Sea Dogs 2016 Roster Announced

PORTLAND, MAINE - The Boston Red Sox have officially announced the 2016 Opening Day roster for the Portland Sea Dogs, their Double-A affiliate. The roster includes six players ranked among the Red Sox top 30 prospects according to Baseball America: Wendell Rijo (#15), Ty Buttrey (#18), Williams Jerez (#19), Teddy Stankiewicz (#20), Kevin McAvoy (#21), and Luis Ysla (#25). The Sea Dogs open the 2016 season in Reading, PA, against the Reading Fightin Phils on Thursday, April 7th at 7:05 PM. The Sea Dogs home opener at Hadlock Field is a week later on April 14th at 6:00 PM against the Hartford Yard Goats.

The roster includes 16 players who saw action with the Sea Dogs in 2015, including Jerez, the reigning Red Sox Minor League Pitcher of the Year and a current member of the Red Sox 40-man roster, Eastern League mid-season All-Star Jantzen Witte, Sea Dogs 10th Player Award-winner Tim Roberson, and two-time Sea Dogs' Citizen of the Year Mike McCarthy.

The pitching staff features four starters who finished among the top ten ERA leaders in the Red Sox minor league system: Aaron Wilkerson (2nd - 3.10), McAvoy (7th - 3.89), Buttrey (8th - 3.92), and Stankiewicz (9th - 4.01). Wilkerson, who finished the 2015 season in the Sea Dogs' rotation and went 4-1 with a 2.66 ERA in seven starts with Portland, had the lowest ERA among all Red Sox farmhands with over 75 IP, tied for the lead in wins (11), and led the organization in strikeouts (137). McAvoy, who was also tied for the organizational lead in wins with 11 and had the third-most innings pitched (141.0), makes his Double-A debut in 2016, along with Buttrey, who ranked third in the system in strikeouts (103), and Stankiewicz, a second-round pick in 2013 who finished second among farmhands in innings pitched (141.1).

The Sea Dogs return Justin Haley, who led last year's team in strikeouts (95), tied for the team lead in starts (27), and finished second in innings pitched (124.0). McCarthy, who returns for his fourth season in Portland, finished tied for third on last year's team in appearances (29), fourth in wins (6), and fourth in IP (115.2). The Sea Dogs also return Jerez and Heri Quevedo, who joined the team in the middle of 2015, and Simon Mercedes, who spent all of last year in Portland and finished second on the team with 37 appearances, all in relief.

The pitching staff also includes Ysla, a lefty power arm in the bullpen who has the distinction of being the first player acquired by the Red Sox in a trade under Dave Dombrowski, who sent Alejandro De Aza to the San Francisco Giants for Ysla in August of 2015. Chandler Shepherd, who ranked fifth among Red Sox minor leaguers with seven saves in 2015, makes his Double-A debut in 2016. The bullpen is rounded out by two new signees to the Red Sox: Rob Wort, who returns to affiliated baseball after playing the 2015 season in Sioux Falls of the independent American Association, and Mitch Atkins, a 30 year-old veteran who has appeared in 10 major league games over three seasons from 2009-11 with the Chicago Cubs and Baltimore Orioles.

The Sea Dogs' infield will be anchored by familiar faces, including Witte, Tzu-Wei Lin, and Mike Miller, as well as Rijo, the highest rated prospect on the team according to Baseball America. Witte, who missed the second half of 2015 with a broken left wrist, started at third base in the 2015 Eastern League All-Star Game at Hadlock Field and hit 25 doubles before the All-Star break, the most in the league and tied for the most in all of Double-A. Miller, who also played 74 games for Triple-A Pawtucket last season, hit .273 (45-for-165) in 40 games with Portland and saw action at second base, third base, and shortstop. Lin, who joined the Sea Dogs for the second half of 2015, combined between High-A Salem and Portland to steal 23 bases, fifth-most among Red Sox farmhands. Rijo spent all of 2015 in Salem and led the team in runs (47), hits (105), 2B (27), and total bases (154), while also ranking among team leaders in games played (2nd - 108), HR (T-3rd - 6), RBI (3rd - 47), BB (3rd - 34), and SB (T-2nd - 15). At 20 years old, Rijo is the youngest member of the Sea Dogs' Opening Day roster. Jose Vinicio, who spent the majority of the 2015 season in Salem, but appeared in three games for the Sea Dogs going 3-for-11, rounds out the Sea Dogs' infielders.

Three of the five Sea Dogs outfielders saw action in Portland last season: Henry Ramos, Cole Sturgeon, and Aneury Tavarez. Ramos returns to the Portland Opening Day roster for the third consecutive season after being limited by injuries in 2014 and 2015, while Sturgeon and Tavarez return to Portland after mid-season promotions in 2015, playing in 40 and 67 games with the Sea Dogs respectively. Rainel Rosario will make his Red Sox organizational debut this season after spending the previous two playing for Hiroshima in Nippon Professional Baseball, and Derek Miller is set to make his Double-A debut after splitting time in 2015 between Low-A Greenville and Salem.

The Sea Dogs also return three of the four catchers who were on the roster to end 2015: Roberson, Jake Romanski, and Jordan Weems, who will transition to first base this season. Roberson, who battled injuries through much of the 2015 season but still earned the Sea Dogs' 10th Player Award, ranked tied for second on the team with a .300 AVG (min. 75 AB) and hit .458 with a .500 OBP and .708 SLG against LHP. He also became the third player in Sea Dogs' history to hit for the cycle on May 15th at New Britain, when he hit a grand slam and later broke and 11-11 tie with a two-run triple in the 10th inning. Weems, a third-round pick in 2011, made his Double-A debut late last season and appeared in 17 games for the Sea Dogs, while Romanski, ranked by Baseball America as the best defensive catcher in the Red Sox system, saw action in 16 games for Portland after being promoted from Salem and hit .268 (15-for-56) in Double-A before his season ended early due to injury. Ali Solis, a veteran in his 12th professional season, rounds out the quartet of catchers, and will make his Red Sox organizational debut in 2016. Solis has appeared in 13 MLB games with San Diego (2012) and Tampa Bay (2014).

The Sea Dogs 2016 Opening Day roster features 14 players originally drafted by the Boston Red Sox, including six players who were selected in the top five rounds. Four players joined the organization as minor league free agents, while six were international free agents, two were non-drafted free agents, and one was acquired via trade. The average age of the Opening Day roster is 24.37 years old.

23 of the 27 players spent at least part of the 2015 season playing in the Red Sox organization, with the only exceptions being Atkins (Lamigo - China), Wort (Sioux City), Solis (Tulsa/Oklahoma City), and Rosario (Hiroshima).

A final 25-man roster will be announced prior to Thursday's season opener.

Carlos Febles was named the 12th manager in the Sea Dogs' 23-year history this past offseason, replacing Billy McMillon, who was named the Red Sox Outfield and Baserunning Coordinator. Febles spent the previous two seasons managing the Salem Red Sox, and also previously managed the Greenville Drive from 2012-13 and the Lowell Spinners in 2011. Kevin Walker returns for his second consecutive season as the Pitching Coach, while Jon Nunnally joins the Sea Dogs as the Hitting Coach for 2016, having spent the previous season in Salem.

Tickets are still available for the Sea Dogs home opener as well as all 2016 home games. Tickets can be purchased by calling the Sea Dogs ticket office at 879-9500 or online at www.seadogs.com. Book your nine-inning vacation today!