Revs enjoying succes in winter ball
Pitcher Ryan Feierabend is playing for the Lara Cardinals, where he’s teammates with Joe Thurston and Johan Limonta.
After playing for the Revs in 2012, starting pitcher Ryan Feierabend and infielders Chris Nowak, Joe Thurston and Johan Limonta are currently playing winter ball in the eight-team Venezuela League.
Feierabend, Thurston and Limonta are teammates with the Lara Cardinals. Thurston is manning the outfield and batting .197 through 15 games while Limonta holds a .353 average in seven games. Feierabend has posted 2.12 ERA through three starts.
The trio is on a team that is trickled with current or former major league talent. The roster includes, among others, Chicago Cubs’ infielder Luis Valbuena, Chicago White Sox infielder Jose Lopez, Kansas City Royals’ short stop Alcides Escobar, Atlanta Braves reliever Luis Avilan and former longtime big league infielders Cezar Izturis and Tomas Perez. Somerset Patriots’ pitcher Justin Cassel, brother of Chiefs’ quarterback Matt, is also playing for Lara, as is Southern Maryland Blue Crabs’ pitcher Nick Green.
Nowak is hitting .263 with two homers in 11 games for Magellan’s Navigators (these team names are awesome, aren’t they?). Nowak is teammteas with some talented players as well, including Washington Nationals’ catcher Jesus Flores and former Lancaster Barnstormers’ infielder Jesus Merchan as well as former big league pitcher Gustavo Chacin, former big league outfielder Brandon Boggs and former New York Yankees’ catcher Francisco Cervelli.
Revs’ player-coach and Venezuela native Liu Rodriguez is also a bench coach for a team in the league.
Another member of the 2012 Revs’ squad, reliever R.J. Rodriguez, is 1-1 with a 3.86 ERA in 11 appearances for the Guasave Cotton Growers (awesome name), of the winter Pacific Mexican League, where he is teammates with Lancaster Barnstormers’ reliever Beau Vaughan and Somerset Patriots’ utility man Freddy Sandoval.
