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PCL1 Salt Lake Bees

Salt Lake Bees Announce 2019 Opening Day Roster

April 1, 2019 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Salt Lake Bees News Release


SALT LAKE CITY - The Salt Lake Bees announced their preliminary Opening Day roster on Monday. The 2019 team opens the season on Thursday, April 4 at Albuquerque and will be led by new Bees manager Lou Marson. The preliminary roster features 15 former Salt Lake players, three of the Angels Top 10 prospects according to Baseball America and 11 players with Major League experience.

The pitching staff is highlighted by returning starter Griffin Canning, the Angels #2 prospect and #62 overall according to Baseball America. Canning is the first Top 100 overall prospect to begin a season in Salt Lake since Andrew Heaney (#42) in 2015. Other returning pitchers alongside Canning are Jaime Barria, Jake Jewell, Alex Klonowski, Greg Mahle, Luis Pena and Salt Lake's representative in the 2018 Triple-A All-Star game, Jeremy Rhoades. New faces in the pitching staff include Sam Freeman, Dillon Peters, Matt Ramsey and Forrest Snow.

In the outfield, the Bees welcome Salt Lake City native Brennon Lund for his Triple-A debut. Lund was an All-State outfielder at Bingham High School and went on to star at BYU, winning All-WCC honors twice. Cesar Puello, a member of the 2017 Bees team, returns to Salt Lake after a season with Sacramento and Reno and is joined by Ty Kelly and returning outfielders Jared Walsh and Bo Way.

The Salt Lake infield is filled with familiar names as Luis Rengifo, Jose Rojas, Matt Thaiss and Taylor Ward all return after spending time with the Bees last season. Rengifo and Thaiss are both top 10 prospects in the Angels organization with Thaiss bringing home the Fred Haney Award for Most Impressive Rookie in Angels Spring Training. Ward spent the final two months of the season with the Angels after a dominant 60 games with Salt Lake in 2018, hitting .352 with eight home runs and 35 RBIs. Wilfredo Tovar, the only new name amongst the infielders, was a key piece to the Memphis Redbirds back-to-back PCL championship squads in 2017-2018.

Behind the plate the Bees have two catchers with MLB experience. Jose Briceno spent much of 2018 with the Angels serving as the Halos' backup catcher while Dustin Garneau has logged MLB time with the Rockies, A's and White Sox and is in his first year with the Angels organization.

After a season-opening road trip the Bees make their home debut at Smith's Ballpark on Tuesday, April 9 against the Fresno Grizzlies. Tickets and additional information about the team is available at www.slbees.com.

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