CLEVELAND, Ohio — When the Guardians faced the Athletics in Sacramento’s Sutter Health Park this past weekend, they weren’t just playing an American League opponent – they were navigating the unique challenges of Major League Baseball in a Triple-A venue. For players, coaches, and media alike, the experience offered a stark reminder of the differences between MLB facilities and their minor league counterparts.

Paul Hoynes, cleveland.com’s veteran Guardians reporter, embraced the opportunity with a journey befitting the unusual assignment – taking an Amtrak train to Sacramento after finding rental cars and flights too cumbersome.

“It was like ‘The Natural,’ you know, one of those old time baseball movies,” Hoynes recounted. “I took the bus to an Amtrak station outside of San Francisco. Got on the train and about an hour and a half I was in Sacramento. It was pretty cool. Nice quiet ride. Just sat there and watched the countryside go by.”

The nostalgic travel experience was fitting given the throwback nature of covering MLB games in a minor league park. For Guardians manager Stephen Vogt, it was a homecoming of sorts.

“He is a three-time Sacramento River Cat. Twice with Oakland and once with the Giants,” Hoynes explained. “He loved it there. He said it was one of his favorite Triple-A parks, favorite Triple-A cities.”

But beyond the sentimentality, playing in Sacramento presented legitimate challenges. Perhaps most significant was the ballpark’s elevation, which dramatically affected how the ball carried.

“The ball flies there,” Hoynes revealed. “Steven Kwan told us as far as ballparks go it has the fourth highest elevation in the big leagues.”

Part of Cleveland’s approach to playing the outfield was to play like they were in Arizona.

“Play a little deeper, man, Hoynes said. “Play a little deeper and just be prepared for that.”

The logistical challenges extended beyond gameplay. Unlike MLB stadiums where clubhouses connect directly to dugouts, Sutter Health Park’s facilities required players and media to trek across the outfield to reach the clubhouses.

“If you’re covering the A’s there, you’re going to get in shape because you’ve got to run at the end of the game,” Hoynes described. “You go down all the way to the bottom of the ballpark, run out of tunnel from behind home plate. You’ve got to run down the right or left field lines because the clubhouses are behind center.”

This unconventional setup created unusual game situations, including what Hoynes called “the walk of shame” for ejected players and managers, who had to exit through the outfield rather than retreating to a connected clubhouse. It also complicated in-game adjustments for hitters, who needed to travel to batting cages located behind the outfield walls.

The unusual circumstances even pressed assistant coach Agustin Rivero into emergency duty warming up pitchers between innings.

While MLB teams occasionally play in non-traditional venues for special events like the Field of Dreams game, the Athletics’ temporary relocation to Sacramento provides a rare extended look at the practical challenges of fitting major league operations into minor league infrastructure.

For the Guardians, who took two of three games in the series, the unusual setting didn’t prevent them from taking care of business – even if it meant adjusting outfield positioning and navigating longer-than-usual walks to the clubhouse.

Note: Artificial intelligence was used to help generate this story from the Cleveland Baseball Talk Podcast by cleveland.com. Visitors to cleveland.com have asked for more text stories based on website podcast discussions.

Podcast transcript

Joe Noga: Welcome back to the Cleveland Baseball Talk podcast. I’m Joe Noga, joined by Paul Hoynes Hoynsie. The Guardians take two out of three over the weekend from the A’s in Sacramento. After a foreign they come back with a four and five road trip nine games out west. They finally beat a left handed starter again on Sunday. Two wins against lefties on the trip. They beat JP Sears and the A’s. Emmanuel Class A gets back to back saves over the weekend. Robbie Ray in San Francisco, another left hander they beat just, you know, are they finally starting to sort of click against lefties you think?

Paul Hoynes: I think they’re, they’re start starting to find a formula, Joe. Obviously it helps if Lane Thomas and David Fry can get going on Sunday. Thomas and Fry each had a hit against, in that, in that win against Oakland and Sears, you know, and they had some lefties left on left hits as well. Manzardo, Nolan Jones came through against Sears. So you know, I think the, you know the, the, the key to beating a lefty is to get contributions from the top to the bottom of the lineup. You know, Jose Ramirez has hit lefties all year, so is Quan, you know, so is Santana. But when you know, everyone else chips in, it makes it a lot easier.

Joe Noga: Are guys like Manzardo and Nolan Jones, you know, kind of showing that maybe they can be platoon proof is, you know, their numbers are almost as good if not better in some cases against left handed pitching for both of them. You know, early in the season Manzardo had, you know, three or four home runs against left handed pitchers. And Jones just seems to be locking in over the last three to four weeks. So you know, what are you seeing out of those two guys and, and even throw Bo Naylor in there, you know, when he gets a chance to hit against lefties. We’ve seen him take a couple of guys deep as well.

Paul Hoynes: Yeah. And you know, another Angel Martinez is another guy switch hitter who has hit, you know, lefties. Well, I think out of between Manzardo and Nolan Jones, I think probably Nolan Jones would be the leading candidate to get more bats against a left hander. You know, Manzardo really had a really started yesterday because Stephen Vogt wanted to give Carlos Santana two days off. So yesterday and Monday’s day off he wanted to pair those two days off to give him a rest. So that’s why Manzardo mainly was in there. But like you said Joe, he did hit lefties well early in the season.

Joe Noga: So the way the road trip started off obviously getting swept in Seattle, not great. And offensively, just not a lot of runs to talk about, but in and going to San Francisco and going to Sacramento and Sacramento being a park that right now is surrendering the most runs in all of Major League Baseball. They didn’t have necessarily, you know, a big offensive explosion over the weekend, but they scored enough runs and the pitching was, was really good.

Paul Hoynes: Yeah, the starting pitching was excellent. Just three really strong starts probably. Tanner Bobby throws first complete game of his career on Friday and loses five to one. Then, um, Luis Ortiz has a great outing Saturday, six scoreless and, and Cecconi outdoes Ortiz on Sunday with seven scoreless innings. So really promising those three guys. And you pair that with Gavin Williams start Thursday against the Giants when he pitched six scoreless innings and left with a one nothing lead in a game. Cleveland eventually lost two to one. And you’re starting to see this rotation, you know, put good start after good start together and, and they’re starting to, you know, a little competition between these, the starters. You know, I think that was a, that was a good, it was, you know, a tough road trip record wise and offensive wise. But from a starting pitching standpoint, you know, that they really, you know, that’s, that rotation is starting to gel.

Joe Noga: Yeah. The offense only producing about 3.6, 3.7 runs per game. Bottom third of the league in terms of run production. There’s. But if you get that starting rotation three to four runs per night and hand it over to the bullpen and, you know, Emmanuel Class A has figured things out. He’s, he’s got us sort of holding onto the edges of our seats every time he goes out there. The last couple of save opportunities, he’s, he’s had the bases loaded and, you know, the tying runs on, you know, up or at the, on base, you, you’ve got to, you know, believe that there’s, there can be a little confidence now growing, at least on the pitching side of things. As long as you get them three, four runs, they’re going to, you know, get the job done.

Paul Hoynes: Yeah, they’re going to keep you in a game. Joe, the problem was on this trip, they scored 21 runs in nine games. You know, that’s just over two runs a game. I mean, even if you pitch great, you know, the odds are against you, you know, winning a whole lot of games if you’re only averaging 2.3 runs per game or whatever that is. You know, 21 runs over nine games, you know, it’s a, it’s A short sample size, but like you said, you take the scope, the scope of the season. 76 games, whatever they played, they’re, they’re not even averaging four runs a game overall. So that, that just makes it so hard to win. You have to be perfect or near perfect. Your, your starting pitchers can’t make a mistake and for sure the bullpen can’t make a mistake.

Joe Noga: Yeah. And that, that leads us to like the next question which is could help soon be on the way. In one form or another, we’re getting closer to the trade deadline. We’re, you know, what a couple months away. It’s, you’ve got the, what, the end of June and then into July. The end of July is the trade deadline. There could be a move to get outside help that way or there could be options. Coming up from the Miners, we’re hearing that Juan Brito, he’s played in six games in the Arizona Complex League. He could be coming east soon and, and starting an assignment with an affiliate, either Akron or Columbus. He’s, he’s played in six games. He has four hits, a home run, two RBIs. You know, shortly thereafter. Coming from Columbus, could possibly be Chase DeLauter. He’s got hits in 9 of his last 10 games. 4 multi hit games over that stretch and a couple of home runs. He’s really starting to heat up. You know, what do you think about reinforcements from within sometime even before the trade deadline?

Paul Hoynes: I think it’s a possibility, Joe. You know, obviously I think first thing as, as the guardians always say, there has to be a need. Where do these guys play? Where would the Lauder play? Where would, you know, Juan Brito play? I think they’ve been pretty satisfied for, with Schneemann and, and Martinez at second base, but Brito been playing in right field. So you know, that’s, that opens another possibility for him. And DeLauter is an outfielder. So. Yeah, Joe, I think there’s a chance that those guys could, could be here. You know, I don’t know how much the record dictates a move like that. You know, if they, if they really struggle from here on out, you know, they fall 10, 12, 15 games out of first place. I think the chances of us seeing, you know, promotions like that would probably be, be greater than if they stay in contention.

Joe Noga: Yeah, currently eight and a half out of first place behind the Tigers, who, who don’t look like they’re slowing down anytime. But even as you wrote today in, in your column this morning, you know, there was a time last Year where the Guardians were way out in front in, in the division and they sort of came back to the pack a little bit. I think they were, you know, within a game or so of Kansas City for a stretch and then, and then they sort of caught a second wind, took off and, and, and, you know, powered through the, the end of the schedule there. You know, if, if the Tigers decide to, to take their foot off the gas, maybe come back to the pack a little bit, does that change things for not only calling up prospects, but going out and pursuing a bat and, and making a big deal to get somebody to help now?

Paul Hoynes: I think it would, I think it, you know, from the outside looking in, it certainly seemed like that would be the move to make. But, you know, I think the Guardians look at things differently. Joe. We saw in 2023, you know, when they decided to raise the white flag and that team was what, one, two games out of first place when they were in Houston, they traded Josh Bell, they traded Aaron Civale before that, before they went on that trip, they traded Rosario, you know, they dumped those, those veteran guys. So I think it all depends what, how this ball club is playing, what the read of the front office is on the ball club. Do they, what the potential is. Do they think, can they, you know, can they help the present and the future with the moves they make? Or do they. Or they do they think, you know, it’s, it’s, it’s better to kind of pull in your horns and play for 2026 and beyond?

Joe Noga: Yeah, that, that just brings the even, odd number year theory into play here. You know, playoffs in 2020, a real struggle in 2021 prize playoffs in 2022, big time struggle in 23, and then out of nowhere, playoffs in, in a division title in 2024. So yeah, it would stand to reason. 2025, down year, 2026, you’re looking at the playoffs again. You know, that’s the kind of flawed logic that, that you follow here. Baseball fans at least do, as far as, you know, we’ll talk later on this week about possibility of what, what guys they could be looking at in terms of trades, what prospects are willing to part with or not willing to part with and what history shows they’re willing to do and not willing to do. But as far as seeing new faces up here in the lineup in Cleveland in the next couple of weeks, like you said, there really isn’t a lot of room unless, unless there’s an injury or if somebody just takes a nosedive completely, which, which nobody really has done recently.

Paul Hoynes: Yeah. You know, I think, you know, the kind of big focus on Lane Thomas. What, you know, he’s getting a little. A few more at bats now. It seemed like he’s reached a point that he’s past rehab in the foot. You know, they don’t have to really watch him too carefully. He could, he could play. He can play every day or close to every day now. So let’s see if he takes off. So let’s see what happens with him. Perhaps there’s a move to be made if he struggles. But, you know, he’s right. You know, I mean, he has a track record, so I think they’re going to stay with him, but, you know, that’s the one guy where, you know, is center field open? I mean, you know that, that if Thomas is struggling. But I don’t know. I mean, DeLauter, CJ Kayfus. Are those guys, you know, are those guys center fielders that, you know, that’s, that’s the question I asked.

Joe Noga: Yeah, Kayfus, I don’t think is a center fielder. He’s just learning the outfield and he’s, you know, he’s a corner guy. You try to hide him maybe out in. In right field, if that’s what you’re. You’re going to do. DeLauter can play center field. I think he’s been a center fielder in the past. He’s athletic. He’s, you know, he can run. But, you know, do you expose him to potential injury if you play him in center field? Is it safer, Is it softer to play in. In right field if, if he does come up?

Paul Hoynes: Yeah, that’s. That’s a big question. And they, they’ve paid so much attention to try to keep this guy healthy that I don’t think they would expose him that way, especially if he hasn’t played a whole lot of center field and it sounds like he’s been playing the corners.

Joe Noga: Yeah, that’s. Well, in the corners. That’s where you run into the sidewall and bust up your toe. So you can’t win for losing odds. It doesn’t matter. All right, I want to go back to what we were talking about a little bit at the top and just the idea of your. Your trip back to the minor leagues there over the weekend in Sacramento. What was the feeling now for you personally, you left San Francisco on getaway day and tell us about your journey to get to Sacramento.

Paul Hoynes: Yeah, Joe, I’ve never been to Sacramento before. Really didn’t know how to get there. I Looked at running a car that was very expensive. Flying was very expensive. So I decided to take a train, Joe. I was like, I was like the natural. You know, it was like, like one of those old time baseball movies. And so I took a, I took the bus out of San Francisco to, you know, a train, an Amtrak station, you know, outside of San Francisco. Got on the Amtrak and about an hour and a half I was, I was in Sacramento. It was pretty cool, you know, nice quiet ride. Just sat there and watched the countryside go by. It was cool.

Joe Noga: I mean, that really is sort of a neat little experience like, like the old days where you’re, you’re riding in the, the dining car and the Whammer sitting there and the, and you know, the, what’s the guy’s name making the, making bets on whether he can hit a home run with three pitch balls and Robert Redford sitting right next to you. It’s got to be, got to be great. It really neat to hear that you took the train that was, that was kind of a neat experience. And you hadn’t done that in 43 years of covering major league baseball.

Paul Hoynes: You know, I think I took the train once from Baltimore to New York, but I think the, the Indians, though, as a team took the train from Baltimore to New York, I think. And that’s the only other time I can remember doing that, something like that.

Joe Noga: And they all had fedoras and paper under their arms.

Paul Hoynes: I remember Corey Snyder, Corey Snyder said, this is cool. This is, this is like the natural that was, you know, when, when we were standing in the train station in Baltimore.

Joe Noga: Well, and so for Stephen Vogt to go back to Sutter Health park, you know, that had to be a neat experience as well. I mean, he, you know, his, his time in Oakland and his time in San Francisco gave him multiple tours at, you know, in that, that stadium.

Paul Hoynes: Yeah, he is a three time Sacramento river cat, twice with Oakland and once with the Giants. He, he loved it there. He said it was his, one of his favorite Triple A parks, favorite Triple A cities. You know, it was like the, you know, the former mayor coming back to, you know, his, his old hometown. Everybody knew him. He had, he had a lot of friends there. He enjoyed, I think he enjoyed the, the weekend.

Joe Noga: Now, all that being said, there still have to be some major drawbacks to, to covering and playing and managing a major league baseball game in what’s essentially a spring training or minor league ballpark.

Paul Hoynes: Yeah, the ball flies there, Joe. It is. Stephen Kwan told us it’s one of the, it’s as far as ballparks go. It’s has the fourth highest elevation of any ballpark in the big leagues. So the ball flies. And they said, you know, part of their, you know, approach to playing the outfield was, you know, to play like it’s, you’re in Arizona. Play a little deeper, man. Play a little deeper and, you know, just be prepared for that. The warning track in the outfield was wider, but. And Joe, I mean, if you’re covering the, if you’re covering the A’s there, you’re going to get in shape because you’ve got to, you’ve got to run at the end of the game. You got to go down all the way to the bottom of the ballpark, run out of tunnel from home plate. You’ve got to run down the right or left field lines. And because the clubhouses are behind center.

Joe Noga: Field, so if a player or a manager gets ejected, they have to walk out through the center field gate to go to the clubhouse there. Is that, is that the case?

Paul Hoynes: Yeah. Yeah. If you get thrown out of the game, you’ve got to, you know, walk down the right field line and go to a whole fence. So the walk of shame. You can’t just hide in a dugout and going to the clubhouse. So you join in clubhouse.

Joe Noga: But also logistically, for players who are trying to, you know, get some swings in in a batting cage, if it’s late in the game, you know, between innings, they’ve got to run out there and get their swings. And we saw Bo Naylor do that before. A pinch hitting appearance, right?

Paul Hoynes: Yeah. And Augie Rivero ended up warming up one of the pitchers. He. Because all the hitters were down in the cage in, I think in center field and in right or writer, right field or center field. And Augie had to go out and warm the pitcher up.

Joe Noga: What doesn’t Augie Rivero do for this club? He’s, he’s out there shagging balls in the outfield. Help him with the infield at first base, translating for Jose Ramirez, helping out all over the place. Just, you know, a fantastic help there. And I’m sure, you know, pulling double duty, catching in between innings, warming up the pitchers, probably, you know, no sweat for him. All right. That’s just a kind of a little glimpse of behind the scenes of what it took to, you know, get the guardians in and out of the, the minor league park there in Sacramento over the weekend. And now let’s talk about the all Star voting, All star ballots released. The Second release of totals so far and it looks like Jose Ramirez has a stranglehold on third base right now in the American League. He’s got a more than 1 million vote lead on Alex Bregman, the next closest third baseman. He will probably most likely be into phase two. And if those votes are any indication, he will more than likely voted in as a starter again. I believe for the fourth time this would be for Jose Ramirez looking to be voted in as a starter. The big that should come as no surprise. Jose Ramirez having an MVP season, you know, one of the best seasons of his career. The big surprise, I think is Stephen Kwan in the outfield. Last week was in fourth place, just outside of a potential starting spot, you know, still in good, a good spot to move into phase two of the voting. But Stephen Kwan right now has dropped to fifth. Javier Baez of the Detroit Tigers, the first place Detroit Tigers leapfrogs over Mike Trout and Jose and Stephen Kwan and is now in position to be, if the, if the votes counted today, he’d be a starter in the outfield along with Aaron Judge and Riley Green. What do you think of Javier Baez being the number three vote getter in the outfield for the Al Builder stuff.

Paul Hoynes: In the ballot box in the Motor City? Man, it’s, you know, it’s, it’s the old time thing. What, what they do. The Reds did the same thing years and years ago, right, when they had like six starters in the All Star Game. Yeah, you know, Baez, it’s kind of revived his career. It’s gone along with the resurgence of the Tigers. But you know, I think the good thing is, Joe, as long as Quan makes it, what, the final six in, in the top six, I think, you know, to the second round because all those votes go away then and the voting starts anew. So he’s got a chance as long as he gets in to the second round. And he certainly deserves a All Star nod. Joe, he’s really played well, you know, on this, on this road trip. Just the, the overall quality of his play and on defense and really on offense as well, he’s come around. He sets the table for that offense. Really had six, seven, eight hits again in the week over the weekend against the A’s. He’s, he’s playing very.

Joe Noga: Yeah. And he definitely deserves to be. I, I think if you’re talking about the best left fielder all around, you know, performance, Riley Green is, is having a great season. Stephen Kwan is still my pick because he brings what he brings defensively and, and his Instincts on the bases as well. That said, you know, Aaron Judge is going to be the overall number one vote getter. He’s going to, right now he has 2.7 million votes. He’s going those guys in each league, the overall number, number one vote getters automatically get a starting spot. So now it’s between, you know, five guys for two spots to start. I think Green should get a starting spot. You can start Riley Green in right field, but you definitely need to start Stephen Kwan in left field. And he would be in my mind, if I’m Aaron Boone, if I’m choosing between Stephen Kwan and Javier Baez as a starter in the outfield, I want Stephen Kwan’s defense and I want the ability to put Stephen Kwan at the top of the lineup and be my leadoff man.

Paul Hoynes: Yeah, definitely. You know, Baez is, you know, kind of, he’s having a good year. I mean, he’s a good player, Joe. We’ve seen that. He’s been a good player for a lot of years. He struggled when he went to Detroit under that multi year deal and this is the first year he’s kind of come out of his shell there. But for my money, Quan should be the, you know, has to really make the all star team and should be the starter.

Joe Noga: And let’s be honest, Javier Baez is a shortstop. He’s always been a shortstop. He just wasn’t the best shortstop in the Detroit organization anymore. So they kicked him out to the outfield and some, you know, light switch went off. He’s, he’s having a good year at the plate. He’s playing all around really well. But you know, the, to me, the, the left fielder who’s been there since the beginning of the year, in the beginning of his career, I think that’s, that’s the guy I go with. As far as other guardians in contention, not really much to speak of. Daniel Schneemann, ninth at second base, Carlos Santana, ninth at first base and Bo Naylor, 10th at catcher. I don’t think any of those guys have a realistic shot of making phase two. And, and really, if we’re talking who deserves to be in Atlanta right now for Cleveland, it’s, it’s Quan, it’s Ramirez, it’s maybe Emmanuel Clase if you look in that direction. And that’s about it.

Paul Hoynes: Yeah, it’s going to be Stephen Vogt too. He’ll be there.

Joe Noga: Yeah.

Paul Hoynes: By invitation of Aaron Boone.

Joe Noga: Oh, that was very nice of, of Aaron Boone to do that. Give, give Steven Vogt a chance to to be around all those guys. I think maybe Boonie did that more for the guys in the clubhouse, the All Stars themselves. Inviting Stephen Vogt is like inviting the entertainment. He brings the party. When those guys, when it’s a. When it’s an environment like that, Steven Vogt is the guy that you want in the room because everybody just sort of gravitates, and he’s. He’s sort of magnetic in that way, especially a room full of the best players in baseball. So kind of looking forward to that. All right, Hoy. That’s going to wrap up today’s edition of the Cleveland Baseball Talk Podcast. We’ll be back to preview the series against the Toronto Blue Jays that opens on Tuesday night. And we’ll talk to you then.

Paul Hoynes: Good deal