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.

More Wild Things pitching

In the post below about the Wild Things' roster, I mentioned the curious state of the starting rotation. More precisely, who are the candidates for the rotation? There seemed to be a lack of experienced starting pitchers on the roster last week, and the transactions of the last two days have thinned the ranks even more.

Washington added what appears to be one solid starting pitcher Monday, but also traded one starter and released two potential starters.

The Wild Things signed two pitchers, lefty Vidal Nuno and right-hander Justin Hall. Nuno was a starter for two seasons in the Cleveland Indians system, and had a 5-0 record in the New York-Penn League in 2009. You can probably pencil him into the rotation. Hall was a non-drafted player who spent one year in the Tampa Bay Rays' system. Who knows what role he'll be put in.

Three pitchers who won't be in the rotation are Steve MacFarland, Sean Keeler and Joe Rodriguez.

MacFarland, a former 9th-round draft pick of the Pirates who pitched well for Washington last year (3-2) -- when he was healthy -- was traded to the San Angelo Colts of the North American League. In exchange for MacFarland, the Wild Things will receive "future considerations." Translated, that usually means a player not good enough to make San Angelo's roster.

Rodriguez and Keeler have been released. Rodriguez made a few starts last year for Oakland County -- he was the starter in the game in Lovonia, Mich., when the mound crumbled causing a postponement -- and was taken by Washington in the dispersal draft of Cruisers players. I thought he might be a potential fifth starter. Keeler pitched in only eight games (11 2/3 innings) last year for the Wild Things after being signed out of Franklin Pierce College, where he had suffered an injury that sidetracked his career. I had considered Keller as having a chance at earning a rotation spot, though with his injury history that might have been a longshot.

So with spring training less than two weeks away, this is what we know about the Wild Things' starting pitching: Justin Edwards is injured; Jeff Sonnenberg and Zach Groh are listed on the roster but the Wild Things haven't announced that either guy has been re-signed; the rumor is Billy Muldowney won't be back; Nuno seems to have a spot as a starter and there's a bunch of guys who are either ticketed for the bullpen or have no experience as a starter beyond college.

Who knows, maybe the Wild Thing will be signed to pitch?

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.

Roster set

The Wild Things cut their roster to the Frontier League-maximum 24 active players Wednesday when they released Ryne Nelson, a right-handed pitcher who was acquired several months ago in a trade.

The Wild Things dealt Trinity High School graduate Michael Lucas to Laredo (Texas) of the independent United League in exchange for Nelson, a relief pitcher. Nelson pitched a scoreless inning in an exhibition game Friday night against Lake Erie.

Washington's starting pitcher in the season opener Friday night at home against the Oakland County Cruisers will be Tim Smith. The remainder of the rotation for series will be Spencer Hylander on Saturday and Steve Macfarland on Sunday. Zach Groh, one of two returning pitchers from last season, will start the season's fourth game, Tuesday at Kalamazoo.

Washington's roster - click 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.