Nuts' 2026 roster is Taylor-made for success

LANSING, Mich. – In concert with the Athletics, the Lansing Lugnuts announce a Break Camp roster led by five MLB Pipeline Top 30 A’s prospects: Devin Taylor (No. 8), Steven Echavarria (No. 16), Zane Taylor (No. 19), Nate Nankil (No. 26) and Bobby Boser (No. 30).

An official Opening Day roster will be finalized before the Nuts open their 30th season at Jackson® Field™ at 6:05 p.m. on Thursday, April 2, vs. Dayton.

A closer look at the roster for the 30th season of Lugnuts baseball, featuring 15 returning players and 15 newcomers to Michigan’s state capital:

Starting Rotation
- Lansing’s rotation is expected to combine 2025 Nuts Steven Echavarria, Kyle Robinson and Tzu-Chen Sha with newcomers Zane Taylor, Samuel Dutton and Jackson Finley. All six pitchers are right-handed. The 20-year-old Echavarria led the Nuts last season with 25 starts while Robinson posted seven quality starts and Sha was part of Chinese Taipei’s 2026 World Baseball Classic squad.

Taylor, the A’s 2025 fifth-round pick from UNC Wilmington, led all D-I pitchers in K/BB ratio and WHIP; Dutton, drafted in the tenth round from Auburn, led the Tigers in wins and strikeouts and was named All-SEC; and Finley, a two-way standout at Georgia Tech, returns to action after missing the 2025 season.

Bullpen
- Here there be southpaws, namely 2025 Nuts Jack Mahoney and Ryan Magdic plus newcomers Tucker Novotny, a standout at Minnesota, and Riley Huge, who struck out 20 batters in a sensational 7 2/3-inning gem while at Winthrop University. More familiar faces abound, too, with Jake Garland (2023-2025) entering his fourth year in Lansing, Jose Dicochea (2023-2024) making his third appearance, and Luis Carrasco (2024) returning after a season lost due to injury. Ryan Brown, one of the Pac-12’s top closers at Oregon State, also returns to action after missing 2025.

A trio of new A’s acquisitions top things off: Abel Mercedes from the Houston Astros and Darlin Pinales from the Arizona Diamondbacks, both selected in the Rule 5 Draft, and Gerlin Rosario, picked up from the Tampa Bay Rays in a trade for former Lugnut Cooper Bowman.

Catchers
- Lansing’s three catchers comprise one 2025 returner, Davis Diaz, and two newcomers, Dylan Fien and Carlos Franco. Diaz, a converted infielder from Vanderbilt, started 60 games for the Nuts after earning a promotion from Stockton. The 20-year-old Fien, the youngest player on the team, was signed away from a UCLA and commitment and made his pro debut in 2025, the same summer that his brother Gavin was drafted 12th overall by the Rangers (and then traded to Washington this offseason in a package for MacKenzie Gore). Franco was signed as an international free agent at age 16 from Venezuela and earns his way to Lansing after spending parts of the last three seasons in Stockton.

Infielders
- Start with the returning duo of Casey Yamauchi (2023-25 Lugnut), the hardest man to strike out in High-A (36 K in 481 PA, 7.5%), and Gunner Gouldsmith, who played at four different levels in the A’s system last year.

Then add in a crew with the best strike zone discipline in the Midwest League. Florida Gators standout Bobby Boser slugged 18 home runs in the SEC before patiently earning 22 walks in 32 games in his pro debut for the Stockton Ports. C.J. Pittaro took 52 walks in 92 games for Stockton before finishing the 2025 season in Lansing. Jared Sprague-Lott, an All-SEC defender with Arkansas, drew 65 walks in 74 games for the Ports. And Justin Riemer, a second baseman acquired via trade with Boston during the Rule 5 Draft, worked 69 walks in 82 games between Greenville and Portland.

Outfielders
- The outfield is young, fast, powerful, and familiar, led by Nate Nankil (2024-2025), Rodney Green Jr. (2025) and Pedro Pineda (2025). Nankil finished last season with Midland, helping lead the RockHounds into the Texas League Championship Series; Green opened last season in Lansing before hitting .275 with an .858 OPS in Stockton; and Pineda enjoyed a breakthrough 2025 in the California League to earn a ticket to Lansing for the final 28 games of the season.

The final member of the quartet is the most ballyhooed prospect of the roster: Devin Taylor, the 2023 Big Ten Freshman of the Year, three-time First Team All Big Ten, Indiana Hoosiers career home run record-holder (54 homers), 2025 Golden Spikes Award Semifinalist, and the 48th overall selection in the 2025 MLB Draft.

Led by manager Javier Godard, the 2026 Lugnuts first take the field against the Michigan State Spartans in the Crosstown Showdown on Wednesday, April 1, at 6:05 p.m. at Jackson® Field™ before opening the season with a three-game homestand vs. Dayton from April 2-4. Tickets are available at the stadium box office, 517-485-4500 and milb.com/lansing.

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