Bees open 2026 with familiar faces, new leadership

SOUTH JORDAN — The Bees had their home opener Tuesday night as they hosted the Sacramento River Cats at the Ballpark at America First Square.

Salt Lake capped off a thrilling comeback as they picked up their first win of the season behind some familiar faces and returning players.

Leading the team in 2026 is Doug Davis, who has begun his first season as the Bees skipper after serving as the manager of the Round Rock Express for the past three seasons. In 2023, during his first season with Round Rock, Davis helped the Express win the second half of the PCL season.

Last season, Davis eclipsed 900 minor league managerial wins and he brings plenty of experience to Salt Lake.

Davis now leads a Bees team that has plenty of continuity from last season as they begin their second season in Downtown Daybreak.

"We have a lot of guys that are returning, guys that are very comfortable with this place," Davis said. "I think year two always is a special time, because I think everybody's a little bit more relaxed and ready for this game to get started, and I'm sure our guys are the same way."

Key returners

Caden Dana is one of the most exciting pitching talents in the Angels farm system and he will be returning to Salt Lake once again. The Angels' former top pitching prospect, Dana, has spent parts of four seasons in Los Angeles' system, including 10 Major League appearances across the 2024 and 2025 seasons.

Christian Moore was drafted eighth overall by the Angels in 2024 and made his MLB debut last season after a quick stop with the Bees. Moore began the 2025 season with Double-A Rocket City where he played 34 games with the Trash Pandas.

In May, Moore got the call up to Salt Lake and instantly made an impact. Moore hit .350 and tallied four home runs and 18 RBI in 20 games with the Bees which caught the attention of the Angels.

On June 13, 2025, Moore made his MLB debut against the Baltimore Orioles. Moore spent three months in the big leagues before splitting the final month of the season between the Majors and Triple-A.

Two youngsters in Nelson Rada and Denzer Guzman are opening the season in Salt Lake for the first time after the pair spent the majority of last season in Double-A with Rocket City.

At the start of August, Rada and Guzman made their Bees debut and from that point on, all they did was produce at the plate and play strong defense.

Rada – who's listed as the Angels third-best prospect to open the 2026 season – hit .323 with Salt Lake last season while also flashing Gold Glove level defense in center field.

"It's always exciting when you get that first call up, and now he's somewhat of an established Triple-A player, but he also knows that he has a lot to work on, a lot of things to improve on and to continuously make himself a better player," Davis said of Rada.

"That's where he's at right now. He's just trying to do things right, work hard, and when the opportunity comes for him, make sure he's ready for it."

Guzman – another top-10 prospect – was rewarded for his play in Triple-A last season with a September call-up with the Angels. Guzman will hope more at-bats with the Bees will give him the experience he needs to hold onto a spot with the Angels the next time he's called up.

With some of the Angels top prospects getting a taste of the majors last season, the goal will be to get back and stay there.

"The big thing here in Triple-A is for guys to just be prepared. We spend so much time doing that I think with our pregame. The routines are consistent, the daily activities are consistent, so when you go to the big leagues, there's really no transition other than a change of location."

Notable new faces

A couple of new players have joined the roster ahead of the 2026 season with some former major leaguers headlining the roster.

Former Dodgers utility man and two-time world series champion Chris Taylor is joined by newcomer Nick Madrigal and Yolmer Sanchez who is back for his second season with the Bees.

However, the most notable name that Bees fans may recognize is Trey Mancini.

Mancini broke into the Major Leagues with the Orioles and he put together some strong seasons with his best coming in 2019 when he hit 35 home runs and drove in 97 RBI.

In 2020, Mancini was diagnosed with colon cancer and underwent chemotherapy. After declaring himself cancer free in November of the same year, Mancini announced he would play in 2021. Mancini played in 147 games with Baltimore that season and was awarded the AL Comeback Player of the Year Award.

Mancini has not played in the big leagues since 2023 when he was a member of the Cubs and has spent the past year in the Diamondbacks system, playing for Triple-A Reno.

"He's had a great major league career, and guys like that, they're just trying to hold on," Davis said. "It becomes more difficult year after year, the older guys get. The organization knows him very well, knows what he's capable of doing, and knows that he's capable of performing at the major league level."

After a rocky start in Las Vegas to open the season, Davis hopes his team can get back and track while also preparing his players for when they are called up.

"I think we have several guys that are there at this point in time and we're trying to get everybody else in that same mindset so that when they do go up there, they're just ready to be Los Angeles Angels."

Related topics