Wednesday’s News & Notes
| Team | Yesterday | Today | Probable Pitchers |
| Syracuse | Postponed | @ Rochester, 7:05 p.m. |
Lannan (0-2, 7.50) vs. Thompson (1-2, 3.21) |
| Harrisburg | Won, 5-1 | @ Altoona, 6:30 p.m. |
Rosenbaum (2-0, 1.25) vs. Baker (2-1, 3.29) |
| Potomac | Lost, 6-4 | @ Winston-Salem, 12:00 p.m. |
Grace (1-1, 7.00) vs. Buch (0-1, 6.75) |
| Hagerstown | Won, 9-2 | @ Rome, 7:00 p.m. |
Hill (2-0, 2.45) vs. Perez (0-2, 12.27) |
SYRACUSE — PPD
With snow/sleet in the forecast, and sub-40 degree temperatures, the game between the Rochester Red Wings was postponed on Tuesday night, to be replayed on Thursday morning as part of a doubleheader. Tonight’s game is scheduled for a 7:05 p.m. but rain is forecast for parts of this afternoon though it is significantly warmer.
Harrisburg 5 Altoona 1
• Mandel (W, 2-1) 6IP, 6H, 1R, 1ER, 3BB, 3K
• Frias 2IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• Ivany 2-4, 3B, HR, RBI
• Kobernus 2-4, 2R, 4SB (15)
Speed, defense, and good pitching were all on display in Altoona as Harrisburg used strong doses of all three elements in a 5-1 win over the Curve. Jeff Kobernus stole four of the seven bases the Sens swiped, including teaming up with Chris Rahl on a double steal of home and second base in the third. His 15 steals is second to Billy Hamilton’s 18 in affiliated baseball. Harrisburg turned three double plays on the night to help Jeff Mandel scatter his nine baserunners allowed over six innings, as the veteran allowed just one run to raise his ERA to 1.09 for the season.
Winston-Salem 6 Potomac 4
• Winters (L, 1-2) 5⅓ IP, 9H, 6R, 6ER, 3BB, 4K
• Wort 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 3K
• Freitas 2-4, 2-2B, RBI
• Keyes 1-2, R, 2BB, HR, RBI, CS
• Oduber 1-3, 2R, 2BB, SB
Despite the wind blowing out at a hitter’s park, the two teams traded zeros early before the P-Nats exploded for three runs in the 5th, highlighted by Kevin Keyes’ 3rd HR of the season. Winston-Salem, however, answered with two in the 5th and four in the sixth en route to a 6-4 win, the 15th defeat in the regular season for Potomac since the ballpark opened in 2010. Kyle Winters took the loss, giving up nine hits and three walks over five and a 1/3rd innings. He was charged with six runs as Neil Holland couldn’t prevent either of the two runners he inherited from scoring. Rob Wort struck out the side in the 8th, the second time in three outings he’s achieved the feat.
Hagerstown 9 Rome 2
• Meyer 4IP, 2H, 2R, 2ER, 4BB, 6K
• Dupra (W, 1-3) 3IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 2K
• Nieto 4-5, R, 2B, RBI
• Dykstra 2-4, RBI
• Skole 1-2, 2R, HR, RBI, 2BB, SF
A pair of four-run innings pushed the Suns past the Rome Braves en route to a 9-2 win. Adrian Nieto led the 12-hit parade with a 4-for-5 night, while Matt Skole smacked his 4th HR of the season, a solo shot in the 3rd that broke a 0-0 tie. Brian Dupra got the win in relief with three scoreless innings. Alex Meyer started but labored through four innings — four walks, six strikeouts — as he continually got into long counts and struggled with his command. (At least that’s what I saw on MiLB.tv last night. Once Mike Newman of ScoutingTheSally.com files his story, I’ll link to it). Notes: Steven Souza made his first start of the season, going 0-for-5 with two strikeouts, but played right field, indicating that his listing on the Suns roster as an OF may not be a mistake. On a similar note, Dupra’s usage in relief last night and Hill’s start tonight may not necessarily be a flip-flop. Dupra had not pitched in eight days and Hill has not pitched since a week ago.
It’s still early in the year (less and less by the day), but is 31 year old Seth Bynum really all that is standing between Kobernus and Syracuse at this point? 6’2″ 210lbs and 15 SB all ready? That’s impressive. 53 last year, equally imprsesive.
Corey Brown has tanked the last 10 games sadly.
As I always say, wait for the word to get around the league. If he’s still doing this in late May, he’ll get the call. That said, the GBI curse may be in effect — since I praised him for his career-high OBP, he’s not taken a walk.
Also, whose been the most impressive SP to you so far this year?
Besides Tommy Milone throwing another eight shutout innings?
I’d have to say Danny Rosenbaum, but let’s not start pounding the drum just yet.
Mentioning Milone, very very cruel 😉
Tommy Milone — 4 starts — 27 IP — 2.00 ERA. Sigh!
It just goes to show you that you do not need to throw hard to be successful. I wish Rizzo would realize this.
I doubt Rizzo is going to be asking for any outside advice as to how to construct a pitching staff at this point. ;0
Rizzo wanted to keep Milone. Billy Beane insisted. Its apparently what took the deal so long to consummate. Plus there were other teams interested in sending Oakland a package of prospects for Gonzalez.
We’ll just have to hope Rosenbaum develops into the same kind of pitcher with somewhat more velocity.
Seems to me Math whiz Jeff Mandel has developed a new pitch that might put him in that category as well?
“We’ll just have to hope Rosenbaum develops into the same kind of pitcher with somewhat more velocity.”
He already has — Milone tops out at ~90. Rosenbaum tops out at ~93. A lot of Rosenbaum’s control problems last year were attributable to going from the 88-90 range to the 91-93 range, but he has always thrown harder than Milone. We’re just now starting to see what he can accomplish with Milone-like command.
Gio Gonzalez — 23 IP — 27K — 1.52 ERA. Sigh??
Wang is scheduled to pitch in Potomac on Saturday.
Interesting to see if the Taiwanese, um, faithful will be out to root for him.
groan
In the ‘Most Ridiculous Comparison of the Day’ category, another 1st year pitcher’s line is: 4 starts, 26 IP, 2.42 ERA. One Yu Darvish.
Milone continues to surprise! Good for him.
Advanced stats show Milone looking a lot better than Darvish. In fact he currently is the worse starter on the Texas staff.
Understood and agreed…..my point was really to point out the obvious, which is that the “Headline Grabbers” (be they teams or players) are not always the most efficient at their craft! 😉
Here is why I have grown to like the Gio Gonzalez trade. With Gio Gonzales, we have 3 potential aces under team control for a long time. We also have Ross Detwiler who is looking like he could be a top 3 starter. So that leaves one spot in the rotation, which there are always guys like Jackson out there to fill. So with Gio Gonzalez we have the top of our rotation locked up, with plenty of players to fill out the last 2 rotation spots. While I really miss Tommy Milone, Brad Peacock, Derek Norris, and A.J. Cole we really dont have a spot any of thoes 4 players, almost guaranteed. I would make that trade any day of the week
Water under the bridge, really. I don’t think I’ve changed my stance since that day.
I look at this way: Four years ago, when I first found NFA (’07-’08), it was chock-full of whiners and complainers. They weren’t fans of the minors, or even the players — they were looking for something better than what they saw in DC.
Well, now they have what they want and they have gone away. And I’m perfectly happy to serve those who remain, the ones that are a fan of the process, the players, and of course, the sport.
Sure, there are folks that are here because they want to see the future Nats, and I’m not belittling them, but they need to realize — as you have mentioned — that as the parent club gets better, it becomes a lot harder to get to DC. Root for them to do well, to make it to the majors, but understand that might be with another organization.
/Steps off soapbox…
I will say this, the main reason that I follow the minors is just I love seeing how players go from draft to the majors. I also love that it adds 4-5 more meaningful baseball games to me every night, which is sweet. I also love it becuase you can get favorite players from the minors, that when they make it to the majors and succeed, its a sweet feeling(for me the first was Atahualpa, Severino). Lastly I love being able to know who could be up in the majors down the line, and knowing more about said players than the Nationals announcers :). Keep up the good work Luke, as following the minors wouldnt be nearly as fun without you, and out great commentors
Just reread your ‘stance’ Luke. And you certainly hit it right on. I was a little wishy-washy at first, but the trade looks good for both sides. If all four former Nats continue to do well and become major league players, it still is a good trade. Timing is the key to this trade.
Don’t give me too much credit, I’m still liable to complain about not getting “help” from Hagerstown if the P-Nats are in playoff contention 😉
Same for me. At first I hated it, but began to understand that it is a different mentality cheering for a good team, and that trades that wouldnt have made sense before make sense now.