It was expected to be the first, but perhaps not this soon… this afternoon the Harrisburg Senators announced its 2013 Opening Day Roster.
As was the case last year, there are more than 25 names here, which means one or more of them will be placed on the DL prior to the Sens’ home opener next Thursday (watchlist players in bold, notables in italics):
| PITCHERS | INFIELDERS | OUTFIELDERS | CATCHERS |
| Aaron Barrett | Ricky Hague | Justin Bloxom | Jeff Howell |
| Brian Broderick | Josh Johnson | Brian Goodwin | Sandy Leon |
| Caleb Clay | Jose Lozada | Destin Hood | Kris Watts |
| Paul Demny | Sean Nicol | Steve Souza | |
| Marcos Frias | Anthony Rendon | ||
| Trevor Holder | Matt Skole | ||
| Neil Holland | |||
| Nathan Karns | |||
| Ian Krol | |||
| Pat Lehman | |||
| Matt Swynenberg | |||
| Blake Treinen | |||
| Rob Wort |
As predicted this morning, this is the roster to watch — 13 of ’em from the 2013 edition including two notables, though it remains to be seen whether Swynenberg is fully healed. I’m sure some folks are disappointed to see Rendon here instead of Syracuse, but “conservative” has been the watchword for prospect development under Rizzo (with some notable exceptions like Goodwin and that Bryce Harper kid).
There are worse things for Rendon (or us as fans) than for him to savage Eastern League pitching for a few weeks before moving along.
A couple of guys from Syracuse that I was surprised to see: Sandy Leon and Pat Lehman. Now, both could be here only on paper until the Syracuse roster is settled, but it could also be the classic “pushdown” scenario where replacement-level guys are sent to upstate New York instead.
We’re not going to know until the Chiefs roster is unveiled, which isn’t necessarily next — though this looks promising for Danny Rosenbaum and Jeff Kobernus.
Otherwise, it’s a familiar group of names, with roughly half of these guys spending some time in Harrisburg last season. Both Aaron Barrett and Matt Skole are moving up from Potomac despite limited time in Woodbridge, which is appropriate given their age and developmental path (otherwise, why bother sending them to the AFL).