Dodgers Name Loons 2024 Roster

MIDLAND, Mich. – In conjunction with the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Great Lakes Loons are pleased to announce the team’s preliminary roster for the 2024 season. The Opening Day roster will be finalized prior to Friday’s home opener, when the Loons host the Fort Wayne TinCaps (High-A Affiliate San Diego Padres) at Dow Diamond.

PITCHERS (18): Kelvin Bautista, Chris Campos, Franklin De La Paz, Jonathan Edwards, Jackson Ferris, Peter Heubeck, Joel Ibarra, Madison Jeffrey, Jared Karros, Michael Martinez, Jacob Meador, Brandon Neeck, Kelvin Ramirez, Livan Reinoso, Christian Romero, Benony Robles, Christian Suarez, Lucas Wepf

CATCHERS (3): Thayron Liranzo, Umar Male (bullpen catcher), Nelson Quiroz

INFIELDERS (5): Yunior Garcia, Noah Miller, Sam Mongelli, Kyle Nevin, Jordan Thompson

OUTFIELDERS (5): Nick Biddison, Dylan Campbell, Chris Newell, Luis Rodriguez, Jake Vogel

Italic – Appeared with Loons in 2023 season

Notes regarding the 2024 roster:

• 10 players (of 31) spent at least a portion of the 2023 season with Great Lakes
• Three players were selected by the Dodgers in the 2023 MLB First-Year Player Draft
• Seven players were drafted by the Dodgers in the 2022 MLB First-Year Player Draft
• 14 players originate from outside the United States (5 Dominican Republic, 3 Venezuela, 3 Mexico, 1 Canada, 1 Puerto Rico, 1 Uganda). The first ever African-born player in Loons history is Male
• Three Loons appear on MLB.com’s list of top 30 Dodgers prospects (Ferris – 8, Liranzo – 10, Miller – 27)
• The top five strikeout leaders with Low-A Rancho Cucamonga in 2023, are on the Loons 2024 Opening Day roster. Heubeck (91), Campos (85), Reinoso (83), Karros (75), Romero (74)
• The average age of the roster is 22.5 years old. With the youngest players being 20 (Liranzo, Ferris) and the oldest at 25 (De La Paz, Reinoso)

Jair Fernandez will serve as the Loons manager, the eleventh in the franchise’s 17-year history. Fernandez, 37, served as skipper for the Los Angeles Dodgers Arizona Complex League team in 2023, his seventh season coaching in the organization and fourth in Arizona. He served as the hitting coach with the Great Lakes Loons in 2017 and 2018. The Loons hit a combined .240 in those two seasons, accumulating 192 home runs.

David Anderson for the third consecutive year will serve as the Loons’ pitching coach. The 28-year-old gained four years of coaching experience at the collegiate level before joining the LA organization in 2020.

Richard De Los Santos is back in the fold for a third season as pitching coach for the Loons. The 38-year-old had a nine-year minor league career as a right-handed pitcher, mostly in the Tampa Bay system. A native of the Dominican Republic, De Los Santos played a portion of the 2005 season for the Southwest Michigan Devil Rays, who would become the Loons two years later.

O’Koyea Dickson, a player on the 2012 Loons will be the hitting coach for a second straight season. A 2011 12th Round pick of the Dodgers, Dickson appeared in seven games in LA in 2017.

Former Loons and Dodgers infielder Elian Herrera returns to Midland as the Loons’ bench coach for a fourth season. The four-year big leaguer begins his fifth season as a coach within the Dodgers’ organization, with a previous stop in Rancho Cucamonga. Herrera was on the inaugural Loons team in 2007, joined by nine other future major league players.

Brad Tunney begins his eighth season in the Loons broadcast booth and is joined by John Vicari for a second season. All 132 Loons games can be heard on Sports Radio 100.9 The Mitt, 1009themitt.com, Loons.com and on your mobile device using the TuneIn App. Along with the radio broadcast, all games are streamed digitally via MiLB.TV.

The Great Lakes Loons have been a partner of the Los Angeles Dodgers since the team’s inception in 2007. Dow Diamond serves as the team’s home and also houses the Michigan Baseball Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit public charity, and Sports Radio 100.9 The Mitt. For tickets or information about the Loons, call 989-837-BALL or visit Loons.com.