Two 17-year-old prospects headline the 2009 Savannah Sand Gnats Opening Day roster, announced Tuesday afternoon by the New York Mets. The roster features seven players 20 years of age or younger and 10 returnees from 2008.
Wilmer Flores, the second best prospect in the organization according to Baseball America, is coming off a season where he hit .310 for the Kingsport Mets (Rookie) while clubbing eight home runs and 41 RBI. Flores, 17, will make up half of the young left side of the infield.
Manning the hot corner will be Jefry Marte, who is officially the youngest member of the team. The 17-year-old from La Romana, D.R raked Gulf Coast League pitching in 44 games last season, hitting .325 with four home runs, 14 doubles, three triples and 24 RBI. Mare, the sixth best prospect according to Baseball America, and Flores will arguably be the youngest players in the South Atlantic League.
On the other side of the diamond, Jose Jimenez returns for his second stint with Savannah. Last season, the Bonao, D.R. native led the Gnats in virtually every offensive category before being sent to short-season Brooklyn. At second, Josh Satin will look to continue to swing the stick well in his first full-season test. In 45 games with Brooklyn last season, the California product hit .280 with four home runs and 16 RBI.
On the mound, the Sand Gnats will see some returnees¬ from 2008. Eric Beaulac, Rhiner Cruz, Manny Olivares, Elvin Ramirez, Wendy Rosa and Josh Stinson all return from the 2008 squad. The 2009 staff is almost exclusively right handed except for southpaws Robert Carson and Jimmy Johnson.
All-in-all, the roster features nine draft picks from the 2008 class with four of them being taken in the first 10 rounds. The average age of the Opening Day roster is a shade over 20 years of age.
Savannah opens the season at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 9 versus Augusta.
No comments:
Post a Comment