Missions Announce Opening Day Roster
Published on April 2, 2012 under Texas League (TL1)
San Antonio Missions News Release
San Antonio "" The San Antonio Missions have announced their opening day roster for the 2012 season.
The roster for the defending Texas League champions features 12 players who are rated among the Padres top 30 prospects by Baseball America: third baseman Jedd Gyorko (#6), shortstop Jeudy Valdez (#24), left-handed pitchers Robbie Erlin (#8), Juan Oramas (#12) and Jose De Paula (#25), right-handed pitchers Keyvius Sampson (#10), Miles Mikolas (#16) and Matt Lollis (#21), outfielders Jaff Decker (#11), Reymond Fuentes (#18) and Edinson Rincon (#19) and catcher Jason Hagerty (#20).
Sampson was named the Padres 2011 Organizational Pitcher of the Year after posting a 12-3 record with a 2.90 ERA in 24 starts for Class-A Fort Wayne. He finished fourth among all minor league pitchers in strikeouts with 143 while allowing just 81 hits in 118.0 innings pitched.
Valdez played in 122 games for Lake Elsinore in 2011 and hit .295 (152-for-516) with 37 doubles, seven triples, 15 homers, 92 RBI and 34 stolen bases. He was San Diego's 2010 Organizational Co-Player of the Year.
Twelve players who saw action with the Missions in 2011 will be returning to San Antonio to start the season: Jaff Decker, Erlin, Mikolas, Oramas, right-handed pitchers Erik Hamren and Jason Ray, Hagerty and fellow catcher Ali Solis, Gyorko along with infielders Dean Anna, Cody Decker and Carlos Sosa. Hamren and Solis were named to last year's Texas League All-Star Team.
San Antonio returns a combined 39 home runs and 170 RBI between Jaff and Cody Decker and Gyorko. Jaff Decker led the Missions and finished fourth in the Texas League with 92 RBI to go along with a league-high 103 walks. Cody Decker hit 13 homers in just 49 games while Gyorko hit .288 (68-for-236) with seven home runs and 40 RBI in only 41 games.
Five pitchers from last season's staff that led the league in ERA will return to the Alamo City, most notably Oramas, Erlin, Mikolas and Hamren.
Oramas was a 10-game winner and recorded a 3.10 ERA in 19 games (18 starts) with 102 strikeouts in 104.1 innings. Erlin joined the Missions after a trade with the Texas Rangers and went 1-0 with a 1.38 ERA in his six starts while striking out 31 and walking just four in 26.0 innings of work. Mikolas, the team's closer, recorded nine saves and a 1.67 ERA in his 28 appearances. Hamren went 3-0 with a 0.92 ERA in 33 relief appearances for the Missions before eventually earning a big league call-up where he was 1-0 with a 4.38 ERA in 14 games out of the bullpen for San Diego.
Other notable position players on the roster include infielder Nathan Freiman, outfielder Reymond Fuentes and infielder Jonathan Galvez.
Freiman, a 6'8" first baseman, hit .288 (158-for-548) in 138 games for Class-A Lake Elsinore last season with 35 doubles, four triples and 22 home runs. He also registered 111 RBI which led the California League and was the fourth-most in all of minor league baseball.
Fuentes, the younger cousin of St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Carlos Beltran, will be in his second season in the San Diego organization. He was part of the trade that sent former Padre Adrian Gonzalez to the Boston Red Sox in December of 2010. In 124 games for Lake Elsinore last year, Fuentes hit .275 (140-for-510) with 15 doubles, nine triples, 45 RBI and 41 stolen bases.
Galvez, the probable starting second baseman, is coming off a season in which he hit .291 (142-for-488) with 36 doubles, five triples, 13 home runs, 86 RBI and 37 steals in 128 games for Lake Elsinore.
San Antonio opens the 2012 season at home with a three-game series against the Tulsa Drillers (Colorado Rockies) beginning on Thursday, April 5th. The Missions will conclude the season-opening home stand with three against the NW Arkansas Naturals (Kansas City Royals) from April 8-10 before embarking on a six-game, eight-day road trip.
Texas League Stories from April 2, 2012
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