The Chattanooga Lookouts announced the 2026 Opening Day roster on Tuesday.
The team is looking to build off a 73-61 season in 2025. Of course, many of the integral players from the 2025 group have since scaled the minor league ranks. Infielder Sal Stewart was, in effect, the Lookouts’ first half most valuable player. He’s now hitting cleanup and playing first base for the parent Cincinnati Reds.
Chase Burns is in the big league rotation to start 2026 after posting a 1.29 earned-run average in eight starts last season with the Lookouts. Edwin Arroyo, who anchored shortstop and hit near the top of the lineup for the Lookouts all of last season, opened his season in Triple-A Louisville after representing Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic.
There is still a mix of returning Lookouts — pitching rotation staples Jose Acuna and Kevin Abel are back in 2026 — joining new faces to break in Erlanger Park in the stadium’s inaugural season.
Acuna was last season’s opening-day pitcher and compiled a 6-6 record with a 3.64 ERA in 18 starts with the team. Abel has 43 career starts with the Lookouts and had a 4-8 record with a 4.48 ERA last season as he led the team in innings pitched with 120 2/3 and strikeouts with 113. Also back is Hunter Parks, who had a 1.74 ERA in 13 appearances last season.
The Reds farm system was ranked 12th by MLB.com , with four prospects in the top 100 league-wide. None of those prospects are opening the year in Chattanooga, and the Lookouts have just one player, Cam Collier (hit .263 in 75 games last season), in the organization’s top 10 prospect rankings.
Among the other infielders, Ruben Ibarra returns after leading the Lookouts in homers (21) and RBIs (69) last year; Leo Balcazar is the youngest Lookout at 22 and is the system’s No. 17 prospect, and Alexander Vargas represented Cuba in the World Baseball Classic.
Notable among the outfielders: Jay Allen II (2021) and Austin Hendrick (2020) are former first-round draft picks who combined to hit 22 homers and drove in 112 runs for the Lookouts last season, and Carlos Jorge, the No. 18-ranked prospect in the system, is making his double-A debut.
Among Cincinnati prospects who may spend time in Chattanooga is catcher Alfred Duno, ranked No. 2 in the system, who is starting the season in Class A.
The 2026 opening day roster for the Chattanooga Lookous
PITCHERS
Kevin Abel
Jose Acuna
Will Cannon
Thomas Farr
Taylor Floyd
Johnathan Harmon
Johnathan Lavallee
Jared Lyons
Irvin Machuca
Joseph Menefee
Simon Miller
Jose Montero
Hunter Parks
Nate Peterson
Nick Sando
INFIELDERS
Leo Balcazar
Cam Collier
Trey Faltine
Ruben Ibarra
Dominic Pitelli
Alexander Vargas
Zavier Warren
OUTFIELDERS
Jay Allen II
Austin Hendrick
Carlos Jorge
Shane Sasaki
CATCHERS
Cade Hunter
Diego Amana
Michael Trautwein
Contact Cameron McKeon at cmckeon@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6315.
