Wheeler, Brothers Lead Nuts 2010 Roster
April 3, 2010 - California League (CalL1)
Modesto Nuts News Release
MODESTO, CA - The 2010 Modesto Nuts roster has been announced by the Colorado Rockies as minor league spring training camp broke on Saturday. The Nuts Opening Day roster will include two of the Rockies top ten prospects according to Baseball America, as well as four California natives.
2009 first round draft picks Tim Wheeler (centerfield) and Rex Brothers (left-handed pitcher) are listed by Baseball America as the number 7 and 8 top prospects in the Rockies organization, respectively. Both will begin their first full professional season with the Modesto Nuts.
Wheeler, a Sacramento, CA native and former baseball standout at Sacramento State University, was the 32nd overall pick by the Rockies in the June, 2009 first-year player draft. He made his professional debut with the Tri-City Dust Devils as the club's regular center fielder, and hit .256 with 13 doubles, 3 triples, 5 home runs and 35 RBI in 68 games. Wheeler finished the 2009 season on a 12-game hitting streak.
Brothers, the 34th overall pick by the Rockies in the June, 2009 first-year player draft, split time in 2009 between Tri-City and the low-A Asheville Tourists, making him the only '09 pick to pitch in a full-season league in 2009. Brothers went 2-0 with a 3.38 ERA in 8 games with Tri-City before being moved up. As a relief pitcher for the Tourists, Brothers also recorded a 3.38 ERA in 9 games, and struck out a total of 28 batters in 21.1 innings between the two stops.
Four California natives will also start the 2010 season with the Nuts as infielder Erik Wetzel (Chino Hills, CA/Fresno State University), pitcher Adam Jorgensen (Costa Mesa, CA/Cal State Fullerton), pitcher Kurt Yacko (Costa Mesa, CA/Chapman University) break spring training camp and head to Modesto. All three players spent the entire season with Asheville in 2009. Pitcher Chris Malone (Riverbank, CA/San Joaquin Delta College) rejoins the Nuts after playing the 2009 season with the squad.
A handful of returning players who spent time in Modesto last season highlight the 2010 roster, as well. Outfielders Michael Mitchell and Brian Rike, infielders Maikol Gonzalez and Warren Schaeffer, right-handed pitcher Ethan Hollingsworth and left-handed pitcher Kenny Durst will start the season with the Nuts.
The Nuts starting rotation will include four right-handers and one lefty. Righty Juan Nicasio, a member of the Rockies 40-man roster and 16th-best rated prospect in the Rockies organization according to Baseball America, will lead the rotation. Nicasio led the South Atlantic League with a 2.41 ERA, and also recorded a 9-3 record with 115 strikeouts in 18 starts for the Asheville Tourists. Right-hander Daniel Houston was 8-9 last year for Asheville and compiled a 3.63 ERA with 120 strikeouts. Hollingsworth will pitch third in the Nuts rotation after striking out a total of 132 batters in 146.1 innings between Asheville and Modesto. Filling in the four and five spots in the 2010 rotation will be Rob Scahill and Durst. Scahill pitched for the Tri-City Dust Devils last season, and went 1-4 with a 3.14 ERA and 58 strikeouts in 63 innings, while Durst spent the season in Modesto as part of the starting rotation and posted a 4-13 record with a 5.25 ERA and 95 strikeouts.
Brothers will lead the Nuts 7-man bullpen as one of two left-handed relievers. Left-handed hurler Isaiah Froneberger, a 4th round pick by the Rockies in 2007, spent the '09 season in Asheville and recorded a 3-3 record with 71 strikeouts in 59 innings. Righty's Jorgensen and Yacko spent last season with the Tourists as well, and Jorgensen posted a 1-5 record with a 3.38 ERA and 77 strikeouts in 58.2 innings, while Yacko had a 2-2 mark for the season with a 3.52 ERA. He struck out 86 batters in 69 innings. Three '09 Asheville relievers: Jonnathan Aristil, Michael Marbry and Stephen Dodson will round out the Nuts bullpen. Aristil was 4-9 with a 5.06 ERA and 102 strikeouts in 112 innings last season, while Marbry notched a 5-3 record, 2 saves and 3.46 ERA with 54 strikeouts in 65 innings. Dodson, a 10th round draft pick by the Rockies in 2008, posted a 7-1 record in his first professional season with a 2.45 ERA, struck out 43 batters in 40.1 innings, and walked only 14.
Jordan Pacheco and Beau Seabury will appear behind the dish for the Nuts in 2010. Pacheco, the 2009 South Atlantic League Most Valuable Player, hit .322 for Asheville last season with 30 doubles, 4 triples, 13 home runs and 79 RBI in 117 games. Seabury spent the past two seasons with the Tourists and hit .238 with 20 RBI in 69 games last season.
David Christensen, Scott Robinson, Mitchell, Wheeler and Rike will split time in the outfield for the Nuts. Christensen, a 2nd round pick by the Rockies in 2006, finished 2nd on the Tourists with a career best 18 home runs in '09, and 4th on the team with 63 RBI. He also stole a career best 27 bases. Robinson played last season as one of Asheville's regular outfielders and leadoff man. He hit .309 with 42 extra base hits and 46 stolen bases, and scored a league-high 94 runs. Mitchell and Rike hit .226 and .196, respectively in 2009 for the Nuts, while Mitchell posted 12 extra base hits and Rike notched 11 home runs and 59 RBI in 104 games.
James Cesario and Ben Paulsen, the Rockies 3rd-round draft pick in 2009, will play at the infield corners for the Nuts after spending last season in Asheville and Tri-City, respectively. Cesario batted .285 for the Tourists with 28 doubles, 11 home runs, 68 RBI and 18 stolen bases in 126 games. He was named to the South Atlantic League All-Star Game. Paulsen played his first professional season as the regular first-baseman for the Dust Devils and hit .280 in 44 games.
Thomas Field spent 2009 with the Tourists and split time between second base and shortstop. He hit .257 and scored 42 runs in 89 games. Wetzel played in just 13 games for the Tourists in 2009 due to injury, and hit .300 during that time. Schaeffer and Gonzalez return to Modesto for the 2010 season after posting averages of .218 and .282, respectively.
The Nuts will be managed by Jerry Weinstein, who returns to Modesto for his fourth season as skipper of the team. Duane Espy will join Weinstein as hitting coach for the third season, and Darryl Scott will join the staff as pitching coach for his first season at the Class-A Advanced level in the Rockies organization.
The Modesto Nuts 2010 season begins on Thursday, April 8th as the Nuts host the San Jose Giants at John Thurman Field. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. Pre-game entertainment, including live music, face painters and a barbershop quartet will begin at 5:30 p.m. A limited number of reserve seats are still available by visiting the official website of the Modesto Nuts, www.modestonuts.com. For more information, please contact the Nuts at (209) 572-HITS (4487).
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