2010 Whitecaps Roster Unveiled
April 3, 2010 - Midwest League (MWL1)
West Michigan Whitecaps News Release
COMSTOCK PARK, MI - The West Michigan Whitecaps, in conjunction with the Detroit Tigers, unveiled their 2010 Opening Day roster on Saturday. Led by first-round pick Jacob Turner and a host of other exciting young prospects, the Whitecaps are just days away from opening the season with their sights on a seventh consecutive playoff appearance.
Turner will be making his professional debut when he takes the mound for the first time. The 18-year-old flame-thrower will become just the fourth first-round pick to play his first pro game in a Whitecaps uniform, joining Cameron Maybin (2006), Kenny Baugh (2001) and Eric Munson (1999). The ninth overall selection in the 2009 draft, Turner is rated the Detroit Tigers' No. 1 prospect by Baseball America and is widely considered one of the top pitching prospects in all of baseball.
Turner is one of five teenagers that made the Whitecaps' young and talented Opening Day roster.
Melvin Mercedes, rated by Baseball America as the Tigers' No. 23 prospect, led the Gulf Coast League with 16 saves as an 18-year-old in 2009 before ending his season with a brief cameo in West Michigan. One of his teammates with the GCL Tigers was starter Giovanni Soto, an 18-year-old native of Puerto Rico who will join Turner in the starting rotation. The other three members of the rotation will be Jade Todd, Ramon Lebron and Trevor Feeney.
The outfield will be led by another 18-year-old in Avisail Garcia, Baseball America's No. 17 Tigers' prospect and one of the youngest players in the Midwest League in 2009. Manning the hot corner will be another highly touted prospect in No. 24-ranked Wade Gaynor, Detroit's third-round pick in 2009 out of Western Kentucky University.
Despite the presence of youth, the roster also features 11 returning players that spent some or all of the 2009 season with the Whitecaps. The most notable is first baseman Jordan Lennerton, who hit .282 with 12 homers, 71 runs batted in and 30 doubles for West Michigan's record-setting offense in 2009. In addition to Lennerton, Mercedes, Todd and Garcia, other returning Whitecaps include pitchers Victor Larez and Luis Sanz, outfielder Luis Salas, and infielders Mike Gosse, Luis Palacios and Hernan Perez. Hurler Brandon Hamilton will open the season on the Inactive List.
Another notable member of the roster is catcher Eric Roof, a Michigan State product and the son of Tigers' roving outfield and baserunning coordinator Gene Roof.
Fans can get their first look at the 2010 Whitecaps on Wednesday, April 7 when Fifth Third Ballpark hosts an exhibition game against Grand Valley State University. There is no cost of admission for the 6:00 p.m. game. West Michigan will open the 2010 regular season on the road against the Lake County Captains before returning for the Home Opener on Sunday, April 11. Gates will open at Noon for the 2:00 p.m. game against the Fort Wayne TinCaps, which will feature a Fifth Third Bank Snuggie giveaway for the first 1,000 fans and a Helen DeVos Children's Hospital Family Day. Season, group and individual tickets can be reserved by calling the Whitecaps front office at 616-784-4131 or visiting www.whitecapsbaseball.com.
Midwest League Stories from April 3, 2010
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- 2010 Whitecaps Roster Unveiled - West Michigan Whitecaps
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