Five Senators Make Double-A All Star Team

Continuing with the announcement of rosters for this month’s All Star Games, late last week the rosters for the Double-A Eastern League affair were released and the Harrisburg Senators placed five players on the squad that will compete on Wednesday, July 11th in Reading, Pennsylvania. Daniel Rosenbaum, Kevin Pucetas, Jeff Kobernus, Eury Perez, and Chris Rahl earned the honors this year. The Senators also had five All Stars last season.

Left-hander Rosenbaum got off to a fast start this season but has cooled of late, having lost four of his last five outings and three in a row. He’s still 7-5 with a 3.17 ERA through 16 starts (102.1 IP). The 2009 22nd Round pick has quietly impressed at each stop of his minor league career and has generally looked good against Double-A competition, at times completely dominating the opposition this year. With some luck, he might see some time at Triple-A before season’s end.

Pucetas is 6-3 with a 3.24 ERA over 66.2 innings on the year. He’s made 20 appearances, including 6 starts after moving into Harrisburg’s starting rotation at the beginning of June. The right-hander was originally a 17th Round pick in 2006 by the San Francisco Giants. He’s seen time at Triple-A in his minor league career, within both the Giants and Kansas City Royals systems. He signed as a 6th year minor league free agent this past winter.

Kobernus is playing in his second consecutive All Star Game, having been an alternate for Destin Hood on last year’s Carolina League roster. The second baseman doesn’t show much power at the plate (just 8 career minor league home runs, one this season) but is batting .281/.321/.337 on the year through 275 plate appearances in his first go-around in Double-A.

Through 302 plate appearances, Perez is batting .295/.328/.345 on the year. He’s added 23 stolen bases and strong defensive play in center field. Some consider Perez to be a possible “center fielder of the future” within the organization but this will be his first trip to an All Star Game in his brief minor league career.

Finally, Rahl, another outfielder, is hitting .299/.342/.470 with 8 HR over 269 plate appearances in his second straight season with Harrisburg. The former Diamondback does have some brief Triple-A experience, having played in 87 games with Reno during the 2010 season.

Update, 7/3/12 – Rosenbaum will not pitch in the game, according to District Sports Page, and will be replaced on the All Star roster by Senators reliever Hector Nelo.