Rainiers notes: Tacoma infielder Zach Green off to quick start at plate
Zach Green was in the batting cage at Cheney Stadium when he got the call in 2019.
Triple-A Sacramento was visiting Tacoma for a three-game series in July, and Green, then the River Cats’ third baseman, was wrapping up his pregame routine, picking up baseballs in the cage when his hitting coach picked up a phone call.
Moments later, Green was told the news — he was heading to the airport to catch a flight to San Francisco to join the Giants.
Green remembers calling his dad from Tacoma that day and walking back to the visiting locker room to pack up.
“The whole team was waiting for me — it was really cool,” he recalled Sunday afternoon at Cheney Stadium, as the Rainiers waited out a lengthy rain delay. “I got pretty emotional about it.”
The next day, Green — who grew up in Carmichael, California, playing baseball less than 100 miles from San Francisco — was in the lineup for the Giants making his big league debut at Oracle Park.
“Everyone just told me to take it all in,” Green said. “I honestly tried to make an effort to do that, and I’m glad I did.”
He started at third base, singled to center in his first at-bat, then later doubled to left to drive in a run, helping the Giants to a 3-2 win over the Mets and playing alongside San Francisco players he grew up watching.
“It was literally a dream come true,” Green said.
Green appeared in eight games with the Giants that summer and said he has “a lot of good memories that year,” playing for both San Francisco and Sacramento, including the day he got the call while warming up at Cheney Stadium.
Three seasons later, Green, now the Rainiers’ regular first baseman, is back playing in Tacoma for the first time since.
The 28-year-old infielder signed with Seattle’s organization in March and has become a staple in Tacoma’s everyday lineup.
“He’s always putting together a good at-bat. He’s versatile being able to play first and third base. He hits the ball really hard,” Rainiers manager Tim Federowicz said. “It’s been fun to have him to put in the lineup every day and see what he can do.”
Through 31 games with Tacoma this spring, Green is hitting .258/.285/.516 with 17 runs scored, seven doubles, one triple, eight home runs, 26 RBI and four walks to 32 strikeout. He has appeared for the Rainiers at first, third and designated hitter.
“I kind of went into the season just trying to hone in on the strike zone, because I feel like that’s kind of the key to success for everybody,” he said. “That was kind of my goal, and that’s all I’ve been really focusing on. Not really swing, not really trying to hit any type of pitch, not trying to hit for power — just getting a good swing off in the strike zone.”
His approach has returned impressive results early on — Green enters the week ranked tied for seventh in the Pacific Coast League in home runs, tied for sixth in RBI and leads the Rainiers in both categories.
He hit four of his home runs during a five-game stretch from May 7-12 against Salt Lake and Reno.
Green is now in his 10th season playing professional baseball. He was drafted by the Phillies in the third round in 2012 from Jesuit (California) High School and spent seven seasons in Philadelphia’s system.
He then spent two seasons in San Francisco’s organization before signing with Milwaukee last season.
He hit .214/.310/.407 with 15 home runs and 64 RBI in 101 games with Triple-A Nashville in 2021.
In his first season in the Mariners’ system, Green said he is enjoying coming to the field to play each day.
“I’ve learned that if you just take everything one day at a time, usually things will fall where you want them to be,” he said. “So, I really am just enjoying coming to the field every day and being present with these guys.”
ROSTER UPDATES
▪ Mariners outfielder Kyle Lewis — the 2020 American League Rookie of the Year — made his Cheney Stadium debut last Tuesday and appeared in two games with Tacoma during last week’s series against Reno as he continues to work his way back from a knee injury.
Lewis started his rehab assignment with the Triple-A club on the road in Salt Lake earlier this month, has appeared in six games since joining the Rainiers on May 3 and is hitting 8-for-24 (.333) with a double, two home runs, six RBI, two walks and two strikeouts.
▪ Pitching prospect Matt Brash, who opened the season in Seattle’s starting rotation, has made three appearances for the Rainiers out of the bullpen since he was optioned on May 5.
The 24-year-old right-hander has tossed two innings in each of his outings, allowing two runs on four hits and striking out 12 while walking five. He tossed two scoreless frames for the Rainiers on Sunday evening in his most recent appearance, striking out four and walking three.
▪ Mariners outfielder Jarred Kelenic, a former top prospect in Seattle’s system, was optioned to Tacoma on Friday.
Kelenic was hitting .140/.219/.291 with 10 runs scored, two doubles, a triple, three home runs, 10 RBI, four stolen bases and nine walks to 36 strikeouts in 30 games with the big league club this spring.
The 22-year-old opened the season with Tacoma last spring and was promoted to the big league club after six games.
In two stints with the Rainiers last season, he hit .320/.392/.624 with 29 runs scored, nine doubles, a triple, nine home runs, 28 RBI, six stolen bases and 15 walks to 22 strikeouts in 30 games.
SHORT HOPS
▪ The Rainiers picked up two wins in their six-game series against Reno in Tacoma last week, posting back-to-back victories for the first time this season Thursday and Friday night.
Erick Mejia hit a two-run home run to pace Tacoma to Thursday’s win, and Green and Marcus Wilson added solo shots.
Wilson then connected for a pair of home runs Friday — including a three-run blast in the fourth inning and the two-run walk-off winner in the ninth — and drove in a season-high five runs. Miguel Perez added a three-run home run in the win.
▪ Tacoma had a chance to split its series with the Aces on Sunday, but Reno escaped with a one-run win in a finale that followed a season-long five-hour, 12-minute rain delay.
▪ The Rainiers continue to lead Triple-A in stolen bases and swiped 11 in their series against the Aces to bring their season total to 60 on 72 attempts.
Forrest Wall leads the club with 13, which ranks second in the PCL, while Sam Haggerty’s 12 are tied for third in the league. The Rainiers have 13 players with at least one stolen base through 36 games so far this spring.
“A lot of guys know that they have the freedom to be aggressive,” Federowicz said. “We want to kind of keep that aggressive mindset on the base paths, and we’ve done a good job.”
▪ Tacoma ranks third in Triple-A with 52 home runs after crushing nine last week — including at least one in five of the six games the club played against Reno.
ON TAP
The Rainiers (11-25) travel to play the River Cats (18-18) for the first time this spring in a six-game series beginning Tuesday.
They return home to host the Las Vegas Aviators, the A’s Triple-A affiliate, the following week.
