Ghost Peppers add Moore and Craig in roster push

Gastonia has added Moore and Craig, another two-player move as the Ghost Peppers keep reshaping a roster that has already seen Nate Peden, Eddie Leon, Jonny Barditch, Jake Hoover and others come through during the 2025-26 cycle. The club did not list positions for either newcomer, but the timing points to a familiar Atlantic League need: more usable pieces for a second half that punishes thin benches and overworked arms.

For Gastonia Baseball Club, now operating as the Gastonia Ghost Peppers for 2025 and beyond, the move fits a pattern of steady roster management out of Gastonia, N.C. Team president Brady Salisbury has been tied to several prior personnel announcements, and the club has continued to cycle through additions such as Trendon, McKinley, Silber, Miednik, Blanton, Myatt and Hasler. That volume matters because it suggests the Ghost Peppers are not waiting for a long-term fix to arrive; they are testing combinations and trying to stabilize the mix now.

The urgency is sharper because Gastonia sits in the South Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, where July is usually the point when front offices decide whether to chase the race or settle into maintenance mode. A two-player addition can serve several purposes at once: protect innings if the pitching staff gets stretched, create lineup competition if offense goes stale, or give the manager more defensive options as the schedule tightens. Without public biographies attached to Moore and Craig, the clearest read is that Gastonia wanted more usable depth immediately.

That kind of roster calibration is standard in independent baseball, but it is still a signal. The Ghost Peppers have already shown a willingness to move quickly for help, and the arrival of Moore and Craig adds to a 2026 roster picture that keeps changing by the week. In a league where players can be gone as quickly as they arrive, Gastonia is acting like a club that believes its margin is too thin to stand still.