Before we get to Tuesday’s practice, just wanted to point out a couple things Revs’ related:

–Feature story from Tuesday’s practice is on right-handed reliever Adam Thomas, which will be featured in Wednesday’s York Dispatch newspaper (check out the online story and video here). Thomas last pitched for York in 2007 when he was picked up by the Oakland A’s. He retired from baseball following the 2007 season but returned last year and put up lights-out numbers.

–Check out the first “REVS WRAP UP” here. The show will be featured on White Rose Community Television. Myself, YDR reporter Jim Seip, play-by-play man Darrel Henry and Revs’ media guru Paul Braverman give our pre-season thoughts.

Tuesday’s practice: Featured the first scrimmage for both York and the Sugar Land Skeeters. The game was somewhat of a lull until the later innings. The Skeeters led 3-0 until York, wearing their new blue and yellow jerseys, put a run on the board in the bottom of the seventh inning on a Salvador Paniagua that scored James Shanks from third. York broke the game open the next inning, with Travis Scott driving in Andres Perez to start things off. With runners on the corners, James Shanks scored on a past ball and after a few bad throws all around the infield, Joe Spiers came around from first to score to make it 5-3. Stephen Douglas then followed that with a solo homer to right field to make it 6-3. After Michael Hernandez reached on a single, Chris Nowak broke an 0-for-4 slump by knocking a two-run homer to center field to make it 8-3, which would end up being the final score.

Skeeters’ starter Matt Wright shut down the Revs in four innings of work, allowing just two hits and striking out six. He struck out the side in the second inning.

Revs’ starter Ryan Feierabend  allowed a run on three hits in four innings, striking out one and walking one. York’s LHP Yunior Novoa gave up a hit but struck out one in one inning. RHP Omar Javier allowed two runs (including a homer) on two hits while striking out two and walking one in one inning of work.Lhp Kris Regas, RHP Adam Thomas and RHP R.J. Rodriguez each pitched an inning and struck out one.

“I thought (Feierabend) threw the ball well except he kind of decelerated on his breaking ball a little bit,” Revs’ pitching coach Mark Mason said. “So, we talked about that. Novoa just tried to overthrow a little bit. Just trying to rush to the plate and throw the ball extra hard. Other than that, I thought Regas, Thomas and R.J. threw the ball really well. Overall I thought we threw the ball well. The bullpen was good.”

As far as who played where…Shanks, Grimes and Hernandez were the LF, CF and RF. Nowak played third and Scott played first, Spiers at short stop and Perez at second. Paniagua caught. Some of the positions (like Nowak at third and Scott at first) happened mainly because some infielders have yet to arrive in York (more on that later).

Starting nine: Following the scrimmage, Revs’ manager Andy Etchebarren named his starting nine to begin the season: CF Scott Grimes, OF Stephen Douglas, 3B Ramon Castro, 1B Chris Nowak, OF Michael Hernandez, 2B Andres Perez, OF James Shanks, SS Danny Gonzalez, C Paniagua/Scott (Yes, there are four outfielders in there, so it just depends on who will DH).

“Pretty good, ain’t it?” Etchebarren said. “You got Shanks hitting seven. Gonzalez can hit, too. And the catchers will be able to drive in some runs, they’re going to have some guys in front of them.”

Set-up man: Etch’ also named right-hander Adam Thomas the team’s set-up man for closer R.J. Rodriguez.

“And we have a lot of choices of who can pitch the sixth and seventh,” he said.

Arrivals: RHP Adam Thomas showed up Monday and pitched in the scrimmage Tuesday. Right-hander Stephen Penney is expected to be in York by Tuesday night. Etch’ said he expects Castro and Liu to be in York no later than Saturday. Gonzalez could be here by the end of the week as well. It’s still unclear when Dumas Garcia might arrive. In a related note, the team has removed RHP Ricardo Gomez, who is pitching in the playoffs in Panama, to open up a roster spot. However, Gomez will join York when he’s finished in Panama.

Plans for Wednesday’s practice: The Revs will take BP in the afternoon before they meet up with the Skeeters under the lights for a scrimmage (closed to the public). LHP Chris Cody will get the start for York. Mason said RHP Shaun Garceau, RHP James Houser, LHP Ian Thomas, RHP Santo Luis will also see action. Penney might also pitch.

Geary/Richardson: Mason said RHP Geoff Geary, a former Philadelphia Phillie who pitched for York in 2011, has retired. RHP Jason Richardson underwent Tommy John surgery to his throwing elbow in October and will rehab this season in York.

Quotebook: I would have told you what some of the Skeeters’ players did on Tuesday, except every player wore number 12. Etch’ asked Sugar Land first-base coach Vic Gutierrez (former York Revolution player in 2007) about it, to which Gutierrez responded:

“It’s our first year as a franchise in 2012.”

Also, Octavio Martinez made his return to York. Martinez, who was York’s catcher for most of the 2011 season, is now catching for Sugar Land. During the scrimmage, Martinez dropped his facemask to catch a pop fly. After the play, Martinez showed off his blue mouth guard by smiling at Etch’, who responded:

“O, you got something in your teeth.”

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The York Revolution are in the process of rebuilding the starting rotation.

Though that may not sound like a good thing with just weeks remaining in the regular season, the recent acquisitions sound promising.

A day after the Revs added right-handed starter Nick Shumacher, York signed left-hander Jino Gonzalez on Thursday.

Schumacher had an outstanding year with Sioux City (American Association) this season, going 10-5 in 21 starts and two relief appearances. His 3.03 ERA ranked third in the American Association and his 123 strikeouts ranked second.

Gonzalez also comes over from the American Association, having made nine starts and one relief appearance with the Lincoln Saltdogs this season. He went 6-1 with a 1.83 ERA in 54 innings pitched with Lincoln, striking out 47 and walking 17.

In related moves, York placed right-handed reliever Geoff Geary on the disabled list and starting pitcher Jesus Sanchez on the inactive list on Thursday. Geary has been out of action since Aug. 13, suffering from an injury to his throwing arm. Sanchez left the club two weeks ago to deal with a family matter in his native Dominican Republic. He was supposed to join the club last week, but Hurricane Irene interrupted travel plans. The team has had difficulty tracking him down ever since.

York’s starting rotation now looks like this: RHP Corey Thurman (11-3, 3.40 ERA), RHP Lorenzo Barcelo (3-0, 1.90 ERA), RHP Shaun Garceau (4-7, 5.16 ERA), RHP Dumas Garcia (2-2, 5.79 ERA), RHP Nick Shumacher and LHP Jino Gonzalez.

Yes, that’s six starting pitchers. But Revs manager Andy Etchebarren had said earlier this week that Garcia’s start on Wednesday will likely be his last as Etchebarren plans on moving Garcia to the bullpen.

But with York scheduled to play six games over a five day stretch from Thursday to Monday – because of a double-header on Sunday – it’ll be interesting to see if Etch’ holds off until next week to move one of the starters to the ’pen.

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OK. So, lets recap the moves made by the York Revolution in recent weeks. Gone is relief pitcher J.J. Pacella and infielders Mark Ori and Juan Martinez. Added are relief pitchers Geoff Geary and Ricardo Gomez and infielders Ramon Castro and Jose Herrera.

And while we’re at it, lets throw in the release of shortstop Tanner Townsend and the signing of shortstop Eric Eymann back in early June.

The moves have turned out to be big upgrades for York.

Short stop: Lets start with shortstop. Townsend batted .209 with a home run and four RBIs in 12 games for the Revs. Eymann, meanwhile, has gathered a .299 batting average (through Wednesday) with three home runs and 16 RBIs in 19 games.

Eymann’s production hasn’t gone unnoticed by Revs manager Andy Etchebarren, either.

“Not taking anything away from Tanner (Townsend), but (Eymann) has played in Triple-A for a little bit. Tanner never even played affiliate. Taking nothing away from Tanner (Townsend), but (Eymann) is just a higher caliber player,” Etchebarren said after Wednesday’s 8-1 win over the Road Warriors.

Second base: Next, lets take a look at second base, where Castro has started since Sunday. Liu Rodriguez had been York’s everyday second baseman for most of the year until Castro arrived, but he’s struggled at the plate, batting just .254 with eight RBIs in 42 games.

Castro has collected a .400 batting average in five games (through Wednesday), seemingly picking up where he left off from last year when he set Revolution records with a .339 batting average, a .437 on-base percentage and 37 doubles, ranking second in the Atlantic League in all three categories.

Designated hitter: Like Castro, Herrera is also putting up solid numbers just like he did for York a year ago, when he batted .337 with 10 home runs and 87 RBIs.

Herrera joined York on June 10 just days after being released from Southern Maryland, where he struggled at the plate with a .239 batting average in 29 games.

Herrera has returned to his 2010 form with York, though, batting .382 (13-34) in his last eight games in the designated hitter spot for the Revs.

And Etchebarren believes the combination of Herrera and Castro has had an impact on the rest of the lineup.

“We’re starting to hit the ball a little bit. I really believe having Herrera and Castro makes guys relax. That’s what I think. I can see it. I feel it,” Etchebarren said Wednesday. “Guys aren’t going out there saying ‘I gotta do it. I gotta do it.’ They’re getting five, six hits in a game. Everybody wants to do it.”

Since June 14 the Revs have won seven of nine games (through Wednesday), averaging just over 10 hits and nearly six runs in those nine contests.

Pitching: York got two solid right-handed relievers with the addition of Geary and Gomez to the bullpen. Gomez made his debut for York on Wednesday night, and pitched two scoreless innings in relief, collecting four strikeouts along the way.

Etchebarren said he will look to use Gomez this season as a multiple-inning relief pitcher.

Geary, a former major league reliever with the Philadelphia Phillies and Houston Astros, arrived in York on Thursday. Last year, he pitched in a total of 31 games at Class AAA last year at Oklahoma City and Albuquerque, going 4-6 with a 5.32 ERA. Geary, 35, has pitched in total of 287 games in the majors with the Phillies and the Astros.

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The York Revolution have made a few moves over the last couple of days. On Tuesday, York signed right-handed reliever Ricardo Gomez.

On Wednesday, York released infielder Mark Ori and signed former Philadelphia Phillies and Houston Astros reliever Geoff Geary.

And on Thursday, the Revs released reliever J.J. Pacella.

Ori batted .242 with a home run and 21 RBIs in 33 games for the Revs. Pacella compiled a 12.37 ERA in four appearances, surrendering five earned runs on seven hits in 3.2 innings of work.

Gomez, 33, made his debut for York on Wednesday night, pitching two scoreless innings in relief, collecting four strikeouts along the way.

This is Gomez’s fourth consecutive season playing in the Atlantic League. The reliever had a 3.13 ERA in 43 games for the Long Island Ducks last year. A Dominican Republic native, Gomez said Wednesday marked the first time in a month he had pitched in a game. He had last pitched for Panama in the Mexican League.

Geary arrived in York on Thursday. Last year, he pitched in a total of 31 games at Class AAA last year at Oklahoma City and Albuquerque, going 4-6 with a 5.32 ERA. Geary, 35, has pitched in total of 287 games in the majors with the Phillies and the Astros.

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