Wednesday’s News and Notes
Another rainy day and night abbreviates the slate (hey, that rhymes)
| Team | Yesterday’s Result | Today’s Game | Pitching Matchup |
| Syracuse Chiefs | Postponed | vs. Pawtucket, 2:00 p.m. | Yunesky Maya (0-0, 9.64) vs. Kyle Weiland (0-1, 12.00) |
| Harrisburg Senators | Lost, 3-1; Lost, 8-2 | vs. New Britain, 7:00 p.m. (Doubleheader) |
Brad Meyers (1-0, 0.00) vs. Deolis Guerra (1-0, 0.00) |
| Potomac Nationals | Postponed | vs. Winston-Salem, 6:05 p.m. | Paul Demny (6-10, 4.23 @ A) and Mitchell Clegg (9-3, 3.48 @ A) vs. Terry Doyle (8-8, 3.71) and Joe Searfin (3-4, 5.62) |
| Hagerstown Suns | Won, 5-0 | @ Lexington, 7:00 p.m. | Cameron Selik (0-0, 0.00) and Paul Applebee (1st start) vs. TBD (0-0, -.–) and TBD (0-0, -.–) |
Syracuse 3 Leigh Valley 4 (Postponed)
The game between the Syracuse Chiefs and Lehigh Valley IronPigs was postponed due to rain. The game will be made up as part of a doubleheader starting at 6:05 PM on July 14th at Coca-Cola Park.
New Britain 3 Harrisburg 1 – Game #1
∙ Rodriguez 1IP 1H 0ER 0BB 2K
∙ Peacock, Brad (L, 0-1) 4⅔ IP 7H 2ER 1BB 3K
∙ Mandel 2IP 3H 1ER 0BB 1K
∙ Valdez 2-4, 1K
∙ Coats 2-3
∙ Ivany 2-4, 1R
While Harrisburg tried to fight back from a 3-0 deficit in the 9th inning, the one run scored thanks to an Ivany single and a bunch of errors and passed balls, was not enough to come back as New Britain was able to defeat Harrisburg by a score of 3-1 in the first game of the doubleheader. Brad Peacock took the loss, pitching 4 and 2/3 innings, allowing two runs on seven hits and a walk, while striking out three.
New Britain 8 Harrisburg 2 – Game #2
∙ Barthmaier (L, 0-1) 2⅔ IP 5H 5ER 3BB 4K
∙ Pena 2IP 1H 2H 0R 3BB 2K
∙ Coats 1-3, 2RBI
∙ Rhinehart 1-3
∙ Moore 0-3, 3K
A five-run third enabled New Britain to take the early lead and not look back as the Senators were defeated by a score of 8-2 and fall to 2-2 for the season, after losing both games of the double header. Barthmaier, took the loss after lasting only 2 2/3 of an inning, allowing five earned runs off five hits and three walks, while striking out four. Harrisburg managed just four hits, the biggest being a two-RBI single from Buck Coats. Johnathan Tucker also went 1-2 and showed his speed by stealing second base. Brian Peacock went 0-for-2 with a strikeout in his AA debut.
Potomac vs. Winston-Salem — PPD
The 10:30am game between Winston-Salem and Potomac was postponed due to rain. It will be made up tonight as part of a doubleheader at 6:05 p.m.
Hagerstown 4 Lexington 0
∙ Jordan (W, 2-0) 5IP 2H 0R 1BB 5K
∙ Manno 2IP 1H 0R 0BB 5K
∙ Sanchez 2-4, R, SB, 3RBI
∙ Oduber 1-4, R, SB, BB
∙ Harper 0-4, 3K
Hagerstown remains unbeaten, winning their fifth straight by a 5-1 score over Lexington. The Suns put up a two-spot in the first two innings, using a double steal to force an error in the first, and showing the Legends the truth about issuing walks in the second. Despite the five runs scored, the Suns were just 1-for-11 with RISP and Bryce Harper suffered through an 0-for-4 night with three strikeouts. Taylor Jordan made his first start of the season, going the first five innings, followed by two innings apiece by Shane McCatty and Chris Manno. The doubleheader that had been scheduled for last night was shifted to tonight because the field was not playable in time for the 5:05 start.
Caught the game online yesterday and will be there for the weekend series before going to Syracuse
One observation and not at all putting pressure on a great hitter, but Bryce is pressing and he needs to be much more selective. Noone wants to pitch to him and he needs to just sit back and let his hands to the take over. He is going to be a great one
I’m beginning to wonder whether Potomac would have been better for him. He’s more likely to see pitches that matter at +A I think. Let’s see how he adjusts. Patience is needed for sure…
Bernie great point but Byrce will be just fine . I watched him last night and he was swinging out of his shoes his first three at bats. always down 0-2 or 1-2 , swinging at balls not strikes. do not want to over analyze because he is awesome and will figure it out
He also probably feels a little pressure to show some power. He’ll mature, let the action come to him, and hopefully put on a show for the home folks over the weekend.
Sue (or one of the other commenters) – I don’t follow the minors as closely as you, obviously, but I had a general question. How age appropriate are our teams, from Syr thru Hagerstown? I expect Syracuse is a mish-mash, which seems to be a trend for AAA generally, but when I see a 5 game winning streak for Hagerstown, I don’t know if it is being done by real prospects or older guys playing down. That lack of knowledge is true for me across all our affiliates. It would be useful to have a rule of thumb in my head to put some of the results in context. I am sure that you have discussed this previously, but it would be great if someone could give me the shorthand version here.
Thanks … Wally
There was a series of posts on the rosters for the affiliates. Probably the best one to deal with age appropriateness was the one on Potomac’s roster.
Short answer is that we’re much better, especially at A+ and below.
It’ll be interesting to see Bernadina in his first game of the spring.
Wally I will try and please if others have input that would be great. The Nationals are making it clear that they want to be young from A to AA . It seems AAA is a place for players that are older wiser and veterans of the major leagues, or so in the case of Milone and Marrerro’s case a short call to the bIg leagues, and top prospects. Player development is critical and remember their is a big difference between a player and a prospect. some players are fillers for a roster that help guys like Harper develop, other guys become prospects because they just turn it on to another level. So know let me answer your question a bit more in detail, Hagerstown does not have any older players and they care very much about winning but are much more concerned with developing their top players, now here comes the curve ball, some guys Like Oduber and manno can suddenly become prospects if they continue to progress
Remember getting drafted in the 20-30th round does not give you many chances to succeed
Also the talk about this group of players is they want to win as a team, and I love that. Teach the youngsters how to win and they will bring that winning attitude with them at all levels.
By the way Mel you mentioned Manno, and just my luck I actually watched the internet coverage of the hagerstown Game , and Manno was electric
Thanks, elliot.
Only a matter of time before (hopefully) I see Bryce Harper’s home debut. My camera I shall bring; pics I shall post…
As to Bryce, I see him moving up to Potomac NO LATER than Memorial Day. Patience, people, patience…lol
what are manno’s chances of getting moved up this season?
Rizzo is much slower than Bowden to promote and with the current logjam of pitchers, I don’t expect much movement before June that’s not injury-related.
Harper effect? Noting right fielder Destin Hood’s fast start in Potomac.
Last night’s Phillie game, it was GREAT to see Michael Martinez get an AB. After 5 years and 2000 AB in the Nats’ stateside farm system, he finally makes the bigs at 28.
Think the Nats should bring up at least one long-time Nats minor leaguer in September, like a Michael Martinez, or maybe a Seth Bynum. Let him experience the big league life for a month as a thank you for your determination and pluck.
Bynum may force the issue, he seems to have turned it up a notch the last year.
Besides, at some point you figure they HAVE to move Espinosa to SS and then they may need a 2nd baseman.
They have a shortstop, Mark. And if Espi becomes the shortstop, then Desmond will be the second baseman. This must be ‘get Ian Desmond day’ on all the blog sites.
I’m highly doubtful that Desmond would get shifted to 2B by the Nationals. If a move were to take place with Espinoza moving to SS, Desmond would either go to the OF, or be moved in a trade, imo. For now, I’d leave the MI setup just the way it is on the big club, pending the further development of Lombardozzi / Kobernus this year.
Ian Desmond is an intriguing talent, but it amazes me the number of apologists he has, which is why I think the comparisons to Derek Jeter are accurate in that respect.
Last April, we were hoping for early promotions for guys like Chase Lambin, Chuck James, and one or two others that never happened. Rizzo & his staff know way more than any of us ever will about the players in the orginization. Good numbers in April don’t necessarily mean a player is ready for a promotion – It just shows they’re off to a good start & might raise an eyebrow or two in the FO.
Early notes from the Wed. double-header at the Phitz. The Dash have some hitters in their lineup – Jose Martinez in particular was feeding his numbers off the P-Nats pitching staff. Demny pitched well, but went deep in the count too many times against a solid lineup. Souza went yard again, but Carlos Martinez dropped the decision in extra innings.
In the 2nd game of the doubleheader, Clegg was getting squared up on by most of the Winston-Salem lineup, but snuck through four IP with a lead thanks in part to a triple off the CF wall by Sousa, a walk & a couple of singles. I’m sure Sue_D will have the real wrapup tomorrow (I bailed in the bottom of the 5th).
Well, maybe not “way more,” but definitely more… I think I’ve been pretty consistent in answering the question of when so-and-so is going to get moved up and that’s that most callups are going to be midseason or just in time for the AFL. And I will keep referencing Justin Maxwell and Bill Rhinehart to those who insist on fast-tracking.
Watched the Hagerstown Suns on MiLB TV. Harper got his first home run of the young season in the second game and Sue D? BinM? SpringfieldFan?
Its time to add another guy to that watch list (if it were me it would be the top prospect list!) and his name is Cameron Selik. He looked great as a starter and pretty mature. He pretty much won that game against Lexington … and I can provide additional references:
Courtesy of Ryan Tatusko:
He’s my boy!!!! He can flat deal too! RT @MinorLeagueBlog: Awesome start for #Nats @cameronselik
Remember, the watchlist is now frozen. This was something I decided a couple of weeks ago when it became apparent that it ought to be a record of sorts. When I do the season reviews in the fall, we’ll compile a new one. That in itself will create a story. One of the things I like about Sickels is his self-review, and this will be a good chance to do likewise.