407 MLB at-bats, Kelenic has 423, and White has 279.
Whenever a player comes down from the big leagues to Triple-A this season, they must adjust to the new pace-of-play rules: the enforced pitch clock, and pitchers also must follow the new pickoff limitations.
However, because they are on rehabilitation assignments, Lewis and White are not beholden to the rule requiring minor league hitters to be set in the batter’s box with nine seconds remaining on the clock. But Kelenic has to immediately adjust and be ready to hit.
It’s an interesting requirement for players to adjust to upon getting sent down. A lot of players – both hitters and pitchers – are sent down from the majors because they have been struggling, and their organization thinks a reset in the minors will be good for them. The player gets to Triple-A, and has to pick up the pace and “rush” to get ready to pitch or hit. Maybe it’s a good thing – less time to think, more time to react.
Anyway, our Lewis-Kelenic-White trio didn’t produce a hit on Wednesday, as Tacoma was shut out for just the second time all season, and had just two hits in the entire game. We’ll see what tonight has in store for us.
RAINIERS DAILY
YESTERDAY: Tacoma was held to just two hits and got shut out by Sacramento on Wednesday afternoon, 5-0. Sacramento starter Raynel Espinal went six innings and surrendered the two hits. Rehabilitating Jake McGee struck out the side in the seventh, and Sammy Long pitched the final two innings. Sam Haggerty and Joe Odom had the hits for the Rainiers.
TODAY: Tacoma Rainiers (12-26) at Sacramento River Cats (19-19), 6:45
OPPONENT AFFILIATION: San Francisco Giants.
OPPOSING MANAGER: Dave Brundage.
SEASON SERIES: Tied, 1-1.
PITCHERS: LHP Tommy Milone (0-0, 1.80) at LHP Enmanuel De Jesus (0-1, 5.68)
Tacoma has never faced De Jesus, who is a Triple-A rookie after spending the 2021 season with the Red Sox Double-A team in Portland, Maine.
ROSTER MOVES: Today the Mariners reinstated Drew Steckenrider from the restricted list, and returned reliever Roenis Elias to Tacoma.
HOT HITTERS: Sam Haggerty has reached base safely in 12 straight games, and he has a four-game hitting streak… Marcus Wilson has homered three times during his last five games, and he has reached base in six straight games… Joe Odom has a four-game hitting streak.
OPPONENT NEWS: Sacramento just split a six-game series at El Paso, 3-3… Austin Dean hit three solo homers on Sunday, tying a River Cats record… Isan Diaz hit four homers during the six games at El Paso… David Villar also homered four times at El Paso; he leads the league with 13 home runs, but only three have come in home games… former Rainiers from this season Donovan Walton, Kevin Padlo, and Stuart Fairchild are all expected to play for Sacramento in this series.
BROADCAST: All games will be broadcast free on a live audio stream which is available right here.
Unfortunately, there is no traditional terrestrial radio station carrying the games at this time.
PCL SCOREBOARD: Follow all league games in real-time with links to broadcasts and Gameday screens right here.
Links:
- Former Tacoma Rainiers great Adam Jones wrote for the Players Tribune about his career, especially the final years in Japan. Good stuff here from one of my all-time favorites.
- Marco Gonzales was dealing and the Mariners beat the Blue Jays last night.
- The Mariners struggles this season can easily be pinned on the offense.
March 16, 2023