As the season draws to a close, and the playoffs are within reach – at least as a wild card candidate – the Ducks are stocking up on talent for the remaining weeks. The Ducks acquired pitcher Drew Shetrone from the Joliet JackHammers of the Northern League in exchange for future considerations. Shetrone, 24, was 3-1 with a 2.68 ERA in 48 appearances this season.

“You can’t have too many quality pitchers, especially in a heated wildcard race,” Ducks manager Gary Carter said. “Drew has been a consistent pitcher wherever he has been and we’re glad to have him join our club.”

Originally selected by the Colorado Rockies in the 33rd round of the 2006 Major League Baseball Draft, Shetrone is in his fourth year of professional ball and last season he pitched for the Staten Island Yankees, a Single-A affiliate. He was 2-2 with a 2.41 ERA.

The Ducks also traded for infielder Freddie Thon, who was on the JackHammers as well. He was hitting .302 with 11 homers, 23 doubles and 63 RBI at Joliet.

Freddie Thon, top photo, and Drew Shetrone come to the Ducks from the Joliet JackHammers and will look to make an impression in the final weeks of the regular season. Photos: (Courtesy Ducks) “Freddie adds a solid bat to our team,” Carter said. “He put up some impressive numbers in the Northern League and I look forward to him helping our club down the stretch.”

Thon, 25, has spent time in the Rangers and White Sox organizations. He was drafted by Texas in 2004 and is the nephew of former Major League All-Star Dickie Thon.

For more pitching depth, the Ducks acquired Jim Brower from the St. Paul Saints of the American Association. Brower comes to the island with a 3.77 ERA in 11 games with St. Paul and has been to the big leagues with eight teams – most recently the Yankees in 2007. He has 33 Major League wins in 574 innings pitched and has 80 wins in the minors. He’ll be used out of the bull-pen.

Wild Card push

As of Sept. 8, the Ducks are 65-61 and in second place in the Wild Card standings behind Newark, which sports a 65-60 record. Since Southern Maryland and Somerset led their respective divisions in the first half and are once again in first place in the second half, the playoff push will be interesting from here on out. Long Island and Newark should grab the final two spots, but anything can happen with the way the race has panned out thus far.

Readers can write to Chris Vaccaro at acjnews@rcn. com. Please put Vaccaro in the subject line.