Sports stats



ApL Princeton WhistlePigs

P-Rays Past And Present Report To Instructional League

September 25, 2007 - Appalachian League (ApL)
Princeton WhistlePigs News Release


The last pitch of the 2007 Appalachian League regular season on August 29 was not necessarily the last time that many Princeton players will be wearing the Devil Ray colors this year. That is because many P-Rays, both past and present, reported to the Tampa Bay minor league training complex in St. Petersburg, FL on September 18 for fall "instructional league" baseball.

The instructional league period for the Tampa Bay organization will run through October 12 and is designed with several purposes in mind. It can be a time for a player that may have missed a lot of summer ball due to injury to get some extra playing time or it can also be geared toward a player that is going through a position shift defensively. Obviously, it also represents a time for the Devil Ray organization to work with a player on a part of his "game" that the team feels needs strengthened through repetition for the player to be able to continue to advance toward the final destination of Tropicana Field as a major leaguer. Thsn there are those that may be able to skip a level on the way up as a result of the additional work and instruction they receive at this fall session. The Devil Ray crew will go through an instructional period before playing some games versus other nearby major league organizations that are also conducting instructional league.

Even though Instructional League games rarely draw more than a few people to watch, the team's first one was big as they hosted the Phillies instructional team on September 24 in a 1:00 p.m. game at "the dome," Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, home of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Our instructional team conducted their first workout in the dome on September 20 and practice was followed by a mandatory session for all players in media relations as part of the Tampa Bay organization's quest to continue to accelerate the player's development outside the foul lines as well.

Players from the 2007 P-Rays slated to be in St.Petersburg for this program include Kyle Ayers, Nick Barnese, Dustin Biell, Kevin Chavez, Joseph Cruz, Robi Estrada, Tyree Hayes, D.J. Jones, Chris Luck, Omar Luna, Matt Moore, Justin Reynolds, Michael Ross, Michael Southern, and Mark Thomas. On the camp's staff from the '07 Princeton squad are manager Jamie Nelson and clubhouse manager Allen Fisher.

Also attending are many familiar names from Princeton Devil Rays' teams of past years including Nevin Ashley, Alex Cobb, Wade Davis, Greg Dupas, J.T. Hall, Jeremy Hellickson, James Houser, Desmond Jennings, Christian Lopez, Mike McCormick, Jacob McGee, Shawn O'Malley, Ryan Royster, Matt Walker, and Henry Wrigley.

Check out the Princeton WhistlePigs Statistics

• Discuss this story on the Appalachian League message board...

Appalachian League Stories from September 25, 2007


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.

OurSports Central