Drive Opening Day Roster Announced
Greenville, SC - The 2015 season at Fluor Field is the Greenville Drive's 10th Anniversary season, and the club is stocked with some of the brightest young prospects in the Boston Red Sox organization. The Drive's Opening Day roster includes a mix of high draft picks, top international talent and several returning Drive players from the 2014 team.
Manager Darren Fenster returns for his second season at the helm of the Drive, and he will team with Pitching Coach Walter Miranda, Hitting Coach Nelson Paulino and Assistant Coach Justin Henry to bring a wealth of knowledge and experience that ensures the 2015 roster develops rapidly and achieves success both on and off the field.
The Drive roster is highlighted by several of Boston's top selections from the 2014 MLB Draft, including a pair of first round picks: infielder Michael Chavis, a onetime Clemson commit (25th overall) and right-handed pitcher Michael Kopech (33rd overall). Other top 10 round picks on the Drive's roster are right-handed pitcher Reed Reilly (7th round) and catcher Ben Moore (8th round).
The roster also features five players who saw time with the Drive last season - right-handed pitchers Mario Alcantara, Ty Buttrey and Jamie Callahan; and catchers Danny Bethea and Jordan Procyshen.
"The Red Sox are among the most effective organizations in baseball at scouting, drafting and developing major league talent," said Drive General Manager Eric Jarinko. "Boston's recent World Series championships in 2007 and 2013 featured a number of Drive alums in prominent roles, including Xander Bogaerts, Clay Buchholz, Jon Lester and many more. Established young players like Bogaerts and Mookie Betts look to be integral parts of the Red Sox this year, and with players like Garin Cecchini, Henry Owens and Blake Swihart ready to make major league contributions soon, the Red Sox have a pipeline of young talent that will help them stay at the top of the American League East."
Jarinko continued, "The 2015 Greenville Drive roster is shaping up to be one of our best and there is no doubt that our 10th Anniversary season at Fluor Field will have an exciting and talented team on display every night for our dedicated fans."
"The Boston Red Sox are known to have one of the strongest and most consistent player development systems in all of baseball, and we are very proud to be an integral part of the Red Sox developmental network," added Owner and Team President Craig Brown. "Our 2015 Drive roster will feature some of Boston's top prospects who will jump start their careers in Greenville as they work toward achieving their dream of reaching Fenway and helping the Red Sox continue to contend for World Series championships."
The Drive pitching staff will consist of nine right-handers - Alcantara, Buttrey, Callahan, Jeffry Fernandez, Kopech, Kuehl McEachern, Reed Reilly, Chandler Shepherd and Aaron Wilkerson; and three left-handers -Jalen Beeks, Jake Drehoff and Williams Jerez.
Alcantara, Buttrey and Callahan all spent time in the Drive starting rotation in 2014. Buttrey is a Charlotte native who was selected in the fourth round in 2012. Callahan, a second round pick in 2012 and a Dillon native, is the lone player on the Drive roster from the Palmetto State. He tied for the team lead with 25 starts and was second with 108 2/3 innings pitched and 89 strikeouts.
Kopech, a native of Mount Pleasant, Texas, was selected as a Perfect Game 2014 First Team All-American. He made eight starts in the Gulf Coast League after signing and struck out 16 batters in 13 1/3 innings.
The catchers on the roster are Bethea, Ben Moore and Procyshen.
Bethea cracked a pair of homers with a .290 average in 17 games in Greenville last season.
Moore, a product of the University of Alabama, hit .305 with nine homers and 39 RBI as a senior for the Crimson Tide.
Procyshen, a native of Calgary, played in nine games with the Drive in 2014 after being drafted from Northern Kentucky University and hit .300 with a homer.
An outstanding infield will feature Chavis, Rafael Devers, Mauricio Dubon, Javier Guerra, Nick Longhi, Deiner Lopez and Cisco Tellez.
Chavis posted a .580 average with 13 homers as a senior at Sprayberry High School last spring and was named the 2014 Gatorade Georgia Baseball Player of the Year. He joined Kopech as a Perfect Game First-Team All-American selection as well.
Devers was one of Boston's prized international signees out of the Dominican Republic in 2013, and he smacked seven homers and drove in 57 runs with a .322 average in 2014 with the Red Sox affiliates in the Dominican Summer League and the GCL.
Dubon was born in Honduras but moved to Sacramento, California during high school, and he was a New York-Penn League All-Star in 2014 for the Lowell Spinners.
Rounding out the Drive roster are the outfielders, which include Carlos Mesa, Mike Meyers, Derek Miller and Joseph Monge.
Mesa, a 27-year old native of Cuba, has previously spent time in affiliated baseball with the Pittsburgh Pirates organization.
"We are very excited about the way out roster has turned out following an extremely productive spring training down in Florida," said Fenster. "The talent we are coming to Greenville with both on the mound and in the field is quite impressive and should make for a great season. We are really looking forward to getting going and can't wait to give our loyal fans a lot to cheer about over the next five months."
The Drive season begins with Opening Night at Fluor Field on Thursday, April 9th at 7:05 against the Augusta GreenJackets. Single-game tickets, ticket plans, luxury accommodations, and group outings can be purchased by calling (864) 240-4500 or by visiting www.greenvilledrive.com.