The distance between Raley Field, the home of the Sacramento River Cats, to AT&T Park is only an hour-and-a-half drive. For players waiting their turn in Triple-A, it can either feel like a quick drink on a ferry ride to the park or a bumpy bus ride to Albuquerque.
When looking at the River Cats’ roster, like so many other Triple-A teams, it shows exactly how up and down the journey of a baseball player can be. This year’s Opening Day roster includes 10 players who have seen time in majors with the Giants — Chris Heston, Derek Law, Steven Okert, Trevor Brown, Hector Sanchez, Orlando Calixte, Miguel Gomez, Ryder Jones, Austin Slater, and Mac Williamson. First and foremost though, your affiliate closest to the majors is a glimpse to the future.
For the Giants, this year’s River Cats is highlighted by four players yet to get a taste of the bigs. The bats begin with outfielders Steven Duggar and Chris Shaw. On the bump, the front office will survey the progress of Tyler Beede and Andrew Suarez.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Bay Area and California sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
Duggar is ready for the season to start Thursday as he waits for his inevitable call up to San Francisco. The center fielder led off Sacramento’s exhibition game Tuesday against Single-A San Jose with what announcer Joe Ritzo called a “towering home run to right center.” Already Duggar is a top-notch defender at the highest level. Expect him to be on the Giants by early May. His timetable, though, is all about the at-bats he first pieces together as a River Cat.
Shaw is the opposite of Duggar in what the Giants will pay the most attention to. His bat will play, there’s no doubting that, even if he starts the season slow. Last year, Shaw led all players in the organization with 24 home runs between Double-A and Triple-A. But also last season, the big 6-foot-3 lefty switched positions from first base to left field for the foreseeable future.
In spring training, Shaw came in slimmed down to improve his defense and there were nothing but positive reactions from how he looked in left. The pairing of Duggar and Shaw can be up as soon as this season, and is expected to be two-thirds of the Giants’ future outfield.
Beede and Shaw, while both long shots, were each competing for a spot in the Giants’ rotation this spring. They both fell short. Between the two, Beede and Suarez combined for a 1-2 record with an 8.55 ERA over 22.1 innings. And the ball in the Pacific Coast League flies nearly as long as the Cactus League.
San Francisco Giants
Both pitchers should find their way to San Francisco this season at some point. Injuries will happen as we’ve already seen with Madison Bumgarner and Jeff Samardzija. On talent alone, the two are nearly there as well. Consistency will be the key while Beede needs to hone in on his control and Suarez needs to continue to find a knock-out pitch.
Fans heading out to a River Cats game this season can happily dust off their old Chris Heston shirsey hoping to see some more history on the hill, and at the same time, spot their new favorite Giant of the future. That’s the beauty of Triple-A baseball.