Lansing Lugnuts Opening Day Roster
By Jay Blue
Blue Jays from Away
The Blue Jays released their minor league opening day rosters today and we’ll bringing them to you over the next few days with our thoughts and we’ll also look at how we did in our predictions! 

Starting Pitchers
Ryan Cook
Conor Fisk
Jon Harris
Angel Perdomo
Sean Reid-Foley
Francisco Rios
Tayler Saucedo

Jonathon Wandling (DL)

How did we do?
Three out of seven. Another bad prediction but, in our own defense, it was hard to predict Ryan Borucki and Chris Rowley getting skipped over Lansing while Rios and Cook made the starting rotation. We had Fisk and Wandling as “Other Possible Starters.” We also didn’t think that Reid-Foley would be sent back to start the year in Lansing.

Relievers
Travis Bergen
Josh DeGraaf
Dusty Isaacs
Daniel Lietz
Starlyn Suriel
Colton Turner

How did we do?
Zero out of six. Well, with so many starters, there isn’t nearly as much room for relievers but boy did we miss the boat on this one. First of all, Sean Ratcliffe is injured (despite not being on the roster yet), so we’re not going to see him. I thought Jordan Romano would be assigned to Lansing when he’s better and that is still definitely a possibility. I also thought that Gabe Noyalis would be around but word is that he’s doing some mechanical adjustments and will stay in Florida for the time being. Turner Lee was released and Burgos wasn’t even in spring training. On the plus side, we did have Rios at least on the pitching staff!

Catchers
Justin Atkinson
Ryan Hissey

Max Pentecost (DL)

How did we do?
We’ll call it two out of four (ish). I had Juan Kelly on the team but, if we go by the roster provided by the Blue Jays, he’s not going to be doing much catching. I predicted that Michael De La Cruz and Danny Jansen would join Hissey in Lansing but Jansen was sent to Dunedin and De La Cruz wasn’t assigned to a team.

Infield
Conor Panas
Aaron Attaway
J.C. Cardenas
Gunnar Heidt
Juan Kelly
Connor Panas
Carl Wise

Austin Davis (DL)

How did we do?
Five out of six (ish). That five out of six is qualified by the fact that we had none of the second basemen selected although Lane Thomas is listed with the team as an outfielder. We also thought Christian Williams and Deiferson Barreto might make the jump (but definitely keep an eye on Williams, he was mashing in spring training). In the “Other Infielders” category, we had Alex Maldonado, who is apparently doing some coaching now (more on that after this weekend when we visit Lansing), and Austin Davis who is on the roster but DLed to start the year.

Outfield
Josh Almonte
Jake Anderson
Andrew Guillotte
Lane Thomas

How did we do?
Two out of four (ish). We had Almonte and Guillotte on the Lugnuts in our prediction while also having Thomas on the club (at a different position). We thought Earl Burl III might make it (but he ended up in extended spring training) while we thought Connor Panas would be in the outfield too. We had no idea where to place Anderson of course, since he’s coming back from two or three years of injuries. Finally the three remaining players on our list -- James Lynch, D.J. McKnight and Rodrigo Orozco -- are all being held in extended spring training.

Overall, the pitchers in Lansing gave us the most trouble. Since that’s our first minor league stop of the year (starting Thursday on Opening Day), we’re going to look forward to talking with these young players!

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