Hot Stove news

Here's some news that came out of the Wild Things' Hot Stove Banquet, which drew approximately 240 people Thursday night at the Holiday Inn Meadow Lands:

* Pitcher Justin Edwards had shoulder surgery in November. After experiencing pain after his last start of the 2010 season in Traverse City, a scan of his shoulder revealed a cyst on his lambrum that had caused a tear. Edwards was told he's at least a month ahead of schedule in his rehabilitation. He plans to start throwing in a couple of months and is hoping to be ready sometime in May. Here's thinking you won't see Edwards in a game until July. It's better not to rush a return from shoulder surgery.

* Only one player who had the option in their contract picked up last month has decided not to return to Washington. Eryk McConnell, who was the Wild Things' closer last year, has retired.

* The final phase of installing the ProGrass playing surface at Consol Energy Park will be begin when the weather breaks. There will be no dirt on the playing field. Both the mound and home-plate area will be turf.

* The Wild Things debuted their 10th anniversary logo (shown above).

* The Frontier League changed their roster classifications.

Previously, players were classified as Rookie-1, Rookie-2, L1, L2, Vet and Super Vet. Rookies had the equivalent of less than 1 full year of pro experience, L1 had 1+ years, L2 had 2+, Vets had at least 3 years of pro experience and the Super Vet (also known as the Vet-2) was a player older than 27, with at least 3 years of pro experience and had played at least one year with his FL team.

Now, the classifications are Rookie-1, Rookie-2, Experienced and Super Vet.

On a 24-man roster, each club must carry a minimum of 11 rookies (combination of R1 and R2 players) and a maximum of 13 players with unlimited professional experience. The rookie minimum will be 10 for a 23-man roster and 9 for a 22-man roster. All players with the equivalent of at least one year of pro experience will be classified as Experienced. The 21-year old rule will remain.

The parameters to qualify as a Super Vet have been modified so that he has played 100 games on an active roster over the previous two seasons within the Frontier League as opposed to with one specific team.

The advantage of this setup is obvious. No longer will teams have to dump as many guys from a previous season just to meet the roster rules. In the past, if you had seven L1s who were productive, you had to get rid of at least four of them in the next offseason because you could carry only three L2s - unless you went under the limit on veterans.

As I understand it, FL teams can, if they prefer, put together clubs with 10-12 rookies, a Super Vet and 11 guys who were classified in previous seasons as Veterans.

* If there is one Wild Things player who benefits from the roster classification change it's outfielder Luis Rivera. As a Veteran, his roster spot might have been shaky at best. Now, he seems much more likely to be here on opening day.

* The Wild Things will play two home exhibition games, May 12 and 13. That's a Thursday and Friday.

It's been a long time

A few leftover statistics from the Wild Things' 1-0 victory, on the combined pitching of Billy Muldowney, Kevin Hammons and Eryk McConnell, Monday night over the Oakland County Cruisers:

* It was the first shutout by Washington pitching since a 5-0 victory over the Midwest Sliders in the second game of a doubleheader Aug. 15, 2008. Zach Groh was the Wild Things' pitcher in that seven-inning game.

* It was the first nine-inning shutout by Washington pitching since a 7-0 win over Midwest July 1, 2008.

* The last time a Washington pitcher threw a nine-inning complete-game shutout was June 18, 2007, when Aaron Ledbetter threw a two-hitter in a 3-0 victory at Evansville.

Lefty has right stuff

July is all-star month for most baseball leagues. The Frontier League's all-star game is July 14 at Rent One Park in Marion, Ill. and voting for the East and West Division rosters will be conducted over the next few days.

Each FL team must have a representative in the game. At this point, you have to say the Wild Things will be assured of only two players in the game. Who will they be?

Chris Sidick is seventh in the league in hitting with a .326 batting average. He also has a .450 on-base percentage has 17 stolen bases. He's a solid contender for an all-star spot, though outfielders with good statistics always are plentiful.

Closer Eryk McConnell has seven saves (second-best in the East) and should be pushing 10 by the break. That's usually enough to get you in the game and closers are always considered.

One Washington player who should be considered, but will be easy to overlook because of his role, is setup reliever Kevin Hammons (pictured). The left-hander has a 2-2 record and 1.71 ERA. The league is batting only .182 against Hammons and left-handed hitters have become automatic outs when facing the former Florida Marlins draft pick. Lefty batters are 1-for-22 with 12 strikeouts.

Hammons was a 24th-round draft pick of the Marlins in 2007 out of Tusculum College in Tennessee. He spent one year, with mixed results, in the Marlins' system with the Jamestown Jammers of the Class A New York-Penn League. In 12 games, Hammons had a 3-0 record with a 3.63 ERA. He walked 16 batters in 22 1/3 innings.

Washington manager Darin Everson says Hammons looks nothing like the pitcher he saw with Jamestown. Everson should know because he was the Jammers' manager that season.

"He's way more athletic and a lot more confident than when I saw him in '07," Everson said. "He really commands the zone now."

"Back then," Hammons says, "when I was with Jamestown, I put too much pressure on myself to succeed and be good on the mound. I put to much emphasis on baseball."

After being released by the Marlins, Hammons had a five-game stint with the Frontier League's Gateway Grizzlies in 2008 that didn't go well (0-2, 8.10). Hammons said a family issue prevented him from pitching to his potential with Gateway, and he spent the entire 2009 season out of baseball.

After Everson was hired as the Wild Things' manager last offseason, Hammons was invited to the team's invitation-only tryout in April and signed. He's making the most of his opportunity with Washington and might end up in the all-star game or get a second chance in affiliated ball.

"Everyone wants to get to affiliated ball, but if that doesn't happen then I hope we can take this team as far as it can go," Hammons said.

Another day, another loss

The Wild Things lost another game Monday, 6-2 at Lake Erie. It was the 12th loss in 15 games for Washington, but at least this contest was memorable for a few incidents.

One was a blunder by the umpires that led to the ejection of Washington pitching coach Mark Dewey in the eighth inning. Here's what happened: Lake Erie's Dom Duggan apparently swung and missed at a pitch from Eryk McConnell but home-plate umpire Dan Diem ruled it a check-swing. Washington asked for an appeal, so Diem asked first-base umpire Gary Rosplohowski for help. The problem was that Rosplohowski wasn't paying attention. According to WJPA's Randy Gore, an appeal was requested "for about 10 seconds" before Roplohowski realized there was a game going on and called a no-swing. That led to Washington manager Darin Everson charging out of the dugout and Dewey getting ejected for yelling from the dugout.

Then, after the game, it seemed that Lake Erie starting pitcher Josh Roberts called out Washington catcher Alan Robbins. At least that's the way the story in the Elyria Chronicle-Telegram read. Washington had hit three Lake Erie batters in the game before Robbins was plunked in the leg by Roberts in the seventh inning. After getting hit, Robbins took a couple of steps toward the pitcher's mound before going to first base.

Read story here.

More pitchers signed

The Wild Things signed three more pitchers Friday, including one who is a former ninth-round draft pick of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Signed are right-handers Steve MacFarland, Eryk McConnell and Javier Gomez.

MacFarland (6-2, 215) was a ninth-round pick of the Pirates in 2006 out of Lamar University in Texas. He lasted only two seasons with the Pirates, compiling a 4-4 record and walking 67 batters in 89 innings in Class A. After spending part of a season in the San Francisco Giants' system, MacFarland played the last two years in the independent American Association with Grand Prairie and had an 0-5 record.

MacFarland has L1 roster status.

"We look forward to bringing Steve’s experience to our staff," Wild Things manager Darin Everson said. "He is coming off a solid spring training in the Atlantic League and we hope to have him reach his potential with us this summer.”

McConnell (6-1, 185) made 40 relief appearances in the Philadelphia Phillies' system over the last two seasons before being released at the end of spring training this year. He had a 2-3 record and walked only 11 batters with 62 strikeouts in 65 1/3 innings.

“We feel Eryk has an opportunity to be an impact arm out of our bullpen,” Everson said.

While MacFarland had trouble throwing strikes during his days with the Pirates, Gomez (6-4, 195) had no such problems as a college pitcher at Freed-Hardeman, an NAIA school in Henderson, Tenn. In two seasons, Gomez pitched 114 2/3 innings, issuing only 15 walks while striking out 103. He had a 15-7 record and three saves.

“We are excited to bring in a quality rookie pitcher like Javy,” Everson said. “He performed impressively as he put up some of the best strikeout-to-walk ratios in the nation during his final two seasons in college. We hope he can be a solid contributor on our staff.”

Washington has 35 players (17 pitchers) on its roster and will add at least two more before the start of spring training next week – it is required to make at least two selections in the Frontier League draft Tuesday.