Round Rock Express Announce Preliminary 2019 Roster

ROUND ROCK, Texas - In conjunction with the Houston Astros, the Round Rock Express announced their preliminary roster for the 2019 season on Wednesday afternoon. This year's squad features nine of the top 25 prospects in the Astros organization, including four of the top 100 prospects in baseball, according to MLB.com.
The top three prospects in the Astros organization are all slated to begin the year with the Express as #1 RHP Forrest Whitley , #2 OF Kyle Tucker and #3 OF Yordan Alvarez were named to the squad. Whitley enters the season as the #7 prospect in all of baseball while Tucker checks in at #8. Alvarez is tabbed as the #44 prospect in the nation entering this season.
#5 Astros prospect RHP Corbin Martin as well as #9 prospect RHP Cionel Pérez, #20 prospect RHP Dean Deetz and #24 prospect RHP Rogelio Armenteros join a loaded pitching staff. Martin was recently tabbed as the #80 prospect in baseball by MLB.com. Rounding out the top 25 Astros prospects to begin the year with the Express are #14 C Garrett Stubbs and #16 INF/OF Myles Straw .
Eight members of the 2019 Express preliminary roster have logged major league service time with the Astros, including Deetz, Perez, Straw, Tucker, LHP Reymin Guduan , RHP Brady Rodgers , INF A.J. Reed and OF Derek Fisher .
Just three players will be making their Triple-A debut with Round Rock this season: Martin, Whitley and LHP Ryan Hartman . The remaining 22 players all appeared for the Fresno Grizzlies at some point in 2018. Fresno served as Houston's Triple-A affiliate from 2015-2018.
All but three of the 25 players on Round Rock's active roster have spent the duration of their professional careers within the Astros organization. RHP Akeem Bostick was originally drafted by the Texas Rangers but was traded to the Astros for C Carlos Corporán in 2015. RHP Brendan McCurry began his career with the Oakland Athletics but made his way to Houston in the 2015 trade that sent INF Jed Lowrie to the Bay Area. Finally, RHP Cy Sneed was originally drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers but joined the Astros in the 2015 Jonathan Villar trade.
The roster features five native Texans in Martin (Houston), Rodgers (Richmond), Whitley (San Antonio), RHP Ralph Garza (Edinburg) and INF Jack Mayfield (Del Rio).
Rounding out the pitching lineup is LHP Kent Emanuel . Joining Stubbs behind the plate is C Jamie Ritchie . Additional infielders include Alex De Goti , Taylor Jones , and Nick Tanielu . Finally, the fourth member of the Express outfield is Drew Ferguson .
The average age of Round Rock's preliminary roster checks in at 24.64 years old. Express players call 14 different states and three different countries home. Members of the 2019 E-Train hail from Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nevada, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Washington. Armenteros, Alvarez and Pérez were all born in Cuba while Guduan is the lone Dominican Republic native on the squad.
The team includes three first-round draft picks in Fisher (37th overall in 2014), Tucker (5th overall in 2015) and Whitley (17th overall in 2016), as well as three second-rounders (Bostick, 2013; Martin, 2017; Reed, 2014) and two third-round picks (Emanuel, 2013; Rodgers, 2012). Eleven additional players were acquired through the MLB draft.
Round Rock's full roster is below:

Express Manager Mickey Storey is joined by Pitching Coach Drew French and Hitting Coach Ben Rosenthal. The remainder of the staff includes Performance Coach Josh Peterson, Athletic Trainer John Gregorich and Strength and Conditioning Coach Dwayne Peterson.
The Express open their historic 20th anniversary season on the road against the New Orleans Baby Cakes (Miami Marlins affiliate) on Thursday, April 4 before returning to Dell Diamond on Tuesday, April 9 for a five-game series against the Nashville Sounds (Texas Rangers affiliate). Single game tickets, season memberships and flex plan ticket packages are on sale now.
For more information on the Express, visit RRExpress.com or call (512) 255-2255. Keep up with the Express on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, and join the conversation during our historic 20th anniversary season using #20STROng.