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Lehigh Valley IronPigs

Preliminary 2015 IronPigs Roster Announced

April 5, 2015 - International League (IL1)
Lehigh Valley IronPigs News Release


(Allentown, Pa.) - Manager Dave Brundage enters his third season in the Lehigh Valley with a majority of new faces, as the Phillies announced the preliminary 2015 IronPigs Opening Day Roster today. The roster is composed of 14 first-time IronPigs - 12 of whom are newcomers to the Phillies organization - and a list of 11 returnees, highlighted by the return of prospect 1B/3B Maikel Franco and Hazelton Area High School product IF/OF Russ Canzler.

The roster also features six members of the Phillies 40-Man Roster: LHP Adam Morgan, RHP Hector Neris, LHP Joely Rodriguez, C Tommy Joseph, OF Jordan Danks and Franco.

Third-year pitching coach Ray Burris will have some intriguing prospects on his staff, including RHP Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez, RHP Severino Gonzalez and Morgan.

In his first season playing in the U.S., Cuba native Miguel Gonzalez pitched at four different levels in 2014 -- including the Major Leagues. The 28-year-old pitched in 12 games for the IronPigs, posting a 0-0 mark with a 1.65 ERA and two saves while fanning 19 batters over just 16.1 innings. Gonzalez made his ML debut on Sept. 3 and went 0-1, 6.75 in six appearances with the Phillies.

Severino Gonzalez, 22, spent the entire 2014 season with Reading and was 9-13 with a 4.59 ERA in 27 starts. Originally signed by the Phillies as an amateur free agent from Panama in 2011, Gonzalez ranked tied for first in the Eastern League in starts (27) and second in innings pitched (158.2).

Morgan, 25, may be a name that IronPigs fans remember from 2013 - when he posted a 2-7 record with a 4.04 ERA in 16 starts during an injury-riddled campaign. The southpaw missed all of last season following left shoulder surgery and will try to bounce back this season. The Phillies originally drafted Morgan in the 3rd round of the 2011 draft out of the University of Alabama.

Other pitchers on the Opening Day roster include RHP Phillippe Aumont (3-3, 3.93, 35 G with Lehigh Valley), RHP Jason Berken (10-9, 4.64, 24 G, 21 GS with Fresno-AAA), RHP Paul Clemens (6-3, 4.08, 19 G, 5 GS with Oklahoma City-AAA), RHP Tyler Knigge (4-3, 4.61, 27 G with Lehigh Valley), LHP Adam Loewen (4-5, 3.32, 17 GS with Reading), RHP Colton Murray (1-5, 2.29, 6 SV, 36 G, 2 GS, 60 K in 59.0 IP with Reading), Neris (4-3, 4.19, 2 SV, 37 G, 1 GS with Lehigh Valley), RHP Sean O'Sullivan (6-10, 4.30, 25 GS with Lehigh Valley), Rodriguez (6-11, 4.84, 30 G, 21 GS with Altoona-AA) and RHP Seth Rosin (1-3, 6.26, 2 SV, 17 G, 1 GS with Lehigh Valley).

On the hitting side of things, fourth-year hitting coach Sal Rende will boast a trio of returnees in Canzler, Franco and INF/OF Tyler Henson.

Canzler, 28, was signed as a free agent in June of 2014 and proceeded to hit .286-11-34 with 20 doubles in 61 games for Lehigh Valley. He also appeared in 51 games with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre last season and posted a line of .263-2-24. The Berwick, Pa., native attended Hazelton Area High School, which is located about 50 miles away from Coca-Cola Park. Over the course of his career, Canzler has also spent time in the International League with Columbus, Durham, Norfolk and Indianapolis.

Entering the 2015 season, Franco, 22, is ranked as the No. 3 prospect in the Phillies organization by Baseball America. The Dominican Republic native hit .257-16-78 in 133 games for the IronPigs in 2014, leading the team in both home runs (16) and RBIs (78). Franco spent the month of September with the Phillies and hit .179-0-5 in 16 games. It was the first taste of the big leagues for the highly touted prospect who signed with the Phillies as an amateur free agent in 2010.

Henson, 27, showed off his versatility last season by playing six different positions (2B, 3B, SS, LF, CF, RF) for the IronPigs during the 2014 campaign. He also hit .272-9-45 with 28 2B and 19 stolen bases in 123 games. The Phillies signed Henson as a minor league free agent prior to the 2013 season.

The rest of the other position players are C Rene Garcia (.244-5-23, 75 G with Corpus Christi-AA), Joseph (.282-5-19, 21 G with Reading), INF/OF Chase d'Arnaud (.250-2-23, 30 SB, 9 3B, 118 G with Indianapolis-AAA), 1B Chris McGuiness (.264-9-54, 126 G with Indianapolis), INF Chris Nelson (.274-4-38, 63 G with Louisville-AAA), INF Cord Phelps (.254-7-51, 2 SB, 99 G with Norfolk-AAA), OF Brian Bogusevic (.260-6-33, 5 SB, 79 G with New Orleans-AAA), Danks (.270-16-57, 2 SB, 93 G with Charlotte-AAA) and OF Darin Mastroianni (.267-5-21, 20 SB in 88 G with Buffalo-AAA).

The IronPigs host the Double-A Reading Fightin' Phils in the eighth annual "222 Showcase" exhibition game on Tuesday, April 7. First-Pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. at Coca-Cola Park. The IronPigs then kick-off the 2015 season at home on Thursday, April 9, against the Pawtucket Red Sox. First pitch on Opening Day is set for 7:05 p.m. at Coca-Cola Park.

Single-game tickets, season tickets, mini plans and group tickets for the 2015 season presented by Capital BlueCross are now on sale.

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