Sacramento River Cats Announce Opening Roster - PCL

MLN - THE RAW FEED - www.mlntherawfeed.com - WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. – In conjunction with the Oakland A’s, the Sacramento River Cats have announced their 2008 Opening Day roster.  The team has also announced that left-handed pitcher Greg Smith (acquired by the A’s in the offseason trade of Dan Haren to the Arizona Diamondbacks) will start Thursday’s season-opening game in Tacoma against the Rainiers (Triple-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners).  Some highlights from this year’s roster:
 
RISING STARS - The Cats roster is loaded with heralded prospects, with two in particular (outfielder Carlos Gonzalez and starting pitcher Gio Gonzalez) amongst the top prospects in all of baseball.  Carlos Gonzalez was acquired from Arizona in the offseason trade that sent Haren to the D-Backs and Gio Gonzalez was acquired in the deal that sent Nick Swisher to the White Sox.  The two are also the two youngest players on the ’08 Cats, with both being 22-years old.
 
LOCAL FLAVOR - Two members of the Cats’ pitching staff are local products.  Left-hander Dallas Braden hails from Stockton and pitched at
ADVERTISEMENT American River College while fellow southpaw Brad Kilby is an Elk Grove native and Laguna Creek High School Graduate (Brad’s brother, Bryan, is a baseball coach at Elk Grove’s Franklin High School).
 
RETURNING CHAMPIONS - Thirteen (13) members of the Cats’ Opening Day roster (all active and inactive players) played a part in last year’s championship season, including starting pitcher Brad Knox (who started and won the decisive Game 3 of the PCL Championship Series versus New Orleans) and reliever Jerry Blevins (whose call-up in time for the postseason breathed life into the team’s bullpen; the left-hander dominated playoff opponents by striking out 20 of the 33 batters he faced).
 
YOUTH MOVEMENT - Only one (starting pitcher Chris Gissell) of the thirty-one players on the Opening Day roster (including inactive players on the disabled list) is over the age of 30.
 
SOUTHPAW HEAVY - The Cats’ pitching staff includes eight (8) left-handers (Smith, G. Gonzalez, Braden, Blevins, Kilby, Dan Meyer, Troy Cate and Ryan Wing).
 
Individual tickets for the River Cats’ 2008 regular season home opener on Friday, April 11th against the Las Vegas 51s (Triple-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers) at Raley Field (7:05 p.m.) are currently available at the Raley Field Ticket Office or online at Rivercats.com.  Premier seating at every River Cats game throughout the 2008 season can be secured through purchase of River Cats Full Season Tickets, Mini Plans or Group Packages.  2008 River Cats Season Tickets or Mini Plans can be purchased at the Raley Field Ticket Office or by calling the River Cats Ticket Hotline at (916) 371-HITS.  For more information about the 2008 River Cats season, visit www.rivercats.com.  For information on other events at Raley Field, visit www.raleyfield.com.
 

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