(Editor’s note: release from Missoula Osprey)
MISSOULA – The Pioneer League has announced the roster for the 2018 All-Star game and it features four players from the Missoula Osprey. Zach Almond, Buddy Kennedy, Justin Garcia, and Marcos Tineo have all been selected to represent the Osprey in Grand Junction August 7.
Leading the team in home runs and RBIs this season, Almond has been an offensive force with eight home runs and 33 runs batted in. He ranks in the top three in both categories across the entire league. Almond sports a .323 batting average and owns the leagues third-best slugging percentage at .597. Almond owns two games this season of five runs batted in, with his most recent coming in Helena July 30 in an Osprey 14-7 victory.
A mainstay at third base all season, Kennedy has powered his way to a .326 batting average with four home runs and 22 RBIs. To start the season, Kennedy owned a 17-game on-base streak with a 16 game hitting streak. In 36 starts on the year, Kennedy has a hit in all but four games and holds 15 multi-hit games. The 2017 fifth round selection out of Millville, New Jersey owns a .381 on-base percentage and a .489 slugging percentage.
On the mound this season, Marcos Tineo holds a 1-2 record and the second-lowest ERA in the league at 2.19. With seven starts on the season, Tineo has logged 37 innings and compiled 22 strikeouts against eight walks. The right-hander from the Dominican Republic has thrown three games of six innings, logging a streak of 16 consecutive scoreless frames during the middle of July.
In nine games out of the bullpen for Missoula, Garcia owns 12 scoreless innings while striking out 16 batters. The 17th round selection in 2018 out of Arkansas-Little Rock has two saves in as many opportunities while anchoring the back of the pitching staff. Opponents have had little success off Garcia, as he has allowed four hits for an opponent’s batting average of .098.
