close

Linder at home pitching in Wild Things’ league

5 min read
article image -

Logan Linder has a theory about pitching. If you can do it successfully in the Pecos League, he says, then you should be able to pitch successfully in Wild Things Park, with its turf infield and deep gaps.

Linder, a Burgettstown resident, spent the last two seasons pitching in the hitter-friendly independent Pecos League, which is known for cramped, small ballparks in cities with high elevations. The combination turns routine fly balls into towering home runs.

The Pecos is a league where games with a 10-9 final score are considered a pitchers’ duel. Its teams need pitchers who can generate strikeouts and keep the baseball down in the strike zone. That is what Linder, a former college outfielder at Point Park and Niagara, was able to do last summer during his second year as a relief pitcher for the Santa Fe Fuego.

Linder led Santa Fe in appearances (27) and had a 1-1 record and 4.11 ERA. The latter is a Cy Young-like number in the Pecos. More important for the Fuego was that Linder struck out 43 batters and issued only six walks in 35 innings. His five home runs allowed were by far the fewest yielded by any Santa Fe pitcher with at least 29 innings. He finished the year with the San Rafael Pacifics and helped them win the Pacific Association championship.

“I was still learning how to pitch when I played at Santa Fe,” said Linder, a 6-0, 175-pound righthander. “In that league, you’re pitching at elevation and in small parks. My first year there (2018), I was a starter and still learning the ropes. I moved to the bullpen and had more success.

“I’m more suited for a relief role. I like going into the game and giving it everything I have for one inning. I like doing that better than having to pace myself as a starter.”

His performance last summer has earned Linder a spot in the four-team league the Washington Wild Things have organized for the remainder of the summer. It will debut Thursday with two games. Linder will play for the Steel City Slammies, a collection of Wild Things players and a couple of former major leaguers – pitchers Jordan Jankowski and Matt DeSalvo.

There are 11 former WPIAL players on the Slammies’ roster. Though a Washington County native, Linder played his high school baseball in West Virginia at Weirton Madonna. Wild Things assistant coach Tim Provenzano was a coach at Weirton Madonna when Linder helped the Blue Dons win a pair of state championships.

The connection to Provenzano and a solid performance with Santa Fe last summer helped Linder get the opportunity with the Wild Things.

“I had a little contact with the Wild Things when I was at Point Park. I was an outfielder in college,” Linder said. “Late in my senior year, I started to pitch. I always had a good arm from the outfield. By that point, I had developed a couple of good secondary pitches and felt like I could make it as a pitcher, but I didn’t have any numbers to prove it.”

So Linder, armed with a sharp slider that he learned from his father, Glenn, took off for the Pecos League determined to produce good numbers in a hitter’s haven.

“Santa Fe was a good team and a good organization,” Linder said. “But it’s a grind playing in that league. We had one or two days off in a three-month season. … The players had to drive from city to city. We would get done playing at 11 o’clock at night and then drive through the night to the next city to play that night.”

These days, Linder can sleep at home, in his own bed.

“Of all the places to end up, I’m playing in Washington,” Linder chuckled.

While playing for the Slammies, Linder will be reunited with T.J. Zarewicz, who was his manager in Santa Fe. Zarewicz, a former Bethany College player, will manage the Slammies.

At 26, Linder knows his window of opportunity to make it to affiliated baseball is closing. A good showing at Wild Things Park could keep it open.

“That’s the goal,” he said. “Being 26, I still have a little more time being a pitcher.”

During the coronavirus pandemic, which shut the Frontier League season before it even started, Linder didn’t have many opportunities to pitch to hitters.

“I basically threw against a wall and did some (elastic) band work to keep my arm in shape,” he said. “In camp, I’ve thrown three innings of relief but I’ve felt very good. It’s come along better than I thought it would. I feel like I’m ahead of schedule.”

The Slammies will play the Wild Things at 7 p.m. Thursday. The Brilliance Black Sox will face the Road Warriors at 3 p.m.

CUSTOMER LOGIN

If you have an account and are registered for online access, sign in with your email address and password below.

NEW CUSTOMERS/UNREGISTERED ACCOUNTS

Never been a subscriber and want to subscribe, click the Subscribe button below.

Starting at $3.75/week.

Subscribe Today