LINCOLN, Nebraska – The Lincoln Saltdogs continue to prepare for the upcoming 2021 season and have added a few new players to the roster as the season approaches.

The newest signing is C Skyler Weber, a Duluth, GA native who has spent the last four seasons in the Oakland Athletics organization after he was an 18th-round pick out of the University of Georgia in 2016.

Along with Weber, Lincoln added RHP Walter Borkovich – a former affiliated farmhand with the Atlanta Braves – to add bullpen depth under first-year manager James Frisbie.

In his career, Borkovich is 10-9 with a 2.89 ERA in 79 appearances and 12 starts, reaching as high as Triple-A Gwinnett for one appearance in 2019. Borkovich, a four-year product of Michigan State University, spent three seasons with the Braves organization before the pandemic shutdown in 2020.

The ’Dogs also signed LHP Joel Huertas to his first independent professional baseball contract – another reliever who has extensive experience in affiliated baseball.

Huertas spent five seasons in the New York Mets organization prior to the shutdown, and owns a career 6-10 record with a 6.99 ERA in 43 appearances and 19 starts. He also pitched in the Puerto Rican Winter League this past season, and allowed just one earned run over 11.1 innings pitched.

Lincoln also signed former big-leaguer Johnny Barbato for the upcoming season. Barbato has 44 career major league relief appearances and spent three seasons in Major League Baseball – 2016 with the New York Yankees, 2017 with the Pittsburgh Pirates and 2018 with the Detroit Tigers.

Barbato owns a career 25-33 record with a 3.81 ERA in 360 appearances and was a 6th round pick of the Marlins out of high school in 2010. He will replace the spot that Dallas Beeler was expected to occupy before he retired earlier this year.

Much of manager James Frisbie’s player movement was completed before the turn of the new year, and the Saltdogs now have 25 players under contract for the upcoming season.

The Saltdogs will open the 2021 season on May 18, and the first game at Haymarket Park is scheduled for May 25! Stay tuned for more information regarding tickets and promotions for the upcoming year.