The Pensacola Blue Wahoos roster has been released, but isn’t quite official just yet. What we do have is the list of players who flew into Pensacola. Let’s take a look at how that group shakes out.
Pitchers
Those four will be starters. Who the fifth guy is, I’m not sure. I’d venture to guess it comes down to Jackson Stephens or Nick Routt. I saw Stephens starting while in Arizona, but didn’t see Routt (not that this means much, I only saw the upper level guys for two days) – so I will guess it will be Stephens. Notably missing here is Keury Mella, who was pitching for the Double-A team at the end of the month while I was in Arizona and he didn’t seem to get injured. Something could have come up, and I guess there’s always a chance he’s heading back to Daytona.
- Barrett Astin
- Alejandro Chacin
- Carlos Gonzalez
- Kyle McMyne
- Evan Mitchell
- Jimmy Moran
- El’Hajj Muhammad
- Wandy Peralta
Those guys will make up the bullpen, with one of Stephens or Routt joining them.
Infielders
One name is missing here and that’s Alex Blandino. I’m guessing that he’s injured as I don’t recall seeing him this spring while in Goodyear with any of the squads. With Brandon Dixon and Eric Jagielo both on this roster it will be interesting to see how the split in play works out between the two at first base and third base.
Outfielders
The biggest thing here is that Donald Lutz is back in Pensacola. There’s a lot of depth in the outfield at the upper levels, but Lutz has performed well in Double-A in the past. It’s more important to play consistently than where he’s playing, but it is a surprise to see him back.
Overview
The starting rotation, as expected, stands out, even with Mella missing. The bullpen has some arms in it, but some of them have struggled to find consistency – so this group will be worth watching to see how they develop over the course of the season.
On the other side of the ball, how the new, larger outfield dimensions play out will be the big thing to follow this season. Right field hasn’t changed, but it’s notorious for crushing power since the place opened thanks to the cross wind off of Pensacola Bay. That same wind helped the ball absolutely fly out to left field, but the left field wall has been pushed back this season which should counter that somewhat. Between Dixon, Jagielo, Ervin and Lutz, the team should have some power and there are also some high contact hitters as well, making for an interesting offensive lineup.