NationalsProspects.com

Good, Bad, Interesting – Vol. 5

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 16-22, 5th place I.L. North, 7 games behind

Good Craig Stammen 1.03 WHIP
Bad Collin Balester .318 Opp. BA in May
Interesting Michael Aubrey .364/.464/.879 in May

HARRISBURG 18-19, 2nd place E.L. West Division, ½ game behind

Good Derek Norris .300/.429/.550 in May
Bad Tim Pahuta .173BA, 9E
Interesting Hassan Pena 0.87WHIP, 23K in 20⅔ IP

POTOMAC 16-23, 4th place C.L. North Division, 6½ games behind

Good Eury Perez .485 last 10G, .341BA overall
Bad Cameron Selik 8.71ERA, 1.84WHIP in first two Hi-A starts
Interesting Trevor Holder 4BB in 42IP

HAGERSTOWN 27-13, 1st place Sally League Northern Division, 3 games ahead

Good Robbie Ray 0.00ERA, 13K in two starts over 11 IP
Bad Jason Martinson 40K, 13E in 39G
Interesting Bobby Hansen 1.88ERA, 1.13WHIP in last four starts

13 Commments

  1. I desperately want someone who can comment on Norris’ catching/receiving skills to let us know how he’s doing this season so far.

    1. David did in reply to you, but I think you must have missed it:

      I saw him catch in Richmond.

      I generally liked what I saw.

      He still has the occasional hick-up with catching pitches, as he had a passed ball on a Peacock curveball that was chest high to the hitter and right down the plate, Norris just simply missed it and had it go to the backstop.

      His arm is as strong as advertised and he showed solid agility when he had to block pitches in the dirt.

      He’s still rough around the edges, hence the easy passed ball, but I think there’s definitely a major league catcher in him.

      When I saw him two weeks ago, he threw out a runner in the first and he also had a passed ball, but bear in mind we’re talking about a catcher that has gone from 12 passed balls in his last 92 games caught from the 28 in 100 games caught in his first full season at Hagerstown.

  2. I noticed that Eury Perez started last year in Hagerstown slowly as well, then started to hit well (not as well as he’s currently doing in Potomac!).

    Sue, I’m sure you’ve had a chance to watch a few games with Eury now, do you see him as a viable CF in the majors and/or a viable lead-off candidate? He doesn’t have much pop (last night’s homer the exception), but he does get on base.

    Also, thanks for continued hard work on this site! It’s definitely a MUST read for me on a daily basis (and sometimes multi-daily basis).

    1. When he was merely using his legs to get on base, I was a bit worried but the past couple of series has me more convinced that he can do it offensively. He does have “gap power” which means anything that’s between two average OFs is almost always a double. Defensively, he’s been good and actual scouts think he’ll be a plus defender a la Bernadina. His arm is average but accurate, which is kind of like a catcher with “average speed” — you expect a weak arm, so an average arm looks good in comparison.

  3. Too bad you don’t have a ‘great’ category for some of the people in Hagerstown.
    Hansen has really opened my eyes, take away one terrible outing and everything has been very good to ‘lights out’ and he’s still a pup.

    Have to admit, i know almost nothing about Hassan Pena.

    1. I thought about putting Bryce Harper in the “bad” category last week for not leading EVERY major offensive category, but I digress…

      I spread it around, toggling between batters and hitters, trying not to repeat names unless they’re on a tear a la Tyler Moore so that folks can learn more beyond the usual 10-15 names that get bandied about by the mainstream press.

      As for Pena, he’s a Cuban defector that the Nats signed out a Fla. CC in ’06. They tried to get him to be a starter until moving him to the ‘pen in ’09. Throws in the low-to-mid-90s with a FB/SL/CU as his three main pitches. He just turned 26 so the clock is ticking on him if he’s going to hit the big club as a middle reliever, which is what most reports I’ve read about him think is his ceiling.

  4. I’m interested to see what Matt Antonelli does with his opportunity. San Diego let him go so you kind of have to suspect that he might be another red herring the Nats have latched onto …

    Syracuse is playing some exciting ball right now … if Peacock gets promoted it will be interesting to see if they can make up for lost ground in the IL and get back into contention by the second half. This year its going to have to be on pitching …

  6. Hassan missed time in 06-08 because of shoulder problems. He appears to have put those problems behind him and played great in winter ball and has continued pitching well in Harrisburg. At this point, it appears he is pitching to get the attention of other organizations, as the Nationals won’t give him the opportunity he deserves.

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