2023 Bakersfield Train Robbers Season Recap - A Wild California Summer Ends in the Pacific Division Finals
The 2023 Bakersfield Train Robbers season was one of the most unusual and memorable seasons in franchise history.
The Train Robbers finished third in an eight-team Pacific Division made up entirely of California teams, survived an 18-game regular-season battle with the Lancaster Sound Breakers, hosted a playoff series they were originally supposed to play on the road, swept the Monterey Amberjacks and advanced to the Pacific Division Finals for another showdown with the San Rafael Pacifics.
Manager Relly Mercurio was back for his third consecutive season leading Bakersfield, continuing a run that had established the Train Robbers as one of the most consistent playoff teams in the Pacific Division.
Rick Phillips emerged as Bakersfield's leading hitter, while Joe Riddle carried the largest workload on a pitching staff that struggled throughout the season and finished as one of the weakest staffs in Train Robbers history.
Despite those pitching problems, the Train Robbers found a way to keep winning enough games to reach the postseason and advance to the final round of the Pacific Division playoffs.
An Eight-Team All-California Pacific Division
The Pecos League's Pacific Division had a very different look in 2023.
Eight teams competed in the division, and every one of them was located in California.
The division stretched across the state and included the Bakersfield Train Robbers, San Rafael Pacifics, Monterey Amberjacks, Lancaster Sound Breakers and other California-based Pecos League clubs.
The large division created a summer filled with regional rivalries, long series and repeated matchups between teams competing for the same playoff positions.
For Bakersfield, no matchup defined the regular season more than Lancaster.
Bakersfield and Lancaster Play 18 Times
The Train Robbers and Lancaster Sound Breakers played an incredible 18 games against one another during the 2023 regular season.
By the end of the summer, almost nothing separated the two clubs.
Bakersfield won the season series by the narrowest possible margin, taking nine games while Lancaster won eight.
One scheduled game never made it onto the field.
That game produced one of the strangest stories of the entire Pecos League season.
The Bee Swarm Takes Over The Hangar
During one of Bakersfield's trips to Lancaster, a swarm of Mexican bees took over the visitors dugout at The Hangar.
The bees made it impossible for the Train Robbers to safely occupy their dugout and the game was ultimately canceled.
In a league where almost anything can happen, even by Pecos League standards this was unusual.
Instead of rain, lightning or an unplayable field stopping the game, Bakersfield and Lancaster lost a game because the visiting dugout had effectively been taken over by a bee swarm.
The canceled game left the teams with 17 completed head-to-head games instead of the scheduled 18, and Bakersfield escaped the season series with a 9-8 advantage.
It became one of those stories that could only come from a summer of independent baseball.
Relly Mercurio Keeps Bakersfield in the Race
Relly Mercurio returned as field manager for his third season with the Train Robbers after managing Bakersfield in 2021 and 2022.
The 2023 club presented a different challenge than some of his previous Bakersfield teams.
The Train Robbers could hit, but preventing runs was a constant issue.
Bakersfield's pitching staff struggled throughout the summer and ultimately became the worst pitching staff statistically in Train Robbers history to that point.
That made Mercurio's job considerably more difficult.
The Train Robbers often needed their offense to produce big numbers just to remain competitive, and games could change quickly regardless of the score.
Still, Bakersfield survived the long regular season and finished third in the Pacific Division.
That was enough to send the Train Robbers back to the playoffs.
Rick Phillips Leads the Train Robbers Offense
Rick Phillips established himself as the leading hitter on the 2023 Bakersfield roster.
Phillips appeared in 47 games and hit .376 for the Train Robbers.
In 202 at-bats, Phillips collected 76 hits, including 20 doubles, two triples and 14 home runs.
He drove in 68 runs while scoring 68 times himself and added 15 stolen bases.
Phillips also drew 30 walks, giving Bakersfield a dangerous combination of average, power and on-base production near the heart of the lineup.
His 14 home runs and 68 RBIs made him one of the primary run producers on a Bakersfield team that frequently needed offense in large quantities.
Phillips became the hitter the Train Robbers could rely on throughout the summer and was at the center of Bakersfield's push toward another postseason appearance.
The Offense Had to Carry the Load
Phillips was not alone in producing runs.
Christian Jones hit .363 while scoring 71 runs and driving in 69. He also showed tremendous speed, stealing 28 bases while providing another dangerous presence in the Bakersfield lineup.
Sadler Goodwin hit .352 with nine home runs and 42 RBIs in 30 games.
Joe Riddle contributed offensively as well, batting .461 in 32 games with 47 hits in 102 at-bats, 12 doubles and 33 RBIs.
That offensive depth was necessary because Bakersfield's pitching staff rarely gave the lineup an easy night.
Throughout the summer, the Train Robbers became accustomed to playing high-scoring games where no lead seemed completely safe.
The Worst Pitching Staff in Train Robbers History
Pitching was the defining weakness of the 2023 team.
The Train Robbers struggled to consistently keep opponents off the scoreboard, creating an unusual contrast between a playoff-caliber offense and a pitching staff that had difficulty controlling games.
Bakersfield went through numerous pitchers during the season while searching for dependable innings.
The problems were significant enough that the 2023 staff went down as the worst pitching staff in Train Robbers history.
Yet somehow, Bakersfield still finished third and made the postseason.
That accomplishment said a great deal about the team's offense, its ability to survive difficult games and Mercurio's ability to keep the club moving forward even when pitching depth became a major problem.
Joe Riddle Leads Bakersfield in Innings
Joe Riddle became one of the most valuable players on the roster because of his ability to contribute both offensively and on the mound.
Riddle led the Train Robbers pitching staff with 62 innings pitched.
He finished 7-2 while making 10 starts in 11 pitching appearances.
Riddle posted a 6.09 ERA, allowing 42 earned runs while striking out 51 and walking 20.
Those numbers reflected the type of season Bakersfield experienced on the mound. It was not about overpowering opponents every night. It was often about finding someone capable of taking the baseball and getting the team through innings.
Riddle did that more than anyone else on the roster.
At the same time, he remained one of Bakersfield's strongest hitters.
His ability to contribute on both sides made him one of the most unusual and valuable members of the 2023 Train Robbers.
Bakersfield Finishes Third
When the regular season ended, the Train Robbers occupied third place in the Pacific Division.
Normally, that position would have sent Bakersfield on the road for the opening round of the playoffs.
The third-seeded Train Robbers were scheduled to face the higher-seeded Monterey Amberjacks.
But the series took an unexpected turn before the first pitch was ever thrown.
The City of Monterey would not allow the Amberjacks to host a playoff game.
That meant the series had to move.
And suddenly, the third-seeded Train Robbers had home-field advantage.
The Monterey Playoff Series Moves to Sam Lynn
Instead of traveling north to Monterey, Bakersfield welcomed the Amberjacks to Sam Lynn Ballpark for the opening round of the Pacific Division playoffs.
It was a major break for the Train Robbers.
Bakersfield had spent the entire summer playing at Sam Lynn, understood its unusual west-facing field and was comfortable with everything that made the historic ballpark different from any other venue in the league.
The Train Robbers took full advantage of the unexpected opportunity.
Bakersfield swept Monterey and eliminated the Amberjacks from the postseason.
A team that entered the playoffs as the third seed was suddenly moving on to the Pacific Division Finals.
For Mercurio and the Train Robbers, another playoff run was alive.
Another Showdown with San Rafael
Waiting for Bakersfield in the Pacific Division Finals was the San Rafael Pacifics.
San Rafael had developed into one of the strongest organizations in the Pacific Division, and the matchup represented another major obstacle for the Train Robbers.
This time there would be no dramatic three-game series.
The Pacifics took control of the matchup and swept Bakersfield out of the playoffs.
The losses ended a Train Robbers season that had survived poor pitching, an enormous California division, a bee swarm in Lancaster and an unexpectedly relocated playoff series.
Bakersfield had reached the final round of the Pacific Division playoffs, but San Rafael proved too strong.
San Rafael Goes All the Way
Bakersfield could at least say its season ended against the best team in the Pecos League.
After eliminating the Train Robbers, San Rafael continued through the postseason and advanced to the Pecos League Championship Series against the Tucson Saguaros.
The Pacifics defeated Tucson to claim the 2023 Pecos League Championship.
It remains San Rafael's only outright Pecos League Championship.
For Bakersfield, that provided some perspective on its playoff elimination.
The Train Robbers had not simply lost to another Pacific Division opponent. They had been eliminated by the club that ultimately finished the job and became Pecos League champion.
A Remarkable Playoff Run Despite the Pitching
When looking back at the 2023 Train Robbers, their postseason run may have been more impressive than the third-place finish initially suggests.
Bakersfield did not have a dominant pitching rotation.
In fact, the Train Robbers had the weakest pitching staff in franchise history.
They played in an eight-team division entirely based in California.
They went through 17 completed games against Lancaster alone and barely won that season series, 9-8.
They finished third.
They entered the playoffs without the higher seed.
Then an unusual situation in Monterey brought the opening series to Bakersfield, and the Train Robbers took advantage by sweeping the Amberjacks.
That put Bakersfield among the final teams remaining in the division before the eventual league champions finally ended the run.
The Third Year of the Mercurio Era
The 2023 season also further established Relly Mercurio's place in Train Robbers history.
After taking over the club in 2021, Mercurio had now led Bakersfield through three consecutive seasons.
His 2023 team was far from perfect, but it was resilient.
Managing a club with major pitching deficiencies required constant adjustments, and the Train Robbers still found a way into the postseason and through the first round.
By reaching the Pacific Division Finals, Mercurio continued to build what would eventually become the winningest managerial tenure in Bakersfield Train Robbers history.
His final season would still be one year away, but the 2023 club added another playoff appearance and another postseason series victory to his Bakersfield record.
A Season Filled with Pecos League Stories
Some baseball seasons are remembered mostly for records and statistics.
The 2023 Bakersfield Train Robbers were different.
There was Rick Phillips hitting .376 and driving the offense.
There was Joe Riddle throwing more innings than anyone on the team while also hitting .461.
There was a pitching staff that struggled more than any previous Train Robbers staff but somehow helped get the team within one round of the championship series.
There were 18 scheduled games against Lancaster, with Bakersfield winning the completed season series 9-8.
There was the day a Mexican bee swarm took control of the visitors dugout at The Hangar and forced a game to be canceled.
There was a third-place team receiving an unexpected home playoff series because Monterey could not host.
There was a sweep of the Amberjacks at Sam Lynn Ballpark.
And there was another postseason meeting with San Rafael, which ended with the Pacifics moving on toward a Pecos League Championship.
2023 Was Independent Baseball at Its Best
The 2023 season was not the most dominant season in Bakersfield Train Robbers history.
It may have been one of the most unpredictable.
The Train Robbers struggled on the mound but kept scoring runs.
They finished third but received an unexpected opportunity to host the playoffs.
They swept a higher-seeded Monterey team and advanced to the Pacific Division Finals.
They faced the eventual Pecos League champions and finally saw their season come to an end.
Through all of it, Mercurio's club kept finding ways to stay alive.
The season became another example of why Pecos League baseball rarely follows a predictable script.
From a bee swarm in Lancaster to playoff baseball at Sam Lynn, the 2023 Bakersfield Train Robbers experienced almost everything a team could experience during one summer.
They finished third in the regular season, reached the Pacific Division Finals and produced one of the wildest chapters in Bakersfield Train Robbers history.
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