The Salt Lake Bees continue their eight-game homestand with a four-game series against the Oklahoma City Dodgers, Monday through Thursday at Smith's Ballpark.
The Salt Lake Bees continue their eight-game homestand with a four-game series against the Oklahoma City Dodgers, Monday through Thursday at Smith's Ballpark.
Despite a tough series against Colorado Springs to open the homestand, the Bees remain one game ahead of Albuquerque and four games clear of El Paso in the Pacific Coast League's Pacific Southern division. Last season, the Bees dropped three of four against the Dodgers in Oklahoma City, and Rey Navarro led the Salt Lake offense with four RBIs against OKC pitching.
Dodgers first baseman Adrián González is expected to continue his rehab assignment in Salt Lake City. Gonzalez, who was placed on the disabled list June 13 with lower back discomfort, appeared in two games for Oklahoma City at Las Vegas and went two-for-four with two RBIs. Salt Lake also features a pair of rehabbers, as Angels pitchers Andrew Heaney and Andrew Bailey appeared in Sunday's series finale against Colorado Springs. Outfielder Cameron Maybin played in two games for the Bees against the Sky Sox as he recovers from a right MCL sprain and went two-for-seven with a stolen base.
Salt Lake baseball fans will recognize several familiar faces on the Dodgers' roster. Three current Dodgers have played for the Bees, most recently outfielder Todd Cunningham, who appeared in 99 games for Salt Lake in 2016 and led the team with 66 runs scored. Catcher Bobby Wilson was the Angels' 48th-round selection in the 2002 MLB Draft and played parts of five seasons (2007-2010, 2012) with Salt Lake, reliever Steve Geltz appeared in 27 games out of the Bees bullpen from 2011-2012, and Dodgers hitting coach Shawn Wooten was a member of the Angels' 2002 World Series championship team and played 10 games for the 2002 Salt Lake Stingers.
The Dodgers' strength is their pitching staff, which ranks second in the PCL with a 4.10 earned run average and leads the league with 1,039 strikeouts. Oklahoma City starters Wilmer Font and Justin Masterson are two of four PCL pitchers with nine victories this season. Font leads the PCL with 154 strikeouts this season, while Masterson ranks third with 118. The Salt Lake offense will test Oklahoma City's strikeout-prone pitching staff, as the Bees' 709 strikeouts are the fewest by any PCL team this season. Oklahoma City features four of the Dodgers' top 30 prospects according to mlb.com, led by the top two prospects in the Los Angeles system, pitcher Walker Buehler and outfielder Alex Verdugo. Buehler opened the season with high-A Rancho Cucamonga and was promoted to AAA on July 16, while Verdugo has spent the entire season in the PCL, leads the Dodgers with 117 hits, and was named to the AAA All-Star game.
Thursday's series finale is 90s Night at Smith's Ballpark, as the Bees will wear Salt Lake Buzz uniforms to commemorate the return of PCL baseball to Salt Lake City in 1994. Following the series against the Dodgers, the Bees hit the road for a four-game set in Sacramento before returning home for four against the Tacoma Rainiers beginning Tuesday, August 15. For tickets and additional information, visit slbees.com.
