Montoya traded; bad break for Yepez

The Wild Things were busy Wednesday clearing room on the roster for the potential signing of experienced players after the close of minor-league spring training later this month. Washington made two moves, trading pitcher Jhonny Montoya and placing outfielder Mario Yepez on the 60-day disabled list.

Montoya, who was used as both a starter and reliever in two seasons with the Wild Things, was dealt to the Lancaster Barnstormers of the Atlantic, which is widely considered the highest level of the independent leagues. Washington will receive a player to be named later in exchange for Montoya, a right-hander who has a 7-10 career record.

Montoya made 20 starts in 2011 and had a 4-7 record with a 3.76 ERA. Last year, Montoya was slowed by an injury early int he season and spent some time on the disabled list. He returned to pitch in 23 games (six starts) and post a 3-3 record with a 3.91 ERA. A hard thrower, Montoya struck out 149 batters in 179 innings over the two seasons.

"I am excited to see Jhonny Montoya get an opportunity on a higher level," Wild Things manager Chris Bando said. "He has a power arm that has earned him the opportunity before him."

Yepez, 24, was signed by Washington this offseason after playing six seasons in the Seattle Mariners' organization. After playing five games at Class AA and six at Class AAA last year, Yepez was expected to be an impact player. However, the Venezuela native recently fractured an ankle, an injury that is expected to require four or five months of rehabilitation.

With Montoya, Yepez and center fielder Darian Sandford apparently off the active roster, Washington has 11 players classified as Experienced -- the equivalent of more than one year of professional experience -- which is two under the Frontier League limit. The Wild Things will likely be looking to add an experienced outfielder or two next month.

Pitching in

It has been rather quiet lately in the Frontier League as teams await minor league cuts from spring training.

The Wild Things did make two significant signings last week when pitchers Justin Hall and Jhonny Montoya (pictured) agreed to contract extensions. Washington now has four starting pitchers -- Hall, Montoya, Gary Lee and Chris Smith -- back for 2012.

Smith and Lee were acquired during the 2011 season. Smith made only five starts late in the year, but Hall and Montoya were with Washington from start to finish. You could make a case that Hall (10-7, 3.22) was as good as any pitcher in the league over the second half of last year. Pitching for a team that provided almost no offensive support, Hall was 6-3 with a 2.40 ERA after the all-star break. In his final outing, on the season's last night, Hall pitched 11 innings to win at Windy City 6-2. Hall gave up only seven hits and one walk while striking out a team-record 14 batters.

The most impressive statistic from Hall's 2011 season had to be this one: only 22 walks in 145.1 innings.

We all know that in this league, if you consistently throw strikes and pitch ahead in the count, you'll be very successful.

Throwing strikes is what was a problem for Montoya (4-7, 3.77) last year. Though he was able to pitch in an out of trouble often enough to register 11 quality starts, Montoya too often left games early because of high pitch counts. He walked 51 batters in 117 innings. You have to expect that ratio will improve this year.

The Wild Things also continued to rebuild the Point Loma Nazarene Sea Lions by signing Allen Boyer. An outfielder, Boyer played for Point Loma in 2010 and 2011. He batted .312 with three home runs and 14 RBI last year, but did hit .350 with 13 doubles, 19 home runs and 51 RBI as a junior. Keep in mind that there was a significant change made to the aluminum bats in the college game last year, making them play more like wood.

Boyer gives Washington three former Point Loma Nazarene position players currently on the roster. A fourth was signed this offseason but recently traded to another league.

By my count, the re-signing of Hall and Montoya, and the signing of Boyer, give the Wild Things 30 players under contract. There are a four others players -- Steve Grife, Ross Gusky, Chris Sidick and Luis Rivera -- whose contract options have been picked up but have not yet signed for 2012. If Washington re-signs all four, picks up at least two more (which is mandatory) from the league tryout, then they'll have 36 players and that's not counting those signed after minor league spring training.

It's going to be very crowded inside the Wild Things' refurbished clubhouse in early May.

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

5 Wild Things named to All-Star Game

The Frontier League announced Monday the initial rosters for its all-star game and the Wild Things will have five representatives, including three pitchers.

Selected for the game as position players were second baseman Scott Lawson and catcher Blake Ochoa. Both will be backups for the East Division team that will play the West July 13 at All Pro Freight Stadium in Avon, Ohio.

Washington pitchers Casey Barnes, Justin Hall and Jhonny Montoya will be on the East's staff.

Lawson leads the Wild Things with a .319 batting average, and his .425 on-base percentage is fifth-best in the league.

Ochoa is batting only .198 but is second on the Wild Things with 21 walks and has thrown out 22 percent of opposing base stealers.

Barnes (2-3) is second in the league in ERA at 1.91. Hall (4-2, 3.27) is tied for the league lead with two shutouts and is tops on the Washington pitching staff in wins. Montoya (1-1, 2.20) is fourth in the league in ERA and second on the team in strikeouts with 32 in 49 innings.

The final three rosters spots for each team will be chosen by the game's managers Thursday.

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.