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CarL1 Lynchburg Hillcats

Four 2018 Hillcats Named to Arizona Fall League Roster

August 31, 2018 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Lynchburg Hillcats News Release


Lynchburg, Va. - Earlier this week, the Cleveland Indians announced their prospects which will head to the Arizona Fall League in 2018. The Arizona Fall League, founded in 1992, is an off-season six-team league owned and operated by Major League Baseball, which attracts many of the top prospects in Minor League Baseball.

Current Hillcats players Justin Garza and Dalbert Siri will play for the Glendale Desert Dogs, a team comprised of prospects from the Cleveland Indians, Baltimore Orioles, Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees organizations. Li-Jen Chu and Rob Kaminsky, who were with the Hillcats earlier this season, will also join the Desert Dogs.

Garza, a right-handed pitcher, has made 15 starts for the Hillcats this year, going 4-6 with a 4.00 ERA. He has spent two separate stints on the DL this season with elbow and oblique injuries. Garza won back-to-back Carolina League Pitcher of the Week awards from April 5-22, when he started the season by firing 18.1 innings without allowing an earned run. The Ontario, Calif. native and 24-year-old was drafted by the Indians in the 8th Round of the 2015 MLB Draft out of Cal State Fullerton.

Siri, 23, was a mid-season All-Star for the third time in his career. The hard throwing right-hander has made 40 appearances (fourth-most in the league) out of Lynchburg's bullpen, posting a 2.54 ERA. He also leads the team with 14 saves, which is third-most in the CL, and has 69 strikeouts over 46 innings pitched. Siri was signed by Cleveland as an international free agent out of the Dominican Republic in 2014.

Chu spent most of the season in Lynchburg before he was promoted to Double-A Akron on August 15. During his time with the Hillcats, the catcher appeared in 81 games, batting .278 with eight home runs and 45 RBI. In the second half with the Hillcats, he hit .315 with six homers and 27 RBI, leading to his promotion. The 24-year-old native of Taichung, Taiwan, was signed by the Indians in 2012.

Kaminsky, 23, appeared in just two games with the Hillcats in 2018, firing two scoreless innings. He has spent the majority of his time with Double-A Akron, where he has gone 1-1 with a 2.92 ERA in 22 games in relief. He missed all but one game in 2017 with an arm injury.

Infielder Yu Chang, who played in Lynchburg in 2016, and outfielder Connor Marabell, who sported a Hillcats uniform during the 2016 and 2017 seasons will also head to Glendale to play for the Desert Dogs. Both Chang and Marabell are currently playing for Triple-A Columbus.

Former Hillcats Pitching Coach, Rigo Beltran, who is now the Pitching Coach with Double-A Akron, will hold the same position in Glendale.

The Arizona Fall League season begins on Tuesday, October 9th and goes through the championship game on Saturday, November 17.

The Lynchburg Hillcats are the Advanced-A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians. The Hillcats are eight-time Carolina League Champions, having most recently won the Mills Cup Championship in 2017. The Hillcats play their home games at City Stadium, which has been home to Minor League Baseball in Lynchburg since 1963. For more information about the Lynchburg Hillcats, please contact Max Gun at mgun@lynchburg-hillcats.com.

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Carolina League Stories from August 31, 2018


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