I just noticed that Brewster’s roster is out so it’s about that time for a quick look. At first glance, the Whitecaps don’t seem to have quite as many of the real hyped-up players as some of the other teams in the league. Come June, though, that probably won’t mean anything. New manager Tom Myers has a solid team on his hands.
Thoughts:
- Catcher Yasmani Grandal and left-hander Iden Nazario, both of Miami, are the only two returning players. Neither of them spent a full summer in Brewster, but both made an impression. Grandal hit .279 in 20 games and should enter the coming summer as one of the top catchers in the league. Nazario made 10 appearances, all out of the bullpen, and had a 4.05 ERA with 17 strikeouts in 13. 1 innings. He, too, should be a good one.
- Cal’s Kevin Miller looks like he’ll be one of the headliners of the pitching staff. A righty who’s just 5’10, Miller put up numbers last year that could match any freshman in the country. In 12 appearances (six starts) he had a 2.80 ERA with 68 strikeouts in 71.1 innings. Opponents hit just .196 against him, the second best mark in the Pac-10. It’ll be interesting to see whether Miller is used as a starter or a reliever this spring.
- For the second straight winter/spring, UCLA’s Erik Goeddel looks like one of the more intriguing Cape League prospects. Last year, he redshirted because of an injury and though he was on the Y-D roster, he never made it to the Cape. Coming out of high school, Goeddell was rated as one of the top pitchers in the country. He’s another one to watch this spring.
- Last summer, the Whitecaps didn’t have a ton of guys who were true Friday-night starters, and the makeup of the team looks like it will be similar this season. That said, Texas’ Stayton Thomas, Stanford’s Danny Sandbrink, and Virginia’s Neal Davis have been great out of the bullpen so far in their careers.
- Lyle Allen is another guy who was on the Y-D roster last year, but he also didn’t make it. The lefty-swining OF/1B hit .274 last spring for Georgia.
- John Barr was Virginia’s top hitter last season.
- West Virginia second baseman Jedd Gyorko had a tremendous freshman season last year. He finished with a .409 batting average, and plenty of accolades.
- Another Mountaineer, catcher Tobias Streich, hit .264 while starting for all of his freshman campaign.
- Freshman infielder Harold Martinez will join Miami teammates Grandal and Nazario in Brewster. He was a 19th-round pick out of high school last year.
- Tant Shepherd played in only 27 games for Texas last year but made the most of it, hitting .357 with two home runs.
That’s that. Hopefully, some other rosters will pop up soon. I believe we’re just waiting on Chatham, Falmouth and Harwich.
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