For the first time in 11 years, the Birmingham Barons can be introduced as the Southern League Champions.
For the first time since 1991, Curt Bloom won't be on the microphone to do it.
Bloom stepped away from the Barons after 33 years with the team, starting in 1992 and running through DJ Gladney's walk-off single to win the championship last September. The guy who broadcasted Michael Jordan's baseball games is leaving on the highest note here, posted a farewell to Barons fans on Twitter in late February.
It was strange to see somebody else's name on the broadcast booth door at Regions Field, because that was always my first stop. At least his replacement, Doug Greenwald, is a veteran himself, so the Barons aren't treating the broadcast like an afterthought in his wake. Curt is sharing clips of Alabama Crimson Tide baseball for those who want to follow his baseball broadcasts elsewhere, but as far as Barons games go, that guy is gonzo.
Turning our attention to the team that will be taking the field, here's who they're rolling out:
Coaching staff
- Manager: Guillermo Quiroz
- Pitching coach: John Kovalik
- Hitting coach: Nicky Delmonico
- Bench coach: Daniel Milwee
Delmonico is the lone holdover from last year's staff. Quiroz and Kovalik moved up from Winston-Salem to replace Sergio Santos and John Ely, respectively, while Milwee makes a two-level jump from Kannapolis.
Starting pitchers
Last year's Birmingham rotation at its peak -- Drew Thorpe, Jairo Iriarte, Mason Adams, Ky Bush, Jake Eder, and then Noah Schultz in May -- will be hard to top, but on paper, this fivesome could do it. Schultz helps toward that goal, since he's tasked with replacing himself. He could've started the year in Charlotte if the White Sox had any interest in fast-tracking him, but he'll get on a regular starter's routine and workload a little further removed from Chicago. He'll also get a chance to team up with his buddy Smith as they both embark on new preparation schedules, while Taylor gets to skip Winston-Salem to give this rotation a third top-100-caliber arm. Manager Guillermo Quiroz told me before Friday's game that Taylor will be limited to three innings per start.
But wait, there's more. The consensus evaluation projects Gonzalez as a reliever, but he'll get a chance to start for his new organization after coming over from Boston in the Garrett Crochet trade. Rounding out the initial rotation is Gowens, the last surviving piece of the Aaron Bummer trade, who posted a 3.84 ERA and struck out 145 batters over 122 innings split between Winston-Salem and Birmingham.
Relievers
- Andrew Dalquist
- Tyler Davis
- Zach Franklin
- Caleb Freeman
- Gil Luna
- Jordan Mikel
- Jake Palisch
- Peyton Pallette
- Chase Plymell
- Jarold Rosado
- Tyler Schweitzer
Schweitzer is listed as a reliever for now, but since Taylor's starts will leave at least five innings to cover every time, his starter skills could still be used from the jump. Pallette returns to Double-A after emerging as a real relief prospect there last year, and he closed out the Barons' season-opening victory with ease. Rosado did all he could at Winston-Salem after coming over from the Royals in the Paul DeJong trade, and Franklin has elite fastball characteristics that make it hard for him to throw anything else. The White Sox picked up Davis from independent ball last year, and he made the most of his spring training with four scoreless appearances.
Besides Pallette, three other names known to Birmingham pitched on Friday, and two of them looked a little different than their recent forms. Freeman was sitting 97-98, while Luna, who walked 48 batters over 45 innings for the Barons last year, struck out the side on 12 pitches.
Catchers
The return of Narváez is the apparently the reason why the Birmingham Barons didn't finalize their roster until the day of.
"I don't know how that happened, but he's here with me and I'm happy to have a catcher like him back there," said Quiroz, a former catcher himself. Narváez caught Noah Schultz on Opening Night, while Turner played first base.
Edgar Quero turns 22 Sunday, Kyle Teel is 23 and Korey Lee is 26. Even Matt Thaiss, who turns 30 next month, could be considered a young 30 for a catcher since he went four years without squatting. With so little daylight, the catchers here will have to make their own fun.
Infielders
The barons.com version of this roster features nine infielders and two outfielders, but the picture requires a little revision. Gonzalez and Bergolla both had encouraging springs, and they'll flip between shortstop and second base, with Nishida mixing into second base while playing a more expansive outfield role this year. The corners are open for business, and Camilletti, who had a .389 OBP between High-A and Double-A last year, went 4-for-4 in his opening assignment at third.
Outfielders
It's a big year for Veras, who came into Friday having played 178 games for the Barons over the previous three seasons. He seemed to make strides with plate discipline over the final two months of 2024, and we'll see if that holds. The same is true for Gladney. He's already a Birmingham legend for the walk-off single, and homered six times in 24 games with the Barons last year, but the momentum didn't carry over to a tough Arizona Fall League. Burke struggled through a lost year in 2024, but he can still cover tons of ground in center, which gives the Barons a plus defender to take stress off the Nishida audition. Regarding Colás, he went from the 40-man roster to org player in nine days.
