Jul 17, 2024 By Chris Dugan 3 min read

Caleb McNeely plays center field for the Wild Things and has started when needed at third base and second base.

During his days in junior college, McNeely was a shortstop and a second baseman.

And in his one season at West Virginia, McNeely played third base for two weeks and right field for the remainder of the year.

McNeely is indeed a player for all positions. But at which spot is McNeely best?

“I don’t know,” he said, somewhat challenged to come up with a definite answer. “I am a baseball player. I can play the outfield and I can play the infield. I just want to know what position I’m playing and what spot in the batting order I’m hitting.”

It hasn’t mattered where McNeely plays or where he bats in the order for the Wild Things. Since signing with the team at midseason last year, McNeely has been a staple in the lineup and one of the team’s most productive players.

McNeely, from Lexington, Ky., currently leads the Frontier League in home runs (14), RBI (57) and total bases (125), is second in triples (4), has stolen 18 bases in 20 attempts and has a .301 batting average. He has led the league in RBI for most of the season and has done that while batting in the leadoff spot in 37 games.

Those numbers are why McNeely is one of five Wild Things who were selected to the West Division team for the Frontier League All-Star Game that will be played tonight in Quebec City. The others are pitchers Kobe Foster, Christian James, Gyeongju Kim and Zach Kirby. Not all five Wild Things will participate in the all-star game because of injury or visa issues.

McNeely, however, is looking forward to the opportunity to play, and even show that he was snubbed by the voters. He was not voted in as a starter despite his impressive statistics. Washington, which has the best record in the league at 38-18, did not have a player voted to the West Division’s starting lineup.

“As much as it would have been nice to be a starter, I’m not going to let it bother me,” McNeely said. “I prefer to go with the mindset that it’s not a big deal. I’m going to get at-bats, it’s an all-star game, everybody is going to play.”

McNeely had one more season of college eligibility remaining when he signed with the Wild Things last July. He was 23 years old at the time and decided waiting another year to start his pro career would be counterproductive.

McNeely batted .323 with three home runs and eight stolen bases in 17 games with the Wild Things last season.

McNeely’s former teammates at West Virginia advanced to the NCAA Super Regionals this year for the first time in school history.

“I’m not going to second-guess myself,” McNeely said. “I thought I needed to be in pro ball. I didn’t know how much more another season of college ball would have helped me.”

Now that he’s in the midst of a breakout season with Washington, the question for McNeely is what more he needs to do to impress the scouts and get a chance in affiliated baseball?

“Maybe raise the batting average and strike out less,” he said. “And draw more walks.”

Washington manager Tom Vaeth thinks that opportunity will come for his center fielder.

“He just needs to be a little more consistent from day to day,” Vaeth said.