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2014 RoughRiders Roster Announced

Rougned Odor highlights prospect-laden group
By
March 26, 2014

FRISCO, TEXAS (MARCH 26, 2014) - A young, talented infield and a powerful pitching staff headline the Opening Day roster for the 2014 Frisco RoughRiders. The Texas Rangers have released the minor league rosters for the upcoming season and first-year Frisco manager Jason Wood will lead a dynamic group that features all four of the Rangers' 2013 year-end organizational award winners.

This year's RoughRiders squad features nine players listed in Baseball America's top 30 prospects for the Texas Rangers organization, led by number one prospect Rougned Odor. The 20-year-old second baseman returns to Frisco after an impressive 30-game Texas League stint late in 2013 in which he hit .306/.354/.530 with six home runs, eight doubles, two triples and 19 runs batted in. Odor was named the Rangers' 2013 Tom Grieve Minor League Player of the Year for his performance in Frisco and Advanced-A Myrtle Beach.

In addition to Odor, the other Baseball America prospects on Frisco's roster are shortstop Luis Sardinas (6), pitchers Luke Jackson (7), Nick Martinez (12) and Alec Asher (14), outfielder/third baseman Drew Robinson (21), third baseman Ryan Rua (22), and pitchers Wilmer Font (26) and Alex Claudio (27). Several RoughRiders were identified as possessing the "best tools" in the farm system, including Odor (Best Hitter for Average), Robinson (Best Strike-Zone Discipline), Sardinas (Best Defensive Infielder), Patrick Cantwell (Best Defensive Catcher), Martinez (Best Curveball) and Claudio (Best Changeup). 

The RoughRiders' pitching staff should be an impressive unit in 2014. Jackson, the Rangers' 2013 Nolan Ryan Minor League Pitcher of the Year, leads the rotation. The hard-throwing right-hander posted a 2.04 ERA in 2013, the eighth-lowest mark among all full-season minor league pitchers. He allowed just two runs in 27 innings (0.67 ERA) with Frisco near the end of last season. The other pitchers expected to fill out the starting rotation include Martinez, who will likely make a major league fill-in start for the Rangers in early April; Asher, who led all Texas farmhands in strikeouts last season with 139; Jerad Eickhoff, one of the best hurlers in the Carolina League last season; and Edwar Cabrera, who was a top prospect with the Rockies in 2012 before a left shoulder injury cost him the entire 2013 season.

Other notes from this year's Opening Day roster:

  • In 2013, the pitchers on this year's staff combined to go 59-40 with a 2.98 ERA (298 ER/899.1 IP) and 905 strikeouts (9.06K/9 IP).
  • In addition to Rangers' year-end minor league award winners Odor and Jackson, the RoughRiders' roster also includes left-hander Claudio (Reliever of the Year) and outfielder Jake Skole (Defender of the Year).
  • The RoughRiders have 15 players returning from last year's team: Claudio, Jon Edwards, Eickhoff, Font, Jackson, Phil Klein, Martinez, Francisco Mendoza, Odor, Guilder Rodriguez, Rua, Sardinas, Ryan Strausborger, Tomas Telis and Zach Zaneski.
  • The roster includes 11 players who will be new to Frisco in 2014: Trever Adams, Asher, Cabrera, Cantwell, Martire Garcia, Chris Grayson, Kyle Lotzkar, Robinson, Skole, Jake Smolinski and Matt West.
  • The average Opening Day age of this year's team is 23.8 years old. Odor (20) is the youngest player on the team while Rodriguez (30) is the oldest.  
  • The players making up this year's squad hail from 11 different states or U.S. territories (Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, Puerto Rico, Ohio and Texas) and four countries (Canada, Dominican Republic, United States of America and Venezuela). The two Texans on the team are Edwards (Keller) and West (Houston). 
  • There are 26 players listed on the roster, one more than the Texas League limit. The RoughRiders will provide an update in the coming days as to who will not be on the active roster for the start of the season.

This will be Wood's first year managing the RoughRiders after spending the last three as Myrtle Beach's skipper. He took the Pelicans to the playoffs in each of his seasons on the Grand Strand and twice was named the Carolina League's "Best Managerial Prospect" in Baseball America's annual "Best Tools" survey. The rest of the coaching staff remains the same for the third straight season.  Jeff Andrews marks his sixth season as Frisco's pitching coach while Jason Hart enters his third year as the hitting coach. Assistant hitting coach James Vilade returns to Frisco along with athletic trainer Carlos Olivas and strength and conditioning coach Eric McMahon. 

The RoughRiders kick off the 2014 season with the Future Rangers Showcase, an exhibition game on Sunday, March 30 at 2:05 p.m. against the Triple-A Round Rock Express at Dr Pepper Ballpark. The regular season begins at home on Thursday, April 3 (7:05 p.m.) when the Northwest Arkansas Naturals come to town for the start of a six-game, season-opening home stand. For information on how to see the RoughRiders in 2014, please call (972) 731-9200, e-mail [email protected] or visit www.RidersBaseball.com.