The Sacramento River Cats' clubhouse is getting a big upgrade
The clubhouses at Sutter Health Park are getting big upgrades just in time for the Sacramento River Cats' 2024 season.
According to Brittney Nizuk, the River Cats' vice president of facilities & events, the organization is “working in hyper-speed,” to finish the project. The ballpark's remodel broke ground in November and plans to officially open for the River Cats exhibition game against its parent club, the San Francisco Giants, on March 24 in West Sacramento.
“The Sacramento River Cats operate with a player development license (PDL), it's something that all Minor Leagues have been apart of for a couple of years now. Within that player development license, it looks to ensure that all players, regardless of affiliation or level, have the same amenities for their experience in a ballpark,” Nizuk explained. “A lot of that came from our PDL requirements needing to update our spaces a little bit.
“Our current spaces are great, our clubhouse was in good condition and did what we needed it to do essentially. This license encouraged us to enhance our facilities quite a bit to add on some more state-of-the-art amenities, some new female facilities, and a lot of things that we just didn't quite have as an organization at this point.”
Many new amenities will be offered in the renovated space at Sutter Health Park.
“We have enhanced female spaces for all three essential visitors: home, visiting and umpires. Those are all new to the clubhouse,” Nizuk explained. “Additionally, we have some great amenities in our training room for both home and visiting teams. We have essentially doubled the space of our hitting tunnel. We have a lot of flex space. One of the things that the Giants focused on was player health, not only physical but mental.
“We have some spaces for our players to be able to facilitate some mental health space, really focus on nutrition and fitness, we have some really great kitchen amenities on both sides. Essentially, getting our facility up to Major League standards. Being able to accommodate these teams and our team to give them all the resources that they need to be successful, not only in their game lives but personal lives as well.”
The River Cats have been the Triple-A affiliate of the Giants since 2015. Prior to that from 2000 to 2014, the River Cats were the farm team of the Oakland Athletics, who will be departing the East Bay for Las Vegas in 2028. The A's lease at the Oakland Coliseum expires following next season and the team is currently searching for potential options on where to play from 2025-2027 if the lease is not renewed.
Athletics' leadership toured Sutter Health Park on Jan. 18, which was confirmed by Andrew Haubner of CBS 13. However, according to Nizuk, the clubhouse remodel plan was put into action long before the A's began searching for a temporary residence.
“The PDL requirements are all a part of the MLB requirements, so that is a nonfactor and is a cool concept to consider,” Nizuk said. “As of what I understand, I don't have any details (about the A's relocation). We are strictly focused on getting that enhanced on the PDL side which is apart of MLB, ensuring all players regardless of affiliation, or even which level they're at, have the appropriate amenities accordingly.”
Current River Cats players and management got to voice their opinions on what should be added to the new clubhouse as well.
“We've got a really great team that's supporting all of that. We've gone out to our players' side, training and coaching side, we've taken a lot of feedback and gotten their wish list,” Nizuk recalled. “We've brought that to scope to really have this great space for everyone.”
Sacramento hosts the Giants for an exhibition game on March 24 at 5:07 p.m. The River Cats officially begin the 2024 season at home versus the Salt Lake Bees on March 29 at 6:45 p.m.