Opening Day 2014!!

Spring Training has come and passed, the cuts and demotions have been made, lineups are set and predictions are being made.   Are you ready for some Baseball???  The Jersey Shore D-Bags are!  They finished Spring Training with a 16-8 record and escaped injury free and the roster has been cut to 25 men.  For the most part the roster is very identifiable, there were some surprises though.


Making the Roster


On the pitching sides of things the D-Bags will feature the rotation we laid in ST with only one newcomer in the bullpen.  Marv Williams who was the 6th option last year was sent to AAA while the team kept MR Brian White in his role on the big club.  White the former AAA closer thrived in Spring Training, giving up 1 run in 8.0 IP and striking out 7.  GM Josh Swain said it was a tough decision but when it came down to it, "Since White was out of options, there was no way he was going to clear waivers.  It was either keep them both on the ballclub, trade one, give one away or send someone down.  I know Marv Williams wants to be up here, and he will get his chance.  It's nice to have depth."


The news of Milliard Cross taking his talents to Cleveland was a surprise and in his place will be 1B Derrick Wright has been tearing AAA up for 2 years and was no different in Spring Training.  He finished 2nd in spring batting and 5th in slugging.  He's like to see a lot of AB's against left handed pitching.


With Jerome Lindsey packing his bags for Orlando, one IF spot opened up.  Many people thought that Adam Morrow was a shoe-in for the position.  That wasn't the case. Alberto Lopez who also plays the corner IF positions, and can play 2B in a pinch, absolutely demolished ST pitching. He led all of baseball with .473 batting average and was 3rd with a .508 SLG%.  You just can't keep that off the team.  Even though he won't see starting AB's, he will be a great asset coming off the bench.


In the OF, there was one position to be decided and it too might have been a surprise to those of you following D-Bags baseball.  Getting the 5th OF nod, was lefty Bob Thomas.  While Thomas did not hit the ball well, he too was out of options and rather than risk losing him, the D-Bags kept him on the roster and send Harold Robinson and Sergio Rodriguez down to AAA.


The Rotation:


Come Opening Day, Manager Kevin Davis will hand the ball to the wily veteran Dan Macias.   The 6'5" righty will be making his first start on Opening Day at home against the rival Pittsburgh Swag.  
The rest of the rotation will look like this:
2) Rob Goodship
3) Jerry Paige
4) Kenny Stanford
5) Jose Reyes


The Lineup:
Whether or not Pittsburg decides to send John Corrigan or the newcomer Jules Paradis to the mound Davis plans to march out this lineup to try and repeat and led the league in runs scored again this year.


1) Scott Powers RF
2) Mason Bonniface LF
3) Matt "Coffin" Bryant 2B
4) Leon Foster CF
5) Antonio Ruiz 1B
6) Manny Romero DH
7) Luis Antonio Duran C
8) Parker Morrow 3B 
9) Marvin Taylor SS


If you are a season ticket holder, you will be seeing much of the D-Bags the first month of the season.  They start the year with a 10 game stand with 4 w/ Pittsburgh, 3 w/Vista and 3 w/ Indianapolis. After off day they head to Seattle for a 3 game tilt, then immediately back across the the entire country for a 4 game series with St. Louis.  They head to St. Charles for a 3 game tilt before their next day.  They end the month with an 8 day stretch of games starting at home with 2 w/ Pocatello, 3 w/ defending CL champs Regina before heading to Greenville for their first 2 of 16 games with the 84's this season.  April usually sets the tone for the season, so let's get out there and root our D-Bags on to a hot start to this one!!


GO D-BAGS