Karns and Taylor: Carolina League Pitcher, Player of the Week
It’s a Potomac sweep for the Player and Pitcher of the Week for the Carolina League, as Nathan Karns and Michael Taylor were named the Pitcher and Player of the Week for the week of July 16-22.
Karns threw a total of 12 shutout innings in two starts (Monday, Saturday) giving up a hit, two walks and striking out eight. The 24-year-old is 6-2 with a 1.88 ERA, 0.82 WHIP in nine starts for Potomac, and 9-2 with a 1.95 ERA, 0.90 WHIP in 20 appearances overall. He leads the Nats minors with 122 strikeouts.
Taylor hit safely in six of the seven games during the week, going 14-for29 with four doubles, three home runs, and eight RBI for a Nintendo-esque line of .483/.531/.931. The 21-year-old raised his average from .226 to .245 with the outburst.
Both players are products of the 2009 draft, with Taylor picked in the 6th round and Karns going in the 12th.
Interesting about Taylor. I believed he had some real offensive talent, but wow. I know we all suspect this is a minor blip on the radar, especially given the timing of the Great Goodwin Leap Frog of ’12. But man, did he respond to motivation! It will be interestting to see if Taylor keeps this up, or if he will return to his historic levels.
Let’s remember Taylor’s just a pup, barely 21.
What the Nats are asking of Goodwin is extraordinary and doesn’t reflect badly on Taylor.
We’ve got 2 terrific centerfield prospects.
One is a right handed bat and the other a left-handed bat. Both could conceivably fit into an outfield together. Another reason why the Jayson Werth deal looks more and more like a major mistake.
The Nats are winning because they promoted young prospects and let them play. Werth has not really contributed all that much this year or last year for that matter.
Werth added credibility needed to attract other ml free agents. Hasn’t worked out, but worth the risk.
Looks like Brian Broderick is back. Going to AA Harrisburg apparently.