On the eve of pitchers and catchers reporting for the Boston Red Sox, the team has officially announced the non-roster invitees to spring training.
Here's the release:
FORT MYERS, FL-The Boston Red Sox today announced that 17 players will attend the team's Major League Spring Training camp as non-roster invitees.
Executive Vice President/General Manager Ben Cherington made the announcement.
Matt Barnes, RHP – Barnes, 23, spent most of 2013 with Double-A Portland before a late-August promotion to Triple-A Pawtucket, combining to go 6-10 with a 4.13 ERA in 25 starts, including a 2.55 ERA in his final 13 outings. His average of 11.3 strikeouts per 9.0 innings was the best rate among pitchers with at least 100.0 innings at Double-A or above. Boston's first overall selection in the 2011 June Draft (19th overall), the right-hander has a 3.48 ERA with 275 strikeouts in 233.0 innings over two seasons in the Red Sox system.
Corey Brown, OF – Brown, 28, has played in 36 career major league games, all with the Nationals over the last three seasons, appearing at all three outfield positions. A supplemental first round selection of the Athletics in 2007, he has combined for 123 home runs and 82 stolen bases over seven minor league seasons between the Oakland (2007-10) and Washington (2011-13) systems. The left-handed batter has spent most of the last three seasons at Triple-A Syracuse, where he hit .254 with 26 doubles, a triple, 19 home runs, and 56 RBI in 107 games in 2013.
Miguel Celestino, RHP – Celestino, 24, spent the 2013 season, his first exclusively as a reliever, with Double-A Portland where he went 1-9 with a 6.13 ERA in a staff-leading 39 appearances. Originally acquired from the Seattle Mariners via trade in March 2010, the Dominican native has a career minor league record of 36-32 with a 4.07 ERA in 147 games (90 starts). Celestino was signed by the Mariners as an international free agent in 2006.
John Ely, RHP – Ely, 27, missed the majority of last season after undergoing Tommy John surgery on his right elbow in April. His only appearance of the 2013 season came for Triple-A Oklahoma City in the Houston Astros organization. The Dodgers and Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the Year in 2012, Ely has appeared in 25 games (19 starts) for his major league career, all with Los Angeles, going 4-13 with a 5.70 ERA. He was a third-round selection of the White Sox in the 2007 June Draft.
Rich Hill, LHP – Hill, 33, is in his second stint with the Red Sox in 2014 after having played for the club from 2010-12. Last season, the Milton, MA native pitched for the Cleveland Indians, going 1-2 with a 6.28 ERA in a career-high 63 relief appearances. A fourth-round selection of the Chicago Cubs in the 2002 June Draft, Hill is 24-22 with a 4.74 ERA in 181 major league games (70 starts) for the Cubs (2005-08), Baltimore Orioles (2009), Red Sox (2010-12), and Indians (2013).
Dalier Hinojosa, RHP – Signed by the Red Sox as a free agent in October, the 28-year-old is entering his first professional season in the United States after nine campaigns in Cuba's Major League Serie Nacional for the Guantanamo Indios. He began his pro career in Cuba during the 2004-05 season as an 18-year-old, and in his final year went 9-7 with a 3.40 ERA, 115 strikeouts, and 35 walks in 19 games, including 18 starts. The right-hander also participated in many international tournaments for the Cuban National Baseball Team.
Tommy Layne, LHP – Layne, 29, split 2013 between Triple-A Tucson and San Diego, posting a 2.08 ERA in 14 appearances for the Padres. He has a career record of 2-2 with a 2.84 ERA in 40 games in the majors, all for San Diego (2012-13). Layne was originally selected by the Arizona Diamondbacks as a 26th-round pick in the 2007 June Draft.
Deven Marrero, SS – In his first full professional season last year, the 23-year-old Marrero was named Red Sox Minor League Base Runner of the Year after stealing 27 bases in 29 attempts (93.1%) between High-A Salem and Double-A Portland, the best rate among all minor leaguers with at least 25 thefts. The right-handed batter combined to hit .252 with 20 doubles, two homers, and 26 RBI in 104 games, all at shortstop, and made just six errors for a .988 fielding percentage. He was Boston's first selection in the 2012 June Draft (24th overall).
Mike McCoy, INF/OF – McCoy, 33, enters his first season in the Red Sox system. He has played in 170 career major league games with Colorado (2009) and Toronto (2010-12) and is one of four active major leaguers with experience at every defensive position other than first base and catcher. He spent the entire 2013 season with the Blue Jays' Triple-A club in Buffalo, playing at second base (34 games), shortstop (31), third base (16), and the outfield (29). A right-handed batter, he hit .245 with 15 doubles, a triple, four homers, and 22 RBI while leading Bisons batters with 59 walks and 29 stolen bases.
Heiker Meneses, INF – Meneses is entering his seventh season in the Red Sox farm system and his first in major league camp. The 22-year-old spent the majority of 2013 with Double-A Portland before making his Triple-A debut with Pawtucket in August, and combined for a .253 average in a career-high 110 games while splitting time between shortstop (55 games) and second base (54). Signed as an international free agent out of Venezuela in 2007, he has hit above .300 against lefties in all three full minor league seasons, including a .312 clip against southpaws last year.
Jose Mijares, LHP – Mijares, 29, made 60 relief appearances for the San Francisco Giants last season, going 0-3 with a 4.22 ERA. For his major league career, the Venezuelan native is 6-11 with a 3.23 ERA in 324 games between the Minnesota Twins (2008-11), Kansas City Royals (2012), and Giants (2012-13). Signed by the Twins as an international free agent in 2002, Mijares pitched out of the bullpen for San Francisco on their run to the 2012 World Series title.
Henry Owens, LHP – Owens split last season between High-A Salem and Double-A Portland and led all full-season minor league qualifiers with a .177 opponent average while finishing second in the minor leagues with 169 strikeouts. The left-hander paced Boston's full-season farmhands with a 2.67 ERA and tied for the most wins in the system (11) en route to Red Sox Minor League Pitcher of the Year honors. A Carolina League Mid-Season All-Star, the 21-year-old threw 19.1 hitless innings from July 11-28. He was a supplemental round selection by Boston with the 36th pick in the 2011 June Draft.
Noe Ramirez, RHP – In two seasons in the Red Sox system, the 24-year-old Ramirez has fanned 157 batters in 160.1 innings, including 75 strikeouts in 75.2 frames between High-A Salem (21 games) and Double-A Portland (15 games) in 2013, his first action out of the bullpen. The fourth-round selection in the 2011 June Draft combined for a 2.38 ERA and held opponents to a .236 average, including a .217 AVG/.271 OBP/.283 SLG line against right-handed hitters. He also helped the Surprise Seguaros to the Arizona Fall League Championship, ranking among AFL leaders in ERA (8th, 1.93) and WHIP (4th, 0.86).
Travis Shaw, 1B – Last season, Shaw tied for third in the Red Sox farm system with 16 home runs while hitting .221 with 21 doubles, four triples, 50 RBI, and a team-leading 78 walks at Double-A Portland. The 23-year-old then helped the Surprise Saguaros to the Arizona Fall League championship and was named to the AFL's Top Prospect Team after ranking among league leaders in home run rate (1st, 12.2 AB/HR), average (6th, .361), on-base percentage (5th, .452), slugging (2nd, .705), and OPS (2nd, 1.157). Signed as a ninth-round selection in the 2011 June Draft, Shaw's 35 home runs over the last two seasons are one shy of the lead among Red Sox farmhands.
Brandon Snyder, INF – Snyder, 27, returns for a second season in the Red Sox organization after splitting time in 2013 between Triple-A Pawtucket (68 games) and Boston (27). With the Sox last year, he played at third base (17 games, 10 starts), first base (six games, one start), and left field (one game), and went 9-for-50 (.180) at the plate. He also hit .261 with 16 doubles, a triple, 10 homers, and 37 RBI at Triple-A last season. A first round selection by the Orioles in the 2005 June Draft, Snyder has played in the majors in each of the last four seasons with Baltimore (2010-11), Texas (2012), and Boston (2013).
Blake Swihart, C – Swihart, 21, spent all of 2013 with High-A Salem, where he hit .298 with 29 doubles, seven triples, two homers, and 42 RBI in 103 games and was named a Carolina League Mid-Season All-Star. The switch-hitter hit safely in 25 of his last 28 regular season games, leading the league with a .377 average in that stretch. He also earned Red Sox Minor League Defensive Player of the Year honors after pacing CL backstops in caught stealing percentage (41.5, 44 of 106). The 26th overall selection in the first round of the 2011 June Draft, Swihart has played three seasons in the Red Sox farm system.
Brayan Villarreal, RHP – Acquired from the Detroit Tigers last July as a part of the trade that brought Jake Peavy to Boston, Villarreal, 26, posted a 1.25 ERA in nine appearances for Triple-A Pawtucket between the regular and postseason. For his major league career, between the Tigers (2011-13) and Red Sox (2013), he has gone 4-8 with a 4.56 ERA and 86 strikeouts in 75.0 innings over 74 appearances. Villarreal, a native of Venezuala, was signed by the Tigers as an international free agent in 2005.
Eight of the 17 invitees have major league experience, including Brown, Ely, Hill, Layne, McCoy, Mijares, Snyder, and Villarreal. Snyder and Villarreal saw action for the Red Sox in 2013.
Pitchers and catchers will participate in their first on-field workout at the Fenway South Player Development Complex in Lee County on Monday, February 17. The first full squad workout of the Red Sox spring training camp is on Thursday, February 20.
2014 NON-ROSTER INVITEES
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Pitchers (10)
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Catchers (1)
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Infielders (5)
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Outfielders (1)
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RHP Matt Barnes
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Blake Swihart
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Deven Marrero
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Corey Brown
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RHP Miguel Celestino
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Mike McCoy
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RHP John Ely
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Heiker Meneses
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LHP Rich Hill
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Travis Shaw
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RHP Dalier Hinojosa
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Brandon Snyder
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LHP Tommy Layne
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LHP Jose Mijares
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LHP Henry Owens
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RHP Noe Ramirez
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RHP Brayan Villarreal
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