Chattanooga Lookouts right fielder Kyle Russell prepares to bat during a 2011 game against the Tennessee Smokies at AT&T Field.Asked Sunday night whether the Chattanooga Lookouts would win 105 or 110 of their 140 games this year, Los Angeles Dodgers farm director De Jon Watson burst into laughter.
“I didn’t say that,” he said. “The season hasn’t started, and I’ve already been thrown under the bus.”
Though minor league baseball is ever the revolving door in which producing players move on and struggling players move down or out, the Lookouts have several reasons for optimism with Thursday night’s opener at AT&T Field almost here. Chattanooga finished 77-62 last season after a stout 41-29 second half, and a pitching staff that excelled down the stretch will be anchored this spring by the return of Allen Webster and Chris Withrow.
Webster is rated by Baseball America as the No. 2 prospect in the Dodgers organization, while Withrow is No. 7. Aaron Miller and Ethan Martin are two former top-five organizational prospects who will join them in the rotation, Watson said, and Shawn Tolleson returns to head the bullpen.
In 38 games last season, Tolleson went 4-2 with a 1.62 earned run average and notched 12 saves.