Dec 8, 2025 By Chris Dugan 2 min read

The Wild Things have been busy building their pitching staff for next season’s spring training and beyond. They recently announced the res-signing of two key relief pitchers from last season and the addition of a former standout at the NCAA Division II level.

Washington will be bringing back right-handed pitchers Andrew Herbert and Hector Garcia, and the Wild Things have signed right-handed starting pitcher Maddox Long to his first professional contract.

Herbert, from San Clemente, Calif., had an interesting professional debut with the Wild Things in 2025. He was a starting pitcher in college at Rinehardt University, where he was an NAIA All-American and had a 12-0 record and 1.88 ERA as a senior in 2025.

Because he had thrown 100 innings last spring, the Wild Things switched Herbert to the bullpen to lessen the workload on his arm. He quickly became the team’s closer and had a 7-3 record, 12 saves and a 4.08 ERA in 30 outings (two starts) in his rookie season.

He will likely be used in a starting role in 2026.

Herbert is the second person from his family to play for the Wild Things. His brother, Lucas, was a catcher and played 17 games with Washington in 2019 before having his contract purchased by the Arizona Diamondbacks organization.

Garcia, of Fullerton, Calif., was a setup reliever who had an exceptional second half of the Frontier League season. A former Minnesota Twins farmhand, Garcia pitched in 40 games with the Wild Things and had a 3-3 record, 3 saves and a 2.81 ERA. He struck out 62 batters in 48 innings.

Garcia and Herbert were two key pitchers in Washington’s bullpen, which was one of the best in the Frontier League a season ago.

New to the Wild Things in 2026 will be Long, a 6-5, 290-pound right-handed pitcher, who played last spring for Harding (Ark.) where he had an 11-3 record, a 2.16 ERA and struck out 122 batters in 108.1 innings. He was a first-team Division II All-American.

In four seasons at Harding, Long had a 29-14 record. Last summer, he pitched in eight games for Green Bay in the Northwoods collegiate summer league and went 2-1 with a 0.95 ERA and was named to the all-star team.

Washington had previously announced the re-signing of starting pitcher Zach Kirby.