Chattanooga Lookouts 2013 Opening Day Roster includes stacked outfield

The Chattanooga Lookouts are the last opening day roster we'll be looking at, and at first glance it appears that they will field a very competitive team. I really like the outfield, and while the infield appears to be relatively weak the Lookouts make up for that with a very solid pitching staff. Overall there are a ton of prospects on this team, and they should be a fun club to follow in 2013.

Lookouts Infield

There isn't much to see in the Lookouts infield as it doesn't include any top 30 prospects. Catcher Griff Erickson is the highest ranked player on my list, but he is coming off a disappointing performance so he'll be looking for a rebound season. He'll be backed up by Dashenko Ricardo, who was the Netherlands WBC catcher to sign with the Dodgers a few weeks back. Jan Vazquez is also listed on the roster but he'll start the year on the DL.

Big Chris Jacobs will man 1st base for Chattanooga and it will be interesting to see how he does in his first season above class A. J.T. Wise will also play some first and could fill in behind the plate as well, but I see him mostly as the DH. The hot corner will be manned by C.J. Retherford who tore up the California League last year as one of the oldest players, but was merely average for the Lookouts last season. The most exciting player in the middle of the infield will be Rafael Ynoa who turned some heads in the Arizona Fall League, but overall isn't much of a hitter. He'll be joined up the middle by Miguel Rojas and Omar Luna.

Lookouts Outfield

The Lookouts outfield is stacked as all four players listed on the roster are ranked within my top 35 Dodger prospects. Two of the four are in my top 5, including #1 prospect Yasiel Puig who will garner plenty of attention down in Chattanooga. Joc Pederson will be one of the youngest players in the league and should also be fun to watch as he tries to continue his hot streak from last year. Blake Smith and Bobby Coyle will share the other two outfield spots, although they will also be rotating in at DH. Smith will try to improve upon an average campaign in 2012 while Coyle will try to show that his success last season wasn't simply the result of playing in the hitter friendly Pioneer League.

Lookouts Starting Pitching

The Lookouts have a plethora of starting pitching so at least one of the hurlers I mention here will end up in the bullpen. Zach Lee will lead the staff despite being the youngest pitcher on the team, and hopefully he'll continue to leverage off the tweaks he made to his delivery at the end of 2012 which helped him find success. Chris Reed will be toward the top of the rotation as well and hopefully injuries and blister problems are behind him so he can log a full season of work. Onelki Garcia should finally get a chance to get in more than a few innings of work now that he's in his first full season, so this will be his chance to prove that he's worth the high prospect rating.

Andres Santiago, who is coming off a breakout year, will also be in the Chattanooga rotation, as will newcomer Rob Rasmussen. That leaves players like Aaron Miller and Kelvin De La Cruz in limbo because they would normally be starters, but I'm just not sure how they fit in on this team other than in the bullpen.

Lookouts Bullpen

The Lookouts should have a solid bullpen in 2013, especially if the aforementioned Miller and De La Cruz end up as relievers. Yimi Garcia will likely be the closer on this club as he continues his rapid rise through the system. Eric Eadington might also get the chance to close on occasion, especially if there is the need to get a couple of left handed hitters out. Ryan Acosta could also surprise people after a successful campaign last year in HiA. Three newcomers will round out the bullpen in Hector Nelo, Gregory Infante, and Kyle Cofield.