Tentative Opening Day Roster Released
VIERA, Fla. - The Milwaukee Brewers and Brevard County Manatees announced today a tentative Opening Day roster for the 2015 Florida State League season.
OF Clint Coulter, who enters the season as the fourth-best prospect in the Brewers organization according to Baseball America, will lead the offense. Coulter was selected by Milwaukee in the first round (27th overall) of the 2012 First-Year Player Draft out of Union High School in Camas, Washington. He was named the 2014 Brewers Minor League Player of the year after hitting .287 with 22 home runs and 89 RBI for the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers of the Midwest League. Coulter was named to the Midwest League mid-season and postseason All-Star teams. Coulter led the MWL in on-base percentage (.410), OPS (.930), and hit-by-pitches (21). He ranked among the league leaders in home runs (tied-1st), RBI (2nd), slugging percentage (2nd, .520), walks (3rd, 73), runs (tied-4th, 84), total bases (5th, 223) and extra-base hits (5th, 53).
LHP Wei-Chung Wang, the seventh-best prospect in the organization according to Baseball America, headlines the pitching staff. Wang was selected from Pittsburgh in the Major League phase of the Rule 5 Draft and made his MLB debut on 4/14/14 vs. St. Louis. At the age of 21, he became the youngest player from Taiwan to play in the Major Leagues. He posted a 10.90 ERA in 14 relief appearances during his first Major League season before being put on the disabled list with left shoulder tightness. During his MLB rehab, Wang made seven appearances (six starts) for the AZL Brewers, Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, and the 'Tees. He went 1-2 with a 2.39 ERA (7 ER/26.1 IP) and struck out 22 batters. On 8/27, Wang made his first start in Brevard County against the Lakeland Flying Tigers. He tossed 7.2 innings and allowed just two runs on seven hits. He struck out eight men and recorded his first win as a member of the Brewers organization.
Fellow 2012 first-round pick Victor Roache joins Coulter in a promising outfield for Brevard County. Roache, who will start his second straight season with the Manatees, ranked third in the Florida State League with 18 home runs in 2014. He crushed three homers on 5/4 vs. Clearwater, becoming the first Brevard County player to ever hit three home runs in single game.
Currently the roster stands at 27 players. The 'Tees will make some roster moves to get to the league's 25-player roster limit before play begins on Thursday in Daytona.
Brevard County returns to Space Coast Stadium on Friday for the home opener against the Tortugas, featuring postgame fireworks. First pitch is at 6:35 p.m. and gates open at 5:30 p.m.
The first opportunity to meet the 2015 Brevard County Manatees is at Fan Fest on Wednesday. Only Manatees ticket package holders and media members are invited to this exclusive player meet and greet.
Ticket packages and individual game tickets are on sale now. You can purchase tickets in person, at the Space Coast Stadium Box Office, online, at ManateesBaseball.com, or over the phone at (321) 633-9200. Also, don't forget to like the Manatees on Facebook, follow the Manatees on Twitter and follow the Manatees on Instagram.
2015 Brevard County Manatees Roster:
|
RHP |
Archer, Tristan |
|
RHP |
Burgos, Hiram |
|
RHP |
Earls, Kaleb |
|
RHP |
Gainey, Preston |
|
RHP |
Lieser, Scott |
|
RHP |
Medlen, Casey |
|
RHP |
Ortega, Jorge |
|
LHP |
Peterson, Stephen |
|
RHP |
Salas, Javier |
|
LHP |
Seidenberger, Trevor |
|
RHP |
Spurlin, Tyler |
|
LHP |
Terry, Clint |
|
LHP |
Wang, Wei-Chung |
|
RHP |
Woodruff, Brandon |
|
C |
Garfield, Cameron |
|
C |
Eshleman, Paul |
|
C |
Neda, Rafael |
|
IF |
Brennan, Taylor |
|
IF |
Cooper, Garrett |
|
IF |
Halcomb, Steven |
|
IF |
Macias, Brandon |
|
IF |
McFarland, Chris |
|
IF |
Ortega, Angel |
|
OF |
Coulter, Clint |
|
OF |
Davis, Johnny |
|
OF |
Garcia, Omar |
|
OF |
Roache, Victor |
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