Jun 30, 2018 3 min read

For the second time in less than a month, the Wild Things had a starting infielder leave the team.

First baseman Reydel Medina, who was batting .298 with 21 RBI in 41 games, was placed on the suspended list Saturday. The first Cuban-born player in Wild Things history, Medina informed manager Gregg Langbehn and the front office that he was leaving the team and returning to his home in Miami, Fla. 

“It was a personal matter that he had to take care of at home,” Langbehn explained. “In no way was he suspended for a violation of team rules. It was something that he needs to work through at home. It was nothing that caught us by surprise. He told us about this ahead of time.

“We wish we had him the entire season. He never caused any issues. The guys liked him. Whether he comes back or not, I don’t know.”

Because Medina was placed on the suspended list, the Wild Things retain his rights. His departure comes three weeks after Justin Bohn, who was the team’s starting shortstop, abruptly retired.

Medina pulled an oblique muscle running to first base on a single in the fifth inning Friday night. He was looked at by Wild Things trainers Brittany Miller on two occasions but remained in the 13-4 loss to Schaumburg. He went 1-for-5.

To fill Medina’s roster spot, Washington signed first baseman Conner Simonetti, who was released earlier this season by the Lake Erie Crushers.

Simonetti is from Fairport, N.Y., played at Kent State University and was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in 2013 and Washington Nationals in 2016. He played last year in the Frontier League with Lake Erie and batted .303 with five home runs in 46 games.

This year, Simonetti batted .215 with two home runs in 21 games for the Crushers before being released.

Simonetti was in the lineup Saturday night and batted in the No. 8 spot. He was one of two new players in the lineup for the Wild Things. The other was righthanded pitcher Taylor Bloom, who played this spring for the University of Maryland.

All-star rosters

Rosters for the Frontier League All-Star Game, which will be played Tuesday, July 11 at Carshield Field in O’Fallon, Mo., home of the River City Rascals, will be released this week.

The league changed this year from its traditional East vs. West format to one that pits players classified as Experienced (at least two full seasons of professional experience) by league roster standards against a team of players classified as rookies (first- or second-year pros).

The new format allows for more players with no affiliated experience to be seen by major league scouts but gives River City fans an odd dilemma: which team to root for? Players from the Rascals are likely to be on both teams.

Sidick record broken

Entering this season, former Wild Things center fielder Chris Sidick held five Frontier League records. That number was reduced by one last weekend when Normal shortstop Santiago Chirino became the league’s all-time hits leader.

Chirino, in his sixth season with Normal, entered Saturday with 639 career hits. Sidick had 635 hits in seven seasons with Washington (2005-11). A Frontier League Hall of Famer and Cecil native, Sidick still holds the league records for triples in a season (16), games (588), at-bats (2,225) and runs (434).