A NEW SEASON: The Hot Rods begin their 10th season in Southcentral Kentucky this evening, and their ninth in the Midwest League. Their first season in franchise history (2009) was spent in the South Atlantic League. The Hot Rods are 6-3 all-time on Opening Day, 6-3 at Bowling Green Ballpark openers, and 1-1 against Dayton on Opening Day. This is the first time since 2016 that the Hot Rods and Dragons have opened against each other.
ON THE HILL: RHP Drew Strotman gets the opening day start for the Hot Rods this year. In his seven starts with Hudson Valley last season, Strotman never gave up more than two earned runs. He didn’t allow an earned run in three of his starts: against West Virginia, Vermont, and Lowell. He struck out six batters twice against West Virginia and Vermont. He never walked more than two and his longest start was six innings which he went multiple times.
TOP RANKED PROSPECTS IN BOWLING GREEN: Seven Players on the Hot Rods roster were rated in Baseball America’s top 30 prospects for the Rays organization. LHP/1B Brendan McKay (#3), RHP Austin Franklin (#10), C Ronaldo Hernandez (#12), RHP Tobias Myers (#15), RHP Drew Strotman (#19), INF Vidal Brujan (#20), and LHP Resly Linares (#24).
RETURNING FROM LAST YEAR’S TEAM: Five players return to Bowling Green this year. OF Eleardo Cabrera, INF Adrian Rondon, C Zac Law, OF Emilio Gustave. and RHP Orlando Romero will be starting their second season in Bowling Green. Romero threw 41.1 innings for the Hot Rods last season, and the batters have given Bowling Green 1,210 at-bats.
HUDSON VALLEY...HOT RODS?!: 16 players from last season’s NYPL champion Hudson Valley Renegades will be making the trip from New York to Kentucky including every pitcher in the starting rotation. Hot Rods players had 1,198 plate appearances and 318 innings pitched in Hudson Valley.
GEOGRAPHY LESSON: Including the two players on the disabled list, the Hot Rods have players from four different countries (USA, COL, DR, VZ), and nine different states: FL (5), PA, CA, and TX (2), GA, NY, OK, VA, WA (1).
AGE IS ONLY A NUMBER: The Hot Rods roster, not including the two on the disabled list, averages 21.6 years old (21 years, 233 days), as of Opening Day. The oldest is P Tyler Day (24y, 73d). The youngest is OF Moises Gomez (19y, 221d).
THREE FROM 350: The Hot Rods are currently three wins away from reaching 350 wins at Bowling Green Ballpark. The Hot Rods earned their first win in Bowling Green 8-4 over the Kannapolis Intimidators on April 17, 2009.