Cleaning out the notebook
Some random thoughts, opinions and notes from the pressbox at Consol Energy Park:
* The Wild Things made one roster move Saturday, releasing pitcher Matt Maradeo. In his second season with Washington, Maradeo had a 1-0 record and 8.22 ERA in 12 games. The sidearming right-hander has been plagued by inconsistency and his numbers in Washington did match those he put up in the Chicago Cubs' system.
* Pitcher Justin Edwards, who left Friday night's game with back spasms, will not go on the disabled list. According to manager Mark Mason, the spams were related to Edwards being dehydrated. Edwards is expected to be out for two days. Opponents are batting only .222 against Edwards, who has 21 strikeouts in 20 2/3 innings.
* To fill Maradeo's spot on the roster, Washington will sign relief pitcher Aaron Guinn, a 6-5 right-hander from Mesa (Ariz.) State, which finished the year ranked No. 5 in NCAA Division II. Guinn had a 5-2 record, 9 saves and 1.40 ERA this year.
* It sure looks like center fielder Chris Sidick has lost his confidence when hitting against left-handed pitching. Sidick is only 2-for-25 (.080) with 10 strikeouts against lefty pitchers, but the average isn't the big concern. It's that many of his swings against lefties have looked bad.
* If you're going to attend a Wild Things home game and stay from start to finish, plan on being there a long time. Washington has played 12 home games with 11 going at least nine innings (there was a rain-shortened game against Gateway). of those 11, only one has been played in less than three hours, that being a 2-hour, 59-minute game against River City June 6. The Wild Things' nine-inning home games are averaging 3 hours and 8 minutes.
* Washington will have to drop a player from the roster Monday when Craig Snipp comes off the disabled list to pitch against Midwest.
* Phil Laurent doesn't get cheated on any of his swings. There's no check-swings or half-hearted swings with that guy.
* With the 13-run output Saturday night, the Wild Things are now in a three-way tie for the most runs scored in the Frontier League, though their record is only 10-17. Of all professional baseball teams that have played at least 27 games this season, only two (Midland of the Class AA Texas League and High Desert of the Class A California League) are averaging more runs per game than the Wild Things.
* Here's the humbling statistic: No team in pro baseball that has played at 27 least games is giving up more runs per game than the Wild Things (7.04).
* Manager Mark Mason on his team's 6.63 ERA: "I want a team ERA of 4.00 or under. If that's what our ERA was, then our record would be reversed. We've hit enough to win almost every game. The pitching has to come to the party."
* Has anyone noticed that closer Nick Peterson has 23 strikeouts in 11 1/3 innings pitched?
* Here's one that's hard to do: Chris Demons had two singles last night, which were his first singles all season. Demons had two home runs and a double but no singles in his first 32 at-bats.
* I forgot to mention this when I originally posted this article: Am I the only one who thinks the umpiring has gotten significantly worse this year? Talking to people from visiting teams, it seems to be that way around the league, not just in Washington.
Labels: Aaron Guinn, Chris Demons, Chris Sidick, Justin Edwards, Matt Maradeo, Phil Laurent
posted by Chris Dugan at
3:55 PM
52 Comments:
Really difficult to do a good job of officiating when there is only two umpires Chris.
Last year things got a lot better when they were using three.
This League has a terminal case of the "cheaps". If it cost a dime more, they are just simply not going to spend it.
Any guesses as to who gets removed from the roster tomorrow? Barring an injury in tonight's game, it looks like a battle between Aaron Fuhrman and Brian McCullough.
I agree that Nick Peterson is the team's best kept secret. He's starting to look like the second coming of Gus Hlebovy.
Chris, any idea where Matt Horvath is these days? I thought he was fairly solid last season, and was surprised when they cut him in camp.
Another thing that nobody seems to have noticed....Matt Sutton and his .255 batting average. Here's hoping he regains his 2007 form sooner than later.
Correction, that's Dan Horvath. I got him and Maradeo mixed up. Horvath was the guy who could get the occasional batter out.
"Am I the only one who thinks the umpiring has gotten significantly worse this year? Talking to people from visiting teams, it seems to be that way around the league, not just in Washington."
Would another one of "these" umpires make any difference, really?
I can't beleive you idiots actually want good umpires.
Won't be long before you want good baseball too!
I just can't understand why anybody would complain about the umpires.
Get a life for God's sake!
Most of the umpires are lawyers and they hang out with other lawyers.
How can one expect any honesty from a bunch of social outcast like that?
It looks like Aaron Fuhrman pitched his way out of the doghouse tonight. He came on in the 7th with 1 out and 2 runners on. The first ball he threw was a wild pitch that moved the runners up 90 feet. But the next batter, Barrone, grounded out to 3rd (the runners had to hold), then Fuhrman struck out Pace looking. In the 8th, he fanned .407 hitter Jimmy Baker looking, and got Robbie Knapp to ground into a double play. Highly impressive and he's now worth a longer look. Another strong performance by Nick Peterson as well, striking out 2 in the 9th.
And how about that debut performance by Andrew Schindling? Granted, Midwest isn't loaded with power by any stretch of the imagination, but Schindling gave up just 4 hits in 6 innings plus change. You're not going to see many Wild Things victories where they only manage 5 hits like they did tonight.
A tip of the cap to the young lady who sang the anthem tonight. I attended the game and she was excellent.
swisscheeda
i am glad u asked this because i have been long wondering why horvath got released. while the bullpen sucked as a hole last season, horvath was the one guy who threw strikes. he got batters out and was one of the only guys who could be counted on late in a game. he gave up 8 runs in one early outing, yet rebounded and finished the season with an era in the low 3's. the guy was reliable and could definitely help this team. then again, who needs a guy that simply can get people out without walking everybody first?
swisscheeda
funny. did you notice that fuhrman was warming for 4 straight innings? he threw a complete game down there. it was actualy shocking he got put in the game, but for as bad as he has been, without horvath they need a lefty, which makes him seem safe at the momment. which leaves who to be cut?
I heard the Wild Things are going to trade Ron Wilson to another team (if they can find someone to take him) to make room for Snipp.
The only trade I would like would be to trade Ron Wilson for natural grass.
That would save a lot of taxpayer money and be natural.
Out with taxpayer turf.
Swisschedda is the Ed Werder of this blog. Highly insightful. Creepily accurate. Investigative reporting. Covers America's Team. This guy has a future.
Achtung,Achtung.....
Horvath wasn't all that.You never knew what you were getting with that guy.
As for Hlebovy,Gus thought he could blow every pitch by every batter.Towards the end of the season he pretty much gave up throwing that nasty curve of his.
did you see that demons homer was replayed on the board the next time he came to the plate. i enjoyed that. it only took them 7 years to actually use the video baord for something
well im sure that wont happen again. these guys actually have to do something good worth showing
One reason Dan Horvath was released was his velocity had dipped to the point he was topping out at 83 mph (from what I was told) during camp. The one-inning, seven-run outing in an exhibition game against Lake Erie didn't help his cause.
Along the lines of the video board, I've been to a couple of games this year and I've noticed there's a purple line in the corner, it actually covers up the players face when they put up their picture. Why dont they use some of the tourism money and get that fixed.
No tourism money left. It is all going for taxpayer turf.
From the Frontier League site:
WASHINGTON WILD THINGS: Reinstated LHP Craig Snipp from the 14-day injured reserve list; assigned RHP Aaron Guinn to the 14-day injured reserve list.
My goodness, Guinn goes on the DL already? What happened, did he pull a hammy getting out of his car in the parking lot? Maybe they are just hiding him on the DL because some of the relievers are beginning to turn it around? That's what they do in the Eastern League, I don't know if they do the same in the Frontier League.
To the blogger that called me the "Ed Werder" of this blog, thank you. I appreciate the compliment. Actually, thank Chris Dugan, because I read his stories on the Observer-Reporter site each day, and also check out the blog frequently. I do get to about 15 games a season. And I do listen to my share of games via the computer. I can easily say that the Wild Things games are my favorite summer activity.
Chris, thanks for the Horvath inside info. That certainly explains why he's not here anymore.
It's nice to see some genuine, positive baseball talk on the blog. Please keep it up, folks. It seems like I meet an interesting fan each time I go to a game. I can't understand, for the life of me, why all the negative people still go to the games. The best way to show your disapproval is economic boycott, right?
As for Chris Sidick, it seems like he's getting good wood on the ball, they're just not dropping this year. He'll turn it around, I hope. Sutton didn't play last night. Was it because of his slump? Demons did well in his place, a line-drive homer, 2 walks, 2 runs scored, and a nice catch at the wall.
Is it too early to be thinking about the all-star game? It looks like Psomas, Dempsey, Parker, and Peterson should make it. Maybe others?
I have to agree with the blogger about the video board. It should be used WAY more often.
i agree with Psomas, Dempsey and Peterson possibly going to the All-Star game, but no way Parker makes it, sure the guy can hit. But you might as well put Ron Wilson at second base, the guy is by far our worst player we have defensively.(yeah i said it!) Possible wildcard picks for the all-star game, Grandstrand, defensively the guy is a monster (even with the 5 errors,... 4 of them were caused by horrible TURF fields) "hint hint" Washington. He also has been solid on the bat, the average wont show it but he has alot of sacrifice hits, a true team player ,... and possibly Laurent, not really a fan of his speed in the outfield but he is batting .351 under the radar
just some thoughts on your all-star picks swisscheda, feel free to comment back
Mike
psomas all-star? average down like 80 points in 11-12 days (.170 average is what Bob Gregg said last night). has 3 rbi in a week while striking out like 11 times. all-star? not like this...
Listened to the game on the radio last night.Snipp is hurt again and the 3 guys who followed really stunk up the place.Sounded like they were throwing BP.You can't go 0-11(I think)with runners in scoring position and expect to win.
As for possible All-Stars I think Dempsey is a definate.Petersen a maybe.And Psomas is iffy now,nasty slump he is in.Hope he gets himself out of it soon.Wonder if it has anything to do with the positios switch to 3B.
How about this Raniere kid.He seems to be playing well.
Horvath was selected by the Wild Things with the fourth overall pick in the 2008 Frontier League draft.. He immediately became a fixture in the Washington bullpen, appearing in 38 games with a 3-1 record to go along with a 3.63 ERA. He struck out 33 and allowed only 44 hits in 44.2 innings pitched. He went 2-1 with a 1.29 ERA, striking out 11 in 14 innings during ten July appearances, and 2-0 with a 1.76 ERA in 13 appearances in August, striking out in ten 15.1 innings of work.
Had a terrible outing in June but after that he seemed to be alot more consistent than anything we have right now with the exception of Peterson.
This comment has been removed by the author.
Swisscheda said...
From the Frontier League site:
WASHINGTON WILD THINGS: Signed INF Shayne Busti; released LHP Kedrick Martin
Not earth shattering news there, as Martin's strikeouts/walks ratio was terrible. Busti appears to be from Carmichaels High School/California University. I figure he takes the place of Spiers as the backup infielder.
Excellent homework on the Horvath stats, anonymous. I can't find any record of him pitching this season, maybe he has retired and taken a regular job?
On Michael Parker's chances for being an all-star....I believe if they take 2 second basemen from the east division, the starter is surely Florence's William Mottram, who is leading the league in homers. The battle for the 2nd spot would be between Parker, Kalamazoo's Joseph Ramos, and Lake Erie's Andrew Saylor. Both of them have more RBI, but of course Parker hit 2nd most of the year behind Sidick, who was not getting on base often. Parker actually has the fewest errors of any 2B in the division, not by far, mind you.
The big decision comes on June 29. What will happen to Banks? I still say you deal him for a starting pitcher. It's not likely they're going to trade Dempsey, Psomas or Raniere, right? Psomas's slump can't last forever. It's nice to see Demons is coming around a bit. And McCollough pitched himself off the hot seat today. I couldn't listen to the game (working), so please post any insider news.
Nice job by Justin Edwards today as well!
Swisscheda brings up an excellent point...what is Banks's trade value??? He is a high commodity in this league. He could probably bring back a nice TV for the clubhouse. Or a couple cases of water. Maybe a new WT costume.
or, perhaps, just maybe, he spent two weeks getting it life in baseball figured out and will bring another feared bat back to the Wild Things lineup. A second chance seems to have worked for Matt Sutton...
Swisscheda...I have enjoyed reading your posts. To answer your question regarging Dan Horvath, he has returned home to Ohio and is continuing to work out and actively looking to get picked up.
"psomas all-star?" hitless again yesterday (0-3)...looks like he could use a day or two off (perhaps when banks returns Friday)
The umpires are ticked off because they don't have 3 on a crew. For 14 years or whatever it has been, the umpires worked 2 man crews. For ONE season they work 3 and now its like the end of the world for them. They all have an attitude and it starts with the umpires at the top. They bring that "red ass" attitude into the games and wonder why it has filtered down to the newer guys.
umpiring--the other night, base umpire miscalled both ends of a doubleplay. neighborhood call at second and simply blew it at first. horrendous. same guy has the most inconsistent strike zone i've ever seen (and i've seen strike zones from many angles for many, many years)
Well, here I go. I’m not used to posting on a blog of any type and mostly this one. I read about the parking problems from many people and I do have to agree regarding the difficulties in getting around. I am handicapped and sometimes get cornered several rows away from the entrance because I do not wish to arrive early and bake out in the hot sun. I’m not in a wheelchair but have trouble walking. When I asked Ms. Williams if she couldn’t make better arrangements she scoffed. The areas are so far out of reach that most of us can not get around. The tape that is put up makes no sense and many people just go around it through a different aisle and come back and park. There have been snitches that comb the area and copy down auto licenses and report them to the office. That is childish behavior indeed. What is to be done? Does anyone want to put in their two cents worth? I thought it was much better when some of the smaller cars were allowed to park between the handicapped lines. Granted there are vans that have to open out to allow for chairs. But why can’t I park between the lines of sedans like we did the last few years? Barrels can be placed beside vans and leave us alone. Soon you will have so few patrons like us who will not buy season tickets anymore.
According to what I was told, Horvath recently had a tryout with the Detroit Tigers and his velocity was up to 86-88. That, I would think, makes him a possibility to return.
Re: Parking at Consol Energy Field.
Things will never get better because Franni Williams is just a hard headed, stubborn woman that IS going to have things her way - period!
Something I’d like to know is why do we have to stop twice to get into the GD parking lot?
Crap, the WT aren’t THAT good to watch. Why the big change after all these years?
I have only seen this Franni jerkette once and she was wolfing at some of the kids working there
at CEP. My pet rattlesnake is much better than her in the personality department.
I just wish she would pack up and head for somewhere else! Good riddance to bad rubbish if you ask me.
Bob in E. Washington
Franni gonna hunt you ass down.
"Bob in E. Washington"
"Anonymous said...
Franni gonna hunt you ass down."
she'll be extremely disappointed when she gets there. not much of any value whatsoever. yet another malcontent that pontificates a lot yet knows very little.
psomas 0-6 tonight. sidick not much better. same goes for laurent's fielding at 1st. 2 run infield popup single behind the mound allows tying runs in 8th, not to mention two walks and a hit batter in the inning. very hurtful loss if they let this get away.
Hit batter was by Groh. 2nd walk by Peterson followed the not-caught popup.
How about Alan Robbins? 4 rbi (all Wild Things' runs) 2-run triple and 2 sac flies including in the 10th to retake the lead.
Psomas actually was 0-4 with a walk. But his performance at the plate was indeed ugly, 2 weak popups and 2 strikeouts, including laying an egg in the 9th with the potential go-ahead run Parker on third. The Wild Things finished 2-11 with runners in scoring position by my count, not including Robbins' 2 sacrifice flies.
Groh pitched a gem, too bad he doesn't get credit for the win. It seems like he's always the hard luck guy. The infield defense betrayed Nick Peterson, but he still managed to freeze Maunus to end the 8th. And how about Justin Edwards? Managed to strand the potential winning run at third with one out in the 9th, and slammed the door in the 10th.
I'd love to see Banks come back. But if he does, what happens? Psomas goes back to 3rd, Raniere to the bench, and they release Busti? We still need starting pitching, and you have to deal value to get value. Somebody's going to leave.
Thanks to Chris and the blogger who provided the Horvath information. The blog continues to stay interesting!
Banks won't be back. The coaching staff and the players don't like him. From what I've learned is he is a selfish player. All he cares about is himself. He could care less about his teammates. This is a better team without him.
Stan K.
If you try to trade Banks, who will give up pitching for the guy? Traverse City could use more hitting, but they saw his act (2 ejections) up close. They won't trade for him. The teams at the bottom of the hitting stats are Gateway (no pitching) and Evansville (no pitching). Southern Illinois has pitching but the Miners' first baseman is batting something like .380. Only options are to trade Banks out of the league or keep him.
In most leagues it is true, but especially in the Frontier League. You must trade value to get value. I heard a rumor that Florence had some interest in Chris Dugan to drum up blog interest. If that is the case, I would package Dugan and the WT PA announcer for some chili and a player to be named later.
0-4, 0-6, 0-for-a-while. doesn't look much like loggins today, eh? needs day or two off....
Needs a day or two off!
Are you kidding? Short season Frontier League. The season is a quarter of the way completed. If anybody needs a day off in this league then they are noy much of a baseball player!
Sorry, most recent anon, I agree with the "day or two off" writer.
Sometimes, you just need a day off.
Having watched Grant Psomas on the last homestand and listened to the last two games, and seeing what's happening to his BA and K/H ratios, he needs a day off. Of course, that's kinda tough right now with Ernie Banks still out.
I believe Grant Psomas has played every inning of every game, starting May 22. That's 31 games in 34 days, plus BP, infield, weights, running, the LONG bus rides (twice to Traverse City, plus Gateway, River City).
When a legitimate hitter goes on a five game hitless streak and is hitting .129 over his last 14 games, he needs a day off.
They just don't make ball players the way they used to!
The proposed trade actually is me, the PA announcer and the condiment race costumes to Florence for a bucket of baseballs (they don't have to be new). Rumor has it the WTs are trying to get some of Florence's leftover turf thrown into the deal.
Winner, winner, chicken dinner.
Wild Things win, 2-1, and they do it in 1:50... Neitz throws a complete game, 2-hitter (I think).
Sidick & Psomas each had hits in the game. Sutton's on a tear after his couple days off, including solo homerun to center tonight.
Rochelle scored winning run thanks to a couple errors on a ball hit by Sidick...
might make that trade if the former PA announcer at Florence (Ms. Montoya) is included...
I heard she was quite easy on the eyes.
Chris, right on the money there, and easy on the EARS, too (after all, we're talking about PA announcers). We're gonna miss you around here...lol
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