In preparation for their Sunday road exhibition against the Quad Cities River Bandits, the Springfield Cardinals of the Double-A Texas League have announced their 24-man season-opening roster.
At first blush, the team may look heavy at first base and light in the outfield, but be aware that Andrew Brown (pictured) can also play in the outfield and saw considerable time there in spring training. Skipper Ron “Pop” Warner was quoted in the Springfield paper saying that Steven Hill would be given 60 starts behind the plate with the rest of his time at first and in the outfield.
| # | Pitchers | (12) | B/T | Ht | Wt | DOB | Acquired | 2008 teams |
| 24 | Brandon | Dickson | R/R | 6-5 | 190 | 11/3/1984 | FA/06 | Palm Beach/Springfield |
| 31 | Justin | Fiske | L/L | 5-11 | 185 | 9/3/1984 | FA/07 | Quad Cities/PB/Springfield |
| 32 | Brad | Furnish | L/L | 6-1 | 185 | 1/19/1985 | 2nd/06 | Palm Beach/Springfield |
| 33 | Trey | Hearne | R/R | 6-1 | 193 | 8/19/1983 | 28th/05 | Minatitlan |
| 29 | Elvis | Hernandez | R/R | 6-3 | 180 | 4/27/1985 | FA/05 | Palm Beach |
| 23 | Tyler | Herron | R/R | 6-3 | 190 | 8/5/1986 | 1st/05 | Palm Beach/Springfield |
| 30 | Kristhiam | Linares | L/L | 6-1 | 175 | 5/17/1986 | FA/08 | Did not play |
| 27 | Kenny | Maiques | R/R | 6-0 | 170 | 6/25/1985 | 37th/05 | Quad Cities/Palm Beach |
| 36 | Kyle | Mura | R/R | 6-4 | 215 | 11/24/1984 | 42nd/06 | Palm Beach/Springfield |
| 26 | Tyler | Norrick | L/L | 6-3 | 190 | 9/27/1983 | 6th/06 | Palm Beach |
| 16 | Pete | Parise | R/R | 6-1 | 180 | 12/5/1984 | FA/07 | Quad Cities/Palm Beach |
| 19 | Francisco | Samuel | R/R | 6-2 | 150 | 12/20/1986 | FA/06 | Palm Beach |
| Catchers | (2) | |||||||
| 10 | Tony | Cruz | R/R | 5-11 | 205 | 8/18/1986 | 26th/07 | Palm Beach |
| 21 | Steven | Hill | R/R | 5-11 | 190 | 3/14/1985 | 13th/07 | Palm Beach/Springfield |
| Infielders | (6) | |||||||
| 18 | Andrew | Brown | R/R | 6-0 | 185 | 9/10/1984 | 18th/07 | Quad Cities/PB/Springfield |
| 44 | Brandon | Buckman | L/L | 6-6 | 225 | 2/14/1984 | 19th/06 | Palm Beach/Springfield |
| 3 | Daniel | Descalso | L/R | 5-10 | 190 | 10/19/1986 | 3rd/07 | Palm Beach/Springfield |
| 8 | Mike | Folli | S/R | 5-10 | 175 | 7/17/1985 | 42nd/07 | Quad Cities/Palm Beach |
| 11 | Donovan | Solano | R/R | 5-10 | 185 | 12/17/1987 | FA/05 | Palm Beach/Springfield |
| 25 | Brett | Wallace | L/R | 6-1 | 245 | 8/26/1986 | 1st/08 | Quad Cities/Springfield |
| Outfielders | (4) | |||||||
| 5 | Antonio | DeJesus | L/L | 5-11 | 185 | 1/25/1986 | 16th/07 | Palm Beach |
| 12 | Tyler | Henley | L/L | 5-11 | 200 | 6/10/1985 | 8th/07 | Palm Beach |
| 4 | Daryl | Jones | L/L | 6-0 | 180 | 6/25/1987 | 3rd/05 | Palm Beach/Springfield |
| 7 | Jim | Rapoport | L/L | 6-0 | 180 | 6/25/1985 | 35th/06 | Palm Beach/Springfield |
Bonus baby 1b Mark Hamilton is not on the roster, maybe on the DL.
Good to see Elvis the Mosquito back in action.
Springfield has 7 left swingers: Rapoport, Henley, Jones, DeJesus, Wallace, Descalso, Buckman.
Its nice to see the Cards commit Cruz and Hill to catching.
I thought Freeman would earn a AA job – so far amongst the 3 published rosters – MIAs for Hamilton, Carzano (Marti), McCormick
Without Ottavino – this rotation looks a lot less promising – a good start for Diapoules, Garceau, Lynn, Addition, Castillo or others in PB could force so moves throughout the year.
That could be a really weak pitching staff. If Dew, McCormack and Salas (bumping someone from Memphis) come back it will look a lot better.
Keeping all the Infielders in STL and Martinez leaving appear to have lengthened the career of Foli.
[...] being released: Note the initial Memphis, Springfield and Quad Cities rosters are posted here on The Cardinal Nation. Watch for Palm Beach early next [...]
The lefty reliever Linares is being asked to make a big jump. He was released by a former employer from a short season team. After taking a year off, now he is up at AA. The is the highest jump expected of anyone on this Springfield roster.
Since Richard Castillo appeared on neither Springfield’s roster or Quad Cities, am I safe to assume he’s in Palm Beach?
Welcome, U! There has been no announcement from PB yet, but it would seem that way. Castillo has been on the PB working roster this spring.
Barring any last-minute changes prior to Thursday’s season-opener, RHP Kyle Mura (3-5, 2.74 11G) will be Springfield’s Opening Day starter. Mura will be followed by LHP Justin Fiske (4-0, 2.97, 26G), RHP Brandon Dickson (3-2, 6.75, 6G), LHP Brad Furnish (1-1, 1.64, 4G) and RHP Tyler Herron (5-5, 5.20, 15G). All five members (listed in order) of the rotation spent time in Springfield in 2008, but none started the year at the Double-A level.
Their lineup from Sunday’s canceled exhibition game:
1. #7 JIM RAPOPORT CF
2. #4 DARYL JONES LF
3. #11 DONOVAN SOLANO SS
4. #25 BRETT WALLACE 3B
5. #10 TONY CRUZ C
6. #3 DANIEL DESCALSO 2B
7. #18 ANDREW BROWN RF
8. #44 BRANDON BUCKMAN 1B
9. #12 TYLER HENLEY DH
STARTING PITCHER #23 TYLER HERRON RHP