LANCASTER, PA — The Lancaster Barnstormers have signed three pitchers, one who played in the Major Leagues in 2022, and two who spent time with the nearby Reading Fightin’ Phils, announced by manager Ross Peeples.
Left-hander Brian Marconi and right-hander Mike Adams come to the Barnstormers from Reading while Jacob Lemoine, who spent a portion of 2022 with the Oakland A’s will join the club as well.
The signings bring the number of players under contract to 22 for the upcoming season.
Marconi, 25, is a native of Philadelphia. He was drafted by the Phillies out of George Mason University in 2019 and spent three seasons in the Phils’ system. Last year, the southpaw was 4-6 with 18 saves and a 4.53 ERA at Class AA Reading. He also appeared in 10 games for Class AAA Lehigh Valley and was 0-1 with a 3.95 ERA. He had 15 saves for Reading the previous season.
He made two appearances for the Major League team this spring.
“Marconi has a good arm and good career numbers,” said Peeples. “He will be depended upon as a lefty in our bullpen.”
Adams, 28, spent the last two seasons in the Phillies organization after being seen in an open tryout camp. The product of Wagner University and native of South Jersey had previously pitched in 2016 with the Rockland Boulders of the Can-Am Association before opening a training camp with friend and former teammate Ed Charlton.
During his four years of running the camp, studying the mechanics of successful pitchers, Adams increased his velocity and eventually reached his goal of hitting 100 MPH.
With the Phillies, Adams was 9-3 over two seasons, spanning from High-A Jersey Shore to Lehigh Valley. He won seven games in a mixture of roles for Reading last season. His career ERA is 5.11 while walking 59 and striking out 101 in 111 innings of work.
“This guy has a great backstory,” said Peeples. “He is a good, high character guy who loves to compete. He will be in the back end of our bullpen.”
Lemoine, 29, was drafted by the Texas Rangers out of the University of Houston in 2015 but was unable to begin his professional career until the 2017 season. He rose quickly through the Rangers’ organization, reaching Class AAA Nashville in 2019 after posting a 0.83 ERA in 26 appearances with Class AA Frisco. Coming out of the pandemic year, the right-hander went 7-4 with a 2.86 ERA in Class AAA with Round Rock.
Last year, he opened with Oakland and made seven appearances before shuttling between there and Class AAA Las Vegas. He had no record for the A’s with a 7.71 ERA and went 2-1 with a 4.95 ERA in 26 appearances at Vegas.
“This guy is a big leaguer with unbelievably high character,” said Peeples. “He has a very heavy sinker and can be a back end guy, but we will let him start if that is what he wants to do. He comes very highly recommended from a former teammate of mine.”
Spring training for the Barnstormers opens with physicals on Sunday. The first workout is slated for Monday morning, and the club will take the field on Wednesday afternoon, April 19, to host the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs in an exhibition game at 1:00.
The regular season opens at Southern Maryland on Friday, April 28 with the home schedule commencing on Tuesday, May 2 at 6:30.
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