Good, Bad, Interesting – Vol. 17
Our weekly look at the leaders, trailers, and outliers in the Washington Nationals minor leagues.
SYRACUSE CHIEFS 49-61, 4th place I.L. North, 13½ games behind
| Good | Brad Meyers 1.23 ERA, 1.09 WHIP in August |
| Bad | Seth Bynum .194/.248/.280 since All-Star Break |
| Interesting | Garrett Mock 1.50 ERA, 0.67 WHIP in August |
HARRISBURG SENATORS 66-52, 2nd place E.L. West, ½ game behind
| Good | Tyler Moore .333/.385/.590 since All-Star Break |
| Bad | Adam Fox .159/.245/.318 since All-Star Break |
| Interesting | Rafael Martin 0.95 ERA, 0.88 WHIP |
POTOMAC NATIONALS 24-22, 2nd place C.L. North Division, 4 games behind (53-62 overall)
| Good | Sandy Leon .275/.331/.443 since C.L. All-Star Break |
| Bad | 535 RA (4.65/G) is 36 R more than 7th place C.L. pitching staff |
| Interesting | The chance to make the playoffs despite being 6th in hitting, 7th in fielding, 8th in pitching |
HAGERSTOWN SUNS 23-22, 4th place Sally League North Divison, 4 games behind (63-52 overall)
| Good | Michael Taylor .324/.373/.610 since All-Star Break |
| Bad | Dean Weaver 6.62 ERA, 1.53 WHIP |
| Interesting | Adrian Nieto .522 SLG in first 6G |
AUBURN DOUBLEDAYS 32-22, T1st place Pinckney Division, New York-Penn League, 1½ games ahead
| Good | Brian Dupra 2.96 ERA, 1.23 WHIP as a starter |
| Bad | Angel Montilla .184/.304/.289 in August |
| Interesting | Justin Miller .467 SLG, 1E in 44G |
GCL NATIONALS 14-27, 4th place GCL East, 17 games behind (Eliminated)
| Good | 19-y.o. Estarlin Martinez .311/.406/.517 |
| Bad | J.C. Valdez, Wes Schill 12E in 29, 32G |
| Interesting | Jack McGeary 1.13 ERA, 1.25 WHIP in first 3G (8IP) |
DSL NATIONALS 29-32, 7th place, Boca Chica South Division, 10 games behind
| Good | Gilberto Mendez 5-0, 2.35 ERA, 1.16 WHIP |
| Bad | Bienvenido Valdez .111/.304/.111 in last 10G |
| Interesting | Wilman Rodriguez .333/.389/.515 since DSL All-Star Break |
Moore seems to be doing what he did last year…start REALLY slowly and then tear it up in the second half. Maybe he plays 1B for the Nats after they unload LaRoche for prospects next year. (and Morse stays in Left)
Boy, sure is a lot of great stuff to chew on here.
There’s now 3 pitchers in Syracuse who have a decent shot of starting in S.W. next spring.
So many good stories in Harrisburg right now. I 2nd Sec 314 on Moore, hopefully he can carry them into the playoffs.
There seems so much buzzz on the internet about Taylor in Hagerstown now. A .983 OPS? Wow!
For all of those who were paying attention during the bad old days…… Go Jack McGeary!
Finally, allow me….
1) Bill Rhinehart — .986 OPS since being dumped, er traded, by the Nats.
2) Chris Manno — 5 games- 2 hits & 2 walks allowed, and a LOWER ERA than he had in Hagerstown.
The Rhinhart Mafia & Manno’s Minions live!
Mark L,
Just curious who your 3 pitchers are with a decent shot next spring and why?
Thanks for the info!
Tom D — The front office has been saying for a month now that they want to see what Milone and Peacock can do in September.
You have to add Meyers now to that mix, he’s back to his old self now with a great August. It’s easy to forget that Meyers missed almost all of 2010 with that foot injury, so there was some mystery as to what he could do this year. It’s so much easier to root for these guys than the Jason Marquis’s of the world.
Sue with those type of team statistics for Potomac and they will likely make the playoffs what does that say about the Carolina League? A down year?
It shows that the playoff format has some flaws. In an eight-team league with a balanced schedule, divisions are meaningless, so there is a certain degree of luck to making the playoffs.
In any given half in which there are more than two “good” teams in a given division, someone’s going to get screwed.
Kinston, for example, could miss the playoffs and have a better record than Potomac in the second half.
It’s close this year, but I recall rather vividly a 2007 Potomac team that won 40+ games in the second half but had to step aside to a ~.500 Salem team that backed into the playoffs because Kinston won both halves.