Pawtucket roster full of depth, major league experience

The Triple-A Pawtucket Red Sox will enter the 2016 season with a roster full of big league experience and a handful of prospects. Nine PawSox have already exceeded rookie limits in the MLB, while four of five starting pitchers and seven of nine likely starting position players have already made their major league debut. That said, the squad will feature some top prospects, including five players ranked in the top-20 on SoxProspects.com.

A few members of the PawSox may well make their mark in Boston before season's end. Left-handed pitchers Henry Owens and Roenis Elias competed for the fifth spot in Boston’s starting rotation during Spring Training, but lost it to Steven Wright. Catcher Christian Vazquez is expected to join the PawSox at the beginning of the season. He captured a starting role with the Red Sox in 2014 before Tommy John surgery sidelined him last season. He will start in Triple-A in attempts of returning to form.

While the Red Sox’ top five prospects, as ranked by SoxProspects.com, are concentrated at the lower levels of the organization, the PawSox will start the year with four of the next six players on the site's list. First baseman Sam Travis and infielder Marco Hernandez (pictured) are coming off impressive Spring Training performances at big league camp and will look to carry that momentum into their first full seasons at Triple-A. Meanwhile, left-handed starting pitcher Brain Johnson and infielder Deven Marrero are veterans of the PawSox, looking for impressive campaigns to propel them to the next level.

Brennan Boesch and Bryce Brentz are depth options in the outfield, but begin the year on the disabled list. Boesch remains out indefinitely with a broken right wrist he suffered on March 18. Alex Speier of the Boston Globe reported March 25 that Brentz will miss a few weeks with an oblique injury. 

The PawSox open their season April 7 at McCoy Stadium against Buffalo.

The entire Pawtucket Red Sox roster is as follows:

Pitchers
Henry Owens
Roenis Elias
Sean O'Sullivan
Brian Johnson
Heath Hembree
Edwin Escobar
Pat Light
Anthony Varvaro
Kyle Martin
William Cuevas
Jorge Marban
Roman Mendez
Robby Scott

Catchers
Dan Bethea
Sandy Leon
Dan Butler

Infielders
Sam Travis
Marco Hernandez
Deven Marrero
Josh Rutledge
Chris Dominguez
Sean Coyle

Outfielder

Ryan LaMarre
Allen Craig
Justin Maxwell
Chris Marrero

Disabled List
Brennan Boesch
Bryce Brentz

Photo Credit: Marco Hernandez by Kelly O'Connor

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