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Wednesday’s News & Notes

Once again just Syracuse gets in a game while the rest were... wait for it... rained out

The Quick Rundown…

Team Yesterday’s Result Today’s Game Pitching Matchup
Syracuse Chiefs Lost, 3-1 @ Pawtucket 6:15 p.m. Detwiler (1-0, 1.50) vs. PAW: Miller (0-1, 1.17)
Harrisburg Senators Postponed @ Altoona, 10:35 a.m. Erik Davis (0-0, 0.00) vs.
Jeff Locke (0-2, 1.93)
Potomac Nationals Postponed @ Frederick, 12:00 p.m. Paul Demny (0-0, 1.59) and
Mitchell Clegg (0-0, 4.50) vs.
Nathan Moreau (1-0, 6.75) and
Ryan O’Shea (1-0, 1.86)
Hagerstown Suns Postponed vs. Hickory, 6:35 p.m. TBD vs. TBD

Pawtucket 3 Syracuse 1
∙ Maya (L, 0-1) 6IP 7H 3R 3ER 3BB 4K
∙ Chico 2IP 0H 0R 0BB 3K
∙ Bixler 1-4, R
∙ Bernadina 1-4, 2B, RBI
Chris Marrero’s sacrifice fly in the first inning accounted for the only Chiefs run scored as Syracuse dropped its fifth straight game, 3-1 to Pawtucket. Starter Yunesky Maya went six mediocre innings with three runs allowed on seven hits and three walks. Matt Chico rebounded from his last outing to pitch two scoreless and hitless innings, striking out three. Syracuse mustered just six hits and only four in the last eight innings, stranding eight baserunners.

Harrisburg-Altoona — PPD
Rain washed away the Tuesday Curve-Sens game. It will be made up on June 18 at 5:30 p.m. as a Saturday night doubleheader.

Potomac-Frederick — PPD
An afternoon shower forced Tuesday’s game to be shifted to today for a noon doubleheader. The P-Nats have had four of 11 dates postponed, ahead of the pace set in 2009 when 15 dates were rained out or canceled.

Hagerstown-Hickory; — PPD
Today’s game will be at its regularly scheduled time/length as yesterday’s rainout will be made up on Thursday at 5:05 p.m.

33 Commments

  1. Is it just me, or are we seeing WAY more rainouts early in the season that in the past few years?

    On a farm system note, it’s a bit disappointing that there’s NOT A SINGLE HITTER that I can see who seems to have started off hot, in the entire system. Pitching appears to be a different story, but hitting? Haven’t checked, but how many hitters have 20 or 30 ABs so far, and an OPS of over 800?

    1. Well, I’m not going to ruin the inaugural GBI, but there are two such batters for Potomac and two for Hagerstown.

      2. TBRFan — How is Sanchez looking so far?
        You had some good things to say after seeing him a couple of times, was wondering if he’s still holding up after a 2 level jump at a younger age.

        1. Yes tonight’s game he was smooth in the field. Had one throw that wasalmost short to first (an unhurried common-type grounder) and touched the dirt as the first baseman was catching it. I am so not worried about him in the field…batting he came alive tonight, but is still hitting close to the Mendoza line. :o(

          Now if you want to chat about someone, let’s talk about Blake Kelso. He’s really playing lights out at 3rd right now.

  2. good to see Chico have a good outing. I’m hoping he’ll get settled into the bullpen role and maybe he can come to DC and be a part of the relief corps (or maybe even be bundled with someone else in a trade sometime down the line).

    1. Given the situation (top of an inning, no-one on), he might have been able to work from a windup rather than from the stretch. That can make a difference for a former SP.

    2. Doesn’t really matter as long as Detwiler and Milone keep going deep into games. Opens an assortment of trade possibilities for Rizzo. With the right deal[s] (and that
      likely involves some luck in terms of other teams’ needs and situation) perhaps they could do some decent catch up on the Phillies this year … instead of 2012.

  6. With all the talk of the PNats stadium/field being outdated we are forgetting the bigger issue is the players having to play road games for possible a month. This will take a toll on them. It is sad it has gotten this far with the ownership. I have heard from countless players that the ownership/owner is a fraud. I read earlier someone mention that this will definately keep Harper from playing in Potomac and I have the same feelings, why put him in a somewhat dangerous situation in RF. I have seen RF during the opening homestand and it looked really bad. Hopefully this will be taken care of. Also just think of all the game day employees who are not getting paid.

    1. Totally with you on this. PNats are disgraceful at this point. They should be giving ST holders refunds plus on this one. They bear with the stadium for seasons on end and then they get this insult to injury.

        1. Can someone explain what’s going on with the field? I have’t been to Potomac in more than 15 years (living halfway across the country may have something to do with that), what exactly is the issued? What is making the field unplayable? Thanks.

          1. First of all the outfield will flood with any type of rain. This offseason they put some type of new drainage system in and their are cuts in the grass approx. 20-30 yards long. Kinda like laying new sod but you leave a 6 inch gap inbetween the pieces. Very easy to trip on and the ball will not roll true. On top of all the field issues the locker rooms are a joke. MILB also told them to fix this issue as well. They only had 1 toilet in the locker room!!
            I actually wonder how close MILB is to taking the franchise away from Potomac?

          2. The worst that MiLB can do is condemn the field. Which they have. What keeps getting lost in the conversation is that the Silbers don’t own the Pfitz; PWC does. The fault with the field and the clubhouses and the facilities ultimately lies with PWC. Obviously, it’s in the Silbers’ interests to do more than they’re required to by the lease to get this fixed, which is why they’ve offered to help pay for the clubhouse renovations (link).

            What’s more disconcerting is that there is already a vacant field in Kinston, NC and potentially another in Frederick. I’m no lawyer, but I can’t help but wonder if this is the kind of thing that could result in the breaking of the lease, which might able the team to be sold or moved.

          4. Informative article but I still fin it hard to believe it does not affect the players. The coach will say that publicily but it has to play some mind games. I understand that Art des not control the stadium but he has to know what needs fixed. The clubhouse has always been this way and it is just not professional to have a 1 toilet locker room, hell my house has 3 bathrooms for a family of 4 they have close to 30 people using that 1 toilet.

          5. what are the chances the PNats could move to the new indy-league stadium being built in Loudon County?

  7. The Syracuse hitting coach needs to be fired. He did a horrible job last year and the bats still suck this year. I am one of very few, but I’m here to win a Governors Cup and this guy is not helping get close to that goal. Booker does his job, I don’t know about Knorr yet, but the hitting coach needs to be canned.

    1. I was hoping Stairs would get sent there to do that … instead he’s a non-fielding DH/PH on the Nats.

        1. I’m not sure. Someone did some magic with Boomer Whiting? … I have observed that Knorr is running Syracuse much like the Nats. Doing many of the similar “small ball” or “smart ball” (as Riggleman refers to it) things in every game. Speed is accentuated over power. Its a different philosophy than was seen in the past and that starts with the manager Randy Knorr.

          1. Knorr is not a manager that you can pigeonhole into a style of play. As we saw in Potomac, he’ll play it like Billy Martin when he has the rabbits, Earl Weaver when he has the boppers.

  8. “what are the chances the PNats could move to the new indy-league stadium being built in Loudon County?”

    Nil and none. The Atlantic League has a very strong track record when it comes to building its own facilities and would likely still be occupied when the P-Nats PDC expires after the 2014 season.

  9. Sue, after reading those two linked stories all I can say is WOW.

    And no refunds to the ticketholders. Amazing.

    1. I’ve been a STH to minors/indy teams for close to a decade, and this is pretty typical. Teams almost never do refunds, only exchanges. Municipalities are excited about building facilities, and are loathe to maintain them. People bitch about how and why monies were spent when and where.

      All I can say is that it frequently ends very badly.

    2. Are you kidding? You think that idiot owner is going to let a penny escape from his pocket? And anyone who defends him in any way whatsoever is misinformed and playing right into his hands Every problem that exists with Potomac ultimately comes back to the fact that Bozo the First Base Coach honestly believes people come to games to see him. He could care less if players are unsafe, if fans are uncomfortable, or if he turns Potomac, Woodbridge, the Carolina League, and Minor League Baseball into a joke. He is a disgrace. If you only knew the hundreds of stories that can be told about theings he has done and not done, no one would ever say a word in his defense.

      1. It was pretty stunning to me that the clubhouse has 1 toilet & 4 urinals for about 30 adults. Really unfathomable.
        How is that allowed?

  10. So … anyway the Syracuse Pawtucket game was very, very interesting. After Detwiler pitched a solid 6 the PawSox were forced to face Henry Rodriguez for two innings. who hit 99 to 101 consistently. Cole Kimball closed out throwing low to mid nineties. Nice setup and close. You have to wonder why these two pitchers (and Detwiler) are still doing in AAA with the kind of stuff they’ve been showing.

    Bixler got on base 5 times. Seems like he might make a pretty good #1,#2 hitter?

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