The Billings Mustangs get their season started on Monday night at 9:05pm ET (7:05pm local time). The roster appears to have been updated on the Mustangs official site. Here’s what it looks like for opening night:
Billings Mustangs 2017 Roster
Pitchers | |||
| Name | Pos | Bat | Thw |
| Max Wotell | P | R | L |
| Cory Thompson | P | R | R |
| Yerry Santos | P | R | R |
| Connor Ryan | P | R | R |
| Aaron Quillen | P | R | R |
| Moises Nova | P | R | R |
| Dauri Moreta | P | R | R |
| Tyler Mondile | P | L | R |
| Alfredo Mena | P | R | R |
| Robby Howell | P | R | R |
| Jhon De Jesus | P | R | R |
| Tyler Buffett | P | R | R |
| Connor Bennett | P | R | R |
| Luis Alecis | P | R | R |
| Miguel Aguilar | P | R | R |
Position Players | |||
| Name | Pos | Bat | Thw |
| Morgan Lofstrom | C | L | R |
| Pabel Manzanero | C | R | R |
| Mitch Trees | C | R | R |
| Jake Turnbull | C | L | R |
| Leandro Santana | 3B | R | R |
| J.D. Salmon-Williams | 2B | R | R |
| Carlos Rivero | SS | L | R |
| Montrell Marshall | 1B | R | R |
| Alejo Lopez | 2B | S | R |
| Nadir Ljatifi | 3B | R | R |
| Manny Cruz | 2B | R | R |
| Francis Azcona | SS | S | R |
| Miles Gordon | CF | L | R |
| Satchel McElroy | RF | R | R |
| Andy Sugilio | CF | S | R |
| Zeke White | OF | R | R |
The Pitching Staff
Max Wotell will get the opening night start for the Billings Mustangs according to the Billings Gazette. Their story has a rather interesting bit of information on the left handed pitcher.
In three starts, Wotell threw six innings, giving up 10 runs on 10 hits and seven walks. He was trying to pitch through shoulder soreness, which turned out to be a torn labrum, he said.
“I just felt some soreness at first and it continued to get worse,” Wotell said. “But being with a new organization you don’t want to come in and start whining about stuff.
This is the first time we’ve actually seen this, and it’s rather disappointing to see. In the trade for Jay Bruce the Reds acquired second baseman Dilson Herrera, who had an injured shoulder, and Max Wotell, a pitcher, who had a torn labrum in his pitching shoulder. It would appear that the tear for Wotell wasn’t bad enough for surgery, or there’s no way he’d be pitching already (he actually pitched in Dayton, briefly, earlier this year).
Tyler Mondile looks like he’ll be in the rotation. The 6th round pick from 2016 made just four appearances last season after the draft, all with the Arizona League Reds. In high school he sat in the low 90’s and reached as high as 96 to go with a change up and a curveball for secondary offerings.
20-year-old Luis Alecis likely joins the rotation as well, coming up from the Arizona Rookie League from 2016. He posted a 3.26 ERA in 12 games with seven starts that spanned 47.0 innings where he had 50 strikeouts.
Jhon De Jesus makes the jump all of the way up from the Dominican Summer League, bypassing the AZL Reds. The 20-year-old posted a 2.85 ERA for the DSL Rojos last year in 13 starts. He threw 72.2 innings with 18 walks and 49 strikeouts.
Other names to watch will be former shortstop Cory Thompson who has converted to pitcher. I had heard some good things about his arm over the last couple of months, so it will be interesting to see how the transition goes. Dauri Moreta’s got some real arm strength and put up 56 strikeouts in 33.1 innings last season, mostly with the AZL Reds (2.2 innings in Billings). Only three 2017 draft picks show up on the roster and all three are pitchers. Tyler Buffett, the teams 6th rounder out of Oklahoma State, Connor Ryan, the teams 8th rounder and Robby Howell, the teams 10th rounder. The three are all right handers.
The Position Players
The team has four catchers listed on the roster. Jake Turnbull is the youngest of the group, and likely the top prospect among the group, too. I’d look for the Australian teenager to get time at first base some, as well as see time at designated hitter. He didn’t play much last season, dealing with a few injuries, but as a 17-year-old in 2015 he hit .291/.395/.373 in Arizona.
J.D. Salmon-Williams is listed at second base, but he’s played more outfield in his career than infield since being drafted in 2015. He’s coming up from the AZL Reds where he hit .272/.361/.427 with 14 walks and 30 strikeouts last season.
Montrell Marshall returns to Billings. The 1st baseman made big strides in plate discipline in 2016, but has yet to tap into his power potential that he shows off in batting practice. He’s 21-years-old this season and could be ready to take that next step.
Miles Gordon also returns to the Mustangs in 2017. He hit .262/.372/.369 there last season before an injury took him out for the rest of the season on July 22nd. On a play at the wall he wound up separating his shoulder and was put on the disabled list for the remaining part of the year.
Zeke White will be making his organizational debut when he takes the field. He came over to the Reds in the offseason trade for Dan Straily. The 20-year-old made strides in his approach with the Marlins last season, going from a 44-to-3 strikeout to walk ratio in 2015 to a 60-to-22 in 2016. His speed is top of the scale and is one of the faster runners in the entire organization.