Of fast starts, baseball records and transfers
There are two primary objectives for the baseball operations department of an independent team.
The first is obvious: Win as many games as possible. Winning helps put butts in the seats. The second is to advance players to major league organizations.
The Wild Things have been wildly successful on both fronts so far this season.
Washington entered its game Friday night at Lake Erie with a 25-9 record.
It’s very difficult to win your 25th game before you lose your 10th but somehow the Wild Things have done as much.
That sparks a question: Is this the best 34-game start to a Frontier League season in Wild Things history? The answer is yes, it is.
Washington’s previous best record after 34 games was 23-11, accomplished by both the 2004 team that was managed by John Massarelli and the 2024 team.
The Wild Things have done this despite losing four key players — three pitchers and a second baseman — to major league affiliates since the start of the Frontier League season. Pitcher Hector Garcia was the latest to leave as he had his contract purchased by the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday.
That’s four players lost in six weeks. Add in the two players Washington had picked up back in March and that’s easily the most the Wild Things have moved on in any season.
The big question is can the Wild Things overcome the loss of so many quality players over a 102-game season? Only time will tell.
• Entering Friday night, there were only five teams in the American League with winning records. There were 10 in the National League, and the Miami Marlins were only one game below at 37-38.
Four of the winning teams in the National League reside in the Central Division. The Cincinnati Reds were last in the Central with a .479 winning percentage.
You can make a case that the NL Central is the strongest in the major leagues. Or is it just filled with five mediocre teams?
• Ticketed attendance for last week’s PIAA Baseball Championships at Penn State was 4,311 for the six games. The six softball championship games, that included Chartiers-Houston in Class 2A, drew 2,460.
• Perhaps a strong case can be made that the Pirates’ Braxton Ashcraft is already an elite pitcher, at least in the National League. Since Ashcraft was promoted to the major leagues in May of last year, only four NL pitchers have thrown at least 160 innings and have a sub-3.00 ERA. They are: Philadelphia’s Cristopher Sanchez (2.04), the Pirates’ Paul Skenes (2.19), the Dodgers’ Yoshinobu Yamamoto (2.68) and Ashcraft (2.98).
• I wonder if the Wild Things’ Caleb Ketchup knows the Baltimore Orioles’ Colby Mayo.
• Former South Fayette outfielder Chase Krewson, who played this spring at Rutgers, has transferred to Pitt. It will be Krewson’s fourth school.
Krewson’s former South Fayette teammate, pitcher Tyler Pitzer, who played this year at Mississippi State, also has entered the transfer portal.
Sports editor Chris Dugan can be reached at dugan@observer-reporter.com