Monday, April 1, 2019

Meet the 2019 Fayetteville Woodpeckers

The Houston Astros' Carolina League affiliate has finally moved into their new home. Two years in the making... the inaugural season of Fayetteville Woodpeckers baseball!


Photo from Chris Creamer's SportsLogos.Net

SOCIAL MEDIA

Official website - fayettevillewoodpeckers.com
Twitter - @WoodpeckersNC
Instagram - @fayettevillewoodpeckers

After the Astros' Carolina League team spent the past two seasons in Buies Creek on the campus of Campbell University, Minor League Baseball makes its return to Fayetteville, North Carolina for the first time since 2000. The Cape Fear Crocs played their final season in the South Atlantic League before relocating to Lakewood, New Jersey to become the BlueClaws and a Phillies minor league affiliate.

The Woodpeckers will enter their first season in Fayetteville as the defending Carolina League Champions, which they won as the Buies Creek Astros. The brand-new Segra Stadium, which is nearly ready, will be their home ballpark. The first game at the stadium will take place on April 18, when they start a four-game series against the Carolina Mudcats.

It better be ready by then, because the builder is facing a $1,000 daily fine plus an additional $50,000 fine for each canceled home game.

Well, anyway... here is the first Fayetteville Woodpeckers (tentative) Opening Day roster!

2018 Astros first-round pick Seth Beer will start his first full professional season back where he finished his pro debut. He's expected to headline a power-packed lineup featuring Jake Adams, Colton Shaver, and Chandler Taylor, among others. Jonathan Arauz and Miguelangel Sierra should form a nice double play tandem in the middle of the infield, but which one of them will take the next step forward offensively?

The Quad Cities pitching staff that mowed down the Midwest League in 2018 will make their way down to North Carolina. Bryan Abreu will look to build upon a breakout season that saw him vault into the discussion of the Astros' top ten prospects.

PITCHERS

Asterisk - left-handed

Bryan Abreu - International free agent (Dominican Republic), 2013; played with Tri-City and Quad Cities in 2018
Tommy DeJuneas - Acquired from Indians via trade for James Hoyt, 2018; Lake County (CLE)/Buies Creek
Chad Donato - 11th round, 2016 draft (West Virginia); Tri-City/Quad Cities
J.P. France - 14th round, 2018 draft (Mississippi State); Tri-City/Quad Cities
Cristian Javier - International free agent (Dominican Republic), 2015; Quad Cities/Buies Creek
Parker Mushinski* - 7th round, 2017 draft (Texas Tech); Quad Cities
Enoli Paredes - International free agent (Dominican Republic), 2014; Quad Cities/Buies Creek
Yohan Ramirez - International free agent (Dominican Republic), 2016; Quad Cities/Buies Creek
Leovanny Rodriguez - International free agent (Dominican Republic), 2015; Quad Cities
César Rosado - International free agent (Dominican Republic), 2014; Quad Cities
Carlos Sanabria - International free agent (Venezuela), 2014; Quad Cities/Buies Creek
Edgardo Sandoval - International free agent (Panama), 2014; GCL/Tri-City/Quad Cities
Peter Solomon - 4th round, 2017 draft (Notre Dame); Quad Cities/Buies Creek

POSITION PLAYERS

Asterisk - bats left-handed
Italics - switch-hitter

Catchers

Scott Manea - Acquired from Mets (along with Luis Santana and Ross Adolph) via trade for J.D. Davis, 2019; Columbia (NYM)
Michael Papierski - 9th round, 2017 draft (Louisiana State); Quad Cities

Infielders

Jake Adams - 6th round, 2017 draft (Iowa); Quad Cities/Buies Creek
Alfredo Angarita - International free agent (Venezuela), 2015; Quad Cities/Buies Creek/1 game with Fresno
Jonathan Arauz - Acquired from Phillies (along with Ken Giles) via trade for five pitchers, 2015; Quad Cities/Buies Creek
Colton Shaver - 39th round, 2017 draft (Brigham Young); Quad Cities/Buies Creek
Miguelangel Sierra - International free agent (Venezuela), 2014; Quad Cities

Outfielders

Seth Beer* - 1st round, 2018 draft (Clemson); Tri-City/Quad Cities/Buies Creek
Bryan de la Cruz - International free agent (Dominican Republic), 2013; Quad Cities/Buies Creek
Corey Julks - 8th round, 2017 draft (University of Houston); Quad Cities/Buies Creek
Jake Meyers - 13th round, 2017 draft (Nebraska); Quad Cities/Buies Creek
Chandler Taylor* - 10th round, 2018 draft (Alabama); Quad Cities

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