Former Wild Things make impact in Game 1

The Southern Illinois Miners have three former Wild Things -- relief pitchers Nick Cicio and Steve Grife, and catcher Chris Anderson -- on their roster. Each played a big role in the Miners' 5-3 victory Wednesday night over Florence in Game 1 of the Frontier League championship series.

Anderson, who began the season as Washington's starting catcher but was released after beginning the year 0-for-13, hit a two-run homer that gave Southern Illinois a 3-1 lead in the third inning. Anderson was signed by the Miners in early August and hit .274 with one home run down the stretch in the regular season.

Cicio and Grife were acquired from Washington in an August trade for outfielder Darian Sandford and pitcher Anthony Collazo. Cicio pitched and Grife combined for 1 1/3 perfect innings of relief and two strikeouts in Game 1.

Since joining Southern Illinois, Cicio and Grife have given the Miners superb pitching in setup roles. They have pitched 30 2/3 innings (regular season and playoffs), allowing only 11 hits, four runs and six walks with 38 strikeouts.

Ch-ch-ch-changes

The revolving door on the Wild Things' clubhouse has been in full swing the last two days.

As manager Chris Bando said over the weekend, he's a patient man, but not that patient. He saw enough of the Wild Things' struggling offense (league-low .191 team batting average) during the six-game homestand and made several roster moves leading up to tonight's series opener at Windy City.

Gone is catcher Chris Anderson, who was off to an 0-for-13 start, and veteran outfielder Luis Rivera, who was batting .227. Rivera's average is fourth-best on the team. Third baseman/catcher Davis Page (1-for-5) was traded back to San Angelo of the North American League to complete an earlier trade. Page apparently was traded for himself. Washington acquired him five days ago from San Angelo.

Re-signed was catcher David Peters, who joined Washington in the offseason from the Florida Marlins system and then was dealt to the Pecos League before spring training. Peters has played in two games in the Pecos.

Also signed was outfielder Jeriel Waller, who was drafted in the 47th round last year by the Marlins. I can found no evidence that Waller played in any games in the Marlins' system after being drafted out of Grossmont College, a JC in California. On Waller's Facebook page, it says he attended San Diego Christian College.

Waller is the son of Reggie Waller, a former San Diego Padres scoring director, and nephew of Tye Waller, the Oakland A's first-base coach.

Left-handed relief pitcher Shawn Smith was put on the suspended list, apparently to make room for Steve Grife, who can be activated from the same list Friday. Washington also could activate pitcher Gary Lee, who has been serving as the bullpen coach.

Washington still has one open roster spot (assuming Grife or Lee fill one) and has room for an Experienced player.

The biggest surprise for the Wild Things this season is the trouble at the catcher position, especially when you consider Bando is a former major-league catcher. Washington has played four different catchers in nine games, and has had eight catchers on the roster since the start of spring training.

UPDATE: Shawn Smith was placed on the 7-day injured list and Gary Lee was activated for tonight's game.

Barnes is back

The Wild Things have re-signed another part of last season's starting rotation as Casey Barnes (pictured) will be returning to Washington.

Barnes was the Frontier League's Rookie of the Year last year when he was 5-5 with a 2.34 ERA in 13 starts before having his contract purchased by the Philadelphia Phillies. The 2.34 ERA was third-best in the league.

Barnes was signed by Washington during spring training last year, after he was released by Traverse City. Barnes was a big reason why the Wild Things had the best ERA in the league and set the FL record for most quality starts.

Barnes was released last month by the Phillies.

Washington has re-signed four of its five primary starting pitchers from last year. Also back are Justin Hall (10-7, 3.22), Gary Lee (4-6, 4.18) and Jhonny Montoya (4-7, 3.77). That's a good starting point for new pitching coach Tim Ferguson.

In the last few days, the Wild Things have signed two other players who were released during minor league spring training. They also released one pitcher.

Signed were 6-5 left-handed pitcher Kevin Johnson and 21-year-old second baseman Nick Lockwood. Johnson spent two years in the Texas Rangers' system after playing at the University of Cincinnati. Lockwood was the Minnesota Twins' ninth-round draft pick in 2009. Johnson reached full-season Class A ball last year while Lockwood spent three years in rookie ball. Though he has played three pro seasons, Lockwood is a rookie by Frontier League standards because of his age.

Washington also acquired catcher Chris Anderson from New Jersey of the Can-Am League in exchange for a player to be named. Anderson, who has not yet been signed by the Wild Things, played at San Diego State and spent four years as an organizational filler catcher for the Atlanta Braves.

The Wild Things also released left-handed pitcher Dan Schmidt, who was signed in February and would have been the first Australian to play for Washington.