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SAL1 Greenville Drive

2010 Opening Day Roster Announced

April 5, 2010 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Greenville Drive News Release


Greenville, S.C. - The Greenville Drive will kick-off the 2010 season on Thursday, April 8th with an abundance of exciting young talent. Rookie Manager Billy McMillon, along with Pitching Coach Kevin Walker and Hitting Coach Luis Lopez will have several of the organization's top young prospects at their disposal as the Drive's Opening Day roster has just been announced.

Highlighting the Drive roster will be eight players who were selected in last season's First-Year Player Draft, including the Red Sox first pick, outfielder Reymond Fuentes (28th overall). The Drive's Opening Day roster also includes nine players who saw action in Greenville during the 2009 season - pitchers Yeiper Castillo and Dennis Neuman; catcher Mike Thomas; infielders Michael Almanzar, Zach Gentile, Derrik Gibson, and Chris McGuiness; outfielders Jeremy Hazelbaker and Shannon Wilkerson.

Drive General Manager, Mike deMaine noted, "The Red Sox are among the best in the game at scouting, drafting and developing major league talent as evidenced by the number of players on their current roster who were drafted and developed via the draft and their minor league system. Examples of players in this category include Clay Buchholz, Jon Lester, Jacoby Ellsbury, Dustin Pedroia, Jonathan Papelbon, and Kevin Youkilis. The 2010 Drive roster will once again feature some of the organization's brightest prospects and I know that our fans will enjoy watching them perform and will cheer them on."

"The Boston Red Sox minor league system is recognized as one of the strongest player development systems in all of baseball and we are very proud to be an integral of their system" added Co-Owner and Team President, Craig Brown. "And the 2010 edition of the Drive will once again feature some of Boston's top prospects who will jump start their careers in Greenville before someday soon helping the Red Sox contend for World Championships."

Anchoring the Drive's pitching staff will be eight hurlers who spent the majority of 2009 with the Lowell Spinners, guiding the Short-Season New York-Penn League affiliate to the Stedlar Division Championship, while posting the league's 2nd best Earned Run Average with a 2.96 mark.

Right-handers Anatanaer Batista, Yeiper Castillo, Dennis Neuman, Pedro Perez, and Ryan Pressly all accumulated sub-3.50 ERAs while appearing in least 12 games with the Spinners a year ago. Rounding out the Drive's staff will be a trio of lefties - Drake Britton, Cesar Cabral, and Manuel Rivera - and four righties - Jordan Flasher, Roman Mendez, Pete Ruiz, and Kendal Volz.

The projected rotation of Britton, Mendez, Pressly, Rivera, and Volz all boast electric pitches with low to mid 90's fastballs. While Volz will be making his professional debut in 2010 after a stellar collegiate career at Baylor, the other four hurlers all held opposing batters below a .225 clip last season.

Assuming the catching duties will be Dan Butler, Michael Thomas, and Christian Vazquez. Thomas, a 12th round selection in 2009, spent most of last year with the Drive after appearing in his first two games with Lowell. After pacing Southern University A&M with a .358 average and helping the Jaguars to the Southwestern Athletic Conference Championship as a junior in 2009, Thomas tallied three homers over his final four games with Greenville.

Along with Almanzar, Gentile, Gibson, and McGuiness, the remainder of Drive infield will be comprised of Kenneth Roque and Luis Segovia. Gentile spent the entire 2009 season with the Drive, playing an integral role in the franchise's first South Atlantic League Southern Division Championship, as well as advancing to the league championship series. A 49th round selection in 2008, Gentile finished 3rd in the league during the month of July with a .366 average.

Charleston native and alum of The Citadel, McGuinness appeared in six games with the Drive, while spending the majority of his first pro season with Lowell, where he led the team with 38 RBI's and was selected to the New York-Penn League All-Star Team.

In the outfield, Hazelbaker and Wilkerson will be joined by newcomers Fuentes, Ronald Bermudez, and Wilfredo Pichardo. Selected 28th overall in the 2009 First-Year Player Draft, Fuentes is ranked as the 7th best prospect in the Red Sox organization, according to Baseball America. In his pro debut, the 19-year-old Puerto Rican finished 7th in the Red Sox system with a .290 average, while swiping nine bases.

Along with Pichardo, who is rated as the fastest baserunner in the Red Sox farm system, fans will see the fastest group of outfielders in Greenville to date. The group combined to swipe 71 stolen bases during the 2009 season, led by Pichardo's 32 with the Lowell Spinners - which was not only a franchise record, but led all Sox farmhands and Short-Season A players.

Opening Day at Fluor Field at the West End is Thursday, April 8th, as the Drive host the Delmarva Shorebirds (Baltimore Orioles) at 7:05 PM. Single-game tickets, ticket plans, luxury accommodations, and group outings, can be purchased by calling (864) 240-4500 or by visiting www.GreenvilleDrive.com.

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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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