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MLB

Cardinals Release 2015 Opening Day Roster

By
June 19, 2015

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JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. -The 2015 Johnson City Cardinals roster has been released. It boasts a bevy of talented players, including the 4th and 5th round picks from the June draft, IF Paul DeJong and RHP Ryan Helsley. Helsley and DeJong are two of the 13 rookies selected from this year's draft who join the Johnson City club. Six players return from the 2014 championship team. In total, 29 players comprise the 2015 Opening Day Roster- 13 pitchers, six outfielders, seven infielders and three catchers.

Pitchers

This group of 13-11 right-handers and two lefties-has a deep veteran presence. All but three players on the pitching staff have played at least one year in the Cardinals organization. Juan Bautista returns to Johnson City after being sidelined with an injury for the entire 2014 season. RHP's Juan Caballero and Julio Mateo also return to Johnson City this year after joining the club midseason in 2014. Rounding out the returning pitchers is lefty Sasha Kuebel who struck out 19 batters in 21.1 IP last season.

Frederis Parra (2012-UFA) and Ramon Santos (2012-UFA) join the club with previous professional experience. Bryan Dobzanski (2014- 29th Round) enters his first season with Johnson City after going 2-1 with a 2.67 ERA in the Gulf Coast League last year. Dobzanski was a two-time New Jersey State Wrestling Champion in high school. RHP's Ronnie Williams (2014- 2nd Round) and Steven De La Cruz (2014- UFA) come to Johnson City this year after spending 2014 in the Gulf Coast League. Rounding out the pitching staff are rookies Ryan Helsely (2015- 5th Round) and Ben Yokely (2015- 29th Round). In his collegiate career at Northeastern State University (Oklah.) Helsley posted 151 strikeouts in 126.1 innings of work. Equally as impressive, Yokley faced 593 batters in his four-year career at the Air Force Academy and never gave up a homerun.

Catchers

Chris Rivera returns to Johnson City after playing for the 2014 championship team. Rivera started his career as an infielder, but has since been moved behind the plate. Rookies Ryan McCarvel (2015-19th Round) and Riley Drogensen (2015-UFA) complete the catching staff. McCarvel played in 37 games in his senior season at Howard College (San Angelo, TX) and batted .398 with 50 RBI's and seven homeruns.

Infielders

Jesus Ustariz returns for his third season in Johnson City. Eliezar Alvarez (2011-UFA) joins the club after three seasons in the Gulf Coast League. Rounding out the infield veteran trio is Edmundo Sosa (2012-UFA). Sosa ranked third in the Gulf Coast League in runs (37) last season.

Of the seven infielders on the 2015 Opening Day Roster four are rookies. Fourth Round pick Paul DeJong comes to Johnson City after posting back-to-back 48 RBI seasons at Illinois State University. He was All-MVC in 2014. Luke Doyle (2015-20th Round) played 50 games in his career at Yavapai Community College, scoring 52 runs and batting .369. Hunter Newman (2015-22nd Round) posted videogame-like numbers in his senior season at Trevecca Nazarene: .451 BA, 18 HR, 77 RBI. Josh Swirchak (2015-UFA) got on base in 47 percent of his at-bats at Wilmington University in 2015. He drove in 39 runs and scored 53.

Outfielders

Anthony Ray is the only outfielder to return from the 2014 championship Cardinals. Magneuris Sierra (2012-UFA) joins the club after spending the early spring at Single-A Peoria. In 2014, Sierra earned Cardinals Minor League Player of The Year and Gulf Coast League MVP. Malik Collymore (2013-10th Round), Ricardo Bautista (2013-12th Round) and De'Andre Asbury-Heath (2013-15th Round) all bring professional experience to the outfield. Collymore was a GCL post-season all-star in 2014. After the regular season, he ranked third in the CGL in batting average (.333), fourth in hits (59) and tied for first in triples (8).

The Cardinals open the 2015 season with back-to-back road games at Kingsport. They return to Cardinal Park Thursday, June 25th for the 2015 Home Opener against Kingsport at 7pm. To preorder tickets visit www.jccardinals.com or call (423) 461-4866.