66ers 2010 Opening Night Roster

The Inland Empire 66ers have arrived and are ready for the 2010 season. The Class 'A' Partner of the Los Angeles Dodgers will open the season Thursday, April 8th at Rancho Cucamonga taking on their I-10 rivals the Quakes. You can hear that game on KCAA, 1050 AM starting with the pregame show at 6:55PM. Your first opportunity to see the 66ers at Arrowhead Credit Union Park comes on Monday, April 12th when the 66ers host the High Desert Mavericks for the home opener at 7:05. Tickets are available online at www.66ers.com, or you can visit the box office for special opening day discounts all weekend long.

The 2010 edition of the 66ers have six of the top-20 prospects in the Dodgers farm system heading for the Inland Empire, according to the 2010 Baseball America Prospect Guide. Highlighting the class are pitchers Aaron Miller and Ethan Martin who are both ranked in the Dodgers top five, and co-Midwest League MVP Kyle Russell.

Aaron Miller was the Dodgers First Round Pick last season and is one of the most promising left-handers in the game. Miller went 3-1, holding opponents to a .208 BAA in seven starts for Low A Great Lakes after signing as the 36th pick in the draft. He also played Right Field while in college at Baylor, but is now entering his first full season of baseball focused solely on pitching.

Ethan Martin was a First Round selection in 2008 after being chosen Baseball America's High School Player of the Year that season. Injuries prevented the right-hander from making his debut after the draft, but last year he proved to be worth the wait in the Midwest League. Martin struck out 120 batters in 100 Innings of pitching with the Great Lakes Loons. At 20-years-old, he will be one of the youngest highly touted prospects in the California League.

Kyle Russell is one of the best home run hitting prospects ever to come to the Inland Empire. The former Texas Longhorn has hit a homerun in roughly every five games he's played since turning professional. Last year at Great Lakes, Russell was selected co-MVP of the Midwest League after leading the league in home runs (26), RBI (102), extra-base hits (72), and slugging (.545). Baseball America rated him the Dodgers best power prospect for the upcoming season.