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 Round Rock Express

Round Rock Express Announce Preliminary Roster

March 28, 2017 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Round Rock Express News Release


ROUND ROCK, Texas - The Texas Rangers announced preliminary rosters for each of their full-season minor league affiliates Tuesday morning, including that of their Triple-A squad, the Round Rock Express. The roster features 21 players, leaving room for four additional names to be added before Opening Day Thursday, April 6.

Led by veteran players, the Express will see the return of catcher Pat Cantwell, infielders Doug Bernier and Ronald Guzman, outfielders Jared Hoying and Preston Beck, pitchers Austin Bibens-Dirkx, Jimmy Reyes, Jose Valdespina and Wesley Wright. Wright returns to the Express for the first time as a member of the Rangers, having spent parts of 2009-10 in Round Rock as the Houston Astros Triple-A affiliate.

Fans can expect to see a lot of new faces at Dell Diamond this season as pitchers R.J. Alvarez, Jay Chapman, Preston Claiborne, Brady Dragmire, Eddie Gamboa and Tyler Wagner round out the pitching staff. Catcher Brett Hayes and infielders Luis Marte, Jason Martinson and Will Middlebrooks will join outfielders Cesar Puello and Travis Snider in Round Rock for the first time.

Ten players on the roster have Major League experience: Alvarez, Bernier, Claiborne, Gamboa, Hayes, Hoying, Middlebrooks, Snider, Wagner and Wright. Middlebrooks is the only one of that group to have won a World Series championship (Boston, 2013). There are only two players looking to make their Triple-A debut, Dragmire and Marte. Guzman is the lone player on the list to appear on the Rangers top prospects lists, coming in at number four on MLBPipeline and seven according to Baseball America.

Players hail from nine different states and two countries. There are four players each from California and Texas, three from Florida, and one each from Alabama, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Oregon and Washington. There are four players from the Dominican Republic.

The full roster is below:

Pitchers Catchers Infielders Outfielders

Alvarez, R.J.

Bibens-Dirkx, Austin

Chapman, Jaye

Claiborne, Preston

Dragmire, Brady

Gamboa, Eddie

Reyes, Jimmy

Valdespina, Jose

Wagner, Tyler

Wright, Wesley Hayes, Brett

Cantwell, Pat Bernier, Doug

Guzman, Ronald

Marte, Luis

Martinson, Jason

Middlebrooks, Will

Beck, Preston

Hoying, Jared

Puello, Cesar

Snider, Travis

The bulk of the Express coaching staff will return for 2017 with manager Jason Wood, hitting coach Jim Presley, pitching coach Greg Hibbard, coach Geno Petralli and athletic trainer Carlos Olivas. The only new face will be strength coach Eric McMahon. Former strength coach Ric Mabie was promoted to rehab strength and conditioning coordinator at the Rangers spring training complex in Surprise, Arizona.

Media day for the Express will be on Tuesday, April 4 at Dell Diamond from noon - 2 p.m.

The Express open the 2017 season on Thursday, April 6 against the Nashville Sounds (Oakland Athletics affiliate). Single game tickets, season memberships, Flex Plans and Kids Club packages are on sale now. For more information on the Express, visit www.RoundRockExpress.com or call (512) 255-2255. Keep up with the Express on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter !


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