Spring (training) is here

The Barnstormers were scheduled to arrive in Tiger Town today to begin the first step toward what they hope is a successful 140-game season. The nine-day camp opens Tuesday and the opener against the Bridgeport Bluefish is April 25.

There are a few roster questions that will be answered in the next week or so. The Barnstormers will have to decide whether to carry 12 or 13 pitchers. Considering their surplus of position player talent, 12 seems like the right number.

That leaves two competitions open.

On the bench, it looks like OF/INF Lloyd Turner and INF Juan Francia will be vying for the utility role. Turner is a little more versatile. He can play all three outfield spots along with 2B, 3B and SS in a pinch. His career on-base is .329 and he has stolen as many as 27 bases in a season. Turner also played for manager Von Hayes for parts of three seasons in the A’s system.

Francia is primarily a 2B with some SS experience. He’s a lifetime .279 hitter with a .344 on-base and also brings an element of speed. He has 254 career stolen bases and a success rate of 70 percent — which isn’t bad.

One of these two will serve as John Nelson’s backup at SS since there’s really no one else on the team who could play that position. It’s also possible that the Barnstormers could use their extra position player talent to complete the trade that brought 1B Ian Bladergroen here from the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs last month.

On the pitching side, assuming the Barnstormers carry 12 pitchers, the final decision will come down to the third lefty in the bullpen. Let’s assume Ryan Cullen and Ross Peeples are locks. That leaves Nate Hoelscher and Pat Cassa in competition. Hoelscher is much more experienced. He spent six years in the Royals system, was impressive at the lower levels and sports a lifetime ERA of 4.07. Cassa has pitched 27 innings of pro ball at the rookie level.

If the Barnstormers decide to go with 13 pitchers, all of the pitchers under contract will make the cut — assuming no one is brought to camp at the last minute. But having 11 position players means there are only two bench players. Considering the team has 10 legitimate everyday players, that doesn’t seem to make sense. Plus, there are so few off days, it’s nice to have some insurance in case of a nagging injury.

So we’ll see how it shakes out. Here’s the Atlantic League exhibition schedule (schedule to change):

Thursday

Long Island vs. BARNSTORMERS, 10 a.m.
York vs. Bridgeport, 10 a.m.
Southern Maryland vs. Camden, 1 p.m.

Friday

York vs. BARNSTORMERS, 10 a.m.
Bridgeport vs. Southern Maryland, 10 a.m.
Camden vs. Long Island, 1 p.m.

Saturday

BARNSTORMERS vs. Camden, 10 a.m.
York vs. Bridgeport, 10 a.m.
Long Island vs. Southern Maryland, 1 p.m.

Sunday

Camden vs. Bridgeport, 10 a.m.
Long Island vs. York, 10 a.m.
Southern Maryland vs. BARNSTORMERS, 1 p.m.

Monday, April 21

Southern Maryland vs. Bridgeport, 10 a.m.
Long Island vs. York
BARNSTORMERS vs. Camden, 1 p.m.

Tuesday, April 22

Southern Maryland vs. BARNSTORMERS, 10 a.m.
Bridgeport vs. Long Island, 10 a.m.
Camden vs. York, 10 a.m.

The Barnstormers will have workouts on Tuesday and Wednesday prior to their exhibition opener. It’s interesting to note that Lancaster plays Camden and Southern Maryland twice and does not play York. Obviously, the Revs are ducking the competition after that Community Cup thrashing they took last season.

Talk to you from Lakeland.