Blast from past: Brocato’s back with Wild Things
Washington will have 2 of FL’s top 4 home-run hitters
Mark Marietta
The Wild Things’ lineup in 2026 might look a lot like the Pittsburgh Pirates during their “Lumber Company” days. In other words, there could be a lot of home runs hit by the home team at EQT Park.
One day after announcing that first baseman Andrew Czech will be returning for a sixth season, Washington said Tuesday that it has signed free-agent outfielder Anthony Brocato.
It will be the second stint in Washington for Brocato, who played for the Wild Things in 2022 and 2023.
The right-handed hitting Brocato will be playing his seventh season of professional baseball and the sixth in the Frontier League. He currently is third on the league’s all-time home runs list with 88 in his career, one more than Czech’s 87.
Brocato played college baseball at St. John’s and began his pro career in the Frontier League with the Southern Illinois Miners in 2019. Washington acquired Brocato at the trade deadline in 2022, a season in which he batted .300 and clubbed 24 home runs. The next year he hit .282 with 28 homers and 16 stolen bases. He was named an end-of-season all-star.
Following a year in the Atlantic League, Brocato played briefly last year in the American Association and for Florence in the Frontier League. With the Y’alls, he batted .276 with 17 home runs in 52 games.
The return of Czech and the addition of Brocato should give the Wild Things a formidable middle of the batting order. The only other position player signed so far for 2026 is utilityman Ryan Ford, who played two seasons with the New Jersey Jackals.