Roster Moves

The Seals have recently made the following roster moves (although the transactions have not been mentioned by either the T-C or victoriaseals.ca):

• Released 1B Kyle Nichols.


• Activated RHP Roberto Sotolongo from the Inactive List.


• Placed OF Sergio Pedroza on the Inactive List.


• Re-signed OF Trevor Davidson.

The Golden Baseball League does not use a Disabled List and I’m not quite sure of the exact mechanics of their Inactive List (their web site is not much help). But we can deduce what's behind the moves.

Sotolongo was summoned, at least in part, because the Seals have been using their four regular starters on three days rest a fair bit and with games on six consecutive days it was time to use a fifth starter. The Seals would be in big trouble if Isaac Hess came down with an arm or shoulder injury. It's unclear how long Sotolongo will remain active though. After his start on Monday night, his ERA is 9.00 and opponents are hitting .429 against him.

It’s possible that Sergio Pedroza was injured in Sunday’s game at RAP (unfortunately I missed the game) because the Seals used a pinch runner for him, which is an odd move given his speed on the basepaths. Hopefully Pedroza will be re-activated shortly because going into Monday’s game he was tied for the team lead in RBIs, tied for second in home runs and had the second-best on-base percentage.

Kyle Nichols was only hitting .224 with a feeble .276 slugging percentage in 58 at-bats. His release wasn't a huge shock based on his numbers in the last couple of years. The Seals just couldn’t afford to carry a first baseman with such low power production.

Trevor Davidson played in center field on Monday night, while Chris VanRossum moved over to right to take Pedroza’s spot. Davidson is a rookie to professional baseball who was signed in the team’s first tryout camp in January, but was then released on May 20th. He went 0-5 with two strikeouts in his professional debut. Davidson finished up his amateur baseball career in 2008 at California Lutheran University, a Division III school.

After an exciting 8-6 come-from-behind victory on Monday night, the Seals seem poised to take at least two out of three from the Vipers in The Snake Pit. Austin Bibens-Dirkx (2-1, 3.63 ERA) will start on Tuesday night and the Seals’ ace Isaac Hess (3-0, 1.97 ERA) will go on Wednesday.