First day of camp

Saw roughly 2 1/2 hours of the Wild Things' first day of spring training Thursday (I was trying to put off mowing my lawn for as long as possible). The practice was notable only for what was worn and who wasn't there.

The players wore the traditional Wild Things hats with the familiar mascot-head logo on the front. The difference was the bill of the cap was royal blue instead of red or black. The socks that were visible on some of the players also were royal blue. I guess we now know why the "Wild Things" logo on the team's homepage is blue.

I didn't hear anything about a change in color schemes, and you'd think that wouldn't make sense when you have a red, black and white logo (the largest logo in baseball?) on the field behind home plate.

The biggest player news was significant. Right-handed pitcher Jeff Sonnenberg was not in camp. He was placed on the retired list. Word is he as a shoulder injury that required surgery and is out for the season.

That's a significant blow to the pitching staff, which is already short on starting pitchers with pro experience. A healthy Sonnenberg would have been expected to be the the ace of the staff. Last August, he threw what was the best game ever by a Washington starting pitcher at Consol Energy Park when he faced the minimum 27 batters in a two-hit shutout of Lake Erie.

I saw the first four innings of an intrasquad game. The dominant player during that period was left-handed pitcher Vidal Nuno, who threw four scoreless innings before being replaced. Nuno, who was signed after spending two seasons as a starter in the Cleveland Indians' system, worked fast and threw strikes. He gave up three singles, did not walk a batter and struck out five. He even picked off a runner.

The pitcher for the other team was another newcomer, Jhonny Montoya. The Miami, Fla., native looked good for three innings and struggled in the other (the third inning). In 3 2/3 innings, he gave up two runs (one earned) and three hits but walked four.

The best defensive play was made by right fielder Luis Rivera, who threw out Gerardo Caceres, who was trying to stretch a single into a double.