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Run by The Trentonian's Nick Peruffo, this blog will provide daily multimedia coverage of the Trenton Thunder.

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

A guess at the Thunder's opening day roster ... just 99 days from now

Because I've been off for the last couple of days, I've had some time to kick around what I believe the 2010 Thunder 24-man roster will look like come April 8 at Waterfront Park.

Here's a rough guess:

C - Austin Romine (This one's a definite)
C - Kyle Anson (I expect he will repeat because of poor perforamance and space issues at S/WB)
1B - Kevin Smith (liked what I saw from him once the weather got warmer in Trenton)
1B - Jorge Vazquez (not terribly sure of this, but he could definitely stand to work on defense)
2B - Matt Cusick (Loved his ability to make solid contact nearly every time up)
SS - Walter Ibarra (He's been with Trenton before and seems to need to move up)
3B - Brandon Laird (Vechionacci is a free agent, and Laird tore it up in the AFL)
OF - Austin Krum (nice little leadoff hitter who goes all out)
OF - Daniel Brewer (speedster who spent half the year with Tampa last season)
OF - Jack Rye (made a very brief cameo in Trenton in 2009)
OF - James Cooper (injured for spell in 2009, wouldn't be surprised to see him back)

Pitchers:
SP - Jeremy Bleich (got lit up in 2009, will almost certainly return)
SP - Lance Pendleton (same deal as Bleich, but without getting hit as hard)
SP - Charlie Zink (spent all of 2009 in Tampa, could be time for a promotion)
SP - D.J. Mitchell (2008 draftee from Clemson has moved quickly)
SP - Hector Noesi (after an add to the 40-man, it's time he tasted the upper levels)
RP - Jonathan Hovis (with Trenton briefly in 2009, could return)
RP - Tim Norton (UConn product who's been delayed by injuries)
RP - Pat Venditte (The switch pitcher, you may have heard of him)
RP - Adam Olbrychowski (Was with Thunder for season's final series)
RP - Noel Castillo (horrific with Trenton in 2009, but still may be back)
RP - Phil Bartleski (also with Trenton during final 09 series)
RP - Jonathan Ortiz (could wind up being Thunder closer)
RP - Craig Heyer (made six spot starts for Tampa, could be 2010 Josh Schmidt)

Edit: After I posted this, Chad Jennings of the Journal News posted some notes pertaining to Trenton given to him by Vice President of Baseball Operations Mark Newman. I also had an email in to Mr. Newman asking him about some items pertaining to the Thunder.

Here are some of the highlights from Jennings' talk with Newman

- Newman names Bleich as a pitcher who could shoot through the system a la an Ian Kennedy or Joba Chamberlain. Considering he was tabbed for a 6.65 ERA in Trenton, that's an interesting choice.

- Wilkin De La Rosa is scheduled to repeat Double-A this season.

- Noesi will "probably" begin 2010 with Trenton

- Christian Garcia, the oft-injured righty with positively electric stuff will be in the Thunder rotation, too.

Read all of Jennings' info from Newman here.

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