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.

Camp notes: Thursday

The Wild Things spent five hours on the field Thursday, which included a four-inning intrasquad game, but the only significant news out of camp was that left-handed pitcher Jason Neitz has been put on the 60-day disabled list because of an arm injury. Neitz had a 7-7 record and 5.61 ERA in 20 games (19 starts) last season.

Four pitchers (18 are in camp) were used in the instrasquad game. The pitching lines were:

Zach Groh 2 2/3-5-5-0-0-3
Tim Smith 3-3-1-1-1-4
Sean Grieve 1-2-1-1-0-1
Kurt Houck 1-2-2-1-0-0

Groh and Smith each threw two shutout innings until the hitters caught on a little the second time through the order. The five runs Groh allowed were unearned because of two errors in the inning that also featured three home runs. First baseman Paul Chmiel and second baseman Michael Parker back-to-back homers, and two batters later shortstop Denny Duron homered.

Smith gave up a two-run homer to shortstop Pat Kinney.

Parker went 2-for-3 with a double and home run.

Other than the home runs, the only things that stood out were three errors by infielders and the pitchers gave up only one walk.

Two pitchers signed

The Wild Things have added two more pitchers for spring training, signing a pair of right-handers who were recently released by the New York Mets after spending two years in the organization. Joining the Wild Things are Zach Rosenbaum and Tim Smith. Both are considered rookies by Frontier League standards.

Rosenbaum and Smith spent the bulk of their affiliated careers in rookie ball. Smith did pitch in nine games (0-0, 5.87) last year for Savannah in the Class A South Atlantic League.

Smith (5-11, 195) had an outstanding career at NCAA Division II Catawba, posting a 31-13 record with 239 strikeouts and was the South Atlantic Conference Pitcher of the Year. He even had a win over Florida Southern, which was ranked No. 1 in Division II at the time.

"We are planning to put Tim back into the starting rotation, where he had so much success in college,” Wild Things manager Darin Everson said. "He can build on his two years of professional experience with the Mets organization and solidify one our starting positions.”

Rosenbaum (6-4, 190) had a 3-7 record in 28 games in rookie ball. He was a teammate of former Wild Things catcher Kris Rochelle at UNC-Charlotte, where he went 9-1 in 2007. Rosenbaum was a 19th-round pick of the Mets in 2008.

“We look for Zach to be an important part of our pitching staff’s success this year,” Everson said. “He brings two solid years of experience with the Mets to Washington.”