Wild Things sign former major leaguer
Rob Whalen has become the answer to a trivia question: Who was the first former major leaguer to sign as a player with the Wild Things?
Washington announced Monday that it has signed Whalen (6-2, 220), a 27-year-old righthanded pitcher who has pitched in eight major-league games with six starts, including five for the Atlanta Braves in 2016.
To make room for Whalen on the roster, the Wild Things released former Waynesburg University standout Tyler Reis, who had appeared in three games since being signed Aug. 14. Washington also traded relief pitcher David Mervis, who was on the disabled list, to the Billings Mustangs of the Pioneer League in exchange for a player to be named.
Whalen made his major-league debut with Atlanta on Aug, 3, 2016, pitching five innings as a starter to get the win in an 8-4 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates. It is his only major-league win.
A 12th-round draft pick of the New York Mets out of high school in Florida, Whalen was later traded to the Braves and traded again in November of 2016 to the Seattle Mariners.
Whalen was playing in the independent Atlantic League this year for the West Virginia Power when his contract was purchased by the Minnesota Twins. He pitched in one game for Class AA Wichita and 10 games for Class AAA St. Paul before being released.
The signing came as the Frontier League reached its transactions deadline Monday. The Wild Things have 19 games remaining in the regular season and have pulled to within one game of first-place Sussex County in the Northeast Division. Washington begins a nine-game homestand tonight against the Atlantic Division-leading Tri-City ValleyCats. Tri-City was particularly busy at the transactions deadline, making 10 roster moves.
Also on Monday, the Frontier League announced that Washington’s Ryan Hennen was named the Pitcher of the Week by Pointstreak, the league’s statistics provider.
Hennen (9-2, 2.29) had a career-best performance Friday night when he fired a two-hit complete game to beat Lake Erie, 1-0. Hennen struck out eight and did not walk a batter in throwing his first professional shutout.
With a 9-2 record and 2.29 ERA, Hennen ranks second in the league in wins and ERA.