Cecil Conley – VACAVILLE INSIDER

Big Sky makes preseason picks

Why wait until the 70th Causeway Classic in November for the Sacramento State-UC Davis rivalry to be rekindled. The Hornets and Aggies love to take advantage of every opportunity to attempt to prove which football team has the upper hand.

Sacramento State can boast about five players being named to the preseason All-Big Sky Conference team. UC Davis had four. The Aggies can counter after being picked to finish higher than the Hornets in the Big Sky coaches and media polls.

**Center** **Nathan Mejia (59) was one of five Sacramento State players named to the preseason All-Big Sky Conference team.**

UC Davis can claim it will again have the best offensive player in the Big Sky. Running back Lan Larison was the preseason pick to win the Offensive Player of the Year award for a second time. He ran for 1,101 yards and 13 touchdowns in 2023 despite missing three games with a knee injury.

Larison scored four touchdowns in the 69th Causeway Classic to lead the Aggies to a 31-21 win, their first victory against the Hornets since 2018. The 6-foot, 199-pound Larison finished his junior year with a bang, rushing for 521 yards and scoring 10 times in the final three games of the season.

The victory was not enough to qualify UC Davis for the FCS playoffs. Sacramento State made it for the fourth time in the past four seasons in which it played. The Hornets did not play in the spring of 2021 after the 2020 season was cancelled.

Sacramento State’s offensive talent was evident with wide receiver Jared Gipson, tight end Graham Kuntz, guard Jackson Slater and center Nathan Mejia being preseason All-Big Sky picks. Montana State also had four offensive players picked.

Linebacker Will Leota was the only Hornet selected on defense. The Aggies had two with defensive end Zach Kennedy and safety Rex Connors, who was the top vote-getter at defensive back. UC Davis also had a specialist in kicker Hunter Ridley.

Montana State had the most players selected with nine, including Brody Grebe as the preseason Defensive Player of the Year. Montana’s Junior Bergen scored a hat trick by being selected at wide receiver, punt returner and all-purpose player.

In the projected standings, UC Davis was picked to finish fourth and Sacramento fifth in the coaches and media polls. The Aggies received one first-place vote in both polls. Defending champion Montana was picked to finish first in both polls.

The Grizzlies received 26 of a possible 38 first-place votes in the media poll and 10 of 12 votes from the coaches. Montana State was picked to finish second and Idaho third in both polls. Montana State received first-place votes in both polls.

Four of Sacramento State’s first give games will be on the road. The Hornets open at San Jose State on Aug. 29 and then travel to Fresno State. After hosting Nicholls on Sept. 14, the Hornets will travel to Texas A&M-Commerce and Northern Arizona.

UC Davis will open at Cal on Aug. 31 in Tim Plough’s first game as the Aggies head coach. The former Aggies quarterback was the tight ends coach with the Golden Bears in 2023 and the offensive coordinator at UC Davis from 2017 to 2020.

UC Davis will host Texas A&M-Commerce on Sept. 7. The Lions will play both the Aggies and Hornets for the second consecutive season. Texas A&M-Commerce lost 48-10 at home to UC Davis and 34-6 at Sacramento State a year ago.

Don’t wait too long to draft QB

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Welcome to the second edition of my Fantasy Football Forecast, which will be published periodically until the NFL season kicks off Sept. 5 and then weekly after that.

Every fantasy league has an owner or two who will make risky picks in an attempt to prove they are smarter than those relying on an online mock draft. They expect a player returning from an injury to regain his form or put their faith in a rookie who was the talk of the actual draft.

The so-called experts picking teams in ESPN’s 16-round mock drafts for 10- or 12-team leagues are just as guilty. That explains why Anthony Richardson is the second quarterback picked in the 12-team league and fifth in the 10 despite having surgery to repair his right shoulder.

That Richardson is right-handed should be a cause for concern for the Colts and any fantasy owner who drafts him. Buffalo’s Josh Allen is the first quarterback to go in both mock drafts and rightfully so. After that, quarterbacks are picked regardless of how they performed in 2023.

Fifteen quarterbacks are picked in the 10-team draft and 16 in the 12. Detroit’s Jared Goff is not picked in either draft. San Francisco’s Brock Purdy is only picked in the 12-team draft. Those two quarterbacks led their respective teams to the NFC Championship Game last January.

Like Purdy, Atlanta’s Kirk Cousins is also picked in just the 12-team draft. Pittsburgh’s Justin Fields is the only one to go solely in the 10-team draft. Like Goff, Miami’s Tua Tagovailoa is not picked in either draft after leading the league in passings yards (4,624) last season.

Quarterbacks are losing fantasy value because owners immediately go after running backs and wide receivers with at least two needed at each position. Focusing on just two positions early in the draft would leave you rummaging through the scrap heap to fill all the other spots.

I played in two fantasy leagues last year and won both after spending my third-round pick in each draft to take Allen and Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes. Having a quarterback who consistently produces solid numbers will be an advantage against opponents who took whoever they could get in the later rounds.

In ESPN’s two mock drafts, 11 of the 31 quarterbacks are picked go in the 10th round or later, Aaron Rodgers, Justin Herbert, Jayden Daniels and Caleb Williams belong to that group in each draft. The others are Purdy (11th round), Fields (14th) and Cousins (16th). Forty-five running backs and 57 wide receivers are picked before Purdy is selected as the 126th overall pick.

Tight ends are being picked higher than ever because fantasy owners just need one and having Travis Kelce, Sam LaPorta or George Kittle can be a big advantage each week. Quarterbacks can be that as well.

Hornets face tough call at QB

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Kaiden Bennett could be the only player attending the Big Sky Conference’s Media Day on July 20 who does know whether he will be a starter in 2024. Rarely do second-stringers appear at such events, but the Sacramento State quarterback could turn out to be the exception.

Bennett will be joined by Jackson Slater in Spokane, Wash. Slater was an easy choice because the senior guard is a three-year starter and a two-time selection to the All-Big Sky team. Bennett started for the first time as a junior in 2023 and did not merit All-Big Sky consideration.

Carson Camp started the 2023 opener at Nicholls after transferring to Sacramento State from South Dakota. Bennett started the next eight games, including the 30-23 victory at Stanford, but he split time with true freshman Carson Conklin in the 34-7 loss at Montana on Nov. 4.

**Carson Conklin (left) and Kaiden Bennett**

Conklin completed just seven of 22 passes for 67 yards, while Bennett was 8-of-17 for 52 yards. Conklin apparently did enough to sway the coaches to start him against Cal Poly on Nov. 11. There was little risk in starting Conklin because the Hornets have had their way with the Mustangs in recent seasons.

Three touchdown passes by Conklin in the first half were not enough to put Cal Poly away, however. The Mustangs lost 41-30 for their closest margin of defeat in finishing 1-7 in the Big Sky last season. Conklin averaged 18.4 yards per completion in going 17-of-26 for 313 yards.

Starting Conklin in the Causeway Classic at UC Davis was asking too much of a quarterback lacking the capacity to handle such immense pressure. Sacramento State managed just 23 yards on its first four possessions and did not cross into UC Davis territory until the fifth.

That possession ended with Conklin’s incomplete pass on fourth-and-goal at the UC Davis 4. Sacramento State reached the UC Davis 38 on its ensuring possession, but the Hornets’ last chance to avoid being shut out in the first half ended when Conklin threw an interception.

Bennett made the game interesting with three touchdown passes in the second half. The second left the Hornets trailing 24-14 with 5:45 to play. They got desperate on their next possession by going for it on fourth-and-12 at their 18 only to have Bennett’s pass fall incomplete.

Lan Larison then scored his fourth touchdown of the game on a 12-yard run to seal the Aggies’ 31-21 win, their first against the Hornets since 2018. Larison had 121 yards rushing and 54 receiving. The junior rushed for 1,101 yards in 2023 despite missing three games with a knee injury.

UC Davis will be sending Larison and safety Rex Connors to the Big Sky Media Day. Connors was a second-team selection in All-Big Sky voting last year. Most of the players going to Spokane will have won awards and been named to all-conference teams. And then there is Bennett.

All he would like is to be named the starter before the Hornets kick off the 2024 season at San Jose State on Aug. 29. Conklin has time on his side with four years of eligibility remaining because he played in just four games last season as a redshirt.

Little League stars in action

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Little League all-star teams from Vacaville and Dixon might avoid the heat in the Section 1 tournaments. Dixon’s 9- to 11-year-olds will play Thursday at 5:30 p.m. in American Canyon, where the temperature is not expected reach triple digits. The temperature should drop below 100 at Hall Park in Dixon on Friday when Vacaville National’s 10- to 12-year-olds play at 8 p.m.

Vacaville National bounced back from a 9-1 loss to Davis American in the District 64 tournament to claim the championship by beating Davis American twice in two days. Cruz McCoy pitched five shutout innings in a 2-0 victory June 22 and Dominic Kendrick’s two-run double capped a four-run outburst in the first inning of Vacaville National’s 5-3 win June 23.

Dixon avoided a “if necessary” game in the 9-11 tournament by beating Vacaville American 8-7 in seven innings on July 1. Vacaville American lost to Woodland National in the first round, then won two elimination games and beat Woodland National in a rematch to reach the final.

The Section 1 championship games will be 5:30 p.m. Monday for 9-11 and 7 p.m. Tuesday for 10-12.

Speak Greek? Nagle will learn

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Three games with the Sacramento Kings in the California Classic will probably amount to nothing for Jay Nagle. The 2018 Will C. Wood High graduate knows better than to think it could lead to an opportunity to play in the NBA. That remains his ultimate goal, but the 24-year-old is no closer to it today than when he was invited to play for the Kings.

The 6-foot-9 Nagle played a total of 13 minutes in the first two games, scoring five points and grabbing two rebounds. The California Classic will conclude Tuesday night when the Kings play the Warriors at Chase Center in San Francisco. As much as Nagle is enjoying the experience, he knows it is a temporary gig and is not taking it for anything more.

**Jay Nagle is going from playing with the Sacramento Kings in the California Classic to joining Maroussi B.C. in Greece.**

Nagle will not be away from basketball for long. He recently signed a one-year contract to play for Maroussi B.C. in the Greek Basketball League and will leave Aug. 18. He is growing accustomed to playing overseas after spending one season with BC Orbi in Tbilisi, Georgia. He averaged 16.7 points, 4.1 assists and a team-high 7.8 rebounds per game.

Georgia was not what Nagle expected. As much as he enjoyed the national dish of Khachapuri (a cheese-filled bread), Nagle was surprised to find fast food such as McDonald’s and Wendy’s. He shared a two-bedroom apartment with an American teammate, so it was not much different than a college dorm except for all the high tops and soiled socks.

“It was an experience for sure,” Nagel said. “It was better than what I expected. I was pleasantly surprised. The basketball was high level.”

The Greek Basketball League will be more challenging, but having to prove himself is nothing new for Nagle. He went from averaging 12 minutes a game as a freshman at UC Santa Barbara to 7.2 as a senior in 2021-22. Having earned a degree in sociology, Nagle entered the transfer portal as a graduate student and jumped to Idaho State.

His playing time also jumped. Nagle averaged 28.8 minutes a game with the Bengals and was their second-leading rebounder with 137. “I needed to go somewhere else,” Nagle said of his decision to enter the portal. “I needed to find a place where I could play and produce.”

A solid season in Pocatello would have been a fitting end to a solid career. And after earning a master’s degree in athletic administration at Idaho State, he had everything he would need to find a solid job. There was just one problem, however. He could not let basketball go.

“It hit me and I had to look in the mirror,” Nagle explained. “I couldn’t see myself straying too far away from it. I have to be around basketball. I’ve got to play my passion. I’m going to play until the wheels fall off.”

Fantasy Football Forecast

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Welcome to my first Fantasy Football Forecast, which will be published periodically until the NFL season kicks off Sept. 5 and then weekly after that.

Christian McCaffrey could very well be cursed in the 2024 season and that has nothing to do with the running back being on the “Madden NFL” cover. The 49ers asked quite a bit of McCaffrey in 2023 and he responded by leading the NFL in rushing yards (1,459), offensive touches (339) and yards from scrimmage (2,023). He added 268 rushing yards, 78 touches and 420 total yards in the postseason.

Few running backs have carried such a workload without suffering a hangover the following season from all the wear and tear. McCaffrey can attest to that after going from a league-leading 403 touches in 2019 to 76 in 2020 and 136 in 2021. Injuries limited McCaffrey to a total of 13 games in those two years. He did not miss much as the Panthers won five games in each of those two seasons.

His injuries might have been coincidental, but take a look at the running backs who have led the NFL in offensive touches since 2013 and you will find just two of the 10 were as productive the following year. LeSean McCoy led the NFL with 366 touches in 2013 and followed with 340 in 2014. Ekeziel Elliott went from an NFL-high 381 touches in 2018 to 355 in 2019. The other eight were not as fortunate.

McCaffrey can avoid joining those eight by producing another season in which he averages 20 touches a game. Those who take him as the first overall pick in a fantasy draft will be hoping he does. McCaffrey is the only running back worth being the No. 1 pick. This will be the year in which receivers are in high demand.

Speaking of receivers, there is a debate as to whether the 49ers should invest in Brandon Aiyuk or let him go elsewhere and cast their lot with Deebo Samuel. The concern with Samuel is that he could begin to break down in a year or two after having 138 rushing attempts in the past three years in addition to 193 receptions.

Do the math and Samuel has had fewer touches with 331 in three seasons than McCaffrey did in 2023. Samuel has had his fair share of injuries, missing 14 games since 2020, but he also has many rushing touchdowns (19) as receiving in his career. His versatility has now led to questions about his durability.

McCaffrey and Samuel are both 28 and are similar in size. Samuel’s durability would be not an issue if he was listed on the roster as a running back instead of a receiver. No one seems to be concerned about McCaffrey breaking down anytime soon, especially those fortunate folks with the first pick in a fantasy draft.

Questions persist for Giants

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Giveaways are a promotional ploy by the Giants to draw fans to Oracle Park when the team is trying to stay within shouting distance of .500, there have been far too many empty seats or the Marlins are on the schedule. Such a ploy should not be needed when the Dodgers are in town, but the Giants are not taking any chances.

“Beat LA” aloha shirts were handed out to the first 20,000 fans Saturday. The rivalry has lost its luster with the Dodgers winning the National League West 10 times in the past 11 seasons. The division race has hardly been thrilling in the past two years with the Dodgers winning by 22 games in 2022 and 16 games last year.

The Giants’ average attendance of 30,606 in 2023 was the lowest in the 24-year history of Pacific Bell, SBC, AT&T and Oracle Park. The Giants are two games into the second half with a 40-43 record as of Friday. They were 46-37 at the same point last year and climbed to 13 games above .500 (54-41) on July 18 before collapsing.

**Blake Snell did not last two innings in his first rehab start for Triple-A Sacramento.**

Winning three of four at home against the Diamondbacks from July 31 to Aug. 3 did not translate to the ticket office. Just one game against a division rival drew more than 30,000. Three games against the Rays in August drew an average of 26,527. Tampa Bay was 99-63 in 2023, so the Rays were hardly pan-seared flounder.

Empty seats could be plentiful in July with eight of 12 home games against the Tigers (37-45 as of Friday) , White Sox (23-61) and Marlins (29-53). August will not be much better with seven of 10 home games against the Blue Jays (37-44), Rockies (27-54) and A’s (30-54). Need tickets? No problem.

Attendance will likely depend on whether the Giants continue to go with a mix of veterans and youngsters or commit to going young without fretting over the hefty contracts sitting on the bench. The time has come to make that decision so fans will no longer have to wonder who will be in the lineup from one day to the next.

There are far too many questions that have not been answered in the first three months of the season. Can Blake Snell avoid injuries so he will not have to worry about being rushed back? When will Robbie Ray make his debut and in what role? Is Jorge Soler nothing more than Pedro Cerrano with a $42 million contract?

**Marco Luciano could be an option at designated hitter if the Giants lose patience with Jorge Soler.**

Ray is the only one of the three players who gets the benefit of the doubt for the time being because he is still working his way back from Tommy John surgery. The 2021 American League Cy Young Award winner can opt of his contract after this season, when he is making $23 million, or stay and make $50 million in 2025-26.

Snell had done nothing to prove he was worth a two-year, $62 million deal when he ripped the Giants for trying to rush him back from injuries. The Giants should not stick with a high-priced malcontent to avoid admitting it was a bad move. Trade or release him and take a good long look at 22-year-old Hayden Birdsong.

The Giants are expected to activate Snell, who is nursing a groin injury, when they begin a three-game series with the Blue Jays on July 9. A decent outing or two could attract suitors in need of a veteran left-hander. Snell is scheduled to make his third rehab start on Wednesday at Triple-A Sacramento. He went three innings on 62 pitches at Las Vegas on Friday, allowing three runs on four hits and striking out six, in the River Cats’ 14-8 victory.

Soler has never hit 20 or more homers in consecutive seasons, so the Giants should have known what to expect after he hit 36 with the Marlins last season. Would you rather see Marco Luciano bat lead off as the designated hitter and get an occasional start in the infield or watch Soler flail away at breaking pitchers?

That is yet another question for the Giants to answer.

Stevens seeks Olympic encore

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Freedom will be waiting for Robyn Stevens at the finish line at the U.S. Olympic Trials on Saturday at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. The 20-kilometer race walk could very be the last for the 2001 Vacaville High graduate. All she has to do to prevent that and qualify for the Paris Olympics is walk the fastest race of her life.

Whether the end comes Saturday or five weeks from now in Paris, Stevens will at last be free from having to survive on prize money. She will never again have to battle the race walkers who have a say in setting the rules and can manipulate them as Stevens claims they did to make it nearly impossible for her to qualify.

**Robyn Stevens will need to produce the fastest race of her life to make it o Paris.**

Finishing in the top three Saturday will not be enough for the 41-year-old who in 2021 was the oldest female race walker to compete in the Tokyo Olympics. The 2024 qualifying time as set by the International Olympic Committee is 1:29.20. Stevens set her personal best of 1:32.15 two years ago in the Czech Republic.

Stevens did not give much thought to making it to Paris after coming home from Tokyo. “I really didn’t care,” she said. “Tokyo was beyond my wildest dreams. I knew inside me there was an Olympian. I brought my Olympic dream to fruition. I checked that off my list. I can say I did it. I had the perfect ending.”

Achieving her dream left Stevens with little motivation to continue training at a level necessary to be an elite athlete. She needed a new goal and set her sights on the U.S. record of 1:30.49 with the guidance of her coach, Jacinto Garzon of Spain. Garzon prepared Stevens for the 2021 Olympics without ever having met her face to face.

That first meeting came in Tokyo. Stevens did not come close to earning a medal, finishing 33rd in a field of 58 walkers, but she repaid Garzon for all of his efforts by walking “a well-executed race.” Stevens continues to work with Garzon, who sends her training plans to ensure she will be at her best for the Olympic Trials.

**Robyn Stevens paid a visit to Vacaville High on June 5 to meet senior Jessie Lenox, who is recovering from cancer.**

Her intense training to take a shot at the U.S. record turned out to be in vain when she contracted COVID-19. At least there was a vaccine to help her recover. There was no cure, however, from the “toxicity” she faced in dealing with the U.S. Race Walking Committee. It would be safe to say the committee is not fond of her.

Stevens believes her former boyfriend, Nick Christie, has had a hand in that. Their relationship made for a touching story in 2021 because Christie is also a race walker and competed in Tokyo. The two went their separate ways after returning and Stevens claims Christie has been sabotaging her career ever since.

“I have nothing to prove to myself. I just need to prove it to the people who have treated me so terribly,” said Stevens, who had hoped to be a two-time Olympian for the sole purpose of taking her mother to Paris. Carolyn now has no interest in going, Stevens said, because of all the treachery her daughter has had to face.

Surrendering is not an option for Stevens, who draws inspiration from those who have faced far greater battles. Her golden retriever April died from cancer in 2015 and left Stevens with the mantra to “be golden.” As Stevens explained, “That doesn’t mean I have to win a gold medal. It was a sign from her that ‘This is your life. You’re not finished yet.’ I knew I had to make the most of my talent.”

Stevens visited Vacaville High on June 5 to meet Jessie Lenox, a senior who could not compete in track this spring as she recovered from Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Stevens gave Lenox a Team USA bag and jersey from Tokyo along with a “Congrats Grad” balloon. Stevens was in awe of Lenox as much as Lenox was of meeting her.

The spotlight will dim once Stevens retires and she is fine with that. Freedom will light the way to the next chapter of her life. April will be barking in approval.

Former Ram is ready to run

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**David Phillips (center) finished first in the 200 at the USC Trojan Invitational and his time of 20.51 qualified the Dixon High graduate for the Olympic Trials.**

Heads shook in disbelief after David Phillips, Jr. won the 100-meter dash at the 2018 Sac-Joaquin Section Masters track championships. Who knew Dixon High School, which is know for its agricultural programs more than athletics, had the fastest runner in the section. Who knew the school even had black students.

Phillips is fairly certain he was one of just 10 black students to graduate in 2019 from Dixon High. The 23-year-old is also fairly confident he can name the other nine without checking his yearbook. And he will guess that five years ago there were 16 black students attending the school with an enrollment of nearly 1,100.

“It was crazy,” Phillips said. “There was such a small black population (in Dixon)”

Phillips tried to talk his parents into allowing him to transfer to another school, but they were hell-bent on their son staying put. He did not ask to go elsewhere because he felt uncomfortable at Dixon High. Phillips wanted to attend a school where he could find out if he had the potential to be an exceptional athlete.

His potential was on display for all to see at Elk Grove High in 2018 when the junior won the 100 and finished fourth in the 200 at the Masters meet. Phillips made a name of himself in a matter of seconds and left those in attendance wondering how they had never heard of the sprinter or even Dixon High for that matter.

**David Phillips pulled a surprise in 2018 by winning the 100 at the section meet.**

Hopefully those folks will be watching the. U.S. Olympic Trials on Thursday evening when Phillips runs in the 200 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. The senior at Cal State Northridge eclipsed the qualifying time of 20.60 seconds for the Olympic trials by finishing first in a school-record time of 20.51 at the USC Trojan Invitational in March.

The record belonged to Phillips until June when junior Chase Mars ran a 20.25 to take third at the NCAA West Regional in Fayetteville, Ark. Phillips also ran in Fayetteville despite still nursing a torn hamstring. His time of 28.39 showed his right leg was far from healed.

“I was out of shape. I was suppose to be out for six weeks, but the trainers got me back in two weeks.”said Phillips, who also competed in the 100 and 4×100 relay at the West Regional. The relay team qualified for the NCAA Championships earlier this month in Eugene. Mars also qualified n the 200 and finished 19th in 20.59.

Mars and Phillips will be joined at the Olympic Trials by Trey Knight, who qualified in the hammer throw after setting a school record at 76.99 meters (252 feet, 7 inches) at the Mt. SAC Relays in April. The junior finished first at the Big West Conference meet and was named the conference’s Field Athlete of the Year.

Phillips is well aware of what he will face Thursday after being the 35th and last runner to make it in the 200. Noah Lyles won the 100 on Sunday and is the favorite in the 200 with a time of 19.47. He is one of seven men to crack 20 seconds in the 200 this year. Phillips will have to be at this best if he is to stand any chance.

Athletes in such a situation often play the “I’m just happy to be here” card, but Phillips in not in Eugene to get autographs from the best track and field athletes in the country. He will burst from the blocks because “anything can happen.” It did in 2018 when he astonished the crowd at the section meet by winning the 100.

When asked if he might be intimidated by Lyles and the like, Phillips responded as if the question touched a sore sport. “Not at all,” he said. “I’m 100 percent and I feel good. I just need to run a well-executed race. I’m confident going into this.”

River Cats have revolving door

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**Hunter Bishop had two singles Sunday to boost his batting average to .276.**

Hunter Bishop is getting to know his two new neighbors in the Sacramento River Cats clubhouse at Sutter Health Park. Pitcher Nick Garcia joined the San Francisco Giants’ Triple A team from the Double A Richmond (Va) Flying Squirrels on May 28. Catcher Jackson Reetz followed May 31 after being designated for assignment by the Giants and accepting the move to Sacramento when he cleared waivers.

This is Bishop’s first stint in Sacramento after arriving from Richmond on May 14. The outfielder has already learned that lockers are leased without an option to buy. The Giants are again playing a game of musical roster spots, so it is unlikely that Bishop will have the same two neighbors for the remainder of the season.

Bishop could be the player to move out if the Giants suddenly have a need for the 2019 first-round draft pick or if he could use further seasoning at Richmond. He has made it to Sacramento despite missing last season after undergoing Tommy John surgery. Injuries limited Bishop to 134 games in his first three seasons.

That may explain why Bishop and his wife Claudia are staying in a hotel instead of renting an apartment in Sacramento. Claudia is the daughter of former NHL star Claude Lemieux. Her father played for six teams in his 21-year career, so Claudia realizes her husband’s stay in Sacramento could be for weeks or end tomorrow.

As long as Bishop has a locker in Sacramento, he will play for the present rather than think of what the future might hold. His brother Braden , who was also an outfielder, was a frequent passenger on the baseball elevator during his eight-year career. He spent an entire season with one team only twice. His major-league career consisted of just 47 games over three seasons with the Seattle Mariners.

**Hunter Bishop gets a fist bump from Rob Riggins, the River Cats assistant hitting coach, before taking the field on Sunday.**

“It’s really cool to see guys go up, but it’s not fun to see guys come back. I didn’t know how frequent it was,” said Bishop, who will turn 26 on Tuesday. “My brother did that, so I can remember mentally how it took a toll on him. Like they say, it’s hard to make it (to the major leagues) and even harder to stay. With a team like the Giants, there’s so many moving parts. I don’t know if other organizations are like that.”

Those parts have been on the move in June with the Giants making at least one transaction on 15 of the first 22 days. There were five on Saturday. Outfielder Mike Yastrzemski and pitcher Keaton Winn were placed on the injured list, outfiielder Luis Matos and third baseman David Villar were recalled from the River Cats and Tyler Fitzgerald was optioned to Sacramento just a day after being recalled.

Bishop has been a fixture in Sacramento’s lineup, starting in 18 of 20 games this month. He has played each of the three outfield positions in June with 11 starts in center, three in right and two in left. He has also been the designated hitter in two games. Bishop has batted as high as leadoff and as low as sixth this month.

Four consecutive games in the leadoff spot got Bishop back on track at the plate. He went 9-for-15 with three doubles, a home run, three RBI and seven runs scored against the Albuqeurque Isotopes. His batting average went from .246 on June 4 to .309 on June 8. He attributed his surge to seeing more fastballs in the leadoff spot.

Bishop’s average dipped in the past seven games with a 4-for-27 slump leaving him at .276.. He went 2-for-5 with two infield singles in Sunday’s 5-4 victory over Round Rock. Bishop is not one to fret about his numbers because “there’s going to be really bad games and there’s going to be really good games. It’s about how you can close the gap by making the bad games average and the good games great.”

The Giants drafted Bishop with the 10th overall pick in 2019 after he batted .342 with 22 homers and 63 RBI in 57 games as a junior at Arizona State. He has just two more homers than that in 191 minor-league games, including four in 32 games with the River Cats. And one of those four was of the inside-the-park variety that produced two runs for Sacramento in a 4-1 victory over Oklahoma City on May 15.

First baseman Trenton Brooks scored on the homer, which snapped a seventh-inning tie, and also came home on a Bishop single in the fourth. Bishop could not have been happier when Brooks joined the Giants and made his major-league debut May 28. Brooks made it after being a 17th-round pick ( 512th overall) in 2016.

For as long as Bishop stays in Sacramento, he hopes Brooks never comes back.