Minor finds coaching is calling

Damon Minor is in his seventh season as the hitting coach for the River Cats.

Damon Minor did not make it to the bitter end of the Sacramento River Cats’ fifth consecutive loss. The hitting coach was ejected in the fifth inning Thursday, long before the Tacoma Rainiers scored three runs in the 12th for a 10-7 victory.

Frustration might have gotten the best of the 47-year-old Minor. At the time of Minor’s early departure, Tacoma starting pitcher Ryan Weber had retired the first 13 Sacramento batters to face him. Minor lost his temper after Jaylin Davis struck out on a foul tip to open the fifth inning. Heliot Ramos poked a single as Minor was making his way to the clubhouse to end Weber’s perfect start.

Damon Minor offers advice to Mauricio Dubon, who is hitting .338 in 38 games at Sacramento.

At least Minor was spared from being in the dugout when the game ended shortly after 11 p.m. With Jazon Krizen starting the bottom of the 12th at second base, Chadwick Tromp struck out and Steve Duggar lined into a double play to send home what was left of a paltry crowd of 3,799. The loss dropped the River Cats to 38-52 and solidified their hold on last place in the West Division of Triple-A West, 15 games behind the Reno Aces and 13.5 behind the Rainiers.

Triple-A teams were reconfigured this year into two divisions. There are 20 teams in the East and 10 in the West, which has five-team East and West divisions. The switch spelled the end of the Pacific Coast League, which began in 1903. The River Cats will forever have the distinction of being the last PCL champions in 2019.

First-year Tacoma manager Kris Negron is all too familiar with Triple-A. Of the Vanden High graduate’s 1,439 games in the minor leagues, 891 were at Triple-A. He played 170 games in the majors – 96 with the Cincinnati Reds, 30 with the Dodgers, 28 with the Seattle Mariners (Tacoma’s parent club) and 16 with the Arizona Diamondbacks. The 35-year-old Negron retired after finishing the 2019 regular season with the Dodgers. He did not make the postseason roster.

With Thursday’s victory, the Rainiers avoided their first four-game losing streak of the season. Losing streaks have hounded the River Cats all season. Their current five-game skid is their third of at least five games in 2021. They are striking out far too often, leading Triple-A West with 881, and walking far too many.

The River Cats issued eight free passes Thursday and lead all of Triple-A with 443 in 90 games. Their parent club, the San Francisco Giants, has issued the fewest walks in the majors with 317 in 121 games. There is nothing Minor can do about Sacramento’s lack of pitching control. He has more than enough on his mind these days with all the strikeouts.

With 12 strikeouts Thursday, the River Cats reached double digits for the seventh time in their past 10 games. They also had 12 on Monday when they came with four outs of being no-hit by the Salt Lake Bees. Mauricio Dubon singled with two outs in the eighth inning to salvage a modicum of pride for the River Cats.

Minor has his work cut out for him, but he will not be chasing players around the clubhouse with words of advice or invitations to the batting cage. Even with all the strikeouts, the former Giant can look on the bright side in that Sacramento’s .280 team batting average ranks fourth in all of Triple-A. The River Cats are third in runs scored with 565 and sixth in home runs with 139.

“The real valuable thing I learned over my career is what can translate here,” Minor explained. “Guys going up and down, being ready, those failures and successes, coming off the bench, learning how to play the game when you’re not playing every day. Those challenges I had back then (as a player) have helped me relate to the players now.

“As a hitting coach, you’re helping with more with the psychology of it. Some guys need you to come to them. With some guys, you need to want for them to come to you. You have to feel the player out and just be ready for when they need you. You’ve just go to talk to them and relate to them and realize they’re human.”

His own career did not turn out as Minor had hoped. He spent parts of four seasons with the Giants, hitting .232 with 13 home runs in 136 games. Not only he did struggle at the plate, but he was limited in the field after being a designated hitter in four years at the University of Oklahoma. He was a big reason why the Sooners won the national championship in 1994 by batting .298 with 14 home runs and 53 RBI.

Minor laughed when asked what advice he would have for a player such as himself. “I would tell him to get out of your head,” Minor said. “I would say you have to understand it’s a process. You can get frustrated. If you get in your way, then you’re battling yourself and the pitcher. It’s going to be a hard day if you do that.”