Three Frogs Appear on MLB Opening Day Rosters
4/1/2011 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 1, 2011
FORT WORTH, Texas - A trio of former TCU baseball pitchers have earned spots on their respective teams' 25-man opening day roster. Jake Arrieta and Andrew Cashner will be members of the five-man starting rotation, while Sam Demel is expected to have a big role out of the bullpen.
Arrieta (2006-07) has been named the third starter in the Baltimore Orioles rotation. He spent a majority of the 2010 campaign as a starter for the Orioles. In 18 starts, the right-hander was 6-6 with a 4.66 ERA in 100 1/3 innings pitched.
During spring training, Arrieta was 3-0 with a 5.79 ERA in five starts. He struck out 14 and walked seven in 18 2/3 innings of work. Arrieta is slotted to start the Orioles home opener on Monday against the Detroit Tigers. He will match up with Rick Porcello.
Cashner (2008) won a highly contested battle for a spot in the Chicago Cubs rotation and will be slotted as the No. 5 starter to begin the year. After getting called up early in 2010, Cashner made 53 appearances out of the bullpen and posted a 4.80 ERA.
This spring, he posted a record of 2-1 in five appearances. In 16 1/3 innings, Cashner struck out 11 and posted an ERA of 4.41. His first career start is set for Tuesday afternoon when the Cubs host the Arizona D'Backs. He is slated to pitch against Armando Galarraga.
Demel (2005-07) is expected to be a big part of the D'Backs bullpen this season, serving as a set-up man in either the seventh or eighth innings. He was traded from Oakland in the summer of 2010 and was immediately put on the D'Backs 25-man roster. In 37 appearances out of the bullpen, Demel was 2-1 with two saves to go along with a 5.35 ERA. He fanned 33 batters in 37 innings pitched.
He locked up his spot on the opening day roster with a solid spring campaign that saw him post a 1-0 record in 11 appearances. The right-hander struck out 12 in 11 2/3 innings of work and posted a 4.63 ERA.
In addition to these three, 13 other former Frogs are still in minor league training camp. Brent Allar (Florida Marlins), Scott Atchison (Boston Red Sox), Matt Carpenter (St. Louis Cardinals), Matt Curry (Pittsburgh Pirates), Eugene Espineli (Colorado Rockies), Brad Furnish (Florida Marlins), Seth Garrison (Boston Red Sox), Paul Gerrish (Houston Astros), Bryan Holaday (Detroit Tigers), Greg Holle (Milwaukee Brewers), Chad Huffman (Cleveland Indians), Bryan Kervin (Toronto Blue Jays) and Tyler Lockwood (Boston Red Sox) will all get their seasons going on April 7.
