Hartford Yard Goats Announce 2021 Opening Day Roster 

(Hartford, CT) The Hartford Yard Goats Baseball Club, the Double-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies, announced its 2021 Opening Day Roster. 14 pitchers and 14 position players have been assigned to Hartford, including a pair of the Rockies top 10 prospects as listed by MLB.com (#2 LHP Ryan Rolison & #9 INF Elehuris Montero). The Yard Goats have three players on the Rockies 40-man MLB Roster (LHP Yoan Aybar, RHP Tommy Doyle and Montero). The opening day roster includes 24 newcomers along with 4 returning players to Hartford. The Rockies set the roster and are responsible for all the player transactions during the season. Since the inaugural season of 2016, the Yard Goats have produced 33 Major League players, including six from the 2019 Hartford club.

2021 Hartford Yard Goats Opening Day Roster

LHP Yoan Aybar (Bani, DR), RHP Jake Bird (Newhall, CA), RHP Matt Dennis (Arlington Heights, IL), RHP Tommy Doyle (Vienna, VA), RHP Julian Fernandez (Boca Chica, DR), RHP Will Gaddis (Merrimack, NH), LHP Brian Gonzalez (Miramar, FL), RHP Nate Harris (San Antonio, TX), LHP Nick Kennedy (Tampa, FL), LHP Ryan Rolison (Jackson, TN), RHP Garrett Schilling (Clawson, MI), LHP Colten Schmidt (La Porte, TX), RHP Tate Scioneux (Reserve, LA), LHP Reagan Todd (Centennial, CO), C Max George (Parker, CO), C Javier Guevara (Valencia, VZ), C Greg Jones (Maryville, TN), INF Sean Bouchard (San Diego, CA), INF Todd Czinege (Overland Park, KS), INF Matt McLaughlin (Mountain View, CA), INF Elehuris Montero (Santo Domingo, DR), INF Coco Montes (Coral Gables, FL), INF Taylor Snyder (Elk Ridge, UT), OF Willie Abreu (Hialeah, FL), OF Casey Golden (Greensboro, NC), OF Jameson Hannah (Flower Mound, TX), OF Matt Hearn (San Jose, CA), OF Manny Melendez (Barquisimeto, VZ).

Yard Goats Prospect Watch…

#2 Ranked Prospect Ryan Rolison was the Rockies 1st round pick (22nd overall) in 2018 (University of Mississippi) and joins the Yard Goats for his first season. He was invited to MLB Spring Training and went 2-0 with a 5.19 ERA in 4 games (1GS) with Rockies. The lefty spent entire 2019 season at High-A Lancaster (6-7, 4.87 22GS) and recorded 118 strikeouts in 116.1 innings, and was named a California League All-Star selection. Rolison was also selected as a MiLB.com Organization All-Star in 2018.

#9 Ranked Prospect Elehuris Montero was acquired by Rockies on February 1, 2021 and part of the trade with the Cardinals for All-Star 3B Nolan Arenado. The first-year Yard Goats infielder went 3-9 (.333) with an RBI in 10 games for Rockies in 2021 MLB Spring Training. He is currently on the Rockies 40-man MLB roster. In 2018, was named the Midwest League Most Valuable Player after batting .322 with 28 doubles, 15 homers and 69 RBI at Low-A Peoria. In addition to league MVP he was named Baseball America Low-A All-Star, MWL Mid-Season and Post Season All-Star, MWL Player of month in July, MWL Player of week on July 8 2018. He was originally signed by Cardinals as International free agent in 2015.

#13 Ranked Prospect Jameson Hannah was acquired by Rockies from Reds on November 25, 2020 as part of the exchange for RHP Jeff Hoffman. The first-year Yard Goats outfielder was invited to 2021 MLB Spring Training as non-roster player and batted .357 with 5 doubles, home run and 5 RBI in 16 games with Colorado. He spent most of 2019 season at Class-A Stockton, and batted .283 with 25 doubles, 3 triples, 2 homers and 31 RBI in 92 games and was Named California League Mid-Season All-Star. The Flower Mound, TX native was acquired by Reds from Athletics in exchange for RHP Tanner Roark on July 31, 2019. He was originally drafted by the Athletics in the 2nd round in 2018 (Dallas Baptist University).

#22 Ranked Prospect Tommy Doyle was drafted by the Rockies 2nd round in 2017 (University of Virginia) and is currently on the Rockies 40-man MLB Roster. The first-year Yard Goats right-handed pitcher made three relief appearances for Colorado in 2020 (6ER/2.1 IP). He made his Major League debut, September 23 @ San Francisco (1 IP 4H 2R 0BB 1K) and pitched scoreless inning with strikeout, September 25 @ Arizona. Doyle recorded save in scoreless inning in 2021 MLB Spring Training, February 28 vs Arizona. He enters 2021 season with a 3.12 ERA and 40 career saves in 110 games (3 seasons) in minor leagues. In 2019 at High-A Lancaster, posted a 3.25 ERA and league leading 19 saves in 38 relief outings and was named to California League Post Season All-Star team.

Returning Star Power…

Outfielder Manny Melendez returns to the Yard Goats for second season at Hartford after spending the entire 2019 campaign at Hartford. He batted .258 with 22 doubles, 2 triples, 6 home runs and 47 RBI in 128 games, and led the club (ranked 4th in Eastern League) with 129 hits. He tied for the team lead with 60 runs scored, ranked 2nd on club with 22 stolen bases and 3rd on club with 22 doubles. Melendez established career highs in games, at-bats, hits and doubles. He enjoyed a 12-game hit-streak from July 15-26, and an 11-game hit-streak from July 28-August 9.

How the Yard Goats 2021 Opening Day Roster was Built: (18) Draft Picks, (3) Trades, (4) MiLB Free Agents, (3) International Free Agents

Yard Goats by the State/Country

California (4), Colorado (2), Florida (4), Illinois (1), Kansas (1), Louisiana (1), Michigan (1), New Hampshire (1), North Carolina (1), Tennessee (2), Texas (3), Utah (1), Virginia (1), Dominican Republic (3), Venezuela (2).