Wild Things notebook: Washington reunites with Young and Foster

They’re getting the old gang back together. At least, it seems that way.
On Monday, the Wild Things announced that former reliever Lukas Young was hired as the team’s pitching coach, replacing Hector Nelo. Young spent three seasons with Washington and was the closer on the 2022 division championship team.
One day later, the Wild Things announced that left-handed starting pitcher Kobe Foster has been re-signed. Foster was the team’s top-of-the-rotation pitcher during most of his three years (2022-24) in Washington. He compiled a 25-7 record with the Wild Things and is the franchise’s all-time leader in strikeouts with 271. He was the Frontier League’s Rookie of the Year in 2022.
Foster signed for 2025 with Quintana Roo in the Mexican League but things did not go as planned. He made eight starts and had a 1-2 record and 6.92 ERA.
Washington manager Tom Vaeth is hoping that Young, in a coaching role, and Foster, as a player, can provide some stability to a pitching staff that has been inconsistent, even though the Wild Things entered Tuesday night’s series opener against Schaumburg at EQT Park in first place in the Frontier League’s Central Division with a 14-11 record.
Young was injured in a spring training game last year and limited to only two appearances before being shut down for the season. He did make a stop at EQT Park this spring. He was on a hunting trip and decided to stop and visit some of his former teammates during spring training.
“I chased (Young) before and he turned me down,” Vaeth said. “We’re glad that the timing is now right. We’re hoping he can help us. His experience is valuable.
“What he will bring to the pitching staff is experience, energy and the fact that he will be here every day, on time, and will be a sounding board for our pitchers. He’s been through the battles here and knows what lies ahead. … More than being a pitching coach, he’s somebody who can simplify it. He can say, ‘We know you have good stuff, but why don’t we try doing this.'”
Bringing back Foster, Vaeth said, was an easy decision.
“You always want to bring back a guy with a proven track record,” he added.
Foster is expected to be the starting pitcher tonight (6:05) in the middle game of the series against Schaumburg.
Transactions
Washington activated second baseman Sammy Infante from the injured list Tuesday. A former second-round draft pick of the Washington Nationals, Infante has not played since May 17 when he injured a hamstring stealing second base in a game at Florence.
To make room for Infante on the roster, Washington released Brett Roberts, who was hitting .250 in 20 games.
Movin’ up
Frontier League commissioner Steve Tahsler attended the Wild Things-Boomers game and said the league had three players purchased by major league organizations on Tuesday. That brings the number of contracts sold by the Frontier League to 17 since spring training. That’s more than the Frontier League sent to affiliated organizations in all of 2024. Of those 17 players, 14 had played professional baseball only in the Frontier League.
Washington has had two players purchased this year. Former Frontier League MVP Caleb McNeely is playing third base with the Minnesota Twins’ Class A affiliate in Fort Myers, Fla. Pitcher Brent Francisco is with the Twins’ Florida Complex Rookie League team.
The Wild Things currently have two former players, pitchers Spencer Bivens (2020-21) and Isaac Matson (2022), in the major leagues and both were credited with a win in a 24-hour period last weekend.
There are seven ex-Wild Things playing in the affiliated minor leagues.
She makes the call
The first-base umpire Tuesday night was Kelly Dine, who is a fill-in umpire for the Frontier League.
Dine is a native of Akron, Ohio, and was the first female umpire in the Big Ten Conference. She also works in the Mid-American Conference and has umpired in the Little League World Series. The Frontier League had one of its umpires suffer an injury over the weekend and Dine was called upon to take his place. She will be the home-plate umpire tonight.