Good, Bad, Interesting… Vol. 17
Our weekly look at the leaders, trailers, and outliers in the Washington Nationals minor leagues.
Our weekly look at the leaders, trailers, and outliers in the Washington Nationals minor leagues.
SYRACUSE 57-55, 3rd place IL North, 8 games back
| Good | Boomer Whiting, .403OBP |
| Bad | Dan Leatherman 12H 6R in 1st 6 apperances [Ed. Note: Written before demotion] |
| Interesting | Josh Wilkie 1HR allowed in 53⅓ innings |
HARRISBURG 59-53, 3rd place, 6½ games back, EL
| Good | Tom Milone, 9QS in 22 starts; 1.52BB/9 |
| Bad | Edgardo Baez .134BA in July/Aug. |
| Interesting | Chuck James 0.00ERA as a reliever at AA |
POTOMAC
21-16 in 2nd Half, 1st place by 1½ games in CrL North
| Good | Tyler Moore 11HR, 40RBI since ASB (34G) |
| Bad | Marcos Frias, 8.46ERA since return from GCL rehab |
| Interesting | Dan Lyons .300/.475/.467 in last 10G |
HAGERSTOWN
15-25 in 2nd Half, last place in SAL North, 9½ games back
| Good | Eury Perez .304BA, .441SLG, 17SB in July/Aug |
| Bad | Josh Smoker, 7.38ERA in 19 starts; scoreless outings: 1 |
| Interesting | NDFA Billy Ott, 5IP 1H 0R 0BB 3K in SAL debut |
VERMONT
25-21, 2nd Place Stedler Division of NY-Penn League, ½ game back
| Good | Ronnie Labrie .281/.384/.452 in 40G |
| Bad | Taylor Jordan 23R, 32H, 3HR allowed in last 5 starts |
| Interesting | Neil Holland, 1.77ERA in 12G as reliever |
GCL NATIONALS
14-23, 5th place GCL East Division, 9½ games back
| Good | Nick Serino 0.98WHIP, 2.93ERA in 10 appearances |
| Bad | Michael Taylor 12E in 23G |
| Interesting | Adrian Sanchez, Billy Ott earning promotions to Hagerstown |
DSL NATIONALS
27-29, 5th place B.C. South Division, 11½ games back
| Good | “Fred” Ortega 25SB in 50G |
| Bad | Yamaicol Tejeda .050BA in 26G |
| Interesting | Bienvenido Valdez 24BB, 37K in 50G |
Sue,
What’s your take on Tom Milone, figure you saw him a lot at Woodbridge. He really has flown under the radar.
Still don’t know what to make of Whiting; only okay at Potomac, jumps two levels and has sustained a terrific run ever since.
After today’s 1-4 game, Oduber’s slumped all the way to 1.058 OPS!
I thought it was no secret that Tom Milone is to me what Josh Wilkie is to Brian. We ranked him #20 out of the Preseason Top 20 prospects for that very reason.
Milone doesn’t get a lot of press because his best attributes are between the ears. Simply put: He knows how to pitch and get guys out without any one “plus” pitch. The one true skill he has and has always had is throwing strikes. He’s always been around or under 2BB/9inn — even in college.
I’d like to see him get an AFL nod, but I suspect he’ll just keep rising up the ladder year-by-year and perhaps catch a break a la Craig Stammen.
I was expecting Wilkie before Balester and hoping for Whiting before Mench.
I really don’t understand the Mench move at all. He’s definitely not part of any future. They could use Whiting’s speed.
The Balester move is semi-defensible (he’s already on the 40, he’s got MLB experience, yada yada yada) but isn’t Whiting’s best fit to be the #5 OF / designated PR?
Sue,
It’s amazing how still the flamethrowers get all the pub and the finesse pitchers like Milone, Arnesen, and (hopefully) Meyers just keep moving along, getting people out.
It’s similar to the basketball adage that you can’t teach height. Meanwhile, Greg Maddox and Tom Glavine will be first ballot Hall of Famers and they couldn’t break a plane of glass.
Not sure if I’d include Meyers in that grouping; he’s more of a sinkerballer than a finesse pitcher and he can break 90 on the gun. But your point still remains.
You would have loved to have seen Oil Can Boyd in his final pro season for the Brockton Rox in ’05. Robbed of his fastball by shoulder injuries, he threw junk from 65-80mph and pitched 110.1 innings with an ERA of 3.83; League Average was 4.60. He was 45 years old. And yes, there’s a theme: He walked 13 batters, or 1.06 per 9 innings.
Sue: I’m with you on Milone – Pitches smart, gives the team quality starts, “all he does is get hitters out”. Hope he gets an AFL gig this fall.
On another note, any idea why Derrick Phillips is MIA on the Gulf Coast roster? Last game appearance was July 13th, and his ‘slash line’ (.280/.357/.440) was better than any OF on the roster not named Oduber.
‘Oil Can Boyd’, now that’s a name from my past. I didn’t know of that story. For the longest time, every spring he would be around saying he’s thinking of making a comeback.