Here's a continuation in a series of posts where I look at the Opening Day rosters of the Tigers' various minor league teams. Again, thanks to Tigstown.com for providing these first (as far as I can tell).

Catchers

Murrian, John 
Bouchie, Andy

Murrian should be pulling down the starting duties between these two, as he was the Tigers' 9th round selection last season and Bouchie was a minor league signing who played for the Golden Baseball League's Long Beach Armada in 2009. This assignment could be taken as an encouraging sign for what the Tigers see in Murrian, as he's skipping West Michigan and can now be considered the Tigers' second best catching prospect. I'll grant you that's partly by default, but a big season in Lakeland would go a long way to letting us avoid damning him with faint praise.

Infielders

Bishop, Rawley 
Wyatt, Brent 
Pounds, Bryan 
Nunez, Gustavo 
Carrithers, Alden 
Jaime, Carmelo 
Nowlin, Billy

John Murrian isn't the only one skipping a season in Grand Rapids this season. Bishop will be making the jump, too, and at 24 he is still going to get a lot of yawns from prospect watchers if he puts up good numbers. Prospect or not, he hit well in Oneonta last season and this roster will need more of the same. Bishop is likely going to have to get used to having a number of different players to his right. Brent Wyatt, Alden Carrithers and Carmelo Jaime are all likely to get time there. Jaime will probably be the team's utility infielder and little more, but Wyatt and Carrithers will both bring good speed and on-base skills.

There isn't likely to be as much of a variable at shortstop. Nunez is the Tigers' nom du jour at shortstop after a big season in West Michigan last year. The word on him is if he's going to make it to the bigs, he's going to have to do with with batting average, speed and defense because his secondary skills need a lot of work. I'd rather that weren't the case, but if he makes more of a case as a legit shortstop prospect, I'll be happy. Rounding out the infield, you have Pounds. He's old for the level, but could be a valuable part of the team if he duplicates a 2009 season that had me calling him the Whitecaps' MVP.

Nowlin is listed as an infielder and that's probably appropriate as designated hitters really don't ever have cause to venture into the outfield. I half expected Nowlin to jump to Erie as a DH because of his bat, but he doesn't have the age issue of guys like Bishop and Pounds so there's no rush. I try to find creative ways to joke about him not having a position, but the Tigers will probably continue to slide him into left field and first base from time to time. They'll put up with any defensive liabilities as long as he anchors the lineup like he did for the Caps last season.

Outfielders

Guez, Ben 
Kaiser, Kody 
White, Chris 
Workman, Josh 
Peter, Kyle - DL

The Flying Tigers have a lot of holdover in the outfield as Kaiser, White and Workman all logged time for them last season. We'll see what happens when Peter comes back from the disabled list, but I'd look for Kaiser and Workman to hold down the corners (Kaiser in right) most games to start the season. Kaiser should get back to being one of the team's best bats if he's healthy and they'll look to Workman to be a table setter.

I expect those two to bookend Guez as the starter in center field. He showed a potent bat in Grand Rapids last season, but he'll have to remember there's something called a strike zone to avoid striking out five times as often as he walks. Otherwise, more advanced pitchers will suck the life out of his bat by taking advantage of his willingness to swing at pitches out of the zone. Getting back to White, he should serve as a capable defensive backup at any of the outfield spots.

Pitchers

Crosby, Casey 
Furbush, Charlie 
Conn, Tyler 
Crichton, Erik 
Hoffman, Matt 
Oliveros, Lester 
Putkonen, Luke 
Shawler, Anthony 
Sorensen, Mark 
Stohr, Tyler 
Villarreal, Brayan 
Wilk, Adam 
Green, Scott - DL 
Wood, Austin - DL

I purposefully avoided delineating a rotation and bullpen because it's difficult to tell from looking who will be in each. If you work your way down the list, you see Crosby, Furbush, Hoffman, Putkonen and Sorensen and think, "That's five starters". Then you keep going and see Villarreal and Wilk and it becomes a little less clear. I don't have the insider's line on who the actual starters will be, but of this group I'd look for Hoffman and Sorensen to serve as either long relievers or shadows to somebody else in the rotation.

Regardless, Crosby, Villarreal and Putkonen offer Lakeland fans some very live arms and I doubt they'll complain about Furbush and Wilk, either. Furbush is repeating at this level, but has put up good numbers when he's been healthy. Wilk will try to prove he can take his middling stuff and excellent control and turn it into success somewhere besides the Midwest League.

The bullpen for this squad might feel like a bit of a transplant of last year's Whitecaps. Tylers Conn and Stohr and Erik Crichton accounted for a lot of that pen's workload with each picking up more than 60 innings. Of the three, Stohr is the late inning, high leverage guy with Conn providing good innings in a less stressful role and Crichton often punching a lot of his hours when the game has been largely decided one way or the other. We'll see who gets closer's innings between Stohr and Oliveros, but the presence of the hard throwing Venezuelan will certainly push Conn and Crichton down a notch on the food chain.

We shouldn't forget about Shawler, either. He's pitched very capably in a swingman's role the past two seasons and with so many pitchers who have been starters in the past, I'll be curious to see how he's used. After Shawler, the makeup of the pen will depend on who's in the rotation and who isn't. What I mean by that is somebody like Villarreal could slot in as a late inning fireballer whereas that's less likely for a pitcher like Sorensen.

Conclusion 

I think this team - as currently constructed - has a good shot at being competitive in the Florida State League. On offense, they have a nice mix of on-base guys and hitters who could clear the bases. They have enough speed to keep things interesting when the bats are sleepy in the middle of the order. They also have enough prospects to keep people who don't care about the wins and losses interested. I can see them putting up some runs and their pitching staff certainly has the potential to make those runs hold up.

In fact, I think the team's main weakness is going to be callups. I see a lot of guys I expect to be viewed as expendable in Erie and with a lot of players repeating at this level, promotions could be possible for guys who establish they're ready for a new challenge. If things don't work out that way, I expect this squad to be a treat for Lakeland fans that have had to get used to some forgettable rosters the last few years.

Update: Apparently, Casey Crosby will miss his first start with a sore elbow. Hat tip to Eddie Bajek, who pointed out this link.

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