Appalachian League Preview

The Appalachian League season gets underway today.

There are ten teams in the league.  They are split into two divisions, the East and the West.  Teams play a sixty-eight game schedule, which ends August 28.  Four teams then go to the playoffs.

The Twins entry in the league is, of course, in Elizabethton.  Their long-time manager is Ray Smith.  Jeff Reed is the batting coach and Ivan Arteaga is the pitching coach.

Because the league is filled with players that few people know, and because your reporter is pressed for time, we will not go into great detail about the teams.  Some names you might recognize on the Twins’ pitching staff are Ricardo Arevalo, J. T. Chargois, Tyler Herr, Angel Mata, Mason Melotakis, Luis Nunez, and Hein Robb.  Some names you might recognize among the position players are Bo Altobelli, Jhonatan Arias, Niko Goodrum, Joshua Hendricks, Kennys Vargas, Max Kepler, Candido Pimentel, and Rory Rhodes.