Four Wild Things Selected to Frontier League All Star Game
WASHINGTON, Pa. (July 5) – The Frontier League has announced the initial rosters for the 2024 Frontier League All-Star Game, which is slated for July 17 in Québec City at Stade Canac. The Washington Wild Things have had four players selected to the festivities as voting happened this week. Pitchers Gyeongju Kim, Zach Kirby and Kobe Foster were selected to the West Division roster and OF Caleb McNeely was as well.
Kirby is second in the league in earned run average as of end of play Thursday, July 4. Kirby, who is set to start Friday’s game against Windy City, owns six quality starts this year and is 4-4 with a 2.40 ERA in nine games, eight of which are starts. Kirby has fanned 49 batters in 56.1 innings and is in his second season as a Wild Thing and as a professional this year. This is his first Frontier League All-Star Game selection.
Foster has been a premier pitcher in the Frontier League since entering the league in 2022. He was named the 2022 Frontier League Rookie of the Year after posting a 1.00 ERA in 63 innings to start his pro career. He was third in the league in ERA in 2023 (2.66) in 18 games despite missing about a month with an injury in the first half of the season. This season, Foster has made a team-leading seven quality starts including throwing seven shutout innings with a new career-high 11 strikeouts last night against Florence. He’s now 5-1 with a 2.73 ERA this season, an ERA that ranks sixth in the Frontier League. This is the first All Star selection for Foster as well.
Kim is an All Star in his first professional season. The rookie right hander has 12 saves this year, a total tied for second in the Frontier League. He’s fanned 31 batters in 25 innings of work and has a 1.44 ERA and 0.760 WHIP in 22 appearances. He moved into the closer’s role early in the season due to an injury suffered by Lukas Young and has flourished in the role. Due to border restrictions, Kim will not be able to play in the game in Québec, but will be honored as an All Star, his first selection in his first opportunity.
McNeely was selected as a reserve in the outfield for the West Division as Christian Fedko (SCH), TJ Reeves (FLO) and Hank Zeisler (FLO) were picked as outfield starters in the division. It’s the first nod for McNeely, who played in 17 games in 2023 with Washington and failed to reach base in just one of them. The former West Virginia Mountaineer leads the Frontier League with 48 RBI, is tied for fourth with 10 home runs, second in triples with four (one behind Zeisler’s five) and has a .294 batting average in 45 games played.
The full All-Star rosters are available on the Frontier League website. Starting on Tuesday, July 16th, events will include a free baseball clinic at Stade Canac and a skills competition for youth players. At 7:00 PM EDT, the Home Run Derby will kick off, showcasing some of the best power bats from across the Frontier League! On Wednesday, July 17th, the Québec Capitales will host a baseball tournament for youth teams in the greater Québec area. The Frontier League All-Star game will follow, with the first pitch being thrown at 7:00 PM EDT.
The Wild Things are getting set to open a weekend home series tonight against the Windy City ThunderBolts. It’s a Fireworks Friday presented by New York Life with first pitch slated for 7:05 p.m. The Wild Things All Stars will be honored on field Saturday during pregame before the middle game of the series, which is also set to start at 7:05 p.m.
