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gehrig38 · 12-27-2025, 05:33 PM

Bumps and scraps were all we managed to endure, until quite literally the last half of the last inning of the last game of the spring, more on that in a bit.

The roster was paired down to 27 and I'll give it to you here and after all this introduce the new faces to the club.

STARTING ROTATION-
Joey Morris (RHP-24), Brian Pelletier (LHP 27), Andy Powers (RHP 27), Danny Floyd (RHP 28) Bobby Guijosa (RHP 28)
BULLPEN-
Mark Williams (LHP 31), Nate Draper (RHP 27), Aaron Camarillo (RHP 25), Justin Anderson (RHP 29) Pete Ricks (RHP 26), Rick McKitrick (RHP 23), Chris Becker (RHP 23), Nate Gross (RHP 24)

Our staff had a phenomenal spring across the board. The name missing above is Brian Pennington. The 22 year old top prospect who had made the staff, ruptured a disc in his back in the final inning of spring training. He will miss the entire year and was placed on the 60-day DL on opening day. He did go 2-1 1 SV 2.04 over 17.2 innings, fanning 18 to 6 walks on 12 hits.
Wilfredo Diaz was hurt at the end of camp and instead of goofing around I just had him put on the 15-day and he will be ready in 10-15.

The new names on the staff:

Brian Pelletier- 27 (Signed a 4-year $3.9 million dollar extension a bit before camp. Had a nice run in September going 2-1 2.83 over 5 starts and 28.2 IP with 32 K's and 27 H walking 10. Romano gives him a solid 3-star rating and his stuff is still developing. His cutter is already ++. Had a 3.86 ERA in camp as a starter.
Rick McKitrick- 23 (Arbitration guy) He's not a new name, he made 44 appearances last year to a 5.17 ERA. However it was a winter of huge growth and Romano rates his fastball and curverball at 20+ today. He fanned 49 in 38.1 innings last year and the 6'5” flame thrower has seen his control improve to the point he will see more high leverage innings and could close if need be.
Pete Ricks- 26 (Arbitration guy) Acquired in a January deal with the World champion Colonials. 3 more years of club control. With Boston last year he was 5-3 3.00 in 59 games, 57 IP fanning 65 to just 10 walks. Another monster body with a power arm and power sinker to go with it. Middle innings with high leverage or closing ability if need be.
Aaron Camarillo-25 (League minimum) Rule 5 pick from Las Vegas in December. A gamble for sure but our scouts say it's worth it. Spent last year at AAA mostly starting and relieving. He's a future starter for sure. For now we'll make him the long man and hopefully squeeze in spot starts along the way.
Mark Williams-31 (FA signing. 2 years at 1.8 a year with a 3rd year option at 2 million. Limited no-trade clause). 10 years service time. Our prize pitching acquisition who had a great spring. In 9.2 IP he fanned 15, walked 3 on 5 hits with a 2.79 ERA. For now he's slated to be the lefty situational guy but he's capable of doing anything with power down there. He's 17-32 with 35 Saves lifetime, 368 K's in 366 IP with a 1.22 WHIP. In Chicago he was 14-15 2.94 over 226.2 IP with a 1.12 WHIP.

The rotation is listed in order, except that Morris threw late in camp so will be bumped back.
Nate Gross will open the season as the closer, Becker and McKitrick will set up with Ricks and Anderson as the middle guys. Draper and Camarillo the long men with Williams the lefty. Would be well served to get another lefty down there.

OPENING DAY POSITION PLAYERS

C-Brian Stachowski (RH) 24, Jonathan Miller (LH) 33
IF-1B Jesus Ramirez (RH) 25, 2B Gus Garcia (RH) 23, SS Mark Calkins (RH) 31, 3B Jose Nieves (19), IF Juan Ayala (RH) 26
OF- LF Jesse Roberts (LH) 27, CF, Kevin Dietz (LH) 23, RF Michael Johnson (RH) 27, OF Justin Krieg (RH) 26, Ricky Gutierrez (RH) 26, Tom Martinez (LH) 26

1B- Jesus Ramirez Signed on the 1st of the year as a minor league FA and crushed it in camp. He's an elite defender. No real pop, he's a singles hitting contact guy with minimal speed. His defense is so good, and he had a good spring that he's getting the opening day nod. This is a guy who our scouts put the reputations up for. Curious and hopeful he's what they think. Can play a big league 3B, and a decent SS if need be.
3B Jose Nieves Time to find out if a 19 year old is ready. He absolutely mashed in camp with a .918 OPS. His defense is going to be a problem, no getting around that. I thought he'd slot in at the bottom of the lineup to start out but that's clearly not what the skipper wants. He's going to hit 2nd vs RHP. Hit 29 HR in AAA last year with a .377 OBP. Will likely get spelled late in close games defensively.
SS-Mark Calkins Had an atrocious spring, hitting just .167, but we don't care. We got him to solidify and improve the defense and to mentor the younger hitters. He'll hit 7th vs RHP.
CF- Kevin Dietz Going to play every inning of CF he can play. A jackrabbit with HOF level instincts in the OF. Hit .254 in AAA last year with some pop, 16 HR's. Not expecting Willie Mays by any stretch but if he can just hold his own at the plate we'll take it. He was brought here from Detroit in a December deal of minor leaguers to do one thing, run every fly ball down. Young and still improving. Romano projects 40+ 2B gap power if he makes the strides he's capable of.
Justin Krieg was listed as an extra outfielder but the guy who finished 2nd in the Batting race last year will be the every day DH and play some OF as it comes to him.

12-27-2025, 05:33 PM	#143
gehrig38 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Medfield, Mass Posts: 5,992	2012 iron pigs spring training Bumps and scraps were all we managed to endure, until quite literally the last half of the last inning of the last game of the spring, more on that in a bit. The roster was paired down to 27 and I'll give it to you here and after all this introduce the new faces to the club. STARTING ROTATION- Joey Morris (RHP-24), Brian Pelletier (LHP 27), Andy Powers (RHP 27), Danny Floyd (RHP 28) Bobby Guijosa (RHP 28) BULLPEN- Mark Williams (LHP 31), Nate Draper (RHP 27), Aaron Camarillo (RHP 25), Justin Anderson (RHP 29) Pete Ricks (RHP 26), Rick McKitrick (RHP 23), Chris Becker (RHP 23), Nate Gross (RHP 24) Our staff had a phenomenal spring across the board. The name missing above is Brian Pennington. The 22 year old top prospect who had made the staff, ruptured a disc in his back in the final inning of spring training. He will miss the entire year and was placed on the 60-day DL on opening day. He did go 2-1 1 SV 2.04 over 17.2 innings, fanning 18 to 6 walks on 12 hits. Wilfredo Diaz was hurt at the end of camp and instead of goofing around I just had him put on the 15-day and he will be ready in 10-15. The new names on the staff: Brian Pelletier- 27 (Signed a 4-year $3.9 million dollar extension a bit before camp. Had a nice run in September going 2-1 2.83 over 5 starts and 28.2 IP with 32 K's and 27 H walking 10. Romano gives him a solid 3-star rating and his stuff is still developing. His cutter is already ++. Had a 3.86 ERA in camp as a starter. Rick McKitrick- 23 (Arbitration guy) He's not a new name, he made 44 appearances last year to a 5.17 ERA. However it was a winter of huge growth and Romano rates his fastball and curverball at 20+ today. He fanned 49 in 38.1 innings last year and the 6'5” flame thrower has seen his control improve to the point he will see more high leverage innings and could close if need be. Pete Ricks- 26 (Arbitration guy) Acquired in a January deal with the World champion Colonials. 3 more years of club control. With Boston last year he was 5-3 3.00 in 59 games, 57 IP fanning 65 to just 10 walks. Another monster body with a power arm and power sinker to go with it. Middle innings with high leverage or closing ability if need be. Aaron Camarillo-25 (League minimum) Rule 5 pick from Las Vegas in December. A gamble for sure but our scouts say it's worth it. Spent last year at AAA mostly starting and relieving. He's a future starter for sure. For now we'll make him the long man and hopefully squeeze in spot starts along the way. Mark Williams-31 (FA signing. 2 years at 1.8 a year with a 3rd year option at 2 million. Limited no-trade clause). 10 years service time. Our prize pitching acquisition who had a great spring. In 9.2 IP he fanned 15, walked 3 on 5 hits with a 2.79 ERA. For now he's slated to be the lefty situational guy but he's capable of doing anything with power down there. He's 17-32 with 35 Saves lifetime, 368 K's in 366 IP with a 1.22 WHIP. In Chicago he was 14-15 2.94 over 226.2 IP with a 1.12 WHIP. The rotation is listed in order, except that Morris threw late in camp so will be bumped back. Nate Gross will open the season as the closer, Becker and McKitrick will set up with Ricks and Anderson as the middle guys. Draper and Camarillo the long men with Williams the lefty. Would be well served to get another lefty down there. OPENING DAY POSITION PLAYERS C-Brian Stachowski (RH) 24, Jonathan Miller (LH) 33 IF-1B Jesus Ramirez (RH) 25, 2B Gus Garcia (RH) 23, SS Mark Calkins (RH) 31, 3B Jose Nieves (19), IF Juan Ayala (RH) 26 OF- LF Jesse Roberts (LH) 27, CF, Kevin Dietz (LH) 23, RF Michael Johnson (RH) 27, OF Justin Krieg (RH) 26, Ricky Gutierrez (RH) 26, Tom Martinez (LH) 26 1B- Jesus Ramirez Signed on the 1st of the year as a minor league FA and crushed it in camp. He's an elite defender. No real pop, he's a singles hitting contact guy with minimal speed. His defense is so good, and he had a good spring that he's getting the opening day nod. This is a guy who our scouts put the reputations up for. Curious and hopeful he's what they think. Can play a big league 3B, and a decent SS if need be. 3B Jose Nieves Time to find out if a 19 year old is ready. He absolutely mashed in camp with a .918 OPS. His defense is going to be a problem, no getting around that. I thought he'd slot in at the bottom of the lineup to start out but that's clearly not what the skipper wants. He's going to hit 2nd vs RHP. Hit 29 HR in AAA last year with a .377 OBP. Will likely get spelled late in close games defensively. SS-Mark Calkins Had an atrocious spring, hitting just .167, but we don't care. We got him to solidify and improve the defense and to mentor the younger hitters. He'll hit 7th vs RHP. CF- Kevin Dietz Going to play every inning of CF he can play. A jackrabbit with HOF level instincts in the OF. Hit .254 in AAA last year with some pop, 16 HR's. Not expecting Willie Mays by any stretch but if he can just hold his own at the plate we'll take it. He was brought here from Detroit in a December deal of minor leaguers to do one thing, run every fly ball down. Young and still improving. Romano projects 40+ 2B gap power if he makes the strides he's capable of. Justin Krieg was listed as an extra outfielder but the guy who finished 2nd in the Batting race last year will be the every day DH and play some OF as it comes to him. __________________ The Chicago Iron Pigs 2012-2024 The IBL's first 13 years The Alaska Avalanche 2024-2030 Moving on to my birthplace The San Antonio Silver Stars 2030-2034 From one big state, Alaska, to another, Texas!