Marauders 2011 Roster Touts Nine Returnees

Marauders Press Release

BRADENTON – The Bradenton Marauders, Class A-Advanced affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates, have released their roster for the 2011 season.  This year’s squad touts nine players who took the field for the Marauders in 2010.

Calvin Anderson hit 11 HR for the Marauders in 2010

Headlining the returning group for Bradenton are powerful outfielder Calvin Anderson and 21-year old outfielder Robbie Grossman.  Anderson, making the conversion from first base, hit 11 homeruns in the heart of the Marauders inaugural order.  Grossman batted .245 in his second full professional season and led the team with 66 walks.
 
Also returning are pitchers Nate Baker, Tyler Cox, Phillip Irwin, Kyle McPherson, Matt McSwain, Hunter Strickland, and Duke Welker.  Baker was called up to the Marauders midseason after opening in Low-A West Virginia.  The Ole Miss product was the Pirates’ 5th round draft choice in 2009.  McPherson is on the Pittsburgh 40-Man roster and was in Major League Spring Training.  Cox pitched much of the season as the Marauders only lefty option out of the pen.
 
First base will be manned by Oklahoma University product Aaron Baker.  The slugger belted 18 homeruns in 2010 for West Virginia and hit seven triples in his rookie year with State College in ’09. 
The rest of the infield features Jarek Cunningham, Benji Gonzalez, Kelson Brown, Elevys Gonzalez and Adalberto Santos.  Cunningham hit 12 homeruns and drove in 49 runs for Low-A West Virginia in 2010.  It was his first full season after he missed 2009 with a knee injury.  Benji Gonzalez was a 7th round draft pick of the Pirates in 2008 and stole 18 bases while with the Power last year.  Brown will skip Low-A after hitting .293 with State College in his first pro season out of Linfield College.
 
Elevys Gonzalez will carry a .275 average with six homeruns and 31 RBI at West Virginia to the Marauders infield.  Santos, out of Oregon State, will also spend time in the Bradenton infield after starring in the State College outfield last summer.  The 22nd round pick was an All-Star in the New York-Penn League and led the Spikes with a .319 average. 
Ramon Cabrera and Carlos Paulino make up the backend of the battery in 2011.  The 21-year-old Cabrera batted .270 with a homerun and 40 RBI in his first full season in 2010.  He is the son of Japanese Central League single season homerun king Alex Cabrera.
 
Paulino is in his first season with the Pirates after being acquired in an offseason trade.  Paulino split time between Low-A Greensboro and A-Advanced Jupiter last season in the Marlins organization.  He picked up an RBI double in three games with the Hammerheads.
 
Joining Grossman and Anderson in the outfield are Evan Chambers, David Rubinstein and Cole White.  A Lakeland, FL product, Chambers graduated from the same high school as Pirates utility man Steve Pearce.
Rubinstein hit .289 last year and was an All-Star in the South Atlantic League.  He was Appalachian State’s first all-American in 19 years when he earned third team honors in 2007.  White is on the Marauders after skipping West Virginia.  The 26-year-old missed all of 2009 and half of 2010 while actively serving in the US Army.  White is a 2008 graduate of the United State Military Academy.
 
Joining Baker, Cox, Irwin, McPherson, McSwain, Strickland and Welker on the Opening Night pitching staff are Jason Erickson, Jeff Inman, Quinton Miller, Eliecer Navarro Jhonathon Ramos.  All but Inman pitched for West Virginia in 2010.  The Stanford product missed last season due to injury after being a 12th round pick in 2009.
 
Also starting the year in Bradenton is Major Leaguer Joe Beimel.  Setback by injury in Spring Training, Beimel will be with the Marauders working his way back to Pittsburgh.   A veteran of 532 Major League games, he is the most tenured big leaguer to play for Bradenton.
 
The Marauders season opens on the road at Charlotte Thursday at 6:30pm.  Broadcast coverage begins at 6:15 with the ÔMarauders On Deck Show’ on 1280-AM WTMY ”The Talk Station.“  The Marauders open at home the next night with a 6:30 start against the Stone Crabs.  For ticket information call 941-747-3031 or visit www.BradentonMarauders.com.