MLB Opening Day Sees Five Former Wild Things on Rosters/Staffs

The Washington Wild Things are thrilled to be well represented as the 2026 MLB season gets underway tonight with MLB Opening Day featuring the season's opener between the San Francisco Giants and the New York Yankees on Netflix. Tomorrow, the season gets going for the five former Wild Things featured on either an MLB Opening Day roster or a big-league staff. 

Isaac Mattson (2022) has become the fourth former Wild Thing to make an MLB Opening Day roster, as he'll be in the bullpen for the Pittsburgh Pirates. The 30-year old right hander pitched for the Wild Things in the 2022 season, becoming the second former big leaguer to play for Washington (Rob Whalen, 2021-22).

Mattson, an Erie, Pennsylvania, native, played in college at the University of Pittsburgh, where he was 4-1 with a 3.47 ERA in 60 appearances (one start).  In 96 collegiate innings, he struck out 109 and walked only 19. He was selected in the 19th Round of the 2017 MLB June Amateur Draft by the Los Angeles Angles, an organization he pitched in through the cancelled-COVID season in 2020. He was a 2017 PIO Postseason All-Star with the Orem Owlz (PION), which at the time was a rookie-ball league. He was an AFL Rising Star in 2019 and an MiLB.com Organization All-Star with the Angels in 2019, a season that saw him pitch at High-A, Double-A and Triple-A. 

On December 4, 2019, the Baltimore Orioles traded RHP Dylan Bundy to the Angels in exchange for Mattson, RHP Kyle Bradish, RHP Kyle Brnovich and RHP Zach Peek. He had an invite to Spring Training in 2020 before  the season was cancelled. He's go on to start 2021 with Triple-A Norfolk before being called up to make his big-league debut, which he made May 7, 2021 in a game against the Boston Red Sox. He'd pitch four times in that season for the O's. 

He was released by the Orioles after 19 games in 2022 before joining the Wild Things, where he pitched in 12 games and was 1-0 with a 2.51 ERA and struck out 23 against six walks in 14.1 innings with a save to his credit as well. Following that season, he signed with the Southern maryland Blue Crabs (ATLL) before being picked up by the Minnesota Twins organization. He pitched with Double-A Wichita before signing with the Pirates on a minor-league deal. He was voted Indianapolis's Pitcher of the Year in 2024 and returned to the big leagues with the Pirates late in the season to make three appearances, returning to, but becoming the fourth that season and eighth former Wild Thing overall to get added to a big-league roster. He started 2025 in Triple-A before becoming a mainstay in the pen for the Bucs, where he posted a 2.45 ERA in 44 appearances last season.

He's got a unique story, partly documented here in an article from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Noah Hiles: https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/pirates/2024/05/23/indianapolis-indians-mlb-prospects-mental-health-awareness-month/stories/202405200088.

On staffs, the Wild Things are represented by four former players. 

Max Garrett (2013-15) is entering his second season as the Miami Marlins Director of Catching. He played at Gonzaga in college and for the Wild Things from 2013-15, appearing in 134 games and grabbing 83 hits. He hit 14 home runs and drove in 38 in his three seasons. Garrett went on to play two seasons with the American Association's St. Paul Saints (prior to their jump to MiLB) and one with the AA's Sioux Falls Canaries.

A 2016 Frontier League All Star, David Popkins (2015-16), is entering his second season as hitting coach for the Toronto Blue Jays. He started his MLB hitting coach career with a few seasons with the Twins. Popkins played at UC Davis before spending the 2012-14 seasons in the St. Louis Cardinals farm system. In 2015 with the Wild Things, he played in 93 games and belted 20 homers to go with 46 RBI and an .866 OPS. He was an All Star in 2016 with 15 homers and 48 RBI to go with 26 doubles and a .944 OPS. His final dose of his playing career came in 2017 with Sioux Falls (AA).

A former 23rd rounder, Grant Fink (2016), played three seasons in the Cleveland farm system before coming to Washington for his final playing year in 2016. At the MiLB level, Fink played in 231 games and slashed .231/.328/.371 with 18 homers and 105 RBI. Here, he played in 63 games and drove in 24 with 21 extra-base hits. Fink enters his second season as the Guardians' hitting coach in 2026.

Finally, Pittsburgh native Cam Balego (2022), who played in high school at Pittsburgh Central Catholic and collegiately at Mercyhurst, is entering his first season as a bullpen catcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates after joining the team in Bradenton during camp. He played from 2017 through the start of 2022 in the Cubs farm system and ended his season with the Wild Things He slashed .304/.382/.544 with the Wild Things in 22 games. He had five doubles, a triple and four home runs to go with 19 RBI before finishing his playing career in 2023 with the American Association's Milwaukee Milkmen. In 92 games, he slashed .301/.393/.499 with 27 doubles, 13 homers and 63 RBI, all career highs. 

Those guys are joined at the affiliated level by a host of former Wild Things players and coaches, which will be detailed on our site as the minors get started.