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Indianapolis Indians 2018 Opening Day Roster

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INDIANAPOLIS – The , in conjunction with the Pittsburgh Pirates, today announced their Opening Day roster for the 2018 season. Outfielder Austin Meadows – ranked by Baseball America as the second-best prospect in Pittsburgh’s farm system and No. 44 overall in professional baseball – headlines the group.

First-year manager Brian Esposito, the club’s 61st skipper in team history, returns 13 players from Indy’s 2017 division championship squad. Like the ’17 team, the roster has a blend of up-and-coming prospects and veterans with major league experience. Joining Meadows as top 10 Pirates prospects, according to Baseball America, is infielder Kevin Newman (No. 5) and Indy’s Opening Day starter, Nick Kingham (No. 8). Infielder Kevin Kramer (No. 12), Pirates 2017 Minor League Player of the Year, Jordan Luplow (No. 13), infielder Max Moroff (No. 16) and right-hander Tyler Eppler (No. 29) round out Indy’s top prospects.

Following Kingham in the rotation are four right-handers – Eppler, Alex McRae, Austin Coley and Casey Sadler – with McRae and Coley both having pitched for Double-A Altoona during its 2017 Eastern League Championship run. The bullpen is right-handed heavy and welcomes one returner, Ohio State University product Brett McKinney, who is joined by Tanner Anderson, Johnny Hellweg, Tyler Jones, Damien Magnifico and Richard Rodriguez. Hellweg, Magnifico and Rodriguez have each had brief big-league stints in their respective careers.

Returning catcher Jacob Stallings headlines backstop duo after finishing his 2017 campaign with a Triple-A batting average north of .300. Ryan Lavarnway, 30, a veteran with 140 major league appearances under his belt, will share duties with Stallings.

Five of the Tribe’s seven listed infielders played for Indy last season. Two newcomers, Kramer and first baseman/outfielder Jerrick Suiter, join Moroff, Newman, Jose Osuna, Erich Weiss and Eric Wood. Moroff belted a career-high 13 home runs for the Tribe in 2017, while Wood pounded a career-high-tying 16 dingers.

The Tribe outfield features Meadows and Luplow, 2017 Indy Indians MVP Christopher Bostick and 29-year-old Todd Cunningham. Last year, Bostick finished fourth in the International League in batting (.294) and was an IL midseason All-Star.

Overall, eight of the Indians’ 25 active players are currently members of Pittsburgh’s 40-man roster.

Pitchers

# Name Pos Bat Thw Ht Wt DOB Status MLB 40-man
16 Tanner Anderson P R R 6′ 2″ 195 05-27-1993 Active No
10 Austin Coley P R R 6′ 2″ 203 07-14-1992 Active No
19 Kyle Crick P L R 6′ 4″ 220 11-30-1992 Active Yes
Montana DuRapau P R R 5′ 11″ 175 03-27-1992 Restricted No
36 Tyler Eppler P R R 6′ 5″ 230 01-05-1993 Active No
22 Johnny Hellweg P R R 6′ 7″ 235 10-29-1988 Active No
30 Tyler Jones P R R 6′ 4″ 240 09-05-1989 Active No
49 Nick Kingham P R R 6′ 5″ 225 11-08-1991 Active Yes
44 Damien Magnifico P R R 6′ 1″ 205 05-24-1991 Active No
38 Brett McKinney P R R 6′ 0″ 225 11-19-1990 Active No
28 Alex McRae P R R 6′ 2″ 220 04-06-1993 Active No
31 Richard Rodriguez P R R 6′ 4″ 205 03-04-1990 Active No
37 Casey Sadler P R R 6′ 3″ 220 07-13-1990 Active No
Kevin Siegrist P L L 6′ 5″ 230 07-20-1989 Suspended No

Catchers

# Name Pos Bat Thw Ht Wt DOB Status MLB 40-man
23 Ryan Lavarnway C R R 6′ 4″ 240 08-07-1987 Active No
32 Jacob Stallings C R R 6′ 5″ 220 12-22-1989 Active Yes

Infielders

# Name Pos Bat Thw Ht Wt DOB Status MLB 40-man
17 Kevin Kramer 2B L R 6′ 0″ 200 10-03-1993 Active No
2 Max Moroff 2B S R 5′ 10″ 185 05-13-1993 Active Yes
3 Kevin Newman SS R R 6′ 1″ 180 08-04-1993 Active No
13 Jose Osuna 1B R R 6′ 3″ 240 12-12-1992 Active Yes
45 Jerrick Suiter 1B R R 6′ 4″ 230 03-04-1993 Active No
6 Erich Weiss 2B L R 6′ 2″ 200 09-11-1991 Active No
14 Eric Wood 3B R R 6′ 1″ 210 11-22-1992 Active No

Outfielders

# Name Pos Bat Thw Ht Wt DOB Status MLB 40-man
7 Christopher Bostick LF R R 5′ 10″ 200 03-24-1993 Active Yes
27 Todd Cunningham CF S R 6′ 0″ 205 03-20-1989 Active No
24 Jordan Luplow RF R R 6′ 1″ 195 09-26-1993 Active Yes
15 Austin Meadows CF L L 6′ 3″ 210 05-03-1995 Active Yes
Daniel Nava OF S L 5′ 10″ 195 02-22-1983 7-day DL No

SOURCE: Indianapolis Indians

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