Takeaways from Cleburne Railroaders Media Day
Railroaders' annual Media Day offers sneak peek of "deep" roster and insights from play-by-play announcer Brad Allred
CLEBURNE – The Cleburne Railroaders held their annual “media day” ahead of the beginning of the club’s eighth season in Cleburne on Opening Day Thursday at La Moderna Field.
Every year, Media Day offers journalists and other media members an exclusive sneak peek into the team’s preparations, aspirations and the players who will grace the diamond for the upcoming season.
The stadium came alive with cracking bats and the sound of mitts echoing across the field as the players engaged in their warm-up routines, fine-tuning their skills for the challenges ahead. The coaches and players were getting ready to build on last year’s success.
The Railroaders, making a third consecutive playoff appearance, lost to the Chicago Dogs in a first-round best-of-three series. With the disappointment of ultimately losing the series after stealing game-one, the Railroaders look to raise expectations with what the team believes to be a very stacked roster.
One of the most anticipated aspects of Media Day is the unveiling of the team’s Spring Training roster. Although cuts will be made to get down to the Opening Day roster, this team has a lot of excitement in their players with a healthy mix of veterans like Shed Long and Bret Boswell as well as rookies like Jake McMurray and Justin Kleinsorge.
Railroaders’ play-by-play broadcaster Brad Allred gave us some insight on what fans should expect from the club. “This is a stacked roster with a lot of Triple A experience,” he said referring to the nine Railroaders that have played in MLB organizations at the Triple-A level like Bret Boswell with Albuquerque, Jesse Estrada for the Cubs organization and Cito Culver in the Yankees organization, among others.
Allred pointed to multiple position battles ahead of Opening Day-roster cuts like Michael Berglund and Jaxx Groshans battling it out for starting catcher. He also hinted that some really good players might be cut, showing how good this ballclub already is.
“You should see some of these guys get signed to big league clubs throughout the season,” Allred said. Of course with players getting signed to major league organizations you have to have the “next man up” mentality, Allred added. He believes Railroaders manager Pete Incaviglia has done a good job of making sure the “deep” roster can be replenished, he said.
Our conversation with Brad came with some bold predictions on the upcoming season including infielder Bret Boswell’s potential to win the American Association MVP award. Boswell batted .314 last season with 14 home runs and 43 RBI’s in just 37 games.
Another player to watch this season is Joe Corbett, the Railroaders shut-down closer. Brad believes Corbett will play for a big-league club this year saying it was “criminal” that he wasn’t already in the majors.
The Railroaders have a number of returning players this year including ace Kasey Kalich and team veteran Hill Alexander, but a newcomer to the club Shed Long could have a big impact. Long has spent three seasons in the majors where he played in 110 games for the Mariners batting .216 and racking up 41 RBI’s.
However you look at it, the Railroaders are looking to take the next step this season, not only on the field but overall as an organization with the opportunity for top-notch talent to progress in their careers to a higher level of baseball. According to Allred, the future looks bright for this organization especially since Rev Entertainment joined the ownership group last year.
The Railroaders get the 2024 season underway Thursday at 7:06 p.m. hosting the Winnipeg Goldeyes at La Moderna Field.
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