ROUND ROCK, Texas – Baseball season is officially here! The Round Rock Express, in conjunction with the Texas Rangers, announced the club’s preliminary roster on Wednesday morning. The preliminary roster is subject to change prior to Round Rock Express Opening Day, which is set for Friday, March 31 as the Albuquerque Isotopes (Colorado Rockies affiliate) visit Dell Diamond at 7:05 p.m.

The preliminary roster features 31 players. In total, 13 of the 31 have logged Major League service time in their careers, including eight of the 18 pitchers on the staff, RHP Joe Barlow (Rangers), RHP Jacob Barnes (Rangers), RHP Kyle Cody (Rangers), RHP Robert Dugger (Reds, Rays), LHP John King (Rangers), LHP Jake Latz (Rangers), RHP Dominic Leone (Mariners, Diamondbacks, Blue Jays, Cardinals, Guardians, Giants), RHP Zack Littell (Twins, Giants) and RHP Yerry Rodriguez (Rangers).

Round Rock’s pitchers will be in good hands as two of the catchers on the club’s preliminary roster have appeared in Major League Baseball at some point in their careers, including Sam Huff (Rangers) and 2018 World Series Champion Sandy León (Nationals, Red Sox, Indians, Marlins, Twins). On the infield, 1B Yoshi Tsutsugo (Pirates) has logged Major League service time while OF Clint Frazier (Yankees, Cubs) and OF Elier Hernandez (Rangers) will roam the grass at Dell Diamond.

The club features five of the top 30 prospects in the Texas Rangers organization, according to MLB.com, led by INF Justin Foscue, who checks in at No. 7 on the list. RHP Cole Winn returns to Round Rock and is ranked as the No. 14 prospect in the organization while INF Jonathan Ornelas is listed at No. 18. Additionally, RHP Zak Kent is Texas’ No. 22 ranked prospect while LHP Cody Bradford (No. 27) rounds out the top Rangers prospects appearing on the preliminary Express roster.

Fans will recognize several faces coming to Round Rock in 2023 as 20 players who suited up for the E-Train in 2022 appear on the preliminary roster, including RHP Grant Anderson, INF Diosbel Arias, RHP Joe Barlow, RHP Kyle Cody, INF Blaine Crim, OF Sandro Fabian, Huff, OF Elier Hernandez, LHP Lucas Jacobsen, Kent, King, Latz, RHP Chase Lee, OF J.P. Martinez, RHP Fer Ozuna, RHP Daniel Robert, Rodriguez, INF Davis Wendzel, C Matt Whatley and Winn.

Round Rock’s initial roster features a distinct international flair with five different nations represented. In addition to the 24 players from the United States, Arias and Martinez were born in Cuba, Fabian, Hernandez, Ozuna and Rodriguez call the Dominican Republic home, Tsutsugo hails from Japan while León is Venezuelan.

American born players hail from 11 different states, including Alabama (Crim, Foscue, Lee, Robert), Arizona (Cody, Dugger, Huff, Ornelas), California (LHP Bernardo Flores Jr., Jacobsen, Wendzel), Colorado (Winn), Connecticut (Leone), Florida (Barnes), Georgia (Frazier), Illinois (Latz), (Ryan), Oklahoma (Whatley) and Utah (Barlow). Bradford and King will be the two Texas natives on the roster in 2023.

Round Rock’s full roster can be downloaded via RRExpress.com and is listed below:

Pitchers (18)

Catchers (3)

Infielders (5)

Outfielders (4)

Anderson, Grant

Barlow, Joe

Barnes, Jacob

Bradford, Cody

Cody, Kyle

Dugger, Robert

Flores, Bernardo

Jacobsen, Lucas

Kent, Zak

King, John

Latz, Jake

Lee, Chase

Leone, Dominic

Littell, Zach

Ozuna, Fernery

Robert, Daniel

Rodriguez, Yerry

Winn, Cole

Huff, Sam

Leon, Sandy

Whatley, Matt

Arias, Diosbel

Crim, Blaine

Foscue, Justin

Ornelas, Jonathan

Tsutsugo, Yoshitomo

Wendzel, Davis

Fabian, Sandro

Frazier, Clint

Hernandez, Elier

Martinez, JP

Round Rock’s coaching staff is led by Manager Doug Davis, Pitching Coach Dave Borkowski, Hitting Coach Matt Lawson, Bench Coach Chase Lambin, Development Coach Josh Johnson, Bullpen Coach Demetre Kokoris, Athletic Trainer Will Whitehead and Strength and Conditioning Coach Wade Lamont.

The Express kick off the 2023 season on Friday, March 31 against the Albuquerque Isotopes (Colorado Rockies affiliate) at 7:05 p.m. at Dell Diamond. Full Season Plans, Fireworks membership packages and 4-Seam Plans are on sale now. For more information about the Express, visit RRExpress.com or call (512) 255-2255. Subscribe to the E-Train email newsletter and keep up with the Express on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter!

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The Round Rock Express Baseball Club, owned and operated by Ryan Sanders Sports & Entertainment, is the proud Triple-A Affiliate of the Texas Rangers and a member of the Pacific Coast League. To manage your Express Communications Department email preferences, please click here