The Tacoma Rainiers have announced their 2018 opening day
roster. The season begins on Thursday April 5 at Cheney Stadium in Tacoma.
Most of the roster is made up of veterans as the Mariners
want depth in case they have an injury to any players on the roster. Saturday
Nelson Cruz sprained his ankle so likely a change will occur before they face
the Giants in San Francisco on Tuesday afternoon. The Rainiers have only six players
on the opening who are on the Mariners forty man roster and five of them are pitchers.
The sixth player is utility player Taylor Motter who could be the player called
up to replace Nelson Cruz otherwise they would have to add another position
player to the forty man roster. Motter had a pretty good spring training as well so I am sure he would be guy. Daniel
Vogelbach who started Sunday at designated hitter will likely take most of the
at bats as designated hitter with Cruz out.
The five pitchers on the Rainiers roster that are on the 40
man Mariner roster are the following Ariel Miranda who will be the likely one
called up when the Mariners need a fifth starter in ten days. Other starters on
the 40 man roster are Rob Whalen who had a pretty good camp with the Mariners before
being sent down to Tacoma. His last outing in spring for the Mariners was his
worst start. Another starter will be among the Mariners top prospects in Max
Povse. The remaining two are right handed reliever Chasen Bradford and lefty
Dario Alvarez who was in the Texas Rangers organization last year. They have
eight pitchers that are not on the Mariners 40 man roster that include reliever
Shawn Armstrong and Christian Bergman.
The Rainiers two catchers are Tuffy Gosewisch who spent a
little time last year with the Mariners and Garrett Kennedy who likely is there
until Mike Zunino comes off the disabled list for the Mariners. David Freitas
was called up to Seattle from Tacoma and he likely will return when Zunino is
ready.
The position players are primarily made up of veterans.
Gordon Beckham returns after trying the free agent market at the end of spring
training. He will probably play mostly second base though he will see again in
the other spots of the infield. Matt Hague will be the first baseman until or
if Daniel Vogelbach returns to the Rainiers. Vogelbach had an outstand spring
training that the Mariners decide to keep him until they at least needed a
fifth starter. The other two men playing the infield be Danny Muno who likely
play a lot of third base and Zach Vincej at short if Taylor Motter is brought
up to replace Cruz.
The outfield for Tacoma will be primarily made up of veteran
triple A players. They have John Andreoli who played the last three years in
Iowa of the Chicago Cubs organization. He is a right handed hitter with speed
but not much power. Spring training he played a lot in left field so may be his
position for the Rainiers. Two other veteran triple A players the Mariners
picked up in off-season Kirk Nieuwenhuis who has played some in the major
leagues as well. He played a full season with the Milwaukee Brewers playing in
125 games but only 16 games last year. He played the majority of the season for
the Brewers triple A team. The third veteran outfielder is Cameron Perkins who
played for the Philadelphia Phillies and their triple A team last season.
Finally the fourth outfielder is Ian Miller who was named the Mariners minor
league top hitter last season. He split his season between double A and the
Tacoma Rainiers. He is known for his defense and stealing bases.
So that is what the roster looks like for the coming season
for the Tacoma Rainiers and we wish them all the best of luck. We hope not to
see many of them in a Mariners uniform until the end of the season. Go
Rainiers!!
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