Thirteen players took the field for the Y-D Red Sox last night.
Just two of them were on Y-D’s initial roster.
Every team experiences this to an extent, but this seems like a record. I don’t know how the Red Sox found so many baseball players, but good for them. Considering the teams they were drawing from, I guess they knew it was coming. Y-D’s initial 25-man roster has 11 players still alive in the NCAA tournament.
It’s exciting to see that some of the top players in preseason forecasts are already on the Cape. It usually seems like we’re waiting for the best — and we are still waiting for some — but quite a few big guns are already here. Victor Roache of Georgia Southern was the national home run leader, finishing with 30, and he was in the middle of the Cotuit order last night. He hit two doubles. Adam Brett Walker of Jacksonville has the potential to end up as the Cape’s top prospect and he batted clean-up last night for Hyannis. Steve Nyisztor of Rutgers is a big-time prospect and hit a home run for Orleans.
Speaking of Mr. A. B. Walker, he and his Jacksonville teammate Dan Gulbransen give Hyannis two legitimate stars in the middle of the order. Walker hit .411 with 13 homers and 75 RBI this year. Gulbransen hit .370 with six homers and 51 RBI. Interestingly, both Walker and Gulbransen hail from Wisconsin.
In the transactions section, we notice that Y-D is getting at least one guy from its initial roster into uniform — and he’s a good one. The Red Sox activated St. John’s pitcher Kyle Hansen. The brother of former Cape Leaguer and big leaguer Craig, Kyle had a 3.09 ERA this spring and struck out 106 in 107.1 innings. He could certainly be one of the top pitchers in the league this summer.
Also of note, LSU star freshman Kevin Gausman was activated by Harwich. Yesterday, though, he was also named to Team USA, so we’ll see how long he stays on the Cape.
Team USA has now picked half of its 22-man roster. From what I gather, the team should be set around June 15.
The Cape League has a shiny new website, and it looks great. It’s built the same way as the old one, but it’s a major visual upgrade. Kudos to all who worked on it.