The Rainiers played their final home game of the season on Sunday afternoon at Cheney Stadium, winning an oddly-officiated game over the Round Rock Express by a score of 5-4. It was the 75th and final home game of the year, and four Rainiers players were honored with end-of-season awards in a brief ceremony prior to the game.
Jarred Kelenic was named the 2022 Tacoma Rainiers Hitter of the Year. Kelenic played in 86 games for Tacoma, hitting .295 with 18 home runs, 32 doubles, and 65 RBI. He slashed .295/.365/.557 for an OPS of .922. It has only been a couple of games since his recall, but the improvements at the plate that he made in Tacoma appear to be translating in the majors.
Nick Ramirez was named Pitcher of the Year. The team’s closer, Ramirez has 16 saves and a 2.93 ERA. His 16 saves is going to lead the league, and he’ll be the first Tacoma pitcher to lead the PCL in saved since Jared Wells in 2008.
Mason McCoy was an easy choice for the Tacoma Rainiers Gold Glove award, and he should be in contention for national recognition as well. Tacoma’s everyday shortstop, McCoy turned in dozens of highlight-reel plays over the course of the season while being very steady on the routine plays as well. McCoy has made just six errors in 121 games this season – an incredibly low total for a player who spends most of his time at shortstop.
Finally, the Team Most Valuable Player award goes to Erick Mejia. Going into the final three contests, Mejia has played in 117 games and hit .263 with 15 home runs, 28 doubles, and 58 RBI, posting an OPS of .772. Mejia was interchangeable on defense, skillfully playing six different positions (all four infield positions, plus left and right field). He was always ready to play, had fun on the field, and never landed on the injured list.
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That was the last home game yesterday, and now the team is in Reno for a three-game series to finish the season. As manager Tim Federowicz was swift to point out to me after yesterday’s game, .500 is still attainable. Just need to sweep the division champions on their own field, how hard can it be?
RAINIERS DAILY
YESTERDAY: Tacoma wrapped up the home schedule with a 5-4 comeback win over Round Rock, with Jonathan Villar scoring the go-ahead run on a wild pitch in the bottom of the eighth inning. Forrest Wall had two hits and drove in three runs, while Patrick Weigel and Fernando Abad each pitched two scoreless innings in a bullpen game. The Rainiers won the series four games to two, are 14-7 over the last 21 games, and 34-24 since the all-star break.
TODAY: Tacoma Rainiers (72-75) at Reno Aces (82-63), 6:05.
OPPONENT AFFILIATION: Arizona Diamondbacks.
OPPOSING MANAGER: Gil Velazquez.
SEASON SERIES: Reno leads, 10-8.
PITCHERS: RHP Darren McCaughan (8-8, 4.49) at LHP Tyler Holton (1-1, 3.66)
This will be the last start of the season for McCaughan, who has been a pillar of the Rainiers starting rotation since Day One. He leads the league in innings pitched (148.1) and strikeouts (137).
ROSTER MOVES: None today as of posting time.
HOT HITTERS: Mason McCoy has reached base safely in 27 of his last 29 games, and he is batting .316/.413/.633 in September… Jonathan Villar has reached base safely in 15 straight games, with hits in 14 of them, and has 13 RBI during this stretch…. Marcus Wilson has hit safely in five straight, but he has been out with a shoulder injury… Zach Green has a five-game hitting streak… Cade Marlowe has reached base in nine straight games.
OPPONENT NEWS: Reno is the West Division champion, and the Aces are going into the playoffs hot. Reno has won three straight games and seven of the last nine, and they just took five-of-six on the road at Las Vegas… the Aces have two former Rainiers: infielder Jake Hager, and reliever Paul Fry… Jose Herrera has a seven-game hitting streak… Jonathan Cintron has hit safely in 28 of his last 31 games… Camden Duzenack has a six-game hitting streak.
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:
- Wow. The Mariners blew an 11-2 lead and lost to Kansas City yesterday, 13-12, ending a 3-7 road trip. However, their magic number to clinch a playoff spot over Baltimore is down to six with ten games remaining.
- The M’s are off today, and hope to get one of their injured players back tomorrow.
March 24, 2023