RailCats Wheel Then Deal to Bolster Roster for 2016
December 9, 2015 - American Association (AA)
Gary SouthShore Railcats News Release
GARY, IN - A busy off season continues for the Gary South Shore RailCats as the club announced today the completion of a pair of deals with two other clubs grabbing three new players and sending another player away for a player to be named.
The RaiCats first order of business was to complete a previous deal with the Grand Prairie AirHogs. The RailCats received LHP Stetson Nelson, RHP Taylor Black, IF Ridge Hoopii-Haslam, and OF Justin Byrd all from Grand Prairie. Gary then sent Justin Byrd to Schaumburg in the Frontier League for a player to be named later
In the completed Grand Prairie deal the RailCats welcome LHP Stetson Nelson a native of Leesburg, Florida and who pitched collegiately and Emory Riddle University. Nelson spent his rookie season in 2015 with Grand Prairie where he went 3-0 of the AirHogs with a 3.32 ERA in 19.0 innings. Nelson won his first three starts after joining Grand Prairie on June 25th working in 16 innings allowing just four earned runs. Nelson then moved to the bull pen where he appeared in four games before finishing the season on the DL.
RHP Taylor Black also comes over from the AirHogs to the RailCats. The Allen, Texas native was a 26th round pick by the Colorado Rockies in 2014 and spent parts of two seasons in their organization before joining Grand Prairie on August 18th, 2015. For Grand Prairie, Black worked in 11.1 relief innings with 11 strikeouts and a 2.38 ERA. Black made two stops in the Rockies system going 2-3 with a 3.52 ERA at Boise in the Northwest League in 2015 and was 3-1 with a 2.65 at rookie Grand Junction in the Pioneer League in 2014. Black pitched at Texas State University prior to being drafted by Colorado.
IF Ridge Hoopii-Haslam just completed his rookie season in professional baseball in 2015 with the AirHogs. In 78 games the Hawaii native hit .244 with seven home runs and 24 RBI for Grand Prairie. Hoopii-Haslam played his college ball at highly touted NCAA Division II program Oklahoma Baptist after starting his career at Luna CC. Hoopi-Haslam played primarily third base (63 games) but also played five games in the outfield and another five at second base and another at first.
2016 will mark the 15th season of RailCats Baseball in Northwest Indiana and season tickets are now on sale. Visit RAILCATSBASEBALL.COM or call (219) 882-2255 for more information.
American Association Stories from December 9, 2015
- Canaries Acquire Son of Former Major League Manager in Trade - Sioux Falls Canaries
- T-Bones and Unified Government to Extend Backstop Netting at CommunityAmerica Ballpark - Kansas City Monarchs
- RailCats Wheel Then Deal to Bolster Roster for 2016 - Gary SouthShore Railcats
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