The 2010 State College Spikes will begin their season on Friday, on the road against Williamsport. The 2010 roster has been announced by Guy Cipriano of the Centre Daily Times. The roster is as follows:
PITCHERS
Brooks Pounders
Eliecer Navarro
Jarryd Sullivan
Justin Ennis
Kevin Decker
Mitchell Fienemann
Sandobal Septimo
Teddy Fallon
Zac Fuesser
Zach Von Rosenberg
Zack Dodson
CATCHERS
Jairo Marquez
Matt Skirving
Miguel Mendez
INFIELDERS
Andury Acevedo
Andy Vasquez
Chase Lyles
Gerlis Rodriguez
Gift Ngoepe
Kelson Brown
Walker Gourley
OUTFIELDERS
Justin Bencsko
Kyle Saukko
Melvin de la Cruz
Ennis, Decker, Skirving, Lyles, Brown, and Bencsko are all from the 2010 draft class.
The most interesting names will be prep pitchers Brooks Pounders, Zac Fuesser, Zack Dodson, and Zach Von Rosenberg. All four were drafted in 2009, and were paid $2,595,000 combined to sign, with Von Rosenberg getting $1.2 M of that figure. Walker Gourley, another 2009 draft pick, is the position player I’m most interested in.
Saukko, Fallon, Vasquez, and Mendez are all returning from the 2009 Spikes roster.
Acevedo is making his US debut, coming from the Dominican Summer League last season.
Sullivan and Fienemann are both from Australia. Fienemann played in the GCL last year, with a 3.79 ERA in 40.1 innings, and an impressive 26:3 K/BB ratio. Sullivan was signed in mid-August and didn’t play in the pros last year.
Navarro, Septimo, Marquez, Rodriguez, de la Cruz, and Ngoepe join Fienemann as additions from the 2009 GCL Pirates.
Notable absentees are Trent Stevenson, Wes Freeman, and Brent Klinger. Stevenson was also in the 2009 draft class, and received a $350 K bonus to sign with the Pirates. It would be expected that he would be at the same level as Pounders, Von Rosenberg, and Dodson, especially since he signed early and received playing time in the pros last year.
Freeman started the 2010 season in West Virginia, but was sent down to Extended Spring Training after a horrible start. It’s possible that Freeman could return to the Gulf Coast League.
Klinger played for the GCL Pirates last year, with a 3.28 ERA in 35.2 innings, plus a 9.1 K/9 and a 3.0 BB/9. He pitched three scoreless innings with State College, although he allowed two walks and recorded no strikeouts. I expected him to at least start the season with State College.
UPDATE: As Wilbur T. Miller points out in the comments below, Stevenson and Klinger are both injured. I seemed to remember something about Stevenson, but missed the injury to Klinger. Also, I didn’t mention Colton Cain here, as he is injured, and probably will return in July.
