The opening day roster for the Midland RockHounds, the A’s Double-A affiliate in the Texas League, was announced this week. The RockHounds’ lineup will be led by one of the A’s top hitting prospects, third baseman Miles Head, who led all A’s minor leaguers in hits, RBIs, batting average and slugging percentage last season.
Along with Head, the RockHounds’ infield will also include Jefry Marte, Tommy Mendonca, Anthony Aliotti, Dusty Coleman, Darwin Perez and Tyler Ladendorf. Jeremy Barfield, Chad Oberacker and D’Arby Myers will man the outfield, while Ryan Lipkin and Nick Rickles will be behind the plate.
The RockHounds’ starting rotation will likely include Murphy Smith, Josh Bowman, Josh Stinson, Zach Neal, Carlos Hernandez and Arnold Leon as soon as he’s been stretched out enough to start. Left-handers Jeff Urlaub and Frank Gailey will join right-handers Carlos Fisher, Sergio Perez, Kyler Newby, Darren Byrd and Paul Smyth in the RockHounds’ bullpen.
You’ll find the Midland RockHounds’ complete roster, along with profiles of some of the team’s top players, below…
MILES HEAD
Right-Handed Hitting Third Baseman
Age On Opening Day: 21
Drafted 2009 – 26th Round
Head was acquired, along with Josh Reddick and minor league pitcher Raul Alcantara, from Boston last year in the deal that sent Andrew Bailey and Ryan Sweeney to the Red Sox. The big third baseman had an unbelievable first half at High-A Stockton, bashing 23 doubles and 18 home runs in just 267 at-bats while posting a truly impressive slash line of .382/.433/.715. The Georgia native spent the second half at Double-A Midland, where he put up a much more mortal .272/.338/.404 slash line in 234 at-bats. Head will get the chance to master the Texas League again in 2013. He played all but a handful of games at third base last year, and the team hopes that Head will stick at third, but he’ll probably spend just as much time at first base this season.
JEFRY MARTE
Right-Handed Hitting Third Baseman
Age On Opening Day: 21
Undrafted – Signed as International Free Agent
The A’s acquired Marte this off-season from the Mets in the Collin Cowgill trade. The third baseman had a .251/.322/.366 slash line last season at Binghamton in the Double-A Eastern League. Those numbers might not seem overly impressive, but it’s important to remember that he started the year as just a 20-year-old playing full-time at Double-A. And Marte looked good this spring, hitting .400 with a pair of doubles in a brief look with the A’s. Along with Miles Head, he’ll be splitting time between third base and first base at Midland this year and hoping to make his mark in his second year at Double-A.
CHAD OBERACKER
Left-Handed Hitting Outfielder
Age On Opening Day: 24
Drafted 2011 – 25th Round
Oberacker was a bit of a sleeper in the A’s system who’s now on the rise. He was drafted in the 25th round in 2011, but he’s quickly moved up the ladder and was the only one of Stockton’s regular outfielders from last season to earn a promotion to Midland to start the year. There might not be any one aspect of Oberacker’s game that really stands out, but he seems to do everything just well enough to succeed. He hits for a decent average, has a little pop in his bat, has good speed and can play center field. He’ll start the season flanked by Jeremy Barfield and D’Arby Myers in the RockHounds’ outfield and will rise as far as his talent will take him.
ARNOLD LEON
Right-Handed Pitcher
Age On Opening Day: 24
Undrafted – Signed as International Free Agent
Leon is probably best known for his role in helping to precipitate the brawl between the Mexican national and Canadian national teams at this year’s WBC tournament. Besides that dubious distinction, Leon is a talented Mexican hurler whom the A’s signed as an international free agent back in 2008. Unfortunately, serious arm injuries caused him to miss most of the 2010 and 2011 seasons. But he came back strong, pitching out of the bullpen, in 2012. The A’s plan to stretch him out and see if he can get back on track as a starter this year at Midland.
–MIDLAND ROCKHOUNDS 2013 ROSTER–
–HITTERS–
Anthony Aliotti 1B-DH
Tommy Mendonca 3B-DH
Miles Head 3B-1B
Jefry Marte 3B-1B
Darwin Perez 2B-SS
Tyler Ladendorf 2B-SS-OF
D’Arby Myers OF
–STARTING PITCHERS–
Murphy Smith RHP
Josh Bowman RHP
Zach Neal RHP
Carlos Hernandez LHP
Arnold Leon RHP
–RIGHT-HANDED RELIEVERS–
Carlos Fisher RHP
Sergio Perez RHP
Kyler Newby RHP
Darren Byrd RHP
Paul Smyth RHP
Josh Stinson RHP
–LEFT-HANDED RELIEVERS—
Jeff Urlaub LHP
Frank Gailey LHP
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Even if Miles Head rocks this year, wow, that’s a very weak Midland team.
Perhaps Stinson (if not lost via the DFA), Leon and Fisher will keep their game’s close. Perhaps Barfield will have lots of timely extra-base-hits. Perhaps Addison Russell will be promoted to the team in May (with Muncy and Lamas). Perhaps more River Cats will arrive. Perhaps I’m terrible at analyzing stats.
Hey, I never heard what kind of injury Ryan Doolittle had last year; when is he due back?