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Indianapolis Indians 2017 Opening Day Roster

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The Indianapolis Indians, in conjunction with the Pittsburgh Pirates, announced their preliminary Opening Day roster for the 2017 season. Outfielder Austin Meadows – ranked by Baseball America as the sixth-best prospect in professional baseball – headlines the group, while left-hander Steven Brault was named the Opening Day starter.

First-year manager Andy Barkett, the club’s 60th manager in team history, welcomes 13 players from Indy’s 2016 squad to his ‘17 team. Like the ’16 team, there is no shortage of star power in terms of top prospects. Joining Meadows (No. 1) and Brault (No. 7) as top farmhands in the Pittsburgh system, according to Baseball America, is catcher Elias Diaz (No. 10), infielder Max Moroff (No. 13), right-handers Tyler Eppler (No. 18), Clay Holmes (No. 20) and Dovydas Neverauskas (No. 24), and first baseman/outfielder Jose Osuna (No. 26).

Following Brault in the rotation is right-hander Drew Hutchison, then Eppler, Holmes and fifth-starter Josh Lindblom, a Lafayette, Ind. native and Purdue alum. The bullpen features two lefties, Cody Dickson and Dan Runzler, along with six right-handed options in Pat Light, Brett McKinney, Neverauskas, Angel Sanchez, Edgar Santana and A.J. Schugel.

The Indians return a pair of catchers from 2016, Diaz and Jacob Stallings. The latter made his major league debut last summer.

On the infield, Moroff is joined by returners Gift Ngoepe, Osuna and Jason Rogers, with Christopher Bostick, Anderson Feliz, Erich Weiss and Eric Wood as newcomers. Moroff led the International League with 90 walks in 2016. Osuna is coming off a strong spring training, where he hit .407 (22-for-54) with four doubles, five home runs and 17 RBI in 22 games.

The Tribe outfield features Meadows and Danny Ortiz. Osuna will likely see some time in the outfield as well. Ortiz, 27, led the Tribe with 17 home runs last season.

Overall, 11 of the Indians’ 25 players are currently members of Pittsburgh’s 40-man roster. Additionally, 22 of the 25 active players are age 27 or younger. Right-hander Nick Kingham, another top Pittsburgh prospect, is Indianapolis’ lone representative on the 7-day disabled list.

INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS ROSTER

Managers & Coaches
# Name Pos Bat Thw Ht Wt DOB Status
16 Butch Wynegar Hitting Coach S R 6′ 0″ 194 03-14-1956 Active
28 Miguel Perez Coach R R 6′ 3″ 235 09-25-1983 Active
41 Stan Kyles Pitching Coach R R 6′ 1″ 165 02-26-1961 Active
Andy Barkett Manager L L 6′ 1″ 205 09-05-1974 Active
Pitchers
# Name Pos Bat Thw Ht Wt DOB Status MLB 40-man
25 Steven Brault P L L 6′ 0″ 200 04-29-1992 Active Yes
43 Cody Dickson P L L 6′ 3″ 180 04-27-1992 Active No
36 Tyler Eppler P R R 6′ 6″ 220 01-05-1993 Active No
46 Clay Holmes P R R 6′ 5″ 230 03-27-1993 Active Yes
34 Drew Hutchison P L R 6′ 3″ 205 08-22-1990 Active Yes
Nick Kingham P R R 6′ 5″ 225 11-08-1991 7-day DL Yes
35 Pat Light P R R 6′ 5″ 220 03-29-1991 Active Yes
47 Josh Lindblom P R R 6′ 4″ 240 06-15-1987 Active No
38 Brett McKinney P R R 6′ 2″ 225 11-19-1990 Active No
45 Dovydas Neverauskas P R R 6′ 3″ 215 01-14-1993 Active Yes
22 Dan Runzler P L L 6′ 4″ 210 03-30-1985 Active No
3 Angel Sanchez P R R 6′ 1″ 190 11-28-1989 Active No
10 Edgar Santana P R R 6′ 2″ 180 10-16-1991 Active No
31 A.J. Schugel P R R 6′ 0″ 200 06-27-1989 Active Yes
Catchers
# Name Pos Bat Thw Ht Wt DOB Status MLB 40-man
29 Elias Diaz C R R 6′ 1″ 215 11-17-1990 Active Yes
32 Jacob Stallings C R R 6′ 5″ 220 12-22-1989 Active No
Infielders
# Name Pos Bat Thw Ht Wt DOB Status MLB 40-man
7 Chris Bostick 2B R R 5′ 10″ 190 03-24-1993 Active Yes
26 Anderson Feliz SS S R 6′ 0″ 175 05-11-1992 Active No
2 Max Moroff 2B S R 5′ 10″ 185 05-13-1993 Active Yes
24 Gift Ngoepe SS R R 5′ 8″ 200 01-18-1990 Active Yes
15 Jason Rogers 1B R R 6′ 1″ 260 03-13-1988 Active No
6 Erich Weiss 2B L R 6′ 2″ 200 09-11-1991 Active No
14 Eric Wood 3B R R 6′ 2″ 195 11-22-1992 Active No
Outfielders
# Name Pos Bat Thw Ht Wt DOB Status MLB 40-man
13 Austin Meadows CF L L 6′ 3″ 200 05-03-1995 Active No
12 Danny Ortiz OF L L 5′ 11″ 190 01-05-1990 Active No
18 Jose Osuna LF R R 6′ 3″ 240 12-12-1992 Active Yes

SOURCE: Indianapolis Indians ♦ PHOTO: Brian Groce