Shorebirds Announce 2018 Break Camp Roster

SALISBURY, MD - The Delmarva Shorebirds, Class A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles, have announced their break camp team roster, as assigned by their parent club. The team features 26 players, including seven of the Orioles' top 30 prospects and six returning Shorebirds.
Left-handed pitcher DL Hall was the Orioles' first round pick in the 2017 MLB Draft (21st overall) and is the organization's fifth-best prospect in 2018, per MLB Pipeline. The Valdosta, Ga. native and Valdosta High School product made five starts in the rookie Gulf Coast League in 2017, striking out 12 batters in 10.1 innings innings. At age 19, Hall is the youngest player to break camp with the Shorebirds.
The other 19-year-old beginning his season at Perdue Stadium is right-hander Brenan Hanifee, the Orioles' 10th-ranked prospect. Baltimore drafted Hanifee in the fourth round in 2016 out of Turner-Ashby High School in Bridgewater, Va. He made his professional debut for the short-season Aberdeen IronBirds in 2017, going 7-3 with a 2.75 ERA over 12 starts. Hanifee, who at one time lived on Delmarva in Earleville, Md., was named a New York-Penn League All-Star and earned an MiLB.com Organization All-Star nod at the end of the year.
The Shorebirds will boast four additional pitchers who rank in the Orioles' Top 30. Right-handers Michael Baumann (No. 15) and Gray Fenter (No. 23) notched stellar seasons in Aberdeen and the GCL, respectively. Southpaws Cameron Bishop (No. 16) and Zac Lowther (No. 17) baffled Aberdeen opponents last year, posting a combined ERA of just 1.31.
Shortstop Mason McCoy (No. 30) is the Shorebirds' lone position player to register in the top 30. The Orioles made the Peoria, Ill. native and University of Iowa product their sixth round pick in 2017. McCoy made it to the NYPL All-Star Game on the back of a .301 average, 15 extra-base hits, and 29 RBIs in 53 games.
Six players who saw time with the Shorebirds last year will make return trips to Perdue Stadium in 2018. Pitchers Matthias Dietz, Zach Muckenhirn, Travis Seabrooke, and Nick Vespi are joined by outfielder Frank Crinella and bullpen catcher Wagner Ramirez.
Right-hander Dietz spent the entire 2017 season in the Shorebirds rotation. The 2016 second round pick went 3-10 with a 4.93 ERA over 26 appearances, racking up nine quality starts along the way.
Lefty Muckenhirn pitched the bulk of his season in Delmarva, making 22 appearances (21 starts) before heading down to Aberdeen to transition to bullpen work. With the Shorebirds, he went 4-9 with a 5.09 ERA and four quality starts.
Southpaw Seabrooke stayed on the Shorebird roster all season, splitting his time between the rotation and bullpen. The Canadian national went 3-9 with a 5.01 ERA over 100.2 innings.
Left-hander Vespi made one lone appearance for Delmarva, pitching an inning at Columbia on May 3 before eventually getting reassigned to short-season Aberdeen. With the IronBirds, Vespi went 4-3 with a 4.31 ERA and three saves over 13 appearances (five starts).
Crinella primarily served as a second baseman and DH for the Shorebirds in 2017 but also moonlighted at third base and in left field. The Springfield, Mass. man hit .210 in 85 games and led the team with seven triples. More known for his speed, Crinella broke a two-year homerless drought with a three-run blast to help beat Lakewood on June 25.
Ramírez served as Delmarva's bullpen catcher but got into the final game of the season, pinch-hitting in the eighth inning against West Virginia on September 4. The Dominican national had spent four years in the Dominican Summer League, playing two seasons each in the Indians and Orioles systems, before getting his first call to American action.
Another notable roster addition is the latest Ripken family member to play in the Baltimore system. First baseman Ryan Ripken signed with the Orioles in March 2017 after originally playing in the Nationals farm. Playing for the family-owned Aberdeen IronBirds, the younger Ripken hit .287 over 51 games. Ryan is the son of Hall-of-Famer Cal Ripken, Jr., grandson of late former Orioles manager Cal Ripken, Sr., and nephew of longtime Oriole Billy Ripken.
Here is a complete roster breakdown, sorted alphabetically by position:
Right-Handed Pitchers (6)
Michael Baumann, Scott Burke, Matthias Dietz, Gray Fenter, Brenan Hanifee, William Reed Hayes
Left-Handed Pitchers (8)
Cameron Bishop, DL Hall, Alex Katz, Zac Lowther, Zach Muckenhirn, Travis Seabrooke, Nick Vespi, Ryan Wilson
Catchers (3)
Ben Breazeale, Jean Carrillo, Wagner Ramírez
Infielders (6)
Branden Becker, Trevor Craport, Seamus Curran, Mason McCoy, Kirvin Moesquit, Ryan Ripken
Outfielders (4)
Frank Crinella, Zach Jarrett, T.J. Nichting, Will Robertson
The Shorebirds will announce their 25-man roster at noon on Thursday, April 5, before their season opener against the Asheville Tourists at Arthur W. Perdue Stadium.