Tuesday, April 5, 2016

Down on the Farm: Richmond Flying Squirrels 2016 Roster

Here are your 2016 Richmond Flying Squirrels:

Catchers:  Jeff Arnold, Matt Winn, Eliezer Zambrano.

Infielders:  Christian Arroyo, Ali Castillo, Ryder Jones, Rando Moreno, Ricky Oropesa, Myles Schroder, Angel Villalona.

Outfielders:  Hunter Cole, Tyler Horan, Carlos Moncrief, Austin Slater.

Pitchers:  Tyler Beede, Ray Black, Jose Casilla, Kyle Crick, Matt Gage, Joan Gregorio, Chase Johnson, Christian Jones, Mike Kickham, Adalberto Mejia, Tyler Mizenko, Nestor Molina, Pedro Rodriguez, Tyler Rogers, Dan Slania, Jake Smith.

This year's Flying Squirrels roster is headed up by the two players who I have listed as the #1 and 2 prospects in the organization, Arroyo and Beede.  Arroyo is on some kind of a roll and expectations are probably impossibly high at this point.  Remember, Richmond and the EL is one tough environment for hitters.  I saw a spring training video of Beede over on MCC.  He's definitely put on some serious weight and his 4 seam FB was reportedly hitting 97 MPH.  He's just got to get that command thing down.

The biggest surprise here is Matt Winn, the highest placed draftee from 2015.  He'll get mentored by the 2 minor league veterans.  The word on Winn is he has highly developed defensive chops.

I think Moncrief is the only true CF of the OF's, so the other 3 will have to scrap for innings.  Could be wrong, but I don't think the Flying Squirrels use the DH at home, so that leaves Ricky O and Angel V fighting for innings at 1B.

The first 4 rotations spots look like Beede, Gage, Johnson, Mejia with Gregorio, Jones and maybe Kickham vying for the #5 unless they go with 6.

3 comments:

  1. Nice! Beede is still using that 4 seamer!

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  2. It doesn't seem like being in the BP did Crick any favors. If he somehow finds his command does he have a chance to be stretched back out? Or does the organization credit that to him finding success in the BP and he is pretty much there forever now?

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    1. Well, Crick did have better results in the bullpen even if his K and BB rates did not improve. The Giants seem to be more flexible with their prospects than most organizations and will try to find a place for Crick to succeed. I think there is a good chance he gets another opportunity to start, but that will depend on how he performs in the bullpen going forward and on organizational needs.

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