All-Decade Team: Relief Pitcher

Every baseball team needs a good multi-purpose pitcher, one who fills the role of long reliever, setup guy or emergency starter. This is true whether you're putting together an All-Decade team or running a squad in the Frontier League, where starting rotations seem to change weekly and bullpens blow up like cheap cigars.

The Wild Things have rarely bounced pitchers between the starting rotation and bullpen during a season. They have, however, often used young pitchers as relievers during their first year in the league and then converted them to starters in their second season. The strategy usually paid huge dividends. Brendon Davis, J.J. Hollenbeck and Justin Edwards all flourished after moving from the bullpen to the rotation. Sometimes it didn't work, as B.J. Borsa's conversion from reliever to starter comes to mind.

Edwards, Davis and Hollenbeck each had similar careers with the Wild Things. Edwards and Hollenbeck each spent three years in Washington; Davis only two.

Edwards, however, was the only pitcher whose numbers improved for three consecutive seasons. Signed as third baseman by Worcester of the Can-Am League in 2008, the West Liberty graduate and Wheeling native eventually was moved to the Tornadoes' bullpen.

Acquired by Washington in 2009, Edwards pitched 43 games as a reliever, getting four wins and three saves. After 19 relief appearances in 2010, Edwards was shifted to the starting rotation and impressed. He had a 5-2 record, a bunch of no-decisions and struck out 71 batters in 78.1 innings.

After having shoulder surgery between the 2010 and 2011 seasons, Edwards made a speedy recovery and spent the season in the rotation, posting a 5-3 record and 2.16 ERA in 14 starts. Though victimized again by a lack of offensive support that kept his wins total low, Edwards went into his final start of the season with a chance to win the league's ERA title. He eventually finished second, just .01 behind Gateway's Mark Brackman. Edwards was a big reason why Washington's pitching staff led the league in ERA last year.

For his three seasons in Washington, Edwards had a 14-10 record, 3.56 ERA. His 213 strikeouts are second on the Wild Things' all-time list.

After last year's Frontier League season, Edwards signed with the York of the Atlantic League and pitched for the champion Revolution during the September stretch drive. This year, Edwards will be playing for the Lincoln Saltdogs of the American Association.

Edwards is the 11th pitcher on the all-decade team and 20th player overall. Only four more sports remain.

All-Decade Team Relief Pitcher: Justin Edwards (2009-11).

Ah, Shucks! He's going to Nebraska

Justin Edwards won't be pitching for the Wild Things this year. That was a given because he aged out of the Frontier League after last season.

He also won't be playing in Pennsylvania this summer, though he did finish last season with the York Revolution of the independent Atlantic League.

Edwards recently signed a contract to pitch for the Lincoln Saltdogs of the American Association. I'm not sure how he ended up going from York to Lincoln because of last week he was still listed on York's roster on the Revolution's website. He's gone from the roster now, but the league doesn't list a transaction involving Edwards.

Edwards played three seasons in Washington. He appeared in 84 games including 22 starts. He had a 14-10 record, 3.56 ERA and struck out 213 in 230 innings. The 213 strikeouts is second on the Wild Things' all-time list.

Winning debut

Here is the link to a story about former Wild Things pitcher Justin Edwards, who tossed six shutout innings for a win in his debut with the York Revolution of the independent Atlantic League.

Read the story here.

Keep on pitchin'

According to WTRF-TV in Wheeling, W.Va., Wild Things pitcher and Wheeling native Justin Edwards (pictured) will continue to pitch after the Frontier League season ends. It was reported that Edwards will join the York Revolution of the independent Atlantic League after the Wild Things' finale Sunday.

York's pitching coach is former Wild Things manager Mark Mason.

The Atlantic League's regular season runs through Sept. 18.

Edwards is unlikely to return to the Wild Things next year because he will exceed the Frontier League's age limit. He is one of three Wild Things pitchers who will age out. The others are Kevin Hammons and Davis Bilardello.

Edwards is currently second in the Frontier League in ERA at 2.04. He will make one more start with the Wild Things during their season-ending road trip that begins tonight at Lake Erie.

Justin time

The Wild Things will play their 23rd game of the season tonight, and this one might be the most interesting. That's because right-handed pitcher Justin Edwards, pictured, will make his season debut after starting the year on the disabled list.

Edwards, who had offseason shoulder surgery, will start tonight's game at Joliet. While Edwards will certainly be on a pitch limit, it will be interesting to see how he performs. If Edwards can be anything close to what he was last year after being moved from the bullpen to the starting rotation, he could solve one of the Wild Things' biggest problems. The rotation spot Edwards is filling has not produced a win or even a quality start.

If Edwards' return -- and we're talking beyond just this game -- is successful, then the Wild Things' rotation could stack up favorably with any in the league. Heck, if you took the five starters (Vidal Nuno, Justin Hall, Jhonny Montoya, Casey Barnes and Edwards) to a tryout camp, the guy the scouts would rank No. 5 on the list would be Barnes, and he's third in the Frontier League in ERA. Nuno, by the way, leads the league in strikeouts.

While Edwards, who was 5-2 with a 3.79 ERA last year, could solve the rotation problem, the hitting remains a work in progress for the Wild Things. A loss to Joliet last night showed Washington what it is missing. Slammers first baseman Erik Lis hit a two-run homer off Nuno in the third inning to give Joliet a 3-2 lead and the Wild Things couldn't generate a run the rest of the way.

Lis is the kind of player Washington doesn't have. The Wild Things are basically a collection of players with Class A and rookie-ball experience who were mid-to-late round draft picks. There are a few exceptions. Lis, however, began this season in Class AA -- for the fourth year. He advanced to Class AAA last year and played in more than 50 games for the Minnesota Twins' affiliate in Rochester. In other words, Lis is the kind of player who in previous years wouldn't have ended up on a Frontier League roster.

When Joliet signed Lis one day before the season opener against Washington, the Slammers traded first baseman Matt Fields to Southern Illinois to open a roster spot. Fields is of the same mold as Lis, having spent two years in Class AA. When the Frontier League loosened its restrictive roster requirements in the offseason, it opened the door for guys like Lis and Fields. They are the kind of players who can carry a team offensively.

Some of the Wild Things' best teams -- though not all -- had guys with at least Class AA experience, like Josh Loggins, Doug Garcia, Ryan Douglass, Pat Peavey etc., who were key hitters or pitchers. This year's offense could use an experienced bat in the middle of the lineup.

Examining the roster

Spring training is less than two weeks away for the Wild Things – the season opener is 27 days from now – but their roster is far from set. Yes, this is a busy time for Frontier League managers and coaches as they scramble to sign players cut during minor-league spring training and released by other independent leagues. Teams also will be adding players from tryout camps, including the Frontier League tryout May 2-3 in Florence, Ky.

A check of the Wild Things' roster shows there are still spots that must be addressed before spring training begins. The most obvious is catcher, where only Blake Ochoa and Greyson Schram are on the roster. Billy O'Conner was placed on the suspended list last week. You can't go through spring training with only two catchers, so expect one or two more to be signed.

The same can be said for the outfield, where only four players are on the roster. Though some of the infielders have position flexibility (a Mike Tomlin term), here's thinking that at least one more outfielder will be signed for spring training, if only to make fewer infielders play out of position during intrasquad games.

One other spot that appears to be quite unsettled is starting pitcher. Judging by the quotes from manager Darin Everson in Wild Things press releases, many of the pitchers signed by Washington seem ticketed for bullpen duty.

Of the 20 players who had their options picked up in December, five were starting pitchers last year. Another, Jason Neitz, did not play last season but was a starting pitcher for Washington in 2009.

Of those six starting pitchers, I've heard that one (Billy Muldowney) won't be coming back, though you never know for sure who will and won't return until camp opens. I've seen guys be no-shows at camp, and at least one who wasn't expected to return arrive several days into camp (and woefully out of shape).

Another starting pitcher (Justin Edwards) is coming off shoulder surgery and won't be back until midseason. Two others (Zach Groh and Steve MacFarland) ended last year on the injured list and aren't even listed on the Wild Things' roster on the Frontier League's website.

The other starting pitcher is Jeff Sonnenberg, who developed into the staff ace last year.

It looks like the other starting options could be lefty Joe Rodriguez, who was selected in the Oakland County dispersal draft after making four starts for the Cruisers, and Sean Keeler, who had some starting experience (three games the last two years) in college at Franklin Pierce.

Depending on the status of MacFarland, Groh and Neitz, this could be a position the Wild Things are actively trying to address. My guess is there's a starting pitcher or two who Washington is waiting to receive a contract from in the next 10 days.

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.

Cleaning out the notebook

Some notes and thoughts and we head down the homestretch of the Frontier League season:

* It seems far removed from the Wild Things and Lake Erie Crushers, two teams who are playing out the string tonight at Consol Energy Park, but there are excellent playoff races in both divisions of the Frontier League.

Windy City rallied Tuesday night to edge Oakland County 3-2 as the ThunderBolts pushed their lead in the East to 2 games over the Cruisers. Meanwhile, Traverse City won a game over Kalamazoo that it probably should have lost and now trails Oakland County by only 1 game and Windy City by 3. Keep in mind that all of Traverse City's remaining 11 games will be played at home, including the final three against Washington.

In the West, Southern Illinois has ran away with the division title. The Miners clinched a playoff berth Tuesday. Gateway, meanwhile, missed a chance to pull closer to second-place River City. The Rascals lead Gateway by 2 1/2 games for the final playoff spot. River City has a big advantage in the remaining schedule as they do not play another game against a team with a winning record.

* Southern Illinois, which was 32-4 at one point, might have seen its championship chances take a big hit earlier this week. Joe Augustine (10-3, 1.97), who is a serious contender for the league's Pitcher of the Year Award, had an emergency appendectomy Monday. The team was returning from Lake Erie when Augustine began experiencing pain. When it was determined Augustine needed medical attention, the bus was within seven miles of a hospital in Louisville.

Augustine leads the league in wins and strikeouts (121). You might recall that Augustine pitched nine shutout innings last week at Consol Energy Park in the game Washington won 1-0 in 11 innings.

Southern Illinois manager Mike Pinto hasn't ruled out having Augustine back for the playoffs, saying his pitcher will be permitted to resume throwing in "10 to 14 days." Pinto called it a "50-50" chance that Augustine will return in the postseason.

* Washington pitcher Justin Edwards, who suffered a groin injury during a start earlier this month at Southern Illinois and was put on the disabled list, was activated Tuesday night and looked sharp against Lake Erie, allowing only one hit in six innings.

Had Edwards left the Southern Illinois game only one out earlier, Washington would have had an interesting decision to make with the right-handed pitcher. A one-out earlier exit would have left Edwards with 60 innings pitched, which is a magic number in the Frontier League. Throw 60 1/3 innings and your roster classification is bumped up one level the next season. Stay at 60 and you status doesn't change. Had Edwards been at 60, Washington could have kept him on the DL for the remainder of the season and his status for next season would have remained at L1. Each FL team is permitted a maximum of 7 L1 players and 3 L2 players.

It doesn't matter now because Edwards was at 60 1/3 and threw six more innings, but this is the time of year when you see guys throughout the league being benched to keep their status from changing. Typically, about half the teams in the league do this. The only Washington player who is near a status-change mark is pitcher Zach Groh, who is currently on the DL. Groh, who is an L1, has pitched 57 1/3 innings.

One month to opening day

The clock must seem as if it's ticking at warp speed these days for the Wild Things' coaching staff and front office. Time is running out as they put the finishing touches on the roster, the ballpark and an operational plan for the season.

Washington announced the signing of four players Wednesday, but two of those didn't come as a surprise. Pitcher Justin Edwards will be back for his second season after tying the team record by pitching in 43 games a year ago. Edwards had a 4-5 record and 5.40 ERA but struck out 70 in 60 innings. Edwards' was at the team's media luncheon earlier this month, so we knew he was returning.

Also signed is pitcher Ryne Nelson, who was acquired last month from Laredo of the independent United League in the trade for Michael Lucas.

The other two signings are left-handed pitchers, Sean Grieve and Spencer Hylander. Grieve is from Flourtown, Pa., and a graduate of Germantown Academy. He played at William & Mary and spent two seasons in the Philadelphia Phillies' system.

“We look for Sean to be an important part of our bullpen this summer. I was able to see him pitch in 2008, and feel he's has the potential to be a guy we can rely on to get big outs as he's averaged a strikeout per inning in his first pro seasons,” said Wild Things manager Darin Everson.

Hylander played at Oklahoma Baptist University and was drafted in the last round (50th) in 2009 by the Houston Astros.

“He comes to us with great reports and we look forward to have him compete for one of our spots in the starting rotation," Everson said. "With the Astros, he showed very good command and deception as displayed in his impressive opponent batting average (.237).”

I was told there will be two or three more signings announced Thursday. There are still several huge holes in the roster – open Veteran and L2 spots along with no shortstop with significant pro experience.

The Wild Things open the season at home May 21 against the Oakland County Cruisers. By the way, the Cruisers have yet to start construction on their new ballpark, which is scheduled for a July 16 opening against Washington. If you believe that will happen, then I have some swamp land in Florida I'd like to sell you.

Cleaning out the notebook

Some random thoughts, opinions and notes from the pressbox at Consol Energy Park:

* The Wild Things made one roster move Saturday, releasing pitcher Matt Maradeo. In his second season with Washington, Maradeo had a 1-0 record and 8.22 ERA in 12 games. The sidearming right-hander has been plagued by inconsistency and his numbers in Washington did match those he put up in the Chicago Cubs' system.

* Pitcher Justin Edwards, who left Friday night's game with back spasms, will not go on the disabled list. According to manager Mark Mason, the spams were related to Edwards being dehydrated. Edwards is expected to be out for two days. Opponents are batting only .222 against Edwards, who has 21 strikeouts in 20 2/3 innings.

* To fill Maradeo's spot on the roster, Washington will sign relief pitcher Aaron Guinn, a 6-5 right-hander from Mesa (Ariz.) State, which finished the year ranked No. 5 in NCAA Division II. Guinn had a 5-2 record, 9 saves and 1.40 ERA this year.

* It sure looks like center fielder Chris Sidick has lost his confidence when hitting against left-handed pitching. Sidick is only 2-for-25 (.080) with 10 strikeouts against lefty pitchers, but the average isn't the big concern. It's that many of his swings against lefties have looked bad.

* If you're going to attend a Wild Things home game and stay from start to finish, plan on being there a long time. Washington has played 12 home games with 11 going at least nine innings (there was a rain-shortened game against Gateway). of those 11, only one has been played in less than three hours, that being a 2-hour, 59-minute game against River City June 6. The Wild Things' nine-inning home games are averaging 3 hours and 8 minutes.

* Washington will have to drop a player from the roster Monday when Craig Snipp comes off the disabled list to pitch against Midwest.

* Phil Laurent doesn't get cheated on any of his swings. There's no check-swings or half-hearted swings with that guy.

* With the 13-run output Saturday night, the Wild Things are now in a three-way tie for the most runs scored in the Frontier League, though their record is only 10-17. Of all professional baseball teams that have played at least 27 games this season, only two (Midland of the Class AA Texas League and High Desert of the Class A California League) are averaging more runs per game than the Wild Things.

* Here's the humbling statistic: No team in pro baseball that has played at 27 least games is giving up more runs per game than the Wild Things (7.04).

* Manager Mark Mason on his team's 6.63 ERA: "I want a team ERA of 4.00 or under. If that's what our ERA was, then our record would be reversed. We've hit enough to win almost every game. The pitching has to come to the party."

* Has anyone noticed that closer Nick Peterson has 23 strikeouts in 11 1/3 innings pitched?

* Here's one that's hard to do: Chris Demons had two singles last night, which were his first singles all season. Demons had two home runs and a double but no singles in his first 32 at-bats.

* I forgot to mention this when I originally posted this article: Am I the only one who thinks the umpiring has gotten significantly worse this year? Talking to people from visiting teams, it seems to be that way around the league, not just in Washington.

Letter from camp

Thoughts and observations from Thursday, the second day of spring training:

- Only saw the morning session, which was the intrasquad game. There were more relievers than potential starters on the mound. None of the pitchers stood out but none got lit up, either. Josh Eachuses, the converted catcher, and Dan Horvath got the best results. Justin Edwards, the former West Liberty pitcher, seemed to throw the hardest of the group and might be a candidate for a starting spot. Michael Mondesir struck out three of the six batters he faced.

- The story of the day had to be the field conditions, or to be more specific the outfield conditions. Water, water and more water. What a mess. Reminded me of some of those games last year against Midwest. Because W&J's Ross Memorial Park was hosting to the Presidents' Athletic Conference tournament, the Wild Things had little choice but to muddle through the muck at Consol Energy Park. Late in the scrimmage, shortstop Joe Spiers dove for a fly ball in shallow left centerfield and landed in a mud puddle. One batter later, Blake Butler was playing right field when a shallow fly was hit in his direction. Butler tried to make a face-first diving catch. After seeing the water fly, I was tempted to give Butler a 9.8 for his dive into the pool (the Russian judge would have given the dive a 7.5). When he stood up, Butler's uniform was soaked and covered in mud. It looked like he had just played four quarters in the rain at Heinz Field.

- Two rarities did happen during the intsrasquad game: a triple play was turned and Chris Sidick grounded into a double play. The triple play came with runners on second and third and the infield drawn in. The batter grounded out to second base, then Spiers took off late for home and was tagged out in a rundown. The runner on second base was then thrown out. The triple play would have never happened in a game situation. Had it been during a game with a coach at third base, Spiers would have been running on contact or staying put. Sidick's 6-4-3 DP was interesting only because he grounded into just four double plays in 1,096 at-bats the last three years.

- Sidick has changed his uniform number from 12 to 5.

- Second baseman Michael Parker, pictured, made the play of the day. He fielded a ball on the grass behind the bag and, as his momentum carried him toward left field, he threw out the batter. Washington's had some good defensive second basemen, but the only one I've seen make the play Parker did was Ryan Ellis.

- That Butler even attempted to dive into the water and catch the fly ball probably shouldn't come as a surprise. He seems to play full-tilt all the time, even on the basepaths.

_ Kris Rochelle should no longer be considered injured. His arm looks as strong as ever.

3 arrive, 5 gone

The Wild Things have made their first significant roster moves of the year, acquiring two players, reinstating one from the retired list and releasing five from last year's 48-48 team.

Washington reinstated infielder Jeff Beachum from the retired list, signed right-handed pitcher Jace Smith and acquired right-handed pitcher Justin Edwards from Worcester of the Can-Am League to complete a trade for pitcher Ryan Mitchell prior to last season. Released were pitchers Chris Rivera and Sam Mann, catcher Gerad Haran, second baseman Phil Butch and outfielder Rob Vernon.

The only real surprise was Butch being released, though you can argue that Rivera and Haran have potential.

Beachum began last year as the starting shortstop but a back injury limited him to 16 games (.294, 8 RBI). If Washington brings back Bret Grandstrand as expected, Beachum will likely move over to third base or second base.

Edwards, pictured, is a West Liberty State product who was used as both a pitcher and third baseman by Worcester. Edwards batted only .173 in 52 at-bats and was 1-0 with a 4.37 in 16 games (2 starts) as a pitcher. Edwards is a Wheeling central graduate, the all-time hits leader at West Liberty and the son of Wheeling Jesuit baseball coach Terry Edwards.

The Wild Things did not annouce the signing of Smith, though it is posted on the Frontier League's Web site. More details about Smith when I find them.