Final Cuts Announced

The Traverse City Beach Bums are now down to 24 players.  Below is a short synopsis of each position.

Outfield

The Beach Bums' outfield will consist of Mike Goetz, Mike Epping, Brad Roblin and Jake Whitesides.  Whitesides will also see time at DH and 1B.  Goetz, Epping, and Roblin all impressed during spring training both defensively and offensively.  All four outfielders are speed threats on the bases and Beach Bums' fans can expect a lot of excitement out of this group.

Infield

The Beach Bums infield includes 3B Matt Imwalle, SS Brad Miller, 2B Steve Young, and 1B Kyle Maunus.  The Beach Bums' have kept two utility infielders, Jeff Brown and slick fielding Damon Lessler.  After a difficult year defensively in 2006, Imwalle impressed the coaching staff at 3rd base this spring, only making one error during two weeks worth of intrasquads.  SS Brad Miller will pick up where Justin Holmes led off as one of the best shortstops in the league while late addition Kyle Maunus has been outstanding at 1st base and at the plate during spring training. 

Catching

The Beach Bums' will have veteran Patrick Perry along with former Oakland Athletics' farmhand John Brummett behind the plate.  Perry was the only catcher selected to the post-season All-Star Team in the CanAm League last season, which is widely considered to be a class double-A caliber independent league.  Althought this is Perry's 5th year of professional baseball, he is only an LS-1 by Frontier League standards.

Starting Pitching

The 1-2-3 combination of Bryan Rembisz, Ryan Gehring, and David Nathanson return for the Beach Bums along with newcomers to the rotation JT King and Brett Bostelman.  King, a former Brewers prospect, has looked great on the mound this spring while Bostelman, who was in the Beach Bums' bullpen last season, dropped 15 pounds in the off-season and will make the move into the 5th spot in the rotation in 2008.

Bullpen

The Beach Bums' return Matt Dillard, Jeff Williams, Nick Pepper, and Jared Locke from last year's squad along with newcomers Zac Cole, Ted Gjeldum, and Peter McEneaney.  Of the seven relievers, only Dillard and the submarining Pepper don't have the ability to hit 90 mph.  We have a great group of power arms in the bullpen this year, which should take a lot of pressure off the starting staff.