The Modesto Nuts’ title defense continues in 2024 playoffs. Here’s what you should know
A long regular season ended Sunday afternoon with the home series finale against the Stockton Ports and now the Modesto Nuts push forward into the postseason.
The Nuts (73-57) are the defending California League champions after sweeping the NorCal Division Series and the Championship Series against San Jose and Rancho Cucamonga, respectively. Under then-first-year manager Zach Vincej, the Nuts went 21-2 to end the season led by some of the Seattle Mariners’ top prospects. It was the Nuts’ first California League title since 2017.
Vincej and a number of 2023 champions including outfielder Lazaro Montes and infielders Colt Emerson, Michael Arroyo and Tai Peete finished the first half of the 2024 season 41-23. They went an impressive 25-8 on the road. Stellar offense and strong pitching form Will Schomberg, Elijah Dale and Brody Hopkins helped the Nuts outscore their opponents by 147 runs, win the first half and guarantee a spot in the postseason.
The Nuts’ title defense continues with the 2024 California League Division Series that kicks off Tuesday. The California League North first-half winners travel to second-half champions the San Jose Giants (74-57) for Game 1 of the best-of-three series. The first pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
The Nuts enter the postseason on a three game win streak and winners of five of the last six games. They dropped just one game in their home season-ending series against Stockton. They host their first game of the 2024 postseason Thursday, Sept. 12 and host the if-necessary Game 3 on Friday.
The winner of the Nuts-Giants North Division series plays the winner of the South Division series (Lake Elsinore vs Visalia) in the California League Championship.
Entering the postseason, the roster looks different than it did to start the season. A lot of the Nuts’ top first-half performers were called up to the High-A Everett AquaSox around the trade MLB Draft. That has cleared the way for some of the standouts from the Arizona Complex League and a few members of the Mariners’ most recent draft class to join Modesto.
It provides a good mix of familiar faces and new players to see for Nuts fans. Outfielders Carlos Jimenez and Ricardo Cava along with pitchers Teddy McGraw and Walter Ford have stood out. Luis Suisbel, Peete, Charli Pagliarini and Carson Jones also have played 100 or more games in Modesto this season and look to lead the team’s playoff push. They are joined by 2024 draft picks including third-round pitcher Hunter Cranto and fourth-found catcher Josh Caron.
According to MLB Pipeline, the Nuts enter the postseason with six of the Mariners’ Top 30 prospects expecting to see game action: No. 11 Peete, No. 14 McGraw, No. 18 Tyler Gough, No. 25 Caron, No. 28 Ashton Izzi and No. 29 Jimenez.
