Manchester, NH - The New Hampshire Fisher Cats, Double-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays, have announced their preliminary roster for the 2018 season.

Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. and Bo Bichette, two of Baseball America's Top 10 prospects, will suit up for New Hampshire, along with an additional five of the Top 30 prospects in the Blue Jays organization, and a total of six players taken in the first five rounds of the MLB Draft.

3B Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. enters the season as the highest-rated prospect in Fisher Cats history, ranked No. 3 in all of baseball by Baseball America and MLB.com. The 19-year-old made headlines on Tuesday, March 27, hitting a walk-off home run in the Blue Jays Spring Training finale at Olympic Stadium in Montreal, where his Hall of Fame father played for eight seasons. Guerrero, Jr. hit .323 with 21 home runs between Class-A Lansing and Advanced-A Dunedin last year, and was named the best hitting prospect in baseball in the latest issue of Baseball America magazine. The Blue Jays signed Guerrero, Jr. for $3.9 million on July 2, 2015.

SS Bo Bichette is the No. 8 prospect in the game according to Baseball America, and won the 2017 Minor League Batting Title with a .362 average as a member of the Lansing Lugnuts and Dunedin Blue Jays. His father Dante Bichette spent 14 seasons in the major leagues (including two with the Boston Red Sox in 2000-2001), and hit .299 with 274 career home runs. The 20-year-old Bichette was taken in the second round of the 2016 Draft out of Lakewood High School in St. Petersburg, Fla.

2B Cavan Biggio, the son of Hall of Famer Craig Biggio, starred at Notre Dame for three seasons before being selected in the fifth round of the 2016 Draft. The 22-year-old has earned two All-Star nods in his first two minor league seasons with Short Season-A Vancouver (2016) and Advanced-A Dunedin (2017).

Elsewhere around the diamond, first-round pick C Max Pentecost is set to make his Double-A debut with the Fisher Cats. The 11th overall selection in the 2014 Draft hit .274 with nine home runs and 54 RBIs in 72 games with Advanced-A Dunedin last season. IF Lourdes Gurriel returns to New Hampshire as the No. 5 prospect in the Blue Jays system according to Baseball America, after signing a 7-year, $22 million deal leading into the 2017 season.

1B Juan Kelly and OF Connor Panas will provide some pop in the middle of the order. As members of the 2017 Florida State League Champion Dunedin Blue Jays, Kelly led the league with 68 RBIs, while Panas won the home run race with 18 long balls.

2017 Eastern League All-Star and Home Run Derby participant IF Gunnar Heidt returns for a second season in New Hampshire, along with versatile OF Andrew Guillotte and 2016 All-Star RF Harold Ramirez.

CF Jonathan Davis, one of the league's most exciting defensive players, will flash the leather in center for a second year. Davis was featured on the Sportscenter Top 10 for a particularly impressive catch last July.

The starting rotation will be anchored by three of Toronto's top pitching prospects, including returning RHP Sean Reid-Foley, who enters the season ranked No. 10 among Blue Jays prospects by MLB.com. First-round pick RHP Jon Harris and 2016 Futures Game selection RHP Francisco Rios will rejoin the rotation as well.

New faces include RHP Jordan Romano, the No. 27 prospect in the Blue Jays system according to MLB.com, and veteran RHP Nick Tepesch, who pitched for the Blue Jays and Twins last season.

In the bullpen, former Red Sox reliever LHP Craig Breslow is on the tentative Opening Day roster, five seasons removed from posting a 1.81 ERA for the 2013 World Series Champions. Breslow, a New Haven, Conn. native and former Yale Bulldog, pitched in Boston from 2012-15, and has toed the rubber for the Marlins, Twins and Indians over the past two seasons.

2017 All-Star RHP Dusty Isaacs will be reunited with LHP Danny Young, RHP Justin Shafer, LHP Jose Fernandez and RHP Andrew Case in the 'pen, while third-round pick RHP Zach Jackson and Dunedin Blue Jays standout RHP Conor Fisk join a promising group of relief pitchers.

The team arrived at Manchester-Boston Regional Airport on Sunday evening, and is scheduled to play an exhibition game against Southern New Hampshire University on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. at Northeast Delta Dental Stadium. Players and coaches will be available during Media Day on Wednesday from 1:30 - 3 p.m.

The season begins on the road with a four-game series against the Hartford Yard Goats (Colorado Rockies) from April 5-8 and a three-game set against the Trenton Thunder (New York Yankees) from April 9-11.

The Fisher Cats home opener is on Friday, April 13 against the Hartford Yard Goats at Northeast Delta Dental Stadium. The first 2,500 fans will receive a free magnet schedule, courtesy of EnergyNorth Propane. A Beatles-themed Atlas Fireworks show will follow the game.


Posted 4/6/18