Some of these faces shown celebrating the Nashua Silver Knights 2022 FCBL title will be back for the 2023 season. (Telegraph file photo by TOM KING)

NASHUA – You may not be able to tell the defending champion Nashua Silver Knights players without a scorecard between late May and early July.

That’s because the prevailing school of thought in the Futures Collegiate Baseball League, first mentioned by Vermont Lake Monsters manager Pete Wilk, is that you have three rosters during the season: The one filled with temps and some regulars to start through mid-June while waiting for players from conference tournaments plus the high school grads to arrive; the A-team roster with the regulars you envisioned from all of the off season signings, and finally the postseason roster that includes late signees, perhaps from other summer leagues whose season is done, to replace those players who had to return home or to school early as the FCBL season lasts til mid-August with finals.

Add one more: The roster in early January that changes come May due to the casualties from the college season.

“The two week stretch we had with phone calls from coaches and players, we lost six arms in two weeks, the last two weeks of April,” Silver Knights general manager Cam Cook, whose team begins its 2022 FCBL title defense with the opener of the 2023 season Wednesday at the Pittsfield (Mass.) Suns. “And then if you want to stretch it out to eight, there are a couple additional guys that said they’ll get here late and are on innings limits. … This is why we signed 25 players. Maybe we should’ve signed 28.”

The main casualty of all that was Phil Nichols from Keene State. Then two others were slated to have Tommy John surgery.

These are the perils of roster building in the FCBL; the Silver Knights were so pitching thin by the deciding Game 3 of last year’s finals when tabbed reliever Noah Wachter to start, and he delivered. Wachter this year will be the team’s pitching coach. Brendan Martin returns as first base coach.

Cook envisions others calling up after their deals with more prestigious leagues like the Cape Cod League falling through, but for now, Knights manager Kyle Jackson will welcome a bevy of arms on Monday for the team’s first workout/Media Day and go from there.

“You can literally never have too many arms in this league,” Cook said, “because they come and go like the wind blows.”

Here’s look by position groups:

PITCHERS

Potential Starters: Kyan Bagshaw (L), Max Marchetti (L), Anthony Pingeton, Thomas Rioux, Nate Bonacorsi, Erik Sibbach, Colin Brodeur. Ryan Griffin.

Potential Relievers: Zach Gitschier, Brandon Hsu, Ty Baker, Stiles Begnaud, Sam Fosberg, Greg Gentle, Padraig MacSeain (L), Alex Meesig, Corey O’Day, Brandon Metevier, Adam Betty, Will Ray, George Welch (L).

Start with a local, former Souhegan lefty Bagshaw. He’s been basically a reliever at Endicott College, and has excelled (4-1, 2.74 at last look). But he could be a starter with Nashua as a late signee last summer looks to do more this time.

Then go to the 6-3, 215-pound Pingeton out of Anna Maria, who went 8-2, with 88 strikeouts to 19 walks. “What a find that was,” Cook said, adding he’s a possible season-opener starter.

As was hinted, there are some arms signed to temp deals. Rivier’s Nolan Mederos, the South alum, had to shut things down after a long season so Nashua added two temps from the Raiders, including a freshman from this past season, Hudson’s Ty Baker, and lefty Nate Bonacorsi, who just finished his sophomore year. The fact the Knights have two Raiders on their roster is a testament to the work of new Riv coach Jimmy Smith. Both players will be going to another league in Myrtle Beach, S.C., short month-long circuit and could return, and Bonacorsi will likely get a start or two before he leaves.

Brown’s Stiles Begnaud could be here on time and should be a back-end reliever, but had only six appearances for the Ivy League school. Saint Anselm’s Adam Betty will be on an innings limit, thus a reliever. Manchester’s Brodeur was 4-3, 4.82 earned run average out of the bullpen at Florida Southwestern, a junior college, a level the Knights usually don’t look at. He could start early in the season before more of the regular arms arrive.

Chenevert, headed to Saint A’s, is an incoming freshman out of Dracut, Mass. along with the Stonehill-bound Gray. Once they arrive in mid-June roles will be established. Lefty Fosberg, who will be a junior this fall at St. Lawrence, is an change-of-pace type who could be effective out of the pen. He went 3-1, 5.68 in 12 appearances. “If you can throw 82-85 and are a lefty, you can have a good career in the Futures League,” Cook said.

Gentle, who is from Nashua, was a closer type at Salem State, threw 17 innings but was shut down the last two or three weeks of the season but should be well rested and good to go for Nashua. He fanned 18 in 17 relief innings, but had an ERA of 8.47.

Returning are Gitschier (SNHU) and Hsu (URI) and as Cook says, “We can put either in at any time during a game and know what we’re going to get.” Gitschier has been used as a setup man this spring for the Penmen, going 0-0, 2.08 at last look while Brookline’s Hsu has had a good spring with the Rams.

Last spring’s Telegraph Player of the Year, MacSeain, was a late add to replace some of the casualties. He went 2-0, 3.52 in three starts in his freshman year at Riv foe St. Joe’s of Maine.

Incoming freshman Marchetti, headed for Northeastern, could get a starting role as the Knights have a good relationship with the Huskies braintrust.

Last year’s finals key Alex Meesig of Nashua – the North alum’s relief stint saved the Knights in Game 2 – is back after being a late add last year. He was hot and cold this spring throwing 22 innings with 14 of his 15 appearances in relief (2-2, 4.91, 25 Ks) in his second season at Assumption, and he’ll be joined by fellow Nashuan O’Day, as he was late last July. O’Day could be valuable as an opener, but he struggled a bit at NEC )0-1, 7.32 in 13 appearances). Guertin alum Metevier struggled his freshman spring at Nichols, but Cook is hoping Jackson’s magical touch can help him.

Meanwhile, Ray out of Wake Forest is a potential closer, and will be a late join as Wake (42-7 at last look) is one of the top teams in the country in Division I. It’ll be good to have him, as he is 1-1, 1.04 in 13 relief appearances.

Rioux, finishing his freshman year at Colby, is a control type who is looked at as a starter. He went 3-3, 4.95 in 11 appearances, six as a starter, 10 walks, 40 strikeouts in 36.1 innings. Sibbach from Stevens Institute will be on an innings limit, with a 90-plus stuff, 50 strikeouts vs. 11 walks. The hope, Cook said, is that he’d be in the rotation so the team has five good starters to begin the season, then move to the pen. But if the limit is way down he’d get three starts and that’s it.

Welch, of course, has been a closer before with the Knights, left for the Cape last year, and was just signed. He will probably be a late arrival, but he throws gas as many know, and has gone 5-0, 3.21 in 11 appearances for the Penmen at last look, including eight starts with 59 Ks in 42 innings. Yup. Ryan Griffin, out of Northeastern, could get some starts.

CATCHERS

Kyle DeRoma, Will Fosbert, Nico Galeazzi, Sean Lynch.

DeRoma (WPI) may be familiar to Knights fans for his homer in Game 2 of the semis win over New Britain. Good defensively, could see decent playing time and hit .274 with 16 RBIs in 26 games this spring. Fosberg is an incoming Northeastern freshman, Galeazzi (returnee) will likely a DH-type, while Lynch out of St. Thomas is hitting .296 this spring and could be the No. 1 receiver.

INFIELDERS

Cam Carignan, Trevor Crosby, Jake Hatch, Will Hindle, Ryan Juliano, Cam Kozeal, Jack McDermott, Dylan Pacheco, Will Perkowski, Zach Scott, Shane Wockley.

Let’s face it, it all starts with McDermott, the Knights second baseman from last year out of Amherst College who was the Finals MVP with a burst of power, and his double set up the game-winning homer by Kyle Wolff in the title game. He hit 17 doubles with Amherst this year in the regular season with five triples and a homer, but will arrive about a week late, Cook said, June 5. That would mean he’d miss the ring ceremony on June 3.

Two temps are in this mix – Carignan out of Colby Sawyer hit .372, 14 doubles, and could play second, while Jake Hatch also hit .388 for Division III Emerson with 11 homers and 37 RBIs and will play third.

Crosby, a UMass-Lowell freshman, will show up after the River Hawks are done with their tourney, and hit .290 and could also play third, perhaps a regular.

Hindle out of Portsmouth will be a middle infielder and redshirted at URI; same for Juliano at UConn.

An interesting incoming freshman (Vanderbilt) is Kozeal, and talented at shortstop as one of the top high schoolers in Omaha. “My only concern is he gets drafted,” Cook said, noting that’s how good he is.”

Pacheco struggled this spring for Endicott, also a middle infielder. Keep an eye on incoming freshman (SNHU) Will Perkowski of Goffstown, a first baseman who can also pitch – as some of the local high school teams can attest.

But he won’t likely start at first for the Knights because Mount St. Mary’s sophomore Shane Wockley is hitting .338 in 130 at-bats this spring with 15 homers, 45 RBIs and a .442 OBP. Plus, the Crescent,Pa. native is very good defensively. He’ll be a little late for the start.

Zach Scott, a true freshman for Dayton, has struggled but has been getting consistent at-bats. Brady O’Brien, who came in late last year from Colby, returns and could start at short. And why not? He hit .274 with seven homers and 35 RBIs in 135 at-bats this spring.

Nashua Silver Knights playoff MVP Jack McDermott, right, is set to return for the 2023 season and likely play second base. (Telegraph file photo by TOM KING)

OUTFIELDERS

Scott Brown, Teddy Cashman, Ryan Caufield, Luca Giallongo, Nate Lam, Shane McNamara, Nick O’Connor, Richie Paltridge, James Powers.

McNamara, out of Londonderry, was solid for the Knights last summer and can play first as well, and likely will do just that until Wockley arrives.

Now, as reported back in January, there will be a celebrity’s son on the roster, Cashman, out of St. Luke’s in New Canaan, Conn. He is the son of Yankees longtime general manager Brian Cashman, headed to Lafayette College in the fall. “It’ll be cool,” Cook said. “I’m always interested to see how some of those kids’ personalities are, having the wealth or fame of a parent, but he knows here he’s going to be treated as Teddy Cashman.”

Another incoming freshman, Lam, headed for Northeastern, has speed to burn – a 6.3 second 60-yard dash. “He’s going to cover a lot of ground in the outfield,” Cook said.

O’Connor was the starting center fielder for St. Thomas, hit .324 while second in the lineup, and could be a week late.

Caufield hit .357 at Clark and right now is on a temp contract. Paltridge was with the Silver Knights for a bit last season, but that was out of Penn State. He transferred to Siena but did more pitching than playing the outfield (only 12 at-bats, while 12 mound appearances, 1-2, 9.31.)

Finally, there’s returnee Powers – he got hurt last year — who hit .413, nine doubles, 10 homers at Anna Maria this spring. “Division III is too easy for the kid,” Cook said.

To start, look for Caufield, Powers, and Giallongo out of New England College who played for Westfield last summer.

OVERALL

Of course, you’ll cross out some names and add others as time goes on, even in the first week.

“Offensively, I think we’re well-rounded,” Cook said. “A lot of guys who can hit for power, a lot of guys who can run the bases a lot, and a lot of high batting averages, which we did not have last year. Last year we had a ton of power but a ton of strikeouts. But we had very good timely hitting last year, it seemed we had a clutch gene. Offensively I’m excited, especially when the full team is here. It seems you could draw names out of a hat and still have a real good offensive lineup.”

As for pitching, Cook feels it’s deep. He’s confident about the potential of Bagshaw, Sibbach, Pingeton, Marchetti, Rioux as starters, and feels the bullpen is solid.

“It’s more having K-Jax, once he figures out the pieces to the puzzle, and knows what the rotation is and what the roles are out of the bullpen, that’s when we’ll feel really good,” Cook said. “You can’t learn that until you start playing games and seeing guys in certain situations.”

The one thing the Knights want to avoid, though, is the bad start of the last two seasons. Last year they started out 4-12 but recovered. Cook says the expectations should be about 5-5 to start before the full team arrives.

“We did it, but it’s not always the best way to go about it,” Cook said.

So stay tuned, as what you see on Memorial Day may not be what you see on July 4.

“It could literally go,” Cook said, “from all Division III to all Division I.”

Let’s see if can literally go until the playoffs’ final game again.