ISOTOPES UNVEIL 2023 OPENING DAY ROSTER

The Albuquerque Isotopes, in junction with the Colorado Rockies, have announced their 2023 Opening Day roster, a club that features 12 players who have previously spent time in the Duke City – 11 from last season.

First-year manager Pedro Lopez will welcome 16 new players to Albuquerque.

The returnees are headlined by first baseman Michael Toglia, a first-round pick from UCLA in 2019 who burst onto the scene with the Isotopes last summer. After an August promotion from Double-A Hartford, Toglia hit seven homers in 17 contests for Albuquerque before making his Major League debut with Colorado in September.

Last year’s Defensive Player of the Year Jonathan Morales is back for a second stint in the Duke City as well as outfielders Brenton Doyle and Jimmy Herron, who both earned their first Triple-A experience near the end of the 2022 season.

Coco Montes, who was voted Mr. Hustle by his teammates last September, returns for his second year as an Isotope after blasting a career-high 20 home runs last year in Albuquerque.

Catching duties at the outset should be shared by Morales and Grayson Greiner, a late signing after his release from the Minnesota Twins organization. Greiner, who has seen time in the Major Leagues with Detroit and Arizona, is tied with two others as the tallest catcher to ever play in a big league game at 6’6”.

Right-handed pitchers Noah Davis and Karl Kauffmann are expected to help anchor Albuquerque’s rotation. Davis spent a majority of last season with Double-A Hartford before making one start with the Isotopes in late September. He was then promoted to Colorado and tossed one inning of relief in the season finale. Kauffmann was a mid-season promotion from Double-A and started 13 contests for Albuquerque a year ago.

Jeff Criswell, a second-round pick by Oakland in 2020 who was traded to Colorado in the offseason, should be a key cog in the starting rotation along with Peter Lambert. Before injuries slowed Lambert’s progression over the last three years, he was a top pitching prospect in the Rockies organization and solidified a spot in the Major League rotation in 2019. Criswell is the youngest member of Albuquerque’s Opening Day roster at 24 years and 20 days old.

Returnees Logan Allen, PJ Poulin and Riley Pint should also eat innings out of Albuquerque’s bullpen. Matt Carasiti, who was a Triple-A All-Star while representing the Isotopes in 2017, is back in the Rockies organization.

Fernando Abad is the elder statesman on the Opening Day roster at 37-years-old. Abad is beginning his 20th season in professional baseball with his 12th different organization. He has the most amount of Major League service time on Albuquerque’s roster with six years and 169 days. Abad is one of three relievers from last year’s Tacoma Rainiers squad that make up the Isotopes bullpen this year, along with right-handers Matt Koch and Phillips Valdez.

Four members of the initial 2023 Isotopes squad broke into professional baseball as first-round draft picks. Davis was a first-round selection by Cincinnati in 2019 before being traded to Colorado two years later. Pint and Toglia were selected in the opening round by the Rockies in 2016 and 2019, respectively, while Cole Tucker (Pittsburgh, 2014) starts his first season in the Rockies organization.

The Opening Day roster features 14 members who have seen time in the Major Leagues: Abad, Allen, Carasiti, Davis, Koch, Lambert, Valdez, Greiner, Toglia, and Tucker, as well as pitchers Gavin Hollowell, Nick Mears, Josh Rogers and infielder Nolan Jones.

Just six players slated to begin the season with Albuquerque have yet to make their Triple-A debuts: pitchers Blair Calvo, Stephen Jones and Hollowell along with infielders Aaron Schunk, Hunter Stovall and outfielder Jameson Hannah.

The season is scheduled to get underway with a 6:05 pm MST first pitch in Round Rock, Texas, tonight against the Express.

RHP: Blair Calvo, Matt Carasiti, Jeff Criswell, Noah Davis, Gavin Hollowell, Stephen Jones, Karl Kauffmann, Matt Koch, Peter Lambert, Nick Mears, Riley Pint, Phillips Valdez

LHP: Fernando Abad, Logan Allen, PJ Poulin, Josh Rogers

Catchers: Grayson Greiner, Jonathan Morales

Infielders: Nolan Jones, Connor Kaiser, Coco Montes, Aaron Schunk, Hunter Stovall, Michael Toglia, Cole Tucker

Outfielders: Brenton Doyle, Jameson Hannah, Jimmy Herron