Mark Maloney on Kentucky sports

South Atlantic League baseball

Coming up

Lexington Legends vs. Bowling Green Hot Rods

What: Two-game series

When: Thursday and Friday (8:05 EDT each night)

Where: Bowling Green Ballpark

Tickets: Call (270) 901-2121

Probable pitchers (Legends listed first): Thursday, LH Brad Dydalewicz (3-1, 2.05) vs. RH Nick Barnese (0-0, 1.80); Friday, RH Ross Seaton (6-5, 2.49) vs. LH Matt Moore (3-2, 3.30).

Matthew Moore

Hot Rod to watch: Friday starter Matt Moore (6-foot-1, 207 pounds, from Edgewood, N.M.) is coming off a pair of starts that earned him SAL Pitcher of the Week honors. After tossing four innings of no-run, four-hit ball against Rome, Moore fired a seven-inning no-run, no-hit gem at Asheville. The two-game total: 0 runs, 4 hits, 3 walks, 18 strikeouts. Overall, Moore has made 11 starts. Over 46 1/3 innings, he has struck out 69, walked 36 and held opponents to a .175 batting average. Included in that is a four-inning, no-decision appearance against the Legends on April 26. He gave up three earned runs, two hits and four walks in that game, striking out five as the Hot Rods won 7-6. He is rated by Baseball America as the sixth-best prospect in the Tampa Bay system. Now a week shy of his 20th birthday, Moore was selected by the Rays in the eighth round of the 2007 draft, signing for $115,000. Out of Moriarty High School, he was Gatorade Player of the Year in New Mexico as a senior. Last year, he was 3-2 with a 1.66 ERA over 12 starts and led the Appalachian League with 77 strikeouts (vs. 19 walks). He led all of minor-league ball with 12.8 strikeouts per nine innings, and by holding opponents to a .154 batting average.

Henry Villar

Legend to watch: RHP Henry Villar (5-11, 150, from Bonao, Dominican Republic) has been effective in a variety of roles. His 16 appearances include three starts. He is 1-1, with a save, five holds and a 1.71 ERA. He has worked 42 innings, with 50 strikeouts and 11 walks while holding opponents to a .221 batting average. Villar, 22, pitched two innings of relief in the same April contest that Bowling Green’s Moore faced the Legends, giving up a run and three hits while striking out two. Villar joined the Houston Astros system in July, 2005. He spent two seasons in the Dominican Summer League before moving to Greeneville of the Appalachian League last year. Over those three seasons, Villar was 8-11, with a 3.09 ERA over 39 games (13 each year) and 180 1/3 innings, with 166 strikeouts and 33 walks.

Radio: WLXG AM-1300

The Bowling Green Hot Rods, new Low-A affiliate of the American League-champion Tampa Bay Rays, have announced their inaugural roster.

Among the 25 players on the South Atlantic League team’s roster are infielder brothers Tim and Jeremy Beckham.

Tim, 19, was selected by the Rays in the first round of layst year’s June draft, coming from Griffin High School in Georgia. The shortstop split last summer between Princeton of the Appalachian League and Hudson Valley of the New York-Penn League. Baseball America named him the top position-player prospect in the Tampa Bay minor-league system.

Jeremy, 22, was a 15th round draft pick last year out of Georgia Southern University. He also split his time between Princeton and Hudson Valley last summer.

The Beckhams are among 12 Hot Rods from Tampa Bay’s 2008 draft class.

Right-hander Matt Moore, a 2007 third-round pick, is Bowling Green’s highest rated pitcher. Baseball America lists him as the No. 6 Rays prospect.

The roster follows.

PITCHERS           Ht.  Wt.   B/T  DOB       Resides         ’08 clubs          W  L  S  ERA

                                                                                   HV–Hudson Valley; P–Princeton 

Chris Andujar           6-0  182    R/R  8-24-87   San Pedro de …, DR HV      3   4  0   5.65

Jamie Bagley            6-2  221   R/R   7-16-87   Huffman, Texas          P         2   2  5   2.70

                                                                                                                 HV      1   1  0   5.59

Joseph Cruz             6-3  214   R/R  7-20-88    Baldwin Park, Calif.   P         1   3  0   3.17

Frank De Los Santos 5-11  175   L/L  11-17-87  Los Forrales, D.R.  HV      4   5  0   5.40

Shane Dyer              6-3  189   R/R   3-9-88    Eaton, Colo.               HV       3   4  0   3.68

Diego Echeverria   5-10  182   R/R   1-1-85    Buenos Aires, Argen.  HV      4   1  1   4.48

Marquis Fleming      6-0  181   R/R   9-11-86  Turlock, Calif.             HV       1   2  1   3.86

Tyree Hayes          5-11  163   R/R  8-8-88     Tomball, Texas           HV        5   6  0   3.39

Michael Jarman       6-1  199   L/L   6-6-85     Oklahoma City, Okla. P           2   2  4   1.52

Matt Moore            6-1  207   L/L   6-18-89   Edgewood, N.M.        P           2   2  0   1.66

Tommy Rafferty     6-0  180   R/R   2-5-85      Lorena, Texas             HV        2   0  0   4.35

Josh Satow            5-9  171   L/L   12-18-85  Gilbert, Ariz.                HV        3   0  2   1.23

Neil Schenk           6-3  216   L/L   6-17-86    Memphis, Tenn.           HV        2   2  1   1.84