Monday’s News & Notes
All but the P-Nats lose by a 5-4 score on Sunday
The Quick Rundown…
| Team | Yesterday’s Result | Today’s Game | Pitching Matchup |
| Syracuse Chiefs | Lost, 5-4 | vs. Scranton Wilkes-Barre, 7:00 p.m. |
J.D. Martin (1-4, 4.71) vs. David Phelps (4-4, 2.95) |
| Harrisburg Senators | Lost, 5-4 | OFF DAY | N/A |
| Potomac Nationals | Won, 5-2 | vs. Myrtle Beach, 7:05 p.m. | Justin Grimm (2-0, 0.96) |
| Hagerstown Suns | Lost, 5-4 | @ Lakewood, 7:05 p.m. | Taylor Jordan (6-2, 2.62) vs. Ervis Manzanillo (3-3, 5.43) |
| DSL Nationals | OFF DAY | @ DSL Phillies, 10:30 a.m. | Anthony Marcelino (0-0, 1.00) vs. Adrian Sierra (0-2, 6.17) |
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre 5 Syracuse 4
• Arnesen 6⅔ IP, 7H, 1R, 1ER, BB, 4K
• Severino 1IP, 1H, 0R, 1BB, 2K
• Frazier 2-4, 2R, 2B, HR, RBI
• Marrero 3-4, 2B
Ryan Zimmerman’s rehab start was unsuccessful at the plate with an 0-5 afternoon. He handled five chances in the field — including two bunt attempts — but made a poor fielding choice that helped contribute to Scranton Wilke-Barres four-run 8th inning. Erik Arnesen was stung early by the Scranton-Wilkes Barre Yankees with an Austin Krum double and a Ramiro Pena single but settled down and gave up no additional runs. Jeff Frazier homered to lead off the fifth, the only run off Yankees’ overpriced AAAA signee Kei Igawa. Syracuse scored an unearned run in the 7th inning on a throwing error by relief pitcher Josh Schmidt on a single by Matt Antonelli (3-for-5, now hitting .364/.430/.545). Things fell apart during an 8th inning in which Hassan Pena took the loss when he could not retire a batter. He left the bases loaded for Josh Wilkie after a the dreaded leadoff walk, and two singles. Josh Wilkie not only allowed three runs for Pena to score, he allowed one run of his own to put Syracuse down 5-2 heading the 9th. Syracuse launched a furious comeback, putting the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position with two outs for #MrWalkoff, Ryan Zimmerman, who became #MrWalkBacktotheDugout after a groundout to end the game.
Akron 5 Harrisburg 4
• Peacock (L, 7-2) 6⅓ IP, 6H, 3R, 2ER, BB, 10K
• VanAllen 1IP, 0H, 0R, BB, K
• Lombardozzi 2-3, 2R, BB
• Rahl 2-4, 2-2B, 2RBI
Brad Peacock continues to dominate Eastern League batters, this time to the tune of 10 Strasburgesque strikeouts of the Akron Aeros with only one walk. In the first inning, a Steve Lombardozzi leadoff walk eventually led to a Tyler Moore sac fly. Jonothan Tucker singled in Alex Valdez for to tie the score after Peacock had given up two runs in the with the big blow a Nick Weglarz – who later scored – double to right field. Akron scored three more in a 7th inning rally, aided by a Stephen King fielding error. This key error led to FAIL from both Pats: Lehman McCoy, who allowed three singles without retiring a batter, and McCoy Lehman, who gave up a Chun-Hsiu Chen double on a grounder down the line to left field before inducing two groundouts. Akron gave up an unearned
run of its own in the bottom of the 8th as Harrisburg fell short in its comeback bid to eventually match the Chiefs score with a 5-4 loss.
Potomac 5 Carolina 2
• Demny (W, 3-6) 5⅔ IP, 5H, 2R, 2ER, 3BB, 5K, HR (10)
• Frias (H, 3) 1⅓ IP, 2H, 0R, 0BB, 2K, 2-0 IR-S
• Higley 3-4, R, HR, 2RBI
• Cuevas 3-4, R, 3B, RBI
• Leon 2-3, R
Four wins in a row for Potomac, playing for pride on a Sunday Afternoon In Woodbridge
Lakewood 5 Hagerstown 4
• Ray (ND) 5IP, 5H, 3R, 3ER, 3BB, 3K
• Holland 1IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• Freitas 3-4, R, 2B, HR, 2RBI
• Martinson 1-3, RBI, SF
Apparently, Potomac didn’t get the memo about losing 5-4, but the Suns did, falling to Lakewood but having its magic number reduced to 7 with a loss by second-place Greensboro. Robbie Ray showed signs of mortality, giving up three runs over five innings pitched on five hits and three walks and a mere three strikeouts. David Freitas led an otherwise moribund offensive effort with three-fourths of the cycle, singling, doubling, and homering while driving in two of the four Hagerstown runs. Suns batters went just 1-for-11 with RISP while stranding seven.
DSL Nationals — OFF DAY
A three-game losing streak has dropped the D-Nats to 6-6 for the season, which is three games off the pace. After hosting three of their last four, the D-Nats hit the road for four of the next six days, including rainout/makeup doubleheader against the Rangers.
So Marrero’s up to .819 OPS, 1.306 OPS in his last ten games. Does this make a promotion any more likely? With the Nats offense so amemic, why not move Morse to the OF and give him a shot at first for a while?
I don’t think Rizzo cares about the big club too much when he’s making promotions. He makes promotions based on development. I think Marrero’s moving towards September callup status, but he’s got to sustain this hot streak and show power. I still want more than his .152 isolated slugging percentage. Let’s see where he is at the AAA all-star break. Good news is that his BABIP is consistent with career norms.
Marrero’s exceeded my expectations, and he’s got to be on the 2012 radar. Hopefully, he starts schooling Ike Davis next year.
The good news on Marrero is he’s still young.
This was one of multiple posts about how great it is that Marrero’s had a hot streak for 10 whole days. This after 2 months of mediocrity.
Just think what will happen if he can hit for another week!
Agreed about Marrero. There’s no point in bringing him up now. He needs to show either more power or hit for a much higher average to be a starting first baseman in the majors. He is young and has at least another couple of years to prove he can get there (i.e. when LaRoche’s contract expires).
I really question if Marrero’s even a part of the Nats picture…..right handed bat hurts his chances. I fully expect them to pursue Fielder this offseason. Big time left handed slugger who would fit perfectly in the #4 hole.
Just because a prospect might not fit right now doesn’t mean he should be written off. Nor because the parent club is struggling should a prospect be brought up too soon. Marrero turns 23 in July and has less than 100 AAA games experience. As Marcus pointed out, yes, he’s doing well, but other clubs have waited until a prospect has been hitting at a much higher rate before sending him up. Hosmer’s probably an unfair comparison because he was so dominant in the Carolina League that even Jon Heyman could have told you he’d be a major leaguer.
Generally speaking, I like to subtract about 30-35 points off the splits for a very rough MLE (Major League Equivalent) and as it so happens, there is such a beast that will do that for us located here. When you run Marrero’s #s through it, you get a line of .256/.307/.387 when left unadjusted for the parks (adjusted for both, it lowers to .246/.298/.373) — and that’s not a crystal ball, mind you. It’s just an indication.
lol yeah you’re right I think Hosmer is an unfair comparison he’s one of the top 5 young hitting prospects in all of baseball. Rizzo is a tad bit younger but him and Marrero have had very similar careers. Paul Goldschmidt with the Diamondbacks is another good young 1B who’s yet to get a promotion.
In the Harrisburg game, the two Pats were switched…McCoy gave up the three straight singles and Lehman the double to Chun Chen. However, the double was a slow hopper down the 3B line that King misplayed (he complained of interference by the runner on 3rd).
Thanks for clarification. King’s defense was vastly improved from when I last saw him regularly (summer ’09) so I’m inclined to agree with him on that one, again, sight unseen.
I think often we overvalue how good our prospects are doing and undervalue how good you need to be to play in the majors. Every time a prospect has a little hot streak NatsTown is clamoring for a promotion. The only two prospects in our system who deserve a promotion based on performance are Peacock, Harper and Kelso. Everyone else I think is at their correct level.
Hosmer and Rizzo are a couple of young 1B prospects who have been promoted recently if you compare there numbers to Marrero’s you can clearly see his bat can still use some work:
Hosmer
2010: .338 w/ .997 OPS on the season between A+ and AA ball
2011: .439 w/ 1.107 OPS at AAA before being promoted
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?pos=1B&sid=milb&t=p_pbp&pid=543333
Rizzo
Him and Marrero had similar 2010 stats but look at what Rizzo did to get promoted:
2011: 200 AB’s .365 w/ 1.159 OPS AAA
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?pos=1B&sid=milb&t=p_pbp&pid=519203
Marrero
Has been hot recently but he’s never had a season with an above .850 OPS in the minors. Here are his numbers to date:
2011: 230 AB’s .296 BA w/ .819 OPS AAA
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?pos=1B&sid=milb&t=p_pbp&pid=502029
I’m encouraged by his recent hot streak but think he needs to spend the rest of the season in AAA and continue to develop and work on his defense.
If anyone is planning to go to the Pfitzer Dump tonight, there is no game. Field conditions.
Does this increase the likelihood that Harper skips the Pfitz altogether? This stuff is pathetic and totally unacceptable. Why don’t we just loan him to Frederick like they do in hockey?
@Max, that’s probably my screwup.
Interesting. Perhaps the Nats knew about Potomac all the time. Gorzelanny was shipped up to Syracuse for his rehab.
Primarily so he can get a game in – With the MB cancelation coming so early, Gorzolanny could jump a flight to Syracuse early enough to still get innings in tonight. I wouldn’t be suprised if he gets slapped around a bit.
Update: As expected – 4IP, 5H, 4ER, 1BB, 3K, 1HBP, 1HR. Not quite ready for prime-time, imo.
The Syracuse Chiefs announced Gorzelanny as the starter around 12:30 p.m. Suffice it to say that Gorzelanny was most likely already on a plane, if not in the state of New York, when they made that announcement.
Please explain something to me. I’ve been to Hagerstown games, Harrisburg games, and Syracuse games. I’ve never gone to see Potomac; not even the year they won it all. What is wrong with this field? I don’t get it. Does it have poor drainage or something?
“Unplayable field conditions” is a time-tested ruse in the minors. That the field has had actual problems in the past just adds to the plausibility. Yes, it has poor drainage, but a lot of fields do.