Greeneville Astros set 2012 roster
This year's team, led by returning manager Omar Lopez, consists of 19 players drafted by the Houston Astros over the last four years, nine non-drafted free agent prospects and one player, outfielder D'Andre Toney, acquired in a trade earlier this week from the Kansas City Royals.
This year's club has more experienced players than previous years. Eighteen of the players have previously spent time playing in the minor leagues and have a combined 25 years of experience. Twelve of these players are returning from the 2011 Greeneville squad. The average age of the team has also increased and is currently 20.8 years compared to last year's average age of 20.1 on the opening day roster.
Some of the familiar names returning to Greeneville include right-handed pitcher Adrian Houser, left-handed pitcher Chris Lee, second-baseman Josh Magee and outfielder Ariel Ovando.
Ten players from the recent 2012 MLB Draft, including five pitchers, will be making their professional debuts with Greeneville. Right-handed pitcher Daniel Minor, who was drafted in the ninth round out of Texas A&M Corpus Christi and outfielder Terrell Joyce, a twelfth round selection from Florida State College, headline the list.
As a whole, the Astros have a total of 14 states and three countries represented on the Greeneville roster this season. Twenty-one players are from the United States. Florida and Texas have the most representatives with three each. Meanwhile, there are six players from the Dominican Republic and two from Venezuela.
The complete roster will be as follows:
Pitchers: RHP Tanner Bushue, RHP Zachary Dando, RHP Michael Dimok, RHP Christian Garcia, LHP James Hardoin, RHP Mike Hauschild, RHP Adrian Houser, RHP Jordan Jankowski, LHP Chris Lee, LHP Mitchell Lambson, RHP Daniel Minor, RHP Francis Ramirez, RHP Richard Rodriguez, RHP Frederick Tiburcio and LHP Scott Zuloaga.
Catchers: Ernesto Genoves, Ricky Gringas and Cristian Moronta.
Infielders: Jean Batista, Brian Blasik, Angel Ibanez, Josh Magee, Michael Martinez and Ruben Sosa.
Outfielders: Terrell Joyce, Jose Monzon, Ariel Ovando, D'Andre Toney and Marc Wik.
The Greeneville Astros begin their season on Tuesday, June 19 at Johnson City, but fans in Greeneville can see the squad during their home opener on Monday, June 25 at 7:00pm against the Princeton Rays.
Tickets are available now at the Astros Administrative office, located at Pioneer Park on the campus of Tusculum College. The office is open Monday-Friday from 9:00am-5:30pm. For more information on the Astros, call (423) 638-0411.