After beginning Spring Training with 28 players, the Grand Prairie AirHogs have trimmed their roster down to 23 for the beginning of their championship defense on Thursday. Game time is 7:30 p.m. at brand-new Uni-Trade Stadium in Laredo, Texas, against the new Laredo Lemurs club.
Manager Ricky VanAsselberg's club has 12 pitchers and 11 position players, and must be trimmed to 22 after 10 days of the regular season.
The starting rotation contains two returners from the championship squad - righties John Brownell and Lance Janke - along with three men who played in the AirHogs' division last year - righty Nick DeBarr and lefty Cody White, who were with the Fort Worth Cats, and righty Josh Strawn who was with Shreveport-Bossier.
Brownell, who went 11-5 with a 3.56 ERA in 2011, will get the nod in the opener, followed by DeBarr, Janke and Strawn against Laredo. White, who missed most of Spring Training while on his honeymoon, will start the home opener on Monday, May 21 against El Paso.
In the bullpen, the AirHogs feature two southpaws, veteran closer Justin Dowdy and sidearmer Ronnie Morales, along with submarine righty Derrick Miramontes and more conventionally-throwing righties Jakob Cunningham, Griffin Bailey, Mike Hart and Mark Herrera.
Miramontes was acquired in one of the two trades VanAsselberg made just before the roster deadline, getting him from Wichita for future considerations.
The two men that those pitchers will be throwing to are both familiar sites to AirHogs fans, with both catchers from 2011 returning to the club - righty-swinging Chris McMurray and lefty-hitting Zane Chavez.
In the infield, the other late acquisition, Bridger Hunt (traded from New Jersey of the Can-Am League for future considerations), will likely start at second base, with sluggers Andres Rodriguez, Trent Lockwood and Brian Myrow and Japanese import Yasutsugu Nishimoto manning the other infield spots along with a DH rotation.
Offseason acquisition Keanon Simon will begin the year in centerfield, with a pair of returners in the corners - Greg Porter in right and David Thomas in left. Rookie Kenny Held also made the club and is expected to be a utility man able to play outfield, infield and catcher.
Aside from being managed by his predecessor in Grand Prairie, Pete Incaviglia, the Lemurs also feature several familiar faces to VanAsselberg, with pitchers Mark Haynes and Jon Hunton and catcher Brian Peterson having played for him in either Shreveport-Bossier or Grand Prairie.
The Lemurs' starter to oppose Brownell on Thursday night is lefty Todd Privet, who was 8-6 with a 3.36 ERA between Windy City in the Frontier League and Fort Wayne of the single-A Midwest League in 2011.