Category Archives: CAL LEAGUE NEWS

PORTSIDE POD FEATURES VIDEO ASSISTANT

The latest Portside Pod w/ Alex Jensen posted on June 26th with last year’s video coordinator Sam Given as the guest. Sam sheds light on the many nuances of the team’s preparation that relies on video as well as a few other interesting topics.

The Portside Pod looks to be an off-season thing over the last few years and this is the second one in January, with the first featuring Ports manager Gregorio Petit.

Check out Sam’s journey to working in baseball and some fascinating discussion on spin rate and other metrics:

PORTSIDE POD: EPISODE 4.2 – SAM GIVEN

LAKE ELSINORE STORM 2024 STAFF ANNOUNCED

The San Diego Padres today announced the members of the 2024 Lake Elsinore Storm Coaching Staff.

Manager: Lukas Ray

Lukas Ray is in his 4th year with the San Diego Padres and this will be his 3rd year managing inside of the organization. In the past two seasons, he has managed the ACL Padres to a combined 59-51 record, going four games over .500 in both seasons. Before joining the organization, he gained coaching experience at Middle Tennessee State, Charleston Southern University, Florence-Darlington Technical College, and the University of South Carolina – Lancaster.

“It’s an absolute honor for our Padres leadership to provide me with this opportunity. We have a dynamite staff and it’s our job to develop players and win games, but we can only do that with the support of the fans in this Lake Elsinore community. We look forward to meeting the fans, serving in the community, and developing players in a way that helps us produce a quality level of on-field performance. Go Storm and Go Padres.”

Pitching Coach: Robbie Price

This will be Robbie Price’s 3rd year with the San Diego Padres. He was with the ACL Padres in 2022 and 2023 with Luka Ray and served as their Pitching Coach. He played collegiately at Tulane University prior to coaching.

Hitting Coach: Eric Del Prado

Eric del Prado is in his 2nd year with the San Diego Padres and worked with both Lukas Ray and Robbie Price as the Hitting Coach with the ACL Padres in 2023. He was also a coach at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon for four years before joining the San Diego Padres Organization.

Bench Coach: Oswaldo Pirela

This is Oswaldo Pirela’s first season with the San Diego Padres organization. He played three years with the Texas Rangers organization from 2009-2011.

Strength Coach: Mark “Boom” Spadaveccia

The only returning member from the 2023 Lake Elsinore Storm coaching staff, Mark Spadaveccia worked as the Strength Coach last season and is in his 13th year in professional baseball. This will be his fourth season with the San Diego Padres. Before joining the Storm Coaching Staff in 2023, he was with the San Antonio Missions for two seasons. He has a Science Degree from Marquette University and graduated with a Sports Science Degree at Florida State University.

Athletic Trainer: Juan Pena

Juan Pena is in his first season with the San Diego Padres. From 2018-2023 he worked as an Athletic Trainer within the Detroit Tigers organization with a majority of that time at the Florida Complex League.

Performance Analyst: Brendan Amend

Brendan Amend previously worked within the Tampa Bay Rays organization and this will be his first season with the San Diego Padres. He is currently a staff member at the Point Loma Nazarene University Biomechanics Lab.

Video Coordinator: Tyler Jones

Tyler Jones is in his first season within the San Diego Padres Organization and is an alumni of the San Diego State Aztecs.

MODESTO 2024 COACHING STAFF ANNOUNCED

The Seattle Mariners announced the 2024 coaching staff for the defending California League champion Modesto Nuts. Here’s the press release:

SEATTLE, Wash. – Seattle Mariners President of Baseball Operations Jerry Dipoto, Director of Player Development Justin Toole and Senior Director of High Performance Rob Scheidegger announced today the Class-A Modesto Nuts staff for the 2024 season:

Zach Vincej, Manager
Hecmart Nieves, Bench Coach
Jordan Cowan, Hitting Coach
Jake Witt, Pitching Coach
Kyle Briggs, Strength & Conditioning Coach
Blake Wooten, Athletic Trainer

Vincej (VINCE-ee) returns as Manager after leading Modesto to a California League Championship in his first year as skipper. Last season, the Nuts went 21-2 over their final 23 games of the season under Vincej, catapulting them to a Cal League Championship. Modesto carried its second-half surge into the Postseason, outscoring its opponents 36-14 over its final 3 games to claim the Cal League title.

Vincej served as a coach for Triple-A Tacoma in 2022 and prior to his coaching career, the infielder played 8 seasons (2012-19) in the minor leagues and appeared in 10 Major League games between Cincinnati (2017) and Seattle (2018). Vincej was selected by the Cincinnati Reds in the 37th round of the 2012 MLB First-Year Player Draft out of Pepperdine University (CA). He won a Rawlings Minor League Gold Glove Award for his play at shortstop with Double-A Pensacola (CIN) in 2016 and made his Major League debut with the Reds on Aug. 1, 2018.

Nieves (heck-mart nee-YEV-es) enters his 3rd season in the Mariners organization and his 2nd with Modesto, after serving as Third Base/Catching Coach for the Nuts last year. In 2022, he served as a coach for the Rookie Dominican Summer League Mariners. Prior to joining the organization, he served as a baseball operations assistant in the Dominican Republic for the Detroit Tigers. Nieves played baseball at Ottawa University (KS) from 2017-18.

Cowan (COW-in) enters his first season as a full-time coach after serving as a player-coach in the Mariners organization in 2023. The former infielder played 9 seasons of minor league ball (2013-19, ’21-22), including 8 in the Mariners system. The Seattle native was selected by Seattle in the 37th round of the 2013 MLB First-Year Player Draft out of Kentlake High School in Kent, WA.

Witt returns for his 2nd season as Modesto’s Pitching Coach. Prior to joining the organization, he served as Pitching Coach for the DSL Orioles in 2022. Before his stint in Baltimore’s organization, he worked at Driveline Baseball in Kent, Washington during 2021. He coached summer ball in Pierre, South Dakota for 3 seasons (2018-20) and pitched collegiately at West Hills Community College (CA).

Briggs joins the Mariners organization after spending the last 2 seasons (2022-23) as Strength & Conditioning staff in the Milwaukee Brewers organization. Wooten returns for his 2nd season as Modesto’s Athletic Trainer, previously spending time in the Orioles system.

PORTS TEAM UP WITH CECIL FIELDER FOR HITTING CLINIC IN JULY

Ports Fans,

We are excited to be hosting a hitting clinic for the 2024 season with former Major League All-Star and World Series Champion Cecil Fielder, taking place on July 27th and 28th at Banner Island Ballpark!

The two-day hitting clinic will be held from 9am to 12pm each day at Banner Island Ballpark where players from the current Ports roster will assist Fielder in providing individual instruction to each participant over the two days.

As part of the two-day clinic, Fielder will also be in attendance for the Ports Saturday, July 27th game against the Fresno Grizzlies throwing out the ceremonial first pitch. There will also be an autograph session during the game from the 2nd inning through the 7th inning. Autographs will be free with a ticket and attendance at the game. Tickets for the game will be released soon.

The cost of the clinic will be $200 and is for ages 8-15 with a maximum of 60 participants.

To register for the clinic, click the link below or please contact Ports Community Relations Manager, James Cole, at 209-644-1900 or email [email protected]. The slots are expected to fill up quickly for this unique opportunity.

REGISTER HERE

STOCKTON PORTS NAME NAME CHRIS ZAVAGLIA AS ASSISTANT GM

Press release:

STOCKTON, Calif. – The Stockton Ports are excited to announce the promotion of Chris Zavaglia to become the Assistant General Manager after spending the 2022 and 2023 seasons as the team’s Director of Baseball Communications.

Zavaglia, 26, has been with the Ports since April of 2021 when he began his tenure as a seasonal Media and Videoboard Assistant. Following the 2021 season, Zavaglia was promoted to a full-time role as a Ticket Sales and Media Executive. Prior to the 2022 season, Zavaglia was promoted to the team’s Director of Baseball Communications where he has excelled for the past two years.

“It’s an honor to receive this opportunity,” said the newly named Assistant General Manager Chris Zavaglia. “I’m excited to continue to deliver and help the Stockton Ports succeed as much as possible. It’s been an amazing three seasons here and I’m looking forward to working with my amazing staff to deliver the best entertainment possible in the San Joaquin Valley.”

Prior to joining the Ports Front Office, Zavaglia previously worked with Cal State Maritime Academy as a Sports Information Assistant, starting off as an intern in mid-2018. In June of 2020, he was hired as the media manager for the Independent Baseball Affiliate Vallejo Admirals. He has also previously served as one of the play-by-play voices for the Sacramento State Hornets baseball team, the Vallejo Admirals, and Cal Maritime basketball and soccer.

“7th Inning Stretch is delighted to honor Chris with this very well-deserved promotion to Assistant General Manager of the Stockton Ports today,” said Ports General Manager, Jordan Feneck. “Chris has proved day in and day out that he deserves this new role, and I am excited to watch him continue to flourish. He is passionate about our company and wants to see our team succeed, and I am thankful to be working alongside him.”

Zavaglia is looking forward to his next step of growth within the company and is looking forward to continuing to succeed in this new role.

“I want to thank the Stockton Ports, Jordan Feneck, Pat Filippone and the entire 7th Inning Stretch ownership for this incredible opportunity,” Zavaglia went on to add. “I am thrilled to be a part of the Stockton Ports family and look forward to continue creating exciting memories for our fans at Banner Island Ballpark.”

VISALIA RAWHIDE 2024 COACHING STAFF ANNOUNCED

The Visalia Rawhide sent out a press release on January 8th with the 20204 coaching staff listed:

Diamondbacks announce Minor League coaching assignments

The Rawhide know who will be calling the shots from the dugout during the 2024 season! We will be welcoming back:

Manager: Dee Garner
Pitching Coach: Tyler Mark.

Joining the staff for their first year in Visalia are:
Hitting Coach: Brad Marcelino
Bench Coach: Jaime Del Valle
Trainer: Cat Widay
Strength and Conditioning: Wacy Crenshaw

The Rawhide will take the field for the first time in 2024 on April 9th. Individual tickets will go on sale March 5th. Membership packages are available now at RawhideBaseball.com.

RAWHIDE FACILITY UPGRADE BATTLE

The Visalia Rawhide released a statement last week addressing the facility upgrades that have been mandated by MLB for all minor league clubs. At issue is who should pay for the upgrades, the team or the city of Visalia. The two parties headed to court in November and a judge declined to make a ruling on December 22nd, stating that the lease in place did not anticipate the mandated upgrades.

On January 6th, Rawhide owner Sam Sigal asserted that the city is required to pay for the upgrades.

There is quite a bit of back-and-forth on this issue, with the city charging that team ownership agreed to MLB’s mandated facility upgrades without the city’s knowledge.

More to come.

 

RAWHIDE ALUMS THOMAS AND PFAADT HELP BRING DIAMONDBACKS EVEN IN NLCS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Arizona Diamondbacks fell behind the Philadelphia Phillies two games to none in the best-of-seven National League Championship Series but have evened it up at 2-2 with some big performances by former Visalia Rawhide players.

Last night, trailing two games to one in the series, the Diamondbacks gave up an early lead and fell behind 5-2 going to the bottom of the seventh inning. They put a run on the board in the seventh and trailed 5-3 in the eighth when 2019 California League championship game hero Alek Thomas came to the plate and belted a two-run home run to tie the game. The Diamondbacks tacked on the go-ahead run and closed out the game to pull even with the Phillies in the series.

On Thursday, 2021 Rawhide alum Brandon Pfaadt faced the Phillies with the Diamondbacks trailing the series 2-0. The rookie shut out the Phillies over 5 2/3 innings, allowing just two hits and no walks while striking out nine. The Diamondbacks won the game on a walk-off single from Ketel Marte.

It was a clutch performance for the rookie who went 3-9 in an up-and-down season that saw tremendous struggles and a couple of trips back to the minor leagues. Pfaadt also shut out the Dodgers over 4 1/3 innings in the divisional series.

Game five is tonight in Phoenix.

 

 

MODESTO SWEEPS RANCHO FOR CAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP

Colt Emerson had four hits and four RBIs as to lead the Modesto Nuts to a 14-8 win over Rancho Cucamonga for the California League championship. The Nuts swept the first two games of the best-of-three series to claim their first league title since 2017.

Modesto erased a 1-0 deficit with a four-run second inning and stretched it out to a 6-1 lead before Rancho Cucamonga came back with two runs in the fourth to make it 6-3. A run in the fifth made it 7-3, Modesto, but the Quakes answered with five runs in the bottom of the fifth to take an 8-7 lead.

But that was it for Rancho Cucamonga while Modesto kept adding on.

The Nuts got the lead right back with three in the sixth en route to seven unanswered runs.

Michael Arroyo was 3-for-6 with a triple, two RBIs and three runs scored. Luis Suisbel was 2-for-6 with a home run.

Modesto finished the season in dominant fashion, chasing down the Fresno Grizzlies to claim the second-half crown in the North division, then kept rolling through the playoffs. Overall, it is Modesto’s 10th league championship and its second since it became an affiliate of the Seattle Mariners.

MODESTO – 14
RANCHO CUCAMONGA – 8
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MODESTO TAKES GAME ONE WITH 9-RUN INNING

Championship Series Gm 1

The Modesto Nuts fell behind 1-0 in the third inning, then came roaring back with nine runs in the fifth and went on to win game one of the California League championship series by a score of 9-2 over the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes on Sunday night. Tatem Levins hit a grand slam and Jonny Farmelo hit a three-run shot as Modesto’s high-powered lineup continued to roll.

Jake Gelof hit a pair of solo home runs to account for both of Rancho Cucamonga’s runs.

Three Modesto pitchers scattered seven hits and allowed just one walk with 12 strikeouts.

3,573 fans showed up at John Thurman Field for Modesto’s last home game of the year. Game two of the championship series will be in Rancho Cucamonga on Tuesday at 6:30pm.

RANCHO CUCAMONGA – 2
MODESTO – 9
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