Our weekly look at the leaders, trailers, and outliers in the Washington Nationals minor leagues.
SYRACUSE 29-42, T4th place I.L. North, 13 games behind
| Good | Chris Marrero .310/.389/.464 in June |
| Bad | Hassan Pena 0-4, 19.29ERA, 2.86WHIP |
| Interesting | Jhonatan Solano .284/.344/.386 in 29G |
HARRISBURG 40-31, 1st place E.L. West Division, 3½ games ahead
| Good | Pat Lehman & Rafael Martin, combined: 13.1IP, 5H, 1R, 1ER, 1BB, 8K, 1 win, 2 SVs, 3 holds |
| Bad | Jonathan Tucker .200/.297/.236 in June |
| Interesting | Josh Johnson .291/.360/.468 in June |
POTOMAC 1-0, T1st place C.L. North Division, 1 game ahead (29-40, 1st half)
| Good | Jeff Kobernus .296/.306/.437 in June |
| Bad | Trevor Holder .304 OBA, .449 OSLG |
| Interesting | Steve Souza 16SB: 2 at home, 14 on road |
HAGERSTOWN 1-0, T1st place Sally League Northern Division, 1 game ahead (40-30 in 1st half)
| Good | Wilson Eusebio 7 holds in 20 appearance |
| Bad | Shane McCatty 1.79WHIP, .314 OBA |
| Interesting | Neil Holland 1BB in 23IP |
DSL NATIONALS 8-12, 6th place, Boca Chica South Division of Dominican Summer League, 6½ games behind
| Good | Dionicio Rosario (Age 17) .328/.431/.426 in 19G |
| Bad | Emmanuel De La Cruz (Age 19) 8BB, 8H, 6ER in 7&⅔ IP over 7G |
| Interesting | Wilmer Difo 19BB in 19G |
Glad to see the Kobernus is finally burning it up, hopefully he stays helathy the whole season. any chance he get a late season promotion to Harrisburg?
With him turning 23 at the end of the month, and Lombo up, it’s possible.
The .306 OBP seems very low. Still striking out a lot. If anything I would have expected Hague to get that promotion were it not for the injury.
That brings up something I need to watch a little closer; How well Kobernus moves to his right defensively. Just from memory, he’s fairly smooth to his left (glove side) at both 2B & SS, but strikes me as a little mechanical going to his right.
I wonder if they’ll consider trying Tatusko at closer in Syracuse? He has velocity that’s on par with Pena? But he features a curve instead of a slider as his 2nd pitch. He says his FB is a natural cutter … great movement. Works well against left-handed hitters.
SSS on Tatusko – Knoor & Booker may move him to higher leverage situations as the season progresses, but at this point nobody in the blogosphere can be sure.
And really that’s true for the entire Syracuse bullpen. Even Wilkie is falling down on the job as well as Mandel. JD Martin looks to be a better starter than reliever hands down. Something really has to be done to shore up the Chief’s ‘pen. The major league roster has pretty sucked the Chief’s pen dry. They still have plenty of good starters just no bullpen at this point IMHO.
The week’s end is not officially here until GBI hits the presses.
Go Rafael ‘beer league’ Martin!
Let’s not forget Lombardozzi’s flawless transition to Syracuse. Count me a believer.
As a charter member of the ‘Rhinehart Mafia’, I reserve the right to beat a dead horse — Rhinehart’s OPS is .905!
Rhinehart’s biggest problem is his defense. He should be a 1b but there are other players in front of him there (i.e. Tyler Moore). In the outfield he is, at best, below average.
Agreed, but if you keep your OPS above .900 they can’t ignore you forever.
@MarkL
I’m with you on this. For Dollar Bill, it’s just about getting into the AAAA pool in the International League. If he can hold to a AAA roster spot next year based of his power spike this year, he’s earned a major victory in my book. Last year, he looked doomed to be an OG from Harrisburg on down. This year, he’s solidified Harrisburg to this point and looks like he could contribute to Syracuse’s anemic non Matt-Antonelli, Lombo-lacking offense.
Couldn’t have said it better.
They need bullpen more than offense at this point.
Both Marerro’s and Aubrey’s bats have awoken (speaking of below average outfielder: Aubrey). Jesus Valdez came up from AA and became an immediate catalyst. Hulett, Lombardozzi, and Antonelli continue to prove they can also be offensive catalysts.
But the major league roster sucked the excellent Chief’s bullpen completely dry. They really do need a new infusion of talent. At this point I expect Rizzo will sign or trade for some high end org types to fill that need. Doesn’t appear to be anyone performing well enough for a promotion at the AA/A+ levels.