


Our final 2012 look at the leaders, trailers, and outliers in the Washington Nationals minor leagues. Repeats from 2011 are in italics.
SYRACUSE CHIEFS
70-74, 5th place International League North Division, 14 games behind
| Good | Bat: Corey Brown .285/.365/.523, 25HR, 18SB in 126G Arm: Zach Duke 15-5, 3.51 ERA, 26 starts, 164⅓ IP |
| Bad | Bat: Koyie Hill .163/.226/.231 in 31G Arm: Austin Bibens-Dirkx 0-3, 5.59ERA, 1.56WHIP in 29G, 46⅓ IP |
| Interesting | Bat: Carlos Rivero .303/.347/.435 in 126G Arms: Jeff Mandel 6-5, 2.58ERA, 1.12WHIP in 19G, 11GS Christian Garcia 1-1, 0.56ERA, 14SV in 27G |
HARRISBURG SENATORS
64-78, 5th place Eastern League Western Division, 18½ games behind
| Good | Bat: Eury Perez .299/.325/.342, 26SB in 82G Arm: Ryan Perry 2-4, 2.84 ERA, 1.11 WHIP |
| Bad | Bat: Stephen King .185/.215/.218 in 47G Arm: Chien-Ming Wang 1-5, 6.75ERA, 9HR in 9 starts, 45⅓ IP |
| Interesting | Bat: Zach Walters .293/.326/.518 in 43G Arm: Erik Davis 7-3, 2.52 ERA, 1.23 WHIP |
POTOMAC NATIONALS
33-36 in 2nd half, 3rd place Carolina League Northern Division, 3½ games behind
31-39 in 1st half, 2nd place, 8 games behind
64-75 overall
| Good | Bat*: Justin Bloxom .259/.331/.478 in 65G Arm: Nathan Karns 8-4, 2.26ERA, 1.02WHIP, 87K in 13 starts *David Freitas was on track for this honor prior to his trade to Oakland |
| Bad | Bat: Jeff Howell .225/.276/.282 in 20G after dropping down from AAA Arm: Robbie Ray 6-12, 6.56 ERA, 1.62 WHIP in 105⅔ IP |
| Interesting | Bat: Francisco Soriano .338/.430/.452 in 2nd half Arm: Rob Wort 95K in 56⅔ IP (15.08/9IP) |
HAGERSTOWN SUNS
40-28 in 2nd half, 1st place South Atlantic League Northern Division, 3 games ahead
42-27 in 1st half, 2nd place, 3½ games behind
84-55 overall
| Good | Bat: Matt Skole .286/.438/.574, 27HR in 101G Arm: Alex Meyer 7-4, 3.10ERA, 1.13WHIP in 18 starts |
| Bad | Bat: Hendry Jimenez .205/.259/.321 in 65G Arm: Chris McKenzie 2-3, 8.64ERA, 2.05WHIP in 50IP |
| Interesting | Bat: Steve Souza Jr. .290/.346/.576, 17HR in 70G Arm: Christian Meza 8-1, 2.97ERA, 1.16WHIP in 88IP |
AUBURN DOUBLEDAYS
46-30, 1st Place Pinckney Division of New York-Penn League, 2 games ahead
| Good | Bats: Estarlin Martinez .319/.385/.455 in 66G Shawn Pleffner .329/.394/.458 in 55G Arm: Brett Mooneyham 2-2, 2.55ERA, 1.23WHIP in 10G/9GS |
| Bad | Bat: Jordan Poole .196/.256/.299, 47K in 31G Arm: Ivan Pineyro 3-2, 5.50ERA, 1.66WHIP in 8GS |
| Interesting | Bat: Wander Ramos .275/.377/.449 in 67G Arm: Nick Lee 3-1, 3.77ERA, 1.35ERA in 13G/11GS |
GCL NATIONALS
27-33, 4th place Gulf Coast League East Dvision, 8 games behind
| Good | Bat: Matt Foat .333/.404/.401 in 43G Arm: Will Hudgins 4-3, 2.21 ERA, 1.04WHIP in 36⅔ IP |
| Bad | Bat: Hayden Jennings .192/.254/.231, 70K in 47G Arm: Adalberto Mieses 1-5, 5.05ERA, 1.61WHIP in 41IP |
| Interesting | Bat: Mike McQuillan .375/.478/.429 in 19G (promoted to Auburn) Arm: Joel Barrientos 4-1, 3.00ERA, 42K in 45IP (turned 19 in Aug.) |
DSL NATIONALS
38-32, 3rd place, Boca Chica South Division of Dominican Summer League, 11 games behind
| Good | Bat: 19-y.o. Rafael Bautista .329/.419/.395, 47SB in 67G Arm: 19-y.o. Hector Silvestre 5-3, 3.20 ERA, 1.20 WHIP in 76IP |
| Bad | Bat: 17-y.o. Wester Suarez .130/.322/.152 in 24G Arm: 20-y.o. Philips Valdez 2-2, 5.40 ERA, 1.97 WHIP in 48⅓ IP |
| Interesting | Bat: 19-y.o. Jose “Orange” Marmolejos-Diaz .298/.362/.490 in 69G Arm: 17-y.o. Maximo Valerio 3-5, 3.55 ERA, 1.25 WHIP in 63⅓ IP |

PITCHING
Too old or not, the Auburn Doubledays were the class of the New York-Penn League on offense, leading the league in runs scored, hits, doubles, RBI, batting average, on-base percentage and slugging. They could also run, finishing third in the league in total steals with 95 but were caught just 16 times for an 85.5% success rate.
Defensively this looks like a poor bunch, but the Doubledays were actually second in the league in terms of fielding percentage, fourth in terms of fewest errors committed. Unfortunately, the catchers were abysmal at throwing out runners, with a team rate of 23% and Nieto showing serious rust (14%) before returning to form in Hagerstown (36%).
This year’s draft picks made 26 of 75 starts, a marked increase from the 11 of 74 the year before (hey that rhymes!). Unfortunately, much of this can be attributed to the aforementioned upperclassmen taken. None of the starters were lights-out — Brian Dupra had the lowest ERA and WHIP of 3.46 and 1.207 respectively among the Top Five — and a fair amount of relief innings (134) came from guys with ERAs above 4.00. Ultimately, when you have a team that can mash, the pitching need only be mediocre for the team to be a winner and that’s pretty much what it was.