Hot off of the presses! Or something like that, because it was actually an email and not a printing press. But the 2024 Louisville Bats roster is here. Let’s dive right in.
The Pitchers
- Stevie Branche
- Justin Bruihl
- Alan Busenitz
- Michael Byrne
- Pedro Garcia
- Tyler Gilbert
- Brett Kennedy
- Evan Kravetz
- Brooks Kriske
- Casey Legumina
- Connor Phillips
- Lyon Richardson
- Christian Roa (7-day injured list)
- Tony Santillan
- Carson Spiers
- Spencer Stockton
- Randy Wynne
While the roster release doesn’t specify starters or relievers, we can make some educated guesses based on history. Connor Phillips, Lyon Richardson Brett Kennedy, Carson Spiers, and Randy Wynne have all done plenty of starting in the past, and all started last season. That feels like a safe bet for the rotation to begin the year. Christian Roa is listed on the roster, but he’s also going to be on the 7-day injured list to begin the season. The injury was not noted.
Phillips, Spiers, and Richardson are all on the Reds 40-man roster, and all made starts for the Reds last season. Randy Wynne and Brett Kennedy also pitched with the big league club last year, but are no longer on the 40-man roster.
Catchers
- P.J. Higgins
- Michael Trautwein
- Austin Wynns
Michael Trautwein was one of the guys who stood out in spring training according to people who were in Goodyear in February and March. While he didn’t put up strong numbers in his limited at-bats with the big league club, he was impressing people on the backfields. He’s going to be a guy to keep an eye on and see if that translate onto the field in the regular season.
Infielders
- Erik Gonzalez
- Quincy McAfee
- Alex McGarry
- Hernan Perez
- Francisco Urbaez
There’s a mix of guys here who spent much of the year in Double-A Chattanooga last year and newcomers into the organization. Alex McGarry struggled in his initial go with the Bats last season, but when he went back to Double-A he started to turn things around and crushed the ball for much of the year with the Lookouts.
Outfielders
- Conner Capel
- Blake Dunn
- Rece Hinds
- Jacob Hurtubise
The outfield is loaded with prospects. Three of the four guys listed here are Top 25 prospects in the organization. Blake Dunn is the club’s reigning minor league player of the year after hitting .312 with 23 home runs and 54 steals last season. Rece Hinds got out to a slow start in Chattanooga, but changes made in late May led to his turn around and him crushing the ball over the final four months of the season. Jacob Hurtubise was the team’s hitter of the year in the farm system, leading the organization in OPS while taking steps forward in his power output while maintaining a high average and walking more than he struck out. Conner Capel is new to the organization, but he’s got big league time in each of the last two years with St. Louis in 2022 and with Oakland in both 2022 and 2023.
While we have the Bats roster, it will probably be another week or so before we start seeing the other rosters. Louisville begins their season on Friday night. Daytona, Dayton, and Chattanooga all begin their season NEXT Friday night. Carson Spiers is scheduled to start Friday night’s game, and Lyon Richardson is set to start on Saturday. After that there’s no information.