Taking offense

The Wild Things have scored two runs or less 15 times this season. There's nothing unusual about that. It's pretty much average for the Frontier League. But the Wild Things have been held to two runs or less six times in the last nine games. They scored two runs total in three games over the weekend at Windy City. So is the offense struggling?

Manager John Massarelli says no.

"Did anyone mention the conditions at Windy City?" Massarelli said Tuesday night after an 8-5 loss to Rockford. "Wind blowing straight in at 30 mph. There were guys on both teams hitting shots but you couldn't score because of the conditions. So all of a sudden, everybody is asking, 'What's wrong with the hitting?'

"I think we played our best baseball of the year on the last road trip. The Windy City series was the best we played all year. We've had a little letdown after we've come home, but that's all part of it."

In case you're wondering, here's the number of times each team has been held to two runs or less:

Slippery Rock - 28
Evansville - 21
Chillicothe - 15
Southern Illinois - 15
Washington - 15
Florence - 13
Traverse City - 13
Rockford - 13
River City - 12
Kalamazoo - 11
Gateway - 9
Windy City - 8 (3 times by Washington)

Welcome back

The hardest-working person for the Wild Things this year? My vote goes to the person who puts the names on the back of the home uniforms. It seems he/she has been making a new nameplate every few days. He/she will have to make one next week because Cory Hahn, who has not pitched for the Wild Things in more than a year, is expected to be added to the roster.

Hahn was the opening day starter in 2006 but had his season cut short because of an elbow injury that required reconstructive surgery. Hahn last pitched for Washington July 3 of last year. Hahn was in camp during spring training but was not ready to pitch in a game, so he returned home to Louisville to rehabilitate the arm.

The plan is for Hahn to join the team on the road trip next week to Slippery Rock, Florence and Chillicothe.

Hahn will be the 22nd pitcher (including Kyle Werman) used by the Wild Things this year, which is a team record. The previous high was 20 last year.

Washington doesn't lead the league in pitchers used. River City has used 29 pitchers and 49 players overall. Slippery Rock has used 24 pitchers and 48 players. Those pitching totals, however, don't exactly rank with the Washington Nationals' Triple-A affiliate in Columbus, which has used 34 pitchers so far.

Random thoughts, notes

* If there is somebody playing the role of unsung hero on this Wild Things team, then it has to be relief pitcher Travis Risser.

The guy has a 0.31 ERA. That's ZERO-THREE-ONE.

That's unheard of in the Frontier League, especially when you consider Risser's not a guy who faces only one or two batters per outing (the most common way for a pitcher to have such a low ERA). Of Risser's last 10 outings, eight have been of at least two innings, including Saturday's night's two-inning save at Windy City. Risser has helped ease the loss of relief pitcher Ian Heisel.

* Speaking of Heisel, the MRI performed on his right shoulder recently showed no structural damage. He could be back by mid-August, if not sooner.

* The Wild Things' original plan for Saturday night at Windy City was to go with a bullpen night, similar to what they did recently at Traverse City. They were going to start the game with a relief pitcher on the mound and use about four relievers over the course of the game. That plan was probably scrapped when Aaron Ledbetter didn't make it through the fifth inning Tuesday. Ledbetter pitched Saturday on three days of rest.

* The bullpen night won't happen Sunday, either. According to WJPA Radio's Randy Gore, Washington will start lefty Alan Stidfole on three days of rest.

* What has happened to Patrick Sadler? After coming off the injured list, Sadler has pitched in only three games, for a total of four innings, over the last 23 days. When asked last weekend if Sadler was healthy enough to pitch, manager John Massarelli said there was nothing wrong with the right-hander. Sadler was thought highly enough of to be the No. 4 starter at the beginning of the season, which makes his inactivity puzzling.

* In the last 26 innings in which the Wild Things have batted with Tom Cochran as their pitcher of record, they have scored only 2 runs.

* Washington's 51 errors are the fewest in the league, five less than second-place Evansville.

RIP with RISP

This question was posed to me prior to the Wild Things' Sunday against Florence: What do you consider a good batting average with runners in scoring position?

I assume it was in reference to my note in Sunday's paper that Washington was 4-for-22 with runners in scoring position during the first three games of the last homestand (three of those hits, however, were in the 8th or 9th innings and either tied the score or gave the Wild Things the lead). It didn't take much thought to answer this one. A good batting average with runners in scoring position should be the same as a good batting average, regardless of the situation. In this case, a good team batting average in the Frontier League this year is .275. Thus, my answer was .275.

The Wild Things are hitting well below .275 with runners in scoring position and the nagging inconsistency in this area was displayed again Friday night at Windy City. The Wild Things did not have a hit with runners in scoring position and generated their run in a 2-1 loss with a pair of groundouts that moved Chris Sidick from second base to third and across home plate.

In the 7th inning, Washington had the bases loaded with one out but failed to score as a line drive turned into an inning-ending double play. In the ninth, the Wild Things had runners on second and third with no outs, and the bases loaded with one out, and again failed to score. After putting runners on 2nd and 3rd in the ninth, Washington failed to hit a ball out of the infield.

Is there statistical proof that Washington is not a good hitting team with runners in scoring position? My curiosity led me to check the Frontier League statistics (through Friday, July 27):

Average with runners in scoring position
----------------------------------
Team Avg.
Kalamazoo .296
River City .289
Windy City .289
Traverse City .287
Southern Illinois .281
Florence .280
Rockford .280
Evansville .264
Gateway .254
Washington .254
Chillicothe .223
Slippery Rock .207

Runners in scoring position w/ 2 outs
--------------------------------
Team Avg.
River City .283
Southern Illinois .276
Windy City .274
Kalamazoo .274
Rockford .262
Traverse City .256
Evansville .240
Florence .239
Washington .236
Slippery Rock .219
Gateway .215
Chillicothe .201

The things that stand out in these numbers:

* Somehow Gateway has put together the second-best record in the league with a sub-par offense with RISP.

* If River City had some pitching it could be very dangerous. River City's pitchers are allowing opponents to bat a league-high .291 with RISP.

* Washington has the third-best record in the league, so how has it overcome below-average hitting with RISP? The answer is by having the best pitching in these situations. Opponents bat only .247 against Washington with RISP (lowest average in the league) and .193 with RISP and two outs, which is by far the lowest average in the league.

From Falconi Field, er, uh, Consol Energy Park, to the major leagues

There is finally a player who has gone from playing at the ballpark on the hill - choose your favorite name, Falconi Field or Consol Energy Park - to a major league roster.

OK, so it's not a former Wild Thing and the guy only played one inning at the ballpark, but Joe Thatcher is the answer to a trivia question.

Thatcher, a left-handed relief pitcher for the River City Rascals in 2005, was traded Wednesday by the Milwaukee Brewers to the San Diego Padres in a four-player deal. Thatcher will join the Padres Thursday in Houston.

Thatcher made only one appearance at then-Falconi Field in 2005. He pitched one scoreless inning in the 2005 Frontier League All-Star Game. The Brewers purchased Thatcher's contract less than a week after the all-star game, so he missed the Rascals' series in Washington later in the season.

Thatcher was a combined 3-1 with 1 save and a 1.43 ERA for Class AA Huntsville and Class AAA Nashville this year.

Thatcher likely won't be the only player to go from playing in Washington to the majors this season. Former Kenosha pitcher Matt Whilhite is a reliever for the Angels' Triple-A affiliate and made his professional debut at Falconi Field. He's a candidate for a September call-up. The Pirates also could give a call-up to former Pine-Richland catcher Neil Walker, who played at Falconi in high school playoff games. A longer shot to make it to the majors this season is former River City second baseman Justin Christian, who played two games in Washington (going 1-for-6) with the Rascals in 2003. Christian is playing for the Yankees' Triple-A affiliate.

Does anybody recall the current major leaguer (he's never played for the Pirates) who visited the Wild Things' clubhouse before a game in 2003 and stayed to sign autographs for fans?

The good and the bad

As the Wild Things take Monday off and embark on a six-game trip to Rockford and Windy City, let's analyze this team by playing the good and the bad:

The Good: Washington has won 16 of it last 21 games, which is tied with Gateway for the best record in the league over the that period.

The Bad: The Wild Things are two hits (take your pick from any in the 8th and 9th innings Thursday and Friday against Chillicothe) away from having a six-game losing streak.

The Good: Perhaps the only good news to come out of the two-game series sweep by Florence was that relief pitcher Ian Heisel, who has been on the Injured Reserve list since July 15 with a triceps injury, was able to play toss Saturday and Sunday. He reported no pain while throwing, though the results of an MRI performed last week won't be known until Tuesday. Heisel, who has been the Wild Things' most reliable reliever, said he could be playing by mid-August if the MRI results are favorable.

The Bad: The last 2 starts by Aaron Ledbetter and Sunday's outing by Tom Cochran. If these two guys don't win, then this team is in trouble.

The Good: Washington leads the East Division by 6.5 games.

The Bad: A sweep of Florence over the weekend would have pushed the lead to 10.5 games.

The Good: The late-game hitting last week. In three different games, Washington rallied in the 8th or 9th inning to tie or take a lead. Center fielder Chris Sidick said the hitters have been more patient and working deeper in the count late in games.

The Bad: The hitting Sunday. Against Florence's Luke Brown, whose fastball couldn't hit 90 mph on the radar gun with a running start, Washington had one hit in eight innings in what was its second-worst shutout loss at home (The worst was a 12-0 loss to Chillicothe late in 2005).

The Good: Pat O'Brien and Kyle Padgett are starting to hit. O'Brien has three home runs in his last five games. Padgett is 9-for-23 with 6 walks in his last 9 games.

The Bad: A lack of patience, especially early in the game. Drawing walks and working counts are central principles of the "Moneyball" world and should translate well to the Frontier League. Elevating the pitch counts of opposing starting pitchers should be a priority, especially when you consider that middle and setup relievers are a weak spot for most FL teams. While Sidick leads the league in walks, patience is not a strength of this team, especially early in games. For example, Rob Vernon has drawn only 2 walks in 58 at-bats and Rene Quintana has 2 walks in 98 at-bats. Those are two of the worst at-bats-to-walk ratios in the league (Slippery Rock's D.J. Dixon has 1 walk in 96 at-bats).

FL to Oakland ... Michigan, that is

Check out the story here.

Blacked out

If you were planning to stay home tonight and watch the Wild Things play the Chillicothe Paints on Fox Sports Pittsburgh, then it's time for Plan B.

The first casualty of tonight's less-than-ideal weather forecast is FSN's television broadcast. The game will not be televised.

Wild Things officials decided Thursday that the risk of losing money by bringing in a Fox remote truck, production crew and on-air talent for a game that might not be played was too great, so the broadcast was called off.

The game was to be shown live on Fox Sports Pittsburgh and Fox College Sports Pacific (Channel 264 on Comcast) and replayed on the latter throughout the weekend.

Doin' hard time in Marion

The Florence Freedom and Southern Illinois Miners spent a month in Marion, Ill., over the weekend. The teams played two of the longest games in Frontier League history on Friday night and Sunday afternoon.

Southern Illinois won 4-3 in 18 innings Friday. The game lasted 5 hours and 44 minutes. The most interesting part of the Miners' win was they played the final 9 innings without a designated hitter. The Miners were out of position players when third baseman Chris Hall and manager Mike Pinto were ejected in the ninth inning. As a result, Southern Illinois had to put its designated hitter into the field, which put the pitcher into Hall's spot in the batting order. Twice during extra innings, the Miners used pitchers as pinch-hitters.

Southern Illinois grounded into an inning-ending double play with the bases loaded in the 15th, and Florence had the potential go-ahead run thrown out at home plate in the 17th.

On Sunday, Southern Illinois edged Florence 10-9 in 14 innings. The game also surpassed the 5-hour mark.

The Miners scored three runs in the bottom of the 9th on Friday to force the extra innings, and on Sunday they produced a two-out, two-run hit to send the game to the 10th.

The longest game in Wild Things history is a 3-2 loss at home to Evansville on June 24, 2003. Two things stand out in my mind about that game: 1. Washington's Joe Cuervo hesitating just long enough that he was thrown out at home plate while trying to score on a short passed ball sometime during the extra innings. 2. The home-plate umpire had a strike zone that went from the inside corner on a right-handed hitter to the Claysville exit on Interstate 70. There were only 2 walks in the 17 innings - none by Washington pitchers - and nobody drew a walk in the last 10 innings.

You make the call

With the start of the second half of the Frontier League season less than 24 hours away, let's discuss what areas the Wild Things need to improve. Let's say you are now Washington's director of baseball operations and you can make only one change (not couting filling the roster spot vacated by second baseman Kyle Werman). What move will you make? Sign another starting pitcher? Trade for a starting pitcher like Slippery Rock's Zac Cline? Acquire a hitter? Go to a 4-man rotation of Ledbetter, Cochran, Hollenbeck and Stidfole?

Because of injuries, much of the season's first half was centered around finding five healthy starting pitchers. There are only four starters on the roster. Manager John Massarelli plans to use the four starters mentioned above, along with a group of relievers filling the fifth spot in the rotation. I have a feeling another starting pitcher will be brought in, but the focus should be on acquiring another quality hitter, preferably a right-hander who can play third base or be the DH (depends on where Robbie Knapp plays). With Rene Quintana in the lineup everyday, there's anywhere from 4 to 6 lefties in the lineup. Here's saying another right-handed bat is what is needed most.

At the break

Here are the Wild Things' annual records, position in the standings and attendance averages at the all-star break:

Record:
-------
Year W-L GB
2007 - 28-17 -
2006 - 21-22 7.5
2005 - 27-18 1
2004 - 30-17 - (tied)
2003 - 26-20 2.5
2002 - 23-16 1

ATTENDANCE
Year Average
2007 - 3,180
2006 - 3,133
2005 - 3,048
2004 - 3,242
2003 - 3,390
2002 - 2,942

It never fails

I had a story lined up for over the all-star break about pitcher Kevin Foeman and his battle with Type 1 Diabetes, and why he wears an insulin pump on his belt during games. Then he gets released Saturday night.

I should know not to sit on a story.

Foeman's story is an interesting one. During Thanksgiving break in his freshman year at Mary Washington College, Foeman found out he had diabetes. But not before he lost 40 pounds in a little more than 24 hours. That's right, 40 pounds in a little more than 24 hours. His blood-sugar level was at 1,500 instead of its normal 100. He had constant vomiting and blurry vision. As Kevin stated, his body was in "survival mode."

Once Foeman was diagnosed with diabetes, doctors were able to treat the condition and he rapidly regained the weight. He now wears a pump (about the size of a pager or mp3 player) that attaches to his belt and provides insulin under the skin via a small plastic tube that runs to his body.

Looking to the future

The Cincinnati Enquirer had a five-question Q&A with FL commissioner Bill Lee. Here was one of the questions and his answer:

Q. During your tenure, the league has expanded to 12 teams in seven states. What do you envision in five years?

A. Five years into the job, I couldn't have told you 10 years from now what would be happening. I have a little more understanding now, and I think you'll see 16 teams.


My reply: While 16 teams might be interesting from the standpoint of seeing different opponents instead of Chillicothe and Florence every other week, I'd prefer to see the FL go back to 10 teams. The level of play in the league was at its highest last year with the 10-team format. The pitching, especially the relief pitching, was much better with 10 teams. Before pushing on to 16 teams, the FL should take a look at how the boost in its salary cap next year impacts some of the smaller markets, such as Chillicothe.

Not-so-special delivery

With Kevin McClatchy announcing today that he will step down as CEO of the Pirates at season's end, it's the right time for a Frontier League story with Pirates connections.

I had a discussion with Traverse City Beach Bumbs coach David Beigh (pronounced Beak), who was the Pirates' second-round draft pick in 2000. The Pirates' first-round pick that year was Sean Burnett.

A 6-5, 245-pound right-hander, Beigh says the first thing the Pirates did after drafting him out of a high school in West Lafayette, Ind., was change his mechanics. They wanted Beigh to throw over the top instead of with a three-quarters delivery. Does anyone else think it makes no sense to draft a guy in the second round if you have to change his delivery? But, hey, it's the Pirates we're talking about.

The Pirates also wanted Beigh to drive off the pitcher's rubber and jump toward home plate at the end of his delivery (think Tom Seaver and you know what I mean). This was taught to all Pirates minor-league pitchers at the time.

Beigh says the change in mechanics led to an elbow injury that required reconstructive surgery. His career ended with a 2-10 record and 4.84 ERA.

After being released by the Pirates, Beigh attended Purudue University and attempted to play football for the Boilermakers but separated his shoulder twice in one season.

Beigh is trying to make it back in baseball with the Beach Bums. In addition to being on Jon Cahill's coaching staff, Beigh has been getting his arm back in shape. His velocity was down at the start of the season but he could be activated sometime after the all-star break.

In Kalamazoo, "life sucks"

Interesting article in the Kalamazoo Gazette about the Kings' attendance problems. The Kings apparently lost more than $100,000 last year and are on pace to lose that much again this season. Some interesting quotes in this story:

Check out the story here.

Shattered, shattered

One of the most-often asked questions at the ballpark these days: Why so many broken bats this season?

It seems there is at least a half dozen shattered bats each game. Some Wild Things fans have gone as far as calling the team's offices and asking for an explanation to the bat problems. What did these people expect to hear? "The problem, sir, is we've decided to save money by hitting with balsa-wood bats."

Is there really a problem with the bats this year? Is the number of broken bats on the rise? It depends on who you ask. Outfielder Chris Sidick said he has already broken 24 bats. He broke fewer than a dozen last season. Manager John Massarelli, when asked about the bats, at first said there is no significant difference between the number of broken bats this season and in past years. Then, he changed his mind and offered this:

"One of the problems I see is, the players today want the bats so light that the handles have to be made too thin. A guy hits a pitch off the fist and the bat shatters. When I played, I got three dozen bats during spring training and had about a dozen left over at the end a 152-game season."

Maybe the Wild Things' bat supplier simply had a bad batch of lumber this year? Belive it or not, there is an official bat company of the Wild Things, or so the Phoenix Bat Company of Hilliard Ohio, makes the claim on its Web site. It's also the official bat supplier of the Class AAA Columbus Clippers. A Google search finds nothing but excellent reviews of Phoenix bats.

Even with an official bat supplier, a check of the bats used by the Wild Things reveals all types of brand names. First baseman Nathan Messner broke three bats Monday night and two were Louisville Sluggers.

Oh, Danny boy

With the Wild Things' pitching depth taking two more hits Monday (see post below), here's a name that should at least be considered as a potential roster addition:

Danny Almonte.

Yes, that Danny Almonte. He of Little League infamy.

Almonte was released over the weekend by Southern Illinois. He was only 0-1 with a 5.28 ERA in six appearances, but when you consider the upside (there's that word scouts love to use) Almonte has, it might not be a bad signing.

Moving on

Another day, another pitching dilemma for the Wild Things.

Prior to Monday's home game against the Chillicothe Paints, the Wild Things lost two more starting pitchers for very different reasons.

Right-hander Chris Rivera, who made only two apperances with Washington, had his contract purchased by the Chicago Cubs. Rivera was 1-0 with a 2.70 ERA, giving up 8 hits and 4 walks in 10 innings. He struck out 6. Rivera signed with Washington last month after playing at Virginia Wesleyan, an NCAA Division III school. He earned his first professional win Saturday night in the Wild Things' 6-1 victory over Slippery Rock.

Rivera is the 18th Wild Things player to sign with an affiliated team.

"We are excited for Chris. This will be a great opportunity for him," said Washington general manager Ross Vecchio. "In his brief time here, he has proven himself capable to play at a big-league level."

Meanwhile, right-hander Micahel Hauff opted to retire. Hauff was 1-1 with a 6.65 ERA in seven games (4 starts). Hauff had been bothered by back spasms, leaving a game at Southern Illinois last month with the injury. He pitched two innings Sunday but walked three batters in the resumption of the suspended game at Slippery Rock.

Washington has only 22 active players – the league minimum – for Monday's game. Adam Stidfole, who pitched at Penn State and in the Toronto Blue Jays' system last year, is expected to sign and pitch Thursday's game against Traverse City. Stidfole was 0-2 with 1 save for Pulaski of the Appalachian League in 2006. Stidfole's twin brother Sean pitches for New Hampshire, the Blue Jays' Class AA affiliate.

Alumni report

Noticed a transaction from Saturday in the independent Atlantic League in which the Newark Bears acquired former Wild Things pitcher Brendon Davis. He joins outfielder Jack Headley and third baseman Pat Peavey as ex-Things in Newark. The Bears also have Peters Township's Jason DiAngelo as their closer.

There are two other former Wild Things in the Atlantic League. Catcher Randy McGarvey and outfielder L.J. Biernbaum play for Camden.

Biernbaum is second in the league in home runs with 15 and third in RBI with 49. That's impressive when you consider the Atlantic League has many former major league hitters, such as Carl Everett, Junior Spivey, Quinton McCracken and Edgardo Alfonzo, and ex-big league pitchers like Danny Graves and John Halama. McGarvey, meanwhile, is batting an eye-popping .390. McGarvey has only 82 at-bats because he was playing behind former major leaguer Ben Davis, who had his contract purchased by the Dodgers about a week ago. McGarvey has moved into the starter's role and already has 4 home runs. I don't think he hit 4 home runs in his 2 years in Washington.

Here is how some other former Wild Things are doing in other leagues:

- Infielder Brett Grandstrand is batting .197 in 42 games for Columbus, the Devil Ray's affiliate in the Class A South Atlantic League.

- Catcher Brandon Ketron was with the Staten Island Yankees in the New York-Penn League that began play about 10 days ago. He was promoted to Charleston of the South Atlantic League and in his debut Sunday went 1-for-2 with 2 RBI.

- Shortstop Mike Ambrose, who signed with Washington last winter only to have his contract purchased a few weeks later, began the season with the Pirates' South Atlantic League team in Hickory and batted .231. He's now playing for State College in the New York-Penn League.

- Second baseman Chad Ehrnsberger is batting .262 for Joliet in the independent Northern League. Ehrnsberger won the Northern League batting title last year.

Stranded

From the This Can Only Happen in the Frontier League Department comes this: Chillicothe pitchers walked 11 batters, gave up 5 hits and threw a wild pitch Saturday night against Florence, yet threw a shutout. The Paints won 4-0 as Florence left 14 runners on base.


In this evening's doubleheader at Slippery Rock, Michael Hauff will pitch for the Wild Things in the completion of the suspended game (the Sliders lead 2-1 in the 3rd inning) and J.J. Hollenbeck will pitch the nightcap.