Where are they now?

Monday was the day most minor league teams announced their rosters. Four former Wild Things pitchers will begin seasons in affiliated ball this week. Here's where they were assigned:

Tom Cochran - Will be in the starting rotation for Lehigh Valley, the Philadelphia Phillies' Class AAA affiliate.

Alan Williams - After moving from the Frontier League to rookie ball and then to low-Class A last year, Williams has been assigned to the Brevard County Manatees, the Milwaukee Brewers' high-Class A affiliate. The pitching coach at Brevard County? Former Wild Things coach Mark Dewey.

Vidal Nuno - Last year's opening day starter for the Wild Things will open this season with the Tampa Yankees, New York's high-Class A club.

Mark Williams - Has been assigned to the low-Class A Wisconsin Timber Rattlers in the Milwaukee Brewers' system. It appears that Williams will be a starting pitcher. The Timber Rattlers' home field is the same one on which Williams and Marietta College won an NCAA Division III national championship.

Alumni report

The Wild Things have five former players currently in minor league spring training, led by left-handed pitcher Tom Cochran (pictured).

Last year, Cochran became the first ex-Wild Thing to make it to the majors when he was with the Cincinnati Reds for two games. He did not, however, play in either game and was sent back to Class AAA Louisville, for whom he went 7-4 with a 3.55 ERA.

Cochran was a minor-league free agent after the 2011 season and has signed with the Philadelphia Phillies. He'll try to earn a spot on the Phillies' Class AAA affiliate Lehigh Valley.

Also with the Phillies is right-handed pitcher Casey Barnes, who was second in the Frontier League in ERA last year.

Milwaukee has two former Wild Things relievers in left-hander Alan Williams and righty Mark Williams. Alan Williams had an impressive season last year split between rookie ball and Class A, going 2-2 with six saves and 49 strikeouts in 32.2 innings in affiliated ball.

Lefty pitcher Vidal Nuno, who was the Wild Things' opening day starter last year, is in the New York Yankees' minor-league camp.

Useless information, V2.0

Some random thoughts and notes about the Wild Things and Frontier League:

* Has any Wild Things player ever had a better road trip than the one Chris Sidick (pictured) is having? In the first five games of the current six-game trip to Traverse City and Rockford, Sidick is 14-for-21 with 11 runs, 5 RBI, 2 home runs and 5 stolen bases. He has raised his batting average from .243 to .286.

A few other guys I recall having good road trips were Josh Loggins, Chris Carter and Mike Arbinger.

Loggins had a trip to Evansville and Chillicothe in 2003 in which he went 7-for-17 with 3 home runs and 9 RBI and was signed by Colorado during the trip.

When Washington ran off a 13-game winning streak in 2005, Arbinger and Carter were the catalysts. During a nine-game road trip to Gateway, River City and Mid-Missouri, Arbinger was 17-for-44 with 2 homers and 16 RBI. On the same trip, Carter went 15-for-38 with 5 homers and 15 RBI.

* According his Twitter account, Chris Smith, a right-handed pitcher who has been playing with the White Sands Pupfish of the independent Pecos League, has signed a contract to play with the Wild Things. Smith, who is from Louisville, was Lake Erie's first-round draft pick in the Frontier League draft in 2010. He played two games for Traverse City this year, including a rough outing out of the bullpen against the Wild Things at Consol Energy Park in May. Smith later signed with White Sands. In the Pecos League, Smith had a 3-0 record and 1.39 ERA in four outings. He struck out 28 in 26 innings.

According to the Twitter post, Smith said he will be a starting pitcher with the Wild Things.

* Former Wild Things relief pitcher Alan Williams, who was signed by the Milwaukee Brewers early in the Frontier League season, has been promoted from rookie ball to Class A. Williams was sent from Helena (Mont.) to Appleton (Wisc.), where he will play for the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers of the Midwest League. Williams pitched in nine games with Helena and had a 1-1 record, 4 saves and 2.57 ERA. He struck out 28 in only 14 innings.

* When Luis Rivera homered in the fifth inning Wednesday at Traverse City, it was the first time all season the Wild Things received a home run from the cleanup spot in the batting order. That one came 52 games into the season.

* Remember Steve MacFarland, who pitched for the Wild Things last year until an injury ended his season? McFarland was the Pittsburgh Pirates' 9th-round draft pick in 2006 but never made it past low-Class A with the Bucs. He was traded by Washington to another independent league last offseason. Since then, MacFarland has been released from three different indy leagues but is back in the Frontier. He was signed this week by the Florence Freedom.

Useless information

Cleaning out the notebook prior to the restart of the Frontier League season Friday night:

The topic of discussion in manager Darin Everson's office prior to the Wild Things-Gateway game Sunday was how many wins will it take for a team to secure a playoff berth from the East Division?

The Frontier League went to a 96-game schedule in 2004, and since then the playoff team with the worst record each season has averaged 52 wins. There was a low of 46 (Evansville in 2006) and it took 56 wins to make the postseason in 2009. It doesn't look like the East will have a team pull away from the pack, or one that finishes with less than 30 wins, so the magic number will likely be closer to 52 than 56.

What does that mean for the Wild Things? To get to 52 wins, they need to go 33-16 after the all-star break.

* In Wednesday night's Frontier League All-Star game in Avon, Ohio, Washington's Casey Barnes and Jhonny Montoya each pitched a scoreless and hitless inning. Justin Hall gave up one solo home run in his inning. Catcher Blake Ochoa went 1-for-2 with a walk, and second baseman Scott Lawson was 0-for-1 with a throwing error.

* Washington does not have a home run from the No. 4 spot in the batting order all season.

* Remember Joel Hartman, who was a utility player for the Wild Things last year before suffering a season-ending finger injury? He joined a team in the Pecos League, based in New Mexico, after being released in spring training by the Wild Things. Hartman suffered another season-ending injury recently. According to the Pecos League website, Hartman broke a leg during a play at home plate.

* In Ernie Banks' first 128 at-bats with the Wild Things in 2009, he hit 12 home runs. In 128 at-bats this year, Banks does not have a home run.

* Both Vidal Nuno and Alan Williams -- the two Wild Things pitchers signed this season by MLB organizations -- are off to strong starts with their new teams. Nuno is playing for Staten Island (Yankees) in the Class A New York-Penn League. In five relief appearances, Nuno is 4-0 with one save and a 0.98 ERA. He has 17 strikeouts in 18 1/3 innings with only three walks. Williams is with Helena (Brewers) in the rookie-level Pioneer League and has a 1-1 record with three saves in seven outings. The lefty has pitched 11 innings and struck out 24 with only three walks.

Former Wild Things pitcher Tom Cochran, who is in Class AAA with with Cincinnati, took the loss last Saturday in Louisville's 2-0 setback against Indianapolis, the Pirates' top affiliate. Cochran started the game and gave up only one run in five innings to drop his record to 6-2.

* Rockford, which is in fifth place in the East, made a key signing over the weekend, bringing back Jason James. The outfielder has one Frontier League batting title and finished second twice.

* In 46 games this season, Everson has used 45 different batting orders.

* Gateway manager Phil Warren on starting the season with three former West Virginia players and an ex-Pitt player on the Grizzlies' roster: "This is an area of the country that seems to get overlooked in the (major league) draft, for whatever reason."

* Despite losing Nuno, the opening day starter, Washington is tied for second in quality starts with 24. Florence also has 24. Windy City is tops with 28.

Wild Things Average Attendance
at the All-Star Break:
2002 - 2,942
2003 - 3,390
2004 - 3,242
2005 - 3,048
2006 - 3,133
2007 - 3,180
2008 - 2,899
2009 - 2,734
2010 - 2,373
2011 - 2,176

Alumni report

Here's a check of the three former Wild Things, including two off this year's club, who are playing in affiliated ball:

Alan Williams - The lefty reliever, who was the first Frontier League player picked up by a major league organization this year, has been assigned to the Helena (Mont.) Brewers of the rookie-level Pioneer League. Helena has played five games and Williams has pitched in three of those, posting a 1-0 record, two saves and 0.00 ERA. The 20-year-old Williams has pitched four innings, allowed one hit and one walk, and struck out seven.

Vidal Nuno - The Wild Things' opening day starter this year, Nuno has been assigned to the Staten Island Yankees of the short-season Class A New York Penn League. Staten island has played seven games and Nuno has pitched in one of those, getting a win with 1 1/3 innings of perfect relief. This is a league that is probably below where Nuno should be slotted. He pitched in the NYP two years ago and had a 5-0 record, then spent last season as a starter in low-Class A.

Tom Cochran - (Have you noticed that all three of these guys are left-handed pitchers?) Cochran continues to pitch well for Louisville, the Cincinnati Reds' Class AAA affiliate. He has a 6-1 record and 3.83 ERA in 12 games, including eight starts.

We hardly knew ya ...

Alan Williams, the hard-throwing left-handed relief pitcher for the Wild Things who threw four innings of one-hit ball Saturday night, had his contract purchased today by the Milwaukee Brewers.

There was a Brewers scout at the game Saturday and left impressed with Williams, a 21-year-old who pitched last year at a junior collge in Mississippi.
Williams pitched in three games for the Wild Things, throwing 7 2/3 scoreless innings. Have gave up three hits and three walks, and struck out eight.