The Columbia Fireflies, the Low-A affiliate of the New York Mets, released their preliminary roster on Sunday. The big draw for the Fireflies this season will be Tim Tebow, who signed with the Mets last September and was assigned to Columbia at the end of spring training.
The Fireflies begin their second campaign, after the Mets’ South Atlantic League affiliate was relocated from Savannah, GA following the 2015 season.
In their first year, Columbia played even-keeled ball throughout the season, finishing with a 36-34 first half record, and a 31-39 record in the second half, which did not qualify them for the playoffs.
The Fireflies’ roster is listed in its entirety below.
Pitchers (14)
RHP Matt Blackham
RHP Harol Gonzalez
RHP Merandy Gonzalez
RHP Cameron Griffin
RHP Witt Haggard
LHP Taylor Henry
RHP Colin Holderman
RHP Jordan Humphreys
RHP Max Kuhns
RHP Gabriel Llanes
RHP Austin McGeorge
LHP Blake Taylor
RHP Adonis Uceta
RHP Joseph Zanghi
Catchers (3)
Infielders (5)
Outfielders (4)
Tim Tebow
Disabled List (3)
LHP Seth Davis
The Fireflies’ pitching staff will be spearheaded by the unrelated Gonzalez’s, who both turned in excellent seasons for the Brooklyn Cyclones in 2016. They will be joined by Humphreys, Llanes, and Uceta, who is one of four pitchers making the jump to Columbia from the Kingsport Mets.
The back end of the bullpen will feature flame-throwing Zanghi and McGeorge, in addition to two pitchers who missed all of 2016 with injuries, Blackham and Griffin.
In the infield, two members of last year’s team return to Columbia, in Winningham and Ramos. The starting outfield will feature Tebow, top prospect Lindsay, and Cone, who returns to South Carolina where he played three years for the USC Gamecocks. Zanon should not be forgotten, as he stole 20 bases for the Cyclones last season before being shut down with a torn labrum on August 9.
Notable omissions from the released roster include RHP Justin Dunn, LHP Thomas Szapucki, and 1B Peter Alonso. All three are expected to join the St. Lucie Mets this season.
The Fireflies open their season on Thursday, April 6, against the Augusta GreenJackets at Spirit Communications Park, which will play host to the South Atlantic League All-Star Game this summer.
Couple of interesting names here, particularly Lindsay, of course. St. Lucie looks like a team to watch. Hopefully, Desmond will hit his way up there this season as well. Ahh, baseball season. Even if all isn’t quite right with the world, it’s at least about to get a whole lot more entertaining.
Glad to see Matt Blackham back. He looked dominant in the one Brooklyn start I saw in 2015. Anyone know if Alex Durham retired because of injuries? He seemed like he had upside
Starting rotation – Humphreys, Gonzo (1) . Gonzo (2), Taylor and Llanes/Blackham?
So, Where are Dunn and Szapucki starting? Brooklyn? I was hoping they would be pushed to full season.
Seems like they will be pushed to PSL, which should challenge them. I honestly think we will see them with the Mets at some point in 2018 – right after we trade Matt Harvey to the Red Sox.
If they go to PSL, they will join Molina and Church, which would be a pretty nice rotation. If those four can elevate to Bingo next year after success, they would be in line to help as early as 19, which would perfectly align
Holderman
Retired January 13: http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?sid=milb&player_id=656390#/career/R/pitching/2016/ALL