Nicholas Ibarra | OBSERVER Staff Writer
Tuesday, April 5th marks the 22nd Opening Day in Sacramento River Cats history since being relocated to Sacramento from Vancouver, British Columbia. It also begins the 7th season as the official AAA affiliate of the San Francisco Giants since being acquired from the Oakland Athletics in 2015.
Outfielders Jaylin Davis, Heliot Ramos and Ka’ai Tom, along with pitchers Joey Marciano and Yunior Marte were some of the handful of guys present at the 2022 Media Day held on April 2nd. Look for each of these guys as leading candidates for the Show as the active rosters have been expanded from 26 to 28, or 29 for a doubleheader.
After dealing with multiple stints on the injured list (IL) due to left knee tendinitis and a strained left hamstring — restricting him to only 43 games last season — Jaylin Davis, 27, said that he is happy to be back playing and hopes to stay healthy and on the field more. He’s approaching his ninth season and remains focused on the “big goal” of getting back to San Francisco.
Joey Marciano, 27, recorded 59 strikeouts (SO) in 49.2 innings pitched (IP) last season. He said, “I want to be an efficient pitcher, get the job done and help the team win and move as one.”
Heliot Ramos, 22, is one of the Giants’ organization’s top, up-and-coming prospects. Last season, in 54 games with the River Cats, Ramos tallied 58 hits (H) — 11 doubles (2B) and 4 homeruns (HR). He has a personal goal in mind for this season.
“I want to hit 20 homeruns, 40 doubles and steal 20 bags,” Ramos said.
In 2019, he hit 16 homeruns — which is his most in a single season — but also suffered an oblique injury that sidelined him for a month that year.
Ramos shared that his dream is to play alongside Brandon Crawford, the Giants’ all-star shortstop.
“He’s a guy that I’ve looked up to since I was like nine, ten years old,” he said. “I really want to see him play and work with him and be able to have those baseball and life conversations.”
The River Cats finished the 2021 season with an overall record of 56-71. They will look to improve on that as they kick off their season opener against the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (Houston Astros affiliate) on April 5th at 6:35pm at Sutter Health Park. The series against the Space Cowboys will continue through Sunday.
They will play 75 of their 150 games at home this year. Ticket pricing varies from $14-$50, dependent on seating. To purchase tickets, call their ticket hotline at (916) 371-HITS (4487), email tickets@rivercats.com, or visit rivercats.com.