BARNSTORMERS SIGN ECHEMENDIA AND APLIN

The Lancaster Barnstormers have signed a pair of new players, one pitcher and one position player, it has been announced by manager Ross Peeples.  The newcomers are Pedro Echemendia, a right-hander relief pitcher, and Andrew Aplin, a left-handed outfielder.

Echemendia, 28, started this season with the Chicago Dogs of the American Association, pitching in eight games in relief.  He joined the club between games of Wednesday’s doubleheader against the Somerset Patriots, while Aplin is set to join the team before Saturday night’s matchup with the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs.

The native of Ciego de Avila, Cuba and is playing in his seventh season as a professional.  Echemendia pitched in the 2009 and 2010 Cuban National Series seasons as a teenager before joining the St. Louis Cardinals organization in the 2015 season at age 24.  Echemendia spent three seasons under the St. Louis umbrella, reaching Triple-A in both the 2016 and 2017 seasons for a total of 12 games, amassing 15 strikeouts while covering 22.0 innings in those dozen contests.  Echemendia has also pitched in the Puerto Rican, Venezuelan, Dominican, and Mexican Pacific Winter Leagues, good for a 24-21 record over 216 games, 30 of which have been starts.

“Echemendia’s got a pretty live arm with a good changeup and a pretty good breaking ball”, Peeples said.

Aplin opened this campaign with the Reno Aces, the Class AAA affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks, appearing in 28 games.

Also 28, Aplin hails from Vallejo, CA and is playing in his eighth professional season.  He was drafted by the Houston Astros in the fifth round of the 2012 MLB June Amateur Draft and he spent his first five seasons in the Astros organization, reaching Triple-A for the first time the day after the 2014 MLB Trade Deadline.  Aplin has played in both the Seattle Mariners and Diamondbacks organizations over the last five years. More than half of his 822 games played in have come at the Triple-A level.

His best professional season came in 2013 while playing at the Class A-Advanced level, the season in which he hit .278/.376/.424 while driving in 107 runs in 500 at-bats over 128 games.

“Aplin’s a plus defender who can play all three outfield spots and can run and hit”, Peeples said, “I’ve heard great things about him as a player and a person, and he comes highly recommended.”