Great Lakes opens season Thursday versus Lake County
MIDLAND -- The Great Lakes Loons are excited to announce, in conjunction with their parent club the Los Angeles Dodgers, the team’s Opening Day roster for the 2011 season.
The 2011 Loons boast 16 players from last year’s Ogden team that won the Pioneer League’s South division, and 11 players selected by the Dodgers at the 2010 draft, including first-round selection Zach Lee and third-rounder Leon Landry.
The Loons 25-man active roster consists of eight players selected by the Dodgers in the top 10 rounds of the draft and five players ranked by Baseball America as Top 30 prospects in the Dodgers organization.
Topping the crop of prospects is the Dodgers 2010 first-round draft choice Zach Lee, a hard-throwing right-handed pitcher from McKinney, TX, who is ranked by Baseball America as the Dodgers No. 2 prospect. A two-sport standout in high school, Lee turned down a scholarship offer to play baseball and football at LSU to sign with the Dodgers.
Other prospects expected to contribute significantly include outfielder Leon Landry (BA No. 11); right-handed pitcher Garrett Gould (BA No. 18), outfielder Jon Garcia (BA No. 21); and right-handed pitcher Derek Cone (BA No. 29).
The Loons have six players returning to the team from past seasons – pitchers Ryan Christenson (2010), Robert Boothe (2009) and Tim Sexton (2007) and infielders Bryant Hernandez (2010), Chris Jacobs (2010) and Christian Lara (2010).
John Shoemaker will be managing the Loons in 2011, after spending two seasons as the Camelback Ranch – Glendale Coordinator, where he oversaw the year-round minor league operations of the facility. Shoemaker, who has served as a player, coach, manager or coordinator in the Dodgers organization since 1977, has compiled a 1,156-1,124 record in that time, winning league championships with Single-A Savannah (South Atlantic League, 1996) and Double-A Jacksonville (Southern League, 2005). Shoemaker will be joined by hitting coach Lenny Harris, pitching coach Kremlin Martinez, and Guest Instructor Jae-Hyun Kim.
The Loons 2011 Opening Day roster is as follows:
Pitchers: Logan Bawcom, Robert Boothe, Pete Budkevics, Raul Burgos, Ryan Christenson, Derek Cone, Garrett Gould, Zack Lee, Bret Montgomery, Red Patterson, Timothy Sexton, Brant Stickel and Shawn Tolleson.
Catchers: Steve Cilladi (DL), Steve Domecus and Michael Pericht.
Infielders: Jesse Bosnik, Blake Dean, Casio Grider, Chris Henderson, Bryant Hernandez, Chris Jacobs (DL) and Christian Lara.
Outfielders: Nick Akins, Jon Garcia, Leon Landry and Roman Pena.
