Rattlers at Rising Stars, 2012

The 2012 Arizona Fall League Rising Stars Game is scheduled to be played on Saturday night.  This is the All-Star Game for the AFL.  It starts at 7pm CDT and you can watch it on MLB Network or on MLB.com.

There will be one former Timber Rattler on the roster.  Hunter Morris, the reigning Southern League MVP and Milwaukee Brewers minor league player of the year, will play for the West in this prospect-laden game.

Hunter Morris rounds the bases after one of his nine home runs with the Timber Rattlers in 2010. (Credit: PSB Photo)

Through Thursday, Morris is hitting .269 (18-for-67) with no homers and five RBI in 16 games for the Phoenix Desert Dogs in AFL play this season.

BUT, he is not the only person with ties to the Timber Rattlers who will be part of this game.

Morris will play for Dusty Wathan, the manager of the West Division.  Wathan played five games for the Rattlers in 1995.  Wathan was the manager of the Reading Phillies in 2011.

Lance Painter, the Rattlers pitching coach in 2006 and 2007, is Wathan’s pitching coach in this game.  Painter has been a pitching coach in the Mariners system since 2006.  He was the pitching coach for the Jackson Generals, the Southern League affiliate of the Mariners, last year.

Lance Painter as the Rattlers pitching coach in 2007.

Brent Johnson, a member of the 2005 Rattlers team, is listed as the BP Pitcher/assistant coach for the West.  He hit .310 with a homer and 44RBI in 109 games during the regular season.  Johnson spent 2012 as an assistant for the Arizona League affiliate of the Mariners.

Brent Johnson as a Timber Rattler in 2005.

Keep your eyes open for these ex-Rattlers during the game.