SALEM, Va. – It’s hard to believe but the boys are back in town--the Salem Red Sox that is. A new season starts Friday night with familiar faces back on the diamond.
16 of the 30 players on the opening day roster played in Salem in 2024. That includes a core group of infielders. Also returning to the dugout will be Ozzie Chavez. The bench coach the past two seasons is now sliding over to the manager position. He likes the variety of talent on a roster that touts 3 of the top 30 prospects in the Red Sox organization. Yoeilin Cespedes is among that group and is eager to get back on the field after undergoing season-ending surgery last July.
“I’m just glad to be back here and glad to be back healthy and ready to go and continue to be impressive,” said Cespedes speaking through team strength and conditioning trainer and translator Jose Benjamin.
“We have a little bit of everything,” Chavez said. “We have good defense, pitching and good hitting as well. The first thing is development and we try to teach them to work hard everyday to have that good attitude to work.
The Red Sox even have a few Virginia natives on the roster this year in pitchers Joe Vogatsky (Fairfax) and Brandon Clarke (Leesburg). First pitch with Delmarva is at 6:30 p.m. Friday night.