Salem Red Sox announce 2015 roster

After two straight trips to the Carolina League playoffs, including a 2013 Mills Cup Championship, the Salem Red Sox return for their seventh season as the High-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox.

Manager Carlos Febles is back for his second season with the Red Sox after guiding the squad to a 68-68 record and a postseason berth last year. The staff is rounded out by pitching coach Paul Abbott, hitting coach Jon Nunnally and assistant coach Mickey Jiang, all of whom are in their first year with Salem.

This season’s team features six players ranked in the top 30 of Baseball America’s annual organizational prospect rankings (rank in parentheses). Outfielder Manuel Margot (7^th) is the highest-rated prospect and is joined in the top 30 by infielders Sam Travis (12^th) andWendell Rijo (24^th) plus pitchers Trey Ball (15^th), Teddy Stankiewicz (20^th) and Joe Gunkel (26^th).

Margot, rated as the fastest base runner and best defensive outfielder in the Red Sox system, headlines the 15 position players on the team. He is joined in the outfield by returner Anuery Tavarez, who led Salem with 11 home runs last season, along with newcomers Forrestt Allday, Franklin Guzman and Cole Sturgeon, who did appear for Salem in the Carolina League playoffs.

Travis and Rijo will hold down the right side of the infield at first base and second base, respectively. Travis is the highest-rated first baseman in the Red Sox system while Rijo is the youngest player on the team at just 19 years old.

Jose Vinicio and Mario Martinez return in the infield for the Red Sox as does Oscar Tejeda, who was a 2010 Carolina League All-Star with Salem and a 2014 All-Star with Potomac. Last year’s 18^th round selection, Jordan Betts, comes to Salem after becoming the first Lowell Spinner (Short Season-A) to hit double-digit homers in a season since 2008. Tzu-Wei Lin rounds out the seven infielders after spending all of last year with Low-A Greenville.

The Red Sox will employ three catchers to start the year, including two returners in Jake Romanski and Jordan Weems. Five-year veteran Carlos Coste will get his first taste of High-A as the third catcher on the roster.

Salem’s pitching staff looks to be especially strong with Ball, Stankiewicz and Gunkel serving as the top prospects. Of the 12 pitchers on the preliminary roster, eight were selected in the top 10 rounds of their respective drafts: Ball (1^st, 2013), Stankiewicz (2^nd, 2013), Austin Maddox (3^rd, 2012), Kevin McAvoy (4^th, 2014), Kyle Kraus (7^th, 2012), Mike Adams (7^th, 2013), Jacob Dahlstrand (10^th, 2010) and Taylor Grover (10^th, 2013).

In addition to the prospect-laden group, the Red Sox will have Australia-native Daniel McGrath and Dominican Republic-native German Taveras moving up from Greenville. Jorge Marban, a free agent signing out of independent baseball, will make his first stop in the Red Sox system with Salem.

Overall, 11 of the 27 players on the roster played in Salem last season. The Red Sox also have four players from the 2014 Draft who have already ascended through Lowell and/or Greenville. Two players will have to be placed on the disabled list prior to the season opener to satisfy the Carolina League limit of 25 players.

The Salem Red Sox begin the 2015 season on Thursday, April 9 at 7 p.m. against the Carolina Mudcats, the High-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves. The home opener is set for Thursday, April 16 against Carolina at 7:05 p.m. For tickets and more information, call (540) 389-333 or visit salemsox.com.