April 2, 2007

Former Tennessee All-Americas Chris Burke and Todd Helton are the lone Volunteers on active Major League Baseball 2007 opening days rosters. They join five others from the Tennessee baseball family who are members of the coaching staffs on various MLB clubs, including managers Phil Garner of the Houston Astros and Fredi Gonzalez of the Florida Marlins. Pitcher Luke Hudson begins the season on the 15-day disabled list for Kansas City.

Others on coaching staffs include Alan Cockrell, who begins his first season as the hitting coach for the Colorado Rockies, Mark Connor, who enters his second season as the Texas Rangers' pitching coach, and Rick Honeycutt, who starts his second season as pitching coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Helton begins his 11th season with Rockies as a career .333 hitter and five-time All-Star. He had somewhat of a down year in 2006, spending 15 days on the DL from April 20-May 4 with acute terminal ileitis. He still hit .302 with 15 home runs and 81 RBI in 145 games, collecting his 400th career double 8/14 vs. Arizona. He has four consecutive seasons with 40 doubles. He needs just four RBI for 1000 and 14 home runs for 300 in his career.

Burke will be the starting center fielder for the Astros as he enters his third full season in the big leagues. He hit .276 last season with a career-high nine home runs and 40 RBI in 123 games. Burke also recorded career highs in many other offensive categories, including doubles (23, 3rd-best on team), hits (101), and extra-base hits (33), while stealing 11 bases, tying his career-high total (2005) and ranking second on the club.

Hudson has spent four seasons in the big leagues, seeing his most productive campaign as the No. 5 starter for the Royals last season, going 7-6 with a 5.12 ERA. He was placed on the DL Sunday with a shoulder injury.

Minor league rosters will be announced on April 5.

Players that have been confirmed with minor league teams include the 2006 No. 1 overall pick Luke Hochevar, who returns to the Double-A Wichita Wrangers (Kansas City). He pitched for the Wranglers in the 2006 Texas League playoffs after making four starts for the Single-A Burlington Bees, going 0-1 with a 1.17 ERA with 16 strikeouts in 15 innings.

A couple of long-time minor league veterans and 1996 Olympic teammates, R.A. Dickey and Augie Ojeda, begin at Triple-A with the Nashville Sounds (Milwaukee) and Tucson Sidewinders (Arizona), respectively.

Dickey was signed as a minor league free agent on Jan. 10 by Brewers and begins his 11th professional season. He spent his first 10 seasons with Texas Rangers. Dickey was a member of Rangers' Opening Day roster from 2004-06 and owns almost every significant pitching record in Oklahoma (AAA) RedHawks history.

Ojeda begins 2007 as a member of the Diamondbacks organization, his fourth professional club. He spent last season with the Iowa Cubs and the Rochester Red Wings (Minnesota) in 2005. He played 178 Major League games from 2000-04 with the Cubs and Twins, holding a career .219 average with five home runs and 31 RBI.

Mike DiFelice, who has spent some time in the Majors each of the last 11 years, opens his season with the New Orleans Zephyrs, the Triple-A affiliate of the New York Mets. He has played 527 Major League games with 28 home runs, 158 RBI and holds a .235 career average.

Outfielder Jordan Czarniecki enters his second season with the Tulsa Drillers, the Double-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies, in the Texas League. He hit .275 with 11 home runs, 57 RBI and club-high 20 stolen bases in 2006.

Additional players will be added to the Vols in Professional Baseball page as rosters are released.