Wednesday’s News & Notes
| Team | Yesterday | Today | Probable Pitcher |
| Syracuse | Won, 4-2 | vs. Pawtucket, 7:00 p.m. |
Tom Milone (10-6, 3.43) vs. Greg Smith (1-0, 1.29) |
| Harrisburg | Won, 4-1 | @ Portland, 12:00 p.m. |
Oliver Perez (3-4, 3.13) vs. Jeremy Kehrt (2-0, 4.52) |
| Potomac | Won, 11-1 | vs. Wilmington, 7:00 p.m. |
Evan Bronson (4-4, 3.43) vs. Allen Caldwell (1-0, 0.79) |
| Hagerstown | Won, 13-8 | vs. Hickory, 7:05 p.m. |
A.J. Cole (4-6, 3.43) vs. Nick Tepesch (6-4, 3.58) |
| Auburn | Lost, 6-1 | @ Mahoning Valley, 7:05 p.m. |
Wirkin Estevez (5-2, 3.50) vs. Joseph Colon (4-3, 3.38) |
| GCL Nationals | Cancelled vs. GCL Astros |
@ GCL Mets, 12:00 p.m. |
TBD vs. TBD |
Syracuse 4 Pawtucket 2
• Peacock (W, 4-1) 5IP, 4H, 2R, 2ER, 2BB, 3K
• Mock 2⅓ IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 2K
• Lombardozzi 2-3, R, BB, 2SB
• Antonelli 0-2, R, 3BB, SB
Tug Hulett’s 2RBI single in the 6th broke a 2-2 tie as the Chiefs downed the PawSox, 4-2. Brad Peacock got his 4th AAA win, allowing both Pawtucket runs on four hits and two walks. Steve Lombardozzi led the nine-hit offense with a 2-for-3 night, stealing two bases. Garrett Mock, Atahualpa Severino, and Josh Wilkie combined for four solid innings of relief. The win improved Syracuse to 59-68, 12½ games off the pace.
Harrisburg 4 Portland 1
• Rosenbaum (W, 3-0) 7IP, 4H, 1R, 1ER, BB, 8K
• Lehman (H, 4) 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, K
• Pena [S, 8] 1IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, K
• Fox 2-3, R, HR, 4RBI
Adam Fox drove in all four Sens runs while Danny Rosenbaum made yet another strong start for the Sens, as Harrisburg beat Portland by a 4-1 count again. Fox twice delivered two RBIs with two outs, singling in the 2nd and homering in the 7th. Rosenbaum struck out eight and allowed just a run on four hits and a walk over seven innings for his third win for the Senators. The win keeps Harrisburg 1½ games ahead of Bowie in the E.L. West.
Potomac 11 Wilmington 1
• Solis 4IP, 4H, 1R, 1ER, 0BB, 6K
• Holland (W, 3-0) 3IP, 1H, 0R, BB, 2K
• Kobernus 4-6, 3R, 2B, 2RBI, 2SB
• Soriano 2-6, R, 2B, 2RBI
The P-Nats scored early and often and showed no mercy, demolishing the Blue Rocks by an 11-1 count. Sammy Solis went four innings in his second outing since coming off the DL while Neil Holland got the win in relief. Jeff Kobernus led the 13-hit parade with a 4-for-6 night. The win gains a game on Frederick, slicing the Keys lead to 3½ games while the Hillcats fell to the Pelicans to fall to six games behind Potomac.
Hagerstown 13 Kannapolis 8
• Slaten 1 IP, 3H, 1R, 1ER, 0BB, 2K
• Grace (W, 12-5) 5IP, 6H, 3R, 3ER, 3BB, 4K
• Cuevas 3-4, 2R, 2-2B, 3RBI
• Nieto 2-3, 3R, 2B, HR, 4RBI, 2BB
• Curran 2-6, 2RBI, SB
The Suns fell behind early (3-0), went up big (10-4) and held on late for a 13-8 win against the first-half champion Crawdads. Adrian Nieto led the offense with a double and a homer for four RBI, enabling Matt Grace to get the win with three runs allowed over five innings. The win keeps pace with Kannapolis, but the elimination number is now nine, as Hagerstown trails Kannapolis by four games in the Sally North.
Mahoning Valley 7 Auburn 6
• Meza 3IP, 4H, 4R, 2ER, 2BB, 3K
• Hawkins 2IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 3K
• Skole 2-4, R, 2-2B, RBI
• Ramsey 2-5, R, 2B, HR, 2RBI
Three big innings did in the Doubledays as they fell to the Mahoning Valley Scrappers, 7-6. Christian Garcia got tagged for three runs in the bottom of the 6th to turn a 5-4 lead into a 7-5 deficit. Auburn went just 1-for-9 with RISP while collecting 11 hits. The loss blew a chance to gain some ground on Williamsport, which lost both ends of a doubleheader, as Auburn still leads the NYPL’s Pinckney Division by 1½ games.
GCL Nationals — CNCLD
Rain swept away the final meeting between the G-Nats and G-Astros, giving the GCL East’s cellar dwellers an unscheduled day off in the final week of the 2011 campaign.
Too early to give Mock an “interesting”?
Unless he gets hammered in a game between now and the end of the week, he’s the leading candidate… and I appreciate the hint because as I’ve said previously, sometimes there’s not much interesting but a whole lot of of meh.
Mock may earn an “Interesting” footnote in the GBI, but to me, all he’s doing is finally showing that he can be an effective RP at the AAA level after seven years in pro baseball. Whoopee, so now he’s the Henry Rodriguez of Central New York, except he’s 4 1/2 years older. His overall 2011 numbers are still worse than nearly everyone else in the Syracuse bullpen, including guys like Zinicola, Mandel & Wilkie who have never sniffed the coffee at the MLB level.
Sorry for what might come off as a bitter response, but this knucklehead has been needlessly sucking up a 40-man roster spot since the end of 2008, imo.
BinM — A belated thanks to you for your chart on Rule V eligibles. Everybody, if you haven’t seen it go back to yeaterday to take a look.
The truth is, the improved system was going to make this years Rule V a tough one already. Now, with two dfraft picks being given major league contracts, we’re in a world of hurt.
FYI, the Red Sox 2 weeks ago made a 4 for 1 trade because they felt and they were upfront on this, they were going to lose players in the Rule V anyway.
Except for the bums in Auburn, a great day for the system last nite!
Mark: Thanks, and you’re right about the 40-man – That’s how teams keep prospects who show the highest upside as they approach RuleV status. In 2005 – 2008, those extra 15 names were more likely to be journeymen who could be called up to cover injuries. Today, the 40-man may have only 4-5 guys who we look at and say “Why are they still on the roster?”
Still, with the draft quality Rizzo & Co. have been collecting, we’re reaching the point where there is more value in the system than can be adquately protected. The front office will be faced with some hard choices prior to the Winter Meetings this fall.
Any word on who is going to the FLorida Instructional League?
markfd: Clear-cut info on the FIL selections probably won’t be available until mid to late September. Stay tuned.
Was Peacock removed after the 5th by design, or was he struggling with his pitch count?
Possibly a little of both. He had thrown 82 pitches through five, which isn’t horrible, but if his limit had been dropped to 90 (just a guess) then it makes sense to pull him and let the reliever start the inning. I’m not privy to the plans, obviously, but FWIW, Peacock is just a 1/3rd of an inning short of last year’s total.
Reading between the lines, if Peacock is being limited in a dead-end season with SYR, they could be saving him for either a MLB callup or a posting to the AFL. I’d lean toward the AFL option at this point, given his relative youth & RuleV status.
I think when you look at the 40 man, as it stands today, you can see a bunch of guys who will come off to make room. But looking at BinM’s list I see six players to make room for and i can only see 5 spaces to come off. This will be interesting to say the least. We’ve got to keep in mind there could be some trading going on before or during the winter meetings. The fun stuff begins people. Thx for all the info everyone one here.
FWIW, I’ve got the WSH 40-man roster at 42 total, with 16 solid ‘keepers’, eight ‘Tender / non-tender’ possibles, nine trade possibles, and nine FA’s at the end of 2011. Both SS & Slaten are currently on rehab assignments, so space will need to be made (or not) for them in 2011.
Opinion; Strasburg gets added, supplanting JZimm in the rotation, with LaRoche moving to the 60-DL to make room (40/43). Slaten might get the Gaudin treatment, proving he’s healthy but getting a release at the end of his rehab. That would take the WSH roster to 39 / 42, with Kimball & Carr still being eligible for 60-day DL assignments to open two additional roster spots.
At the end of the season, the 17 players on either the ‘Tender / Non-tender’ or FA lists not offered contracts for 2012 will clear additional space for some of the exposed minor-leaguers, but it won’t save all of them. I think we all hope that Rizzo & Co. chooses wisely.
Love it. “The win improved Syracuse to 59-68, 12½ games off the pace” How do you improve upon being 9 games under .500 and out of the playoffs in June? Oh well, as much as I’ll miss my team until April, this version of it going away can’t happen fast enough. Please Washington, clean out the crap from Knorr, Booker (bad attitude) and Browne (competes with Eckstein for worst hitting coach in pro baseball) and the losers like Maya, Frazier, Bynum and their ilk and get me the playoff team you promised us. Typical Washington, everytime their mouth moves, they’re lying.
Considering that it’s August, that’s a very good question, Don.
The last two teams the past seasons were pretty good weren’t they? I don’t think they expected the Nats-like offensive ineptitude in Syracuse starting from the spring. You mention Frazier? Look at what he did last season? Corey Brown also had a Werth/Desmond like season long slump. No big hitters as Marerro doesn’t qualify … yet. And he is still very, very young. Flores wasn’t much help at the plate either.
Pitching wise the starters were mostly spring coming out of the spring. Unlike last year’s crop led by JD Martin (last year’s ACE remember!!!). One thing that is different is that younger guys have been promoted and that is a GOOD thing. They just need seasoning Don. That’s the fun of watching the minors? Isn’t it?
And WTH are you worried about? The Camillus Wegman’s may soon see two guys who arguably are the two best prospects in all of major league baseball: NEXT YEAR: Anthony Rendon and Bryce Harper.
Throw in Matt Purke, Brad Peacock, Rosenbaum, and Milone? Seems to me like the Chiefs just might have a decent starting rotation coming out of ST 2012? And if they manage to keep Antonelli and Lombardozzi doesn’t get promoted … add to Harper, Rendon and perhaps Derrick Norris? I expect Corey Brown will hit next year as well.
Might be an interesting year in Syracuse.
Hence why I said I can’t wait for this years joke to end. And it won’t matter who the hell comes through here, Derek Jeter and Paul O’Neill in their friggin’ primes could hit here and Jered Weaver and Roy Halladay could anchor the rotation, if this coaching staff remains in place, well, let’s just say thank god John Simone only signed a 2 year contract.
Rendon is a crap shoot healthwise and after the Anaheim Ducks experiment with the hockey team here, I’ve seen enough douchebags to worry about Harper. My apologies if I can’t say that here, I honestly don’t know if I can or not. And do you really think Tommy or Peacock are going to be here for long? Get real. The Nats pitching blows as bad as the Hurricane coming your way, those boys ain’t going to be long for Syracuse.
bitter much?
Just got the 411 that Oduber is going to rejoin the Suns in Asheville. :-))
Hooray Oduber, Hooray, Hagerstown! His bat can only help the Suns at this point.
Yeah we need all the help we can get…losing 5-2 bottom of 9th. Kelso is cold as is 1/2 the team. Sadly, a chance at the playoffs is disappearing quickly. :-((
TBR: Look on the bright side – At least you’re not reliving the 2nd half debacles from 2009 & 2010, and you’ve been able to watch some promising players to boot.