For a Cape League fan, the trickling in of rosters is one of the little joys of winter.
It’s less of a trickling this year. More of a deluge.
And I’m not complaining.
As you’ve probably seen, Commissioner Paul Galop released every preliminary roster on the league’s web site. No more wondering who will post a roster next, and no more waiting until June to see Chatham’s list.
By my count, there are 258 players currently on the rosters. It’ll change, of course, but all in all, we’ve got a pretty good and very early idea of the players who will arrive on the Cape a few months from now.
I will do my normal early look features once the college season gets going, but I thought I’d highlight some of the bigger names I noticed on my first look at the rosters I haven’t written about yet (I’ve already run through Wareham, Cotuit and Hyannis). These are just names that jumped out. There are plenty of other potential stars.
Bourne
Anthony Rendon – 3B – Rice – Probably the top freshman in the nation last year. Might have played in Bourne if not for an injury that kept him out all summer.
Anthony Meo – RHP – Coastal Carolina – At my real job, I actually covered Meo in high school. He’s a Rhode Island native who had a fantastic first season at Coastal.
Pierre LePage – IF – Connecticut – The heart and soul is back.
Brewster
Rob Brantly – C – UC Riverside – Top prospect in the Northwoods League in ’09.
Troy Channing – 3B – St. Mary’s – Hit .379 with 20 HR as a freshman.
Chatham
Brian Humphries – OF – Pepperdine – One of the top recruits in the country a year ago.
Aaron Westlake – IF – Vanderbilt – SEC batting champ last year.
Falmouth
Matt Purke – LHP – TCU – Maybe the biggest name. He was the 14th overall pick in the 2009 draft.
B.A. Vollmuth – SS – Southern Miss – He really emerged last summer and could be a top prospect this summer.
Harwich
Mikie Mahtook – OF – LSU – One of the heroes of last year’s College World Series.
Matty Ott – RHP – LSU – Made a huge splash as the Tigers’ closer.
Orleans
Mitchell Lambson – LHP – Arizona State – Had 99 strikeouts as a freshman.
Kolten Wong – OF – Hawaii – Hit .341 with 11 HR and made Team USA last year.
Y-D
Trevor Bauer – RHP – UCLA – Had a huge freshman season then spent the summer with Team USA.
Alex Meyer – RHP – Kentucky – Big hype last year as a freshman.
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