Monday’s News & Notes

 News and Notes, Transactions  10 Responses »
Apr 162012
 
Team Yesterday Today Probable Pitchers
Syracuse Won, 7-2 vs. Pawtucket,
6:00 p.m.		 Roark (0-2, 6.30) vs.
Ohlendorf (1-0, 0.00)
Harrisburg Lost, 9-3 vs. Altoona,
7:00 p.m.		 Demny (0-0, 4.15) vs.
Poreda (1-0, 0.00)
Potomac Lost, 13-2 @ Frederick,
7:00 p.m.		 Swynenberg (1-0, 6.43) vs.
TBD
Hagerstown Lost, 7-4 @ Delmarva,
7:05 p.m.		 Dupra (0-2, 3.86) vs.
Chalas (1-0, 7.20)

Syracuse 7 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre 2
• Atkins (W, 1-1) 7IP, 3H, 1R, 1ER, 2BB, 4K
• Teahen 4-5, 2R, 2B, RBI, SB
• Rivero 3-5, R, 2B, 2RBI
• Bynum 2-4, 2B, BB, RBI

Four doubles keyed a four-run rally as the Chiefs snapped a three-game losing streak with a 7-2 win over the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees. Mitch Atkins got the win with seven strong innings, allowing just one run on three hits and two walks. Mark Teahen led the 13-hit attack with a 4-for-5 afternoon. Bryce Harper doubled and scored two runs while Tyler Moore homered for the fifth time in six games. Syracuse puts on the home whites for the next seven games, with four against Pawtucket and three against Buffalo.
Xavier Paul was placed on the restricted list yesterday, but no further details could be found at virtual press. Last month, Paul was given a leave of absence for “personal reasons.” It should also be noted that with Brett Carroll currently on waivers, it’s entirely possible this is yet another example of roster shenanigans.

Reading 9 Harrisburg 3
• Gilliam (L, 1-2) 5IP, 7H, 6R, 6ER, 0BB, 6K
• McCoy 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 0K
• Perez 1-3, 2BB, 2SB
• Johnson 3-3, 2B, BB
• Howell 2-4, RBI

With two in the 1st and four in the 5th, the Reading Phillies built a 6-0 lead en route to a 9-3 win to split the four-game series. Robert Gilliam took the loss in his third start, allowing those six runs on seven hits with no walks and six strikeouts. Josh Johnson reached base four times to lead the offense, with Eury Perez drawing two walks and stealing two bases. Altoona is next to visit as the Senators host them for the next three games before heading back out on the road to Trenton, New Jersey.

Lynchburg 13 Potomac 2
• Grace (L, 1-1) 4IP, 11H, 7R, 6ER, BB, 3K, HR
• Eusebio ⅓ IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 0K
• Moore 2-3, R, BB
• Taylor 1-3, BB, CS(5)

It was a game to forget on this Sunday Afternoon In Woodbridge.
Lakewood 7 Hagerstown 4
• Estevez 5⅓ IP, 3H, 3R, 3ER, 2BB, 5K
• Simko (BS, 1; L, 0-1) 2⅔ IP, 6H, 4R, 4ER, 2BB, 2K, IR-S 3-3
• Newsome 1-2, R, HR, RBI
• Martinson 1-3, R, 3B, BB, RBI
• Ortega 2-4, 2B, SB

For five innings, Wirkin Estevez had a no-hitter. When he left with one out in the 6th, he still had a 3-0 lead — even after surrendering three straight singles before getting a strikeout. But Todd Simko couldn’t stop the bleeding, letting in all three runners and three of his own as the Lakewood BlueClaws put up six runs en route to a 7-4 win, the second straight loss for the Suns. Bryce Ortega led the seven-hit attack with a 2-for-4 afternoon while Brett Newsome clubbed a pinch-hit HR and Jason Martinson tripled and scored the final Hagerstown run. The Suns continue their road trip with a three against Delmarva before returning home to host the BlueClaws for a four-game series starting on Thursday.

Transaction Update

 Transactions  2 Responses »
Apr 122012
 

Baseball America has released its latest transaction post, covering the period of April 6-9. In-season, this is mostly a fail-safe for my daily visit to each league’s transaction page (let’s just say I’ve memorized the three-digit codes in the URL include, okay?) and I consider it a good week when I’ve already reported on every move. But as some of you may have seen on Twitter, MiLB.com isn’t always timely when it comes to roster moves and often skips releases and signings. It’s even worse in the offseason.

Without further ado…
RE-SIGNED
OF Tony Nix — 50th Round Pick in 2011 Draft who had his contract voided for undisclosed reasons.
Click here to see his page on the DC is For Baseball’s 2011 Nats Draft Info blog.

PLACED ON DL
2B Manny Mayorson

ACTIVATED FROM DL
C Devin Ivany

Wednesday’s News & Notes

 News and Notes, Transactions  12 Responses »
Apr 112012
 
Team Yesterday Today Probable Pitchers
Syracuse Losing, 2-0
(Susp., 4 inn.)		 @ Lehigh Valley,
7:05 p.m.		 Roark (0-1, 1.50) vs.
Hyatt (0-0, 3.18)
Harrisburg Won, 7-2 @ New Britain,
10:35 a.m.		 Demny (0-0, 0.00) vs.
Albers (0-0, 0.00)
Potomac Won, 6-4 @ Myrtle Beach,
7:05 p.m.		 Swynenberg (0-0, 9.00) vs.
Font (0-0, 0.00)
Hagerstown Won, 16-8 vs. Lexington,
10:35 a.m.		 Dupra (0-1, 8.10) vs.
Foltynewicz (0-0, 6.75)

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre 2 Syracuse 0 — SUSP. (4 inn.)
• Atkins 4IP, 4H, 2R, 0ER, 4BB, 2K
• Teahen 1-1
• Harper 0-2, 0R, 0BB, 0K, 0RBI, 0E

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre was leading 2-0 when the rains came in upstate New York. The game will be resumed on Saturday, followed by a 7-inning game.

Harrisburg 7 New Britain 2
• Gilliam (W, 1-1) 7IP, 7H, 2R, 2ER, 0BB, 5K, HR
• McCoy (H, 1) 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 0K
• Kobernus 3-5, R, 2B, 2RBI, CS
• Leon 3-4, R, RBI
• Perez 2-5, R, RBI

After six innings, it looked rather bleak: Down 2-0, outhit 7-1. But Harrisburg racked up 11 hits and dialed up Dallas (214) over the last three innings to run away with a 7-2 win over New Britain. H/T to Geoff Morrow for pointing out Eury Perez, along with Jeff Kobernus, also has hit safely in every game. Combined the 1-2 batters in the Sens lineup are .411 (23-for-56) with 10 runs scored, six bases stolen, and eight RBI. Both are riding six-game hit streaks. Rob Gilliam got the win with seven strong innings, both Rock Cat runs allowed on seven hits (one HR) and no walks while striking out five. The Pats McCoy and Lehman finished out the game with two 1-2-3 innings.

Potomac 6 Myrtle Beach 4
• Grace (W, 1-0) 5IP, 5H, 2R, ER, 2BB, 2K, HR
• Selik (SV, 1) 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, K
• Taylor 2-3, 2B, BB, 3RBI, CS(3)
• Freitas 3-5, 2B

Michael Taylor’s bases-clearing double in the top of the 2nd capped off a four-run rally as Potomac finally got a win, 6-4 over Myrtle Beach. Matt Grace got the win with five innings pitched, allowing two runs (one earned) on five hits and two walks. He struck out two and allowed a solo HR. Cameron Selik pitched a three-up, three-down 9th for the save. Following the game, the P-Nats formally announced that 3B Anthony Rendon has been placed on the DL, replaced by minor-league FA Brent Greer, a native of Manassas, VA, who had been released at the end of spring training by the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Hagerstown 16 Lexington 8
• Estevez (W, 1-0) 5IP, 5H, 4R, 4ER, 3BB, 7K, 2HR
• Martinson 3-3, 2R, 2B, 2HR, 2BB, 6RBI, E
• Ramirez 4-5, 2R, RBI, SB
• Nieto 3-5, 2R, 2B, HR, RBI
• Newsome 1-1, R, HR, 4RBI

Pitching and defense took a back seat to slugging as the Suns debunked the Legends, 16-8. Jason Martinson would not settle for a single, doubling once and homering twice, including a grand slam in the 2nd inning that turned an early 3-2 Lexington lead into a 6-3 Hagerstown advantage. Martinson drove in six runs altogether. Wirkin “For the Weekend” Estevez got the rulebook win with five innings pitched, four runs allowed on five hits and three walks, though he did strike out seven. The 20-year-old has an ERA of 10.00 with just three scoreless innings out of nine thus far. Rehabbing Rick Ankiel was a mere 1-for-4 with a double and an RBI. OF Brian Goodwin has been placed on the DL with what’s being called an “upper leg injury” — groin, quadricep, or hamstring was not specified; Bill Belichek would be proud. OF Angel Montilla was also placed on the DL. Replacing Goodwin and Montilla on the Suns roster are OFs Narciso Mesa and Billy Burns. Both are on our watchlist. UPDATE: Byron Kerr once again has the nitty-gritty, reporting that Montilla is out with a broken hamate bone in his left hand.

Catching Up On Transactions

 Transactions  12 Responses »
Apr 082012
 


It’s been almost 10 days since our last transaction-oriented post and I was expecting to see more releases than this, even if I had been told that extended spring (XST) is quite sizable this year.

I’m no draft expert — longtime readers know that I don’t focus much on it because it’s not my area of enjoyment, much less expertise — but the theory that I’ve referenced in the comments is that XST is much larger this year because the draft is 40 rounds instead of 50. Therefore, I think we’re looking at a situation where guys that might have been released in previous years are being kept on for further evaluation and to ensure they have enough bodies to fill the rosters of Auburn and the GCL. Again, this is just a theory.

Anyway, here’s a breakdown of the moves reported by Baseball America this morning, appended with any reported on MiLB.com:

RELEASED
• RHP Luis Chirinos
• RHP Chad Durbin
• RHP Scott Williams

PLACED ON THE DL
• RHP Adam Carr
• RHP Jeff Fulchino
• RHP Waldis Joaquin
• RHP Taylor Jordan
• RHP Mike Schultz
• RHP Dean Weaver
• LHP Sammy Solis
• C Devin Ivany

Please give our volunteer time to update the Big Board. As for questions on specific players, the working assumption has to be that if you don’t see them above, here or here, they’re in XST. Otherwise, I’ll be periodically checking the transaction pages for each league, and making posts like this on at least a weekly basis.

So Long, Boys

 Transactions  9 Responses »
Mar 292012
 

The news that was hinted at last Thursday has become official with the latest Baseball America transaction update (March 20-26). Before folks pile on in the comments, just remember that for some of these young men, it’s the end of the road. Others will hope to hook on with another organization in the minors. A few will try to make a go of it in the indys. And all will be trying to figure out what’s the next chapter in the lives, baseball or otherwise.

  • LHP Mitchell Clegg (Potomac)
  • RHP Tyler Hanks (Hagerstown)
  • RHP Gaby Hernandez (offseason pickup)
  • LHP Lee Hyde (Syracuse)
  • RHP Marcel Prado (offseason pickup)
  • RHP Ben Graham (Hagerstown)

I don’t believe is the extent of the cuts, at least based on last year’s post at this time. More likely than not, there will be another set in the next 2-3 days as they camps break. If I learn of any more via media outlets, I’ll append accordingly. Otherwise, I expect we’ll learn the rest next week.

One Step Closer For Lombardozzi,
Back For Severino

 News and Notes, Transactions  1 Response »
Mar 292012
 

The Nationals have reassigned non-roster invitees OF Jason Michaels and IF Andres Blanco to minor-league camp, a strong indication that IF prospect Steve Lombardozzi will make the 25-man roster.

As noted in the comments, the conventional wisdom is that the last IF bench spot was a battle between Lombardozzi and Blanco, and the latter did himself no favors by committing more errors (3) than hits (2). Blanco does have an opt-out in his contract, but there is speculation that both the Texas Rangers and Philadelphia Phillies may have interest in trading for his services, even with the retention bonus that’s due tomorrow.

Obviously, injuries are also playing a huge part in these developments. It should be noted that while Lombardozzi may make the Opening Day roster, when the likes of Michael Morse and Adam LaRoche are fully healthy, it’s certainly possible to see him optioned back to Syracuse to get regular playing time. Doubtful, perhaps, but possible.

As the headline suggests, Atahulapa Severino has been optioned for the third straight spring, a setback for him personally, but not an unexpected move. The 27-year-old Dominican has spent that past two seasons at Syracuse, posting a 7-5 record with two saves and a 1.500 WHIP over 99⅓ IP.

UPDATE: Following this afternoon’s split-squad game, the Nationals announced that Jason Michaels had been released while Ryan Perry was optioned to AAA Syracuse. Multiple online sources are reporting that former Pirates prospect Zach Duke had been signed to a minor-league deal following his release from Houston earlier this week. Yesterday, the Nationals announced the signing of journeyman AAA starter Kevin Pucetas.

The takeaway? Most likely it means that one or more of the offseason FA starters signed (e.g. Atkins, Ballard, Barthmaier, Bibens-Dirkx) has suffered an injury or has been released.

Nats, No. 5 Starters Stumble Against The Yankees

 News and Notes, Transactions  3 Responses »
Mar 152012
 

If only Ross Detwiler were still a prospect…

The stumbles by Wang (physical) and Lannan (performance) in the Nats’ 8-5 loss would have been given me the peg to hang the hopes of the 2007 1st Rounder, but instead I’ll have to leave that conversation to the beat writers and bloggers for the parent club.

Steve Lombardozzi continues to make his case to make the club on offense, lacing singles from both sides of the plate and scoring on an RBI double by Jhonatan Solano in the bottom of the third. He also stole a base and drove in a run with a sacrifice fly. Defensively, Lombardozzi made no errors but reminded us that his arm isn’t suited to the shortstop position, a potential strike against him, though one would think not a dealbreaker.

Bryce Harper returned to right field, where he made three putouts and no errors in six innings. Harper, however, went 0-for-3 at the plate with two strikeouts and Yankee southpaws Clay Rapada and Juan Cedeno. This could be a trend to watch, as Harper did struggle (relatively speaking) against LHPs in Harrisburg.

As aforementioned, Solano went 1-for-4 as the starting catcher, but was charged with a passed ball and gunned down two of five Yankees attempting to steal against him.

Tyler Moore was the only other prospect to get in the game, ending the game with a popup to second as a pinch-hitter.

The two teams meet again tomorrow in Tampa. Gio Gonzalez is slated to start. The game will be televised on the MLB Network.

UPDATE: Following the game, the Nationals announced the following player moves:

  • RHP Yunesky Maya optioned to AAA Syracuse
  • OF Eury Perez optioned to AA Harrisburg
  • RHP Waldis Joaquin reassigned to minor-league camp
  • RHP Jeff Fulchino reassigned to minor-league camp

Two 40-Man Prospects Optioned To Potomac

 Transactions  9 Responses »
Mar 122012
 

Shortly after putting up eight runs for the second time in three games, the Nationals announced the optioning of three 40-man roster players and the reassignment of six more players to minor-league camp.

As the headline suggests, Anthony Rendon and Matt Purke were officially optioned to High-A Potomac. Carlos Rivero, the third 40-man player, was optioned to AAA Syracuse. The following players were also among the first cuts of the 2012 Spring Training:

  • RHP Austin Bibens-Dirkx
  • OF Corey Brown
  • IF Jarrret Hoffpauir
  • C Sandy Leon
  • RHP Rafael Martin
  • OF Xavier Paul

Obviously, this is good news for us as seamheads — presuming, of course that these two players aren’t reassigned — since Potomac is our home base, we might just have my eyes on these two much sooner than I initially thought (*ahem*).

Corey Brown getting sent down (hey, that rhymes!) was a bit of a shock, especially when no-AA-experience Eury Perez seemed like a shoo-in to get optioned, too (hey, that… never mind).

It’s tempting to suggest that Perez could sticking around as a potential trade bait, but the more likely scenario is that the big club wants to work with him for a little longer before sending him to the minors camp.

Otherwise, most of these other moves aren’t surprising. Best guess for the next set of cuts is in a week to ten days.

Catching Up On Transactions

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Mar 072012
 

The transaction update from Baseball America has been pretty sparse for the Nationals. For the second straight week, it’s been but one name.

Last week, it was the signing of former Arizona Diamondbacks farmhand Mike Schultz, a 32-year-old RHP that has spent the past four years in Japan as a reliever.

This week, it’s the signing of 29-next-month Jeff Howell, a veteran C that began last season in the independent American Association and finished with the Portland Sea Dogs. Apparently, the August 24 game against Harrisburg left a lasting impression with the front office. ;-)

Finally, as implied in the comments of the previous transaction update… former National Garrett Mock was indeed picked up by another organization, with Boston rolling the dice on the ’04 third-round Arizona draft pick.

Transaction Update

 Transactions  10 Responses »
Feb 242012
 

I keep waiting for the weekly dispatch from BA to have something new on the Nationals but for the second week in a row it’s been empty.

A couple notes on some former Nats minor-leaguers over the past two weeks:

  • Archie Gilbert (Harrisburg ’11) has signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
  • Brad Coon (Harrisburg ’10) has signed with Tampa Bay (’11 with Albuquerque).
  • Garrett Mock (Syracuse ’11) was released by Toronto
  • Chase Lambin (Syracuse ’10) has signed with Miami (’11 with Rochester)

The last notable minor-league signing noted was for Mitch Atkins, a 26-year-old RHP that started 23 games in the Baltimore system, compiling a 4-10 record overall and a 3-7 mark with a 5.44 ERA in his 17 starts for AAA Norfolk. If he sticks, he’s most likely competing for the fifth starter/long reliever spot in Harrisburg.

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