Wild Things rework offense in hopes of playoff berth
Observer-Reporter
Outfielder Bralin Jackson will be back with the Washington Wild Things after spending two years with the Pittsburgh Pirates’ farm team in Altoona.
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter Infielder Trevin Sonnierfields a ground ball during a recent Wild Things practice. Washington begins its 16th Frontier League season tonight at Windy City.
If the old saying “pitching wins championships” is true, then it’s hitting and stealing bases that put the fun into baseball. And for the Wild Things, there was precious little of those key elements of offense during the past half dozen years.
If Washington has proven anything over that period of time, it’s that you can’t win with pitching alone.
The Wild Things had the lowest team batting average in the Frontier League during four of the last six seasons. They’ve also finished either last or next-to-last in runs scored four times during that same period.
Last season, Washington again had a strong pitching staff but it couldn’t overcome the loss of two key pitchers to major league organizations in August and an anemic offense. The Wild Things were last in the league in batting average, tied for last in on-base percentage and next-to-last in runs. The result was a 46-49 record as they missed the playoffs for the eighth time in nine years.
So it was no surprise that second-year manager Gregg Langbehn and director of team operations Tony Buccilli spent the offseason focusing on improving the offense. Their plan was simple: get hitters who are more experienced, make more contact at the plate and are faster baserunners.
The result is a revamped roster that returns only six players from last season.
“We had to improve the athleticism. I don’t think we were as athletic as other teams in the league,” Langbehn said. “I think we’ve done that. We also had trouble scoring. We relied too much on somebody hitting a home run.”
So the Wild Things signed five speedy outfielders, each with five years of professional experience. They are expected to upgrade the both the offense and defense.
Center fielder Rashad Brown stole bases 20 bases last season in the Detroit Tigers system, corner outfielders Bralin Jackson and Hector Roa each have played in at least 260 pro games and Kenny Peoples-Walls is an outfielder who was a fourth-round draft pick of the St. Louis Cardinals as a shortstop. Another outfielder, Stefan Sabol, had been playing first base during spring training and will start the regular season on the disabled list. Sabol played last year for the New York mets’ Class AA affiliate in Binghamton, N.Y.
The new-look outfield and a younger pitching staff debut tonight when the Wild Things open their 16th season in Crestwood, Ill., against the Windy City ThunderBolts.
Trevor Foss, one of the six returnees, will pitch for Washington. He already has noticed a difference in the Wild Things’ offense.
“We’ll manufacture more runs,” Foss said. “Last year, we depended on somebody hitting a three-run homer. This year, we’ll put the ball in play more and we’ll be the fastest team in the league. From my experience, it’s no fun to pitch against that kind of team.”
Hitting against Foss was not fun for Frontier League batters last season. Foss had an 8-3 record, 2.50 ERA and eight complete games in 14 starts. He was on his way to setting the league record for complete games when he had his contract sold in August to the Cleveland Indians.
“When he was out there last year, it like a guaranteed seven innings,” Langbehn said.
Foss elected free agency after finishing last season in Class A, then played winter ball in Australia before re-signing with Washington. Each Frontier League team is permitted one player classified as a “veteran” who exceeds the age limit of 27. The 28-year-old Foss is Washington’s vet.
“It might be too much to ask for Trevor to do what he did last year, but he’s a really good pitcher,” Langbehn said. “When he was facing our hitters in an intrasquad game (last weekend), guys were going back to the dugout and saying ‘That guy can pitch,’ and these were experienced guys.
“There are other pitchers in this league with better stuff and more velocity, but he’ll pitcher better than any of them. He’s not afraid to pitch to contact, he doesn’t panic, he gets groundballs. He’s added a good curveball this year.”
Foss will anchor that starting rotation that also returns Chase Cunningham (7-10, 4.21). Lefty Trevor Belicek, who was a teammate of Foss at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, also will pitch one of the game at Windy City. Jordan Schwartz, a former fourth-round draft pick of Oakland, and lefty Hunter Williams could round out the rotation. Williams, who played last season at the University of North Carolina, is ranked among the top-200 eligible players for next month’s major league draft.
The bullpen returns only lefty Brian O’Keefe (2-2, 4.50) and is a work in progress.
“I like our rotation,” Langbehn said. “The bullpen roles will be identified as we go along. We’ll try to do more mixing and matching. We have three lefties in the bullpen.”
Two of the returning hitters are catchers, Kyle Pollock and John Fidanza, both defensive specialists.
The entire infield is new. Third baseman Mike Hill, who played at Long Beach State and three years in the Kansas City Royals’ system, has played well at third base during camp. First baseman Kane Sweeney should provide power in the middle of the lineup, and middle infielders Jace Conrad, Alexander Fernandez, Kyle Reese and Trevin Sonnier each are versatile enough to play multiple positions. Fernandez is the son of former major league pitcher Alex Fernandez.
“This team is more well-rounded than what we had last year,” Foss said. “Our lineup has more depth, 1 through 9, in the order.”