SeaWolves Announce Opening Night Roster

The Erie SeaWolves, in collaboration with their parent club the Detroit Tigers, have released the club’s 2021 Opening Night roster.

The starting rotation features five right-handed pitchers including A.J. Ladwig, Pedro Payano, Paul Richan, Elvin Rodriguez and Ricardo Pinto. Ladwig last pitched for the SeaWolves in 2018 before suffering a season-ending injury. Payano, a free agent pickup, made his Major League debut in 2019 with the Texas Rangers. Richan, a Double-A rookie, came over to the Tigers in the Nicholas Castellanos trade in 2019. Rodriguez spent the 2019 season with Class-A Lakeland posting an 11-9 record with a 3.77 ERA in 24 games and Pinto, another free agent pickup, spent time in the majors with Philadelphia and Tampa Bay.

The 11-man bullpen features a wealth of experience at the Double-A level or higher. Righties Brad Bass and Angel DeJesus and lefty Max Green are the only Double-A rookies coming out of the bullpen. Ethan DeCaster, Billy Lescher, Gerson Moreno, Wladimir Pinto and Joe Navilhon all previously spent time with the SeaWolves. Free agent pickups Cale Coshow, Henry Martinez and Mark Leiter, Jr. round out the pen. Coshow and Martinez have pitched as high as Triple-A while Leiter has spent time in the bigs with Philadelphia and Toronto.

Catching duties will be handled by veteran Juan Centeno and Jon Rosoff. Centeno has played 117 games over seven seasons in the major leagues while Rosoff rejoins Erie after a brief stint with the SeaWolves in 2019.

Tigers fourth round selection in 2019 out of UCLA, Ryan Kreidler will make his Double-A debut with the SeaWolves. He is currently rated as the #25 prospect in the Tigers system according to MLB.com. Johnsonburg, PA native Cole Peterson returns to Erie where he spent time during the 2019 season. Josh Lester will return to Erie for his third season after spending parts of the 2018 and 2019 seasons with the SeaWolves. Rounding out the Erie infield are John Valente, Yariel Gonzalez and Drew Ward.

Detroit Tigers first round selection (#5 overall) of 2019 and #2 overall prospect Riley Greene anchors the outfield. Greene and Kerry Carpenter, the Tigers 19th round pick in 2019, are both Double-A rookies. Dylan Rosa returns to Erie after a brief stint in 2019 with the SeaWolves. Jacob Robson last played in Erie in 2018 and played in 112 games with Triple-A Toledo in 2019.

The SeaWolves open the 2021 season on Tuesday, May 4 at First Energy Stadium against the Reading Fightin Phils. Opening Night, presented by Plyler Entry Systems, is Tuesday, May 11 at UPMC Park. Single game tickets for the month of May are available now. Tickets can be purchased at SeaWolves.com, at the UPMC Park box office or by calling 814.456.1300.