Monarchs Sign Pair of Pitchers
Kansas City, KS — Denver native Wyatt Wendell has been added to the Kansas City Monarchs this week. Wendell attended Indian Hills Community College (Centerville, Iowa) where he tied the season win record with 15 leading the team to the JUCO World Series. He finished his intercollegiate career at Purdue University where he went 5-3 in 14 appearances for the Boilermakers.
“Wyatt is a young man that has worked extremely hard to get back to playing shape and to be able to compete at a high level” said Monarchs Manager Joe Calfapietra. “We are excited to have him as a part of our staff. We are hoping that his hard work pays dividends at his stop in Kansas City.”
The 26-year-old 6’ 5” right hander was signed as a free agent by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the summer of 2022 after pitching in the Major League Baseball Draft League. Wendell spent the 2023 season at Visalia and 2024 in Hillsboro of the Northwest League.
Wendel’s father Turk, pitched in the major league for 11 seasons, primarily with the Chicago Cubs and New York Mets including the 2000 World Series between the Yankees and Mets.
Ryan Middendorf is another right-handed pitcher who has joined the Monarchs after spending the last four seasons in the Milwaukee Brewers organization. Middendorf is 28 years old from West Chester, Ohio and pitched and played basketball at Lake Erie College.
Joe Calfapietra when asked about Middendorf said “We are very excited about Ryan – he gives us flexibility both as a starter and reliever – flexibility that will serve our pitching staff tremendously in 2026. He has high level experience pitching at the AA and AAA levels over the past two years.”
Middendorf pitched for two teams in 2025 – AAA Nashville Sounds and AA Biloxi both Milwaukee Brewer affiliates. In Nashville Middendorf was 3-1 with a 7.50 ERA in 14 appearances and in Biloxi he pitched in 20 games with a 7.48 ERA over 21 2/3 innings.
The Monarchs start training camp at Legends Field on May 2nd. Their season kicks off against the Kane County Cougars in Illinois on May 15th with their home opener on May 19th against the Chicago Dogs. Tickets are on sale now at monarchsbaseball.com. To view the 2026 schedule, fans can visit monarchsbaseball.com/schedule/
About the Kansas City Monarchs:
The Kansas City Monarchs are a professional baseball team in the American Association, an MLB Partner League. 2026 will be their 23rd season at Legends Field in Kansas City, Kansas. In 2020, the team partnered with the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and changed their name from the T-Bones to the Monarchs in honor of the legendary Negro League franchise that played from 1920 to 1965.
