Jun 6, 2013 5 min read

Since his arrival in Washington for the 2011 season, Justin Hall has been the workhorse of the Wild Things’ pitching staff. During that time, no Frontier League pitcher has more complete games than Hall’s nine and only two pitchers have thrown more than the right-hander’s 274 innings.

It looked like that heavy workload might have caught up with Hall when he was placed on the disabled list last week with soreness in his shoulder. However, Hall and the Wild Things have received some encouraging results from an arthrogram taken Tuesday.

Hall has a small (SLAP) tear in his labrum, an injury that likely will not require surgery.

“That’s the best news he could have received,” Washington manager Bart Zeller said.

Hall is 2-0 this season with an impressive 0.52 ERA in two starts. He threw a complete-game shutout at Rockford in his first outing and allowed only three hits and one run over eight innings May 26 against Southern Illinois.

It was two days after the Southern Illinois game that Hall experienced discomfort in his shoulder.

“It was a fluke thing that happened. Maybe it was overexertion while long-tossing,” Hall said.

Hall is on the 14-day disabled list while he goes through a rehabilitation program.

“I’m going to do five more days of straight rehab, then begin some light throwing,” Hall explained. “I’m optimistic that this will only be a bump in the road. It stinks to not be out there, but there’s nothing I can do about it now. I have to get healthy.”

Zeller was replaced in the rotation by lefty Anthony Collazo, who in his first professional start struck out nine in 4 2/3 innings Sunday at Windy City. Zeller said Collazo will get another start, but just when that will be is unknown. Because Washington’s game against the Greys was rained out Thursday night and there’s an off day Monday, Collazo might not be back in the rotation until next weekend.

“He really attacked the strike zone at Windy City. He came right at ’em,” Zeller said. “That’s why we’re giving him another start. He deserves it.”

Late Wednesday night, the Wild Things sent an updated roster to the Frontier League office that was accompanied by a note that speedy center fielder Darian Sandford had been traded to the Joliet Slammers. There was no mention as to whom the Wild Things received in the trade.

That’s because there is no trade.

By Thursday morning, the trade had been rescinded. Nobody was saying Thursday night exactly why the deal fell apart, but Sandford was back in the Wild Things’ clubhouse.

Sandford leads the Frontier League with 15 stolen bases. He has a .230 batting average with one home run and four RBI.

The bulk of Major League Baseball’s amateur draft will be held today and Saturday. Ten current Wild Things have been drafted, including several in the top 10 rounds. Three players, pitcher Will Scott, first baseman Stewart Ijames and outfielder Nick Akins, have each been drafted three times.

While many prospects from college and high school will be sitting nervously in front of their computers over the next two days watching the names of the draft selections flash across the screen, some players won’t be nearly as interested. Some might be sleeping when they’re drafted.

“When I was drafted, it was 6:30 in the morning and I was sleeping,” Washington pitcher Shawn Smith recalled. “My mother came running in the bedroom with my cellphone saying you have a call. I was thinking, who would be calling at 6:30 a.m.? It was the Tampa Bay Rays. It was the second day of the draft and they had the first pick of the day, which was in the ninth round. They said they were going to take me with that pick, told me how much money they were offering and asked if I’d be willing to sign.

“I said I would. Then I ran outside and yelled ‘Yes!’ ” Smith added with a fist pump.

Some players are never sure which teams have been watching them and which people are providing accurate information about when they’ll be drafted.

At one time, Akins was rated the No. 7 overall prospect and No. 2 position player for the 2006 draft. After not playing his senior year in high school, Akins slipped to the 13th round when he was selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers. Two years later, Akins was at Riverside Community College, not following the draft, when informed by a teammate that the outfielder was chosen in the 20th round by the Washington Nationals.

The next year, Akins said he expected to be drafted by the New York Mets, who had followed him closely while playing at Vanguard University in California. Akins received a phone call during the draft, but it wasn’t from the Mets.

“It was from Tommy Lasorda,” Akins said. “He said, ‘Congratulations! You’ve been drafted in the 19th round by the Dodgers.’ That surprised me because I had no contact with the Dodgers since they drafted me in 2006.

“If I learned anything about the draft process, it’s to make sure you have schooling in your back pocket. You need to have that option. It should be your top priority. If you’re not being offered the amount of money that you know you’ll sign for, then go to school.”