Good, Bad, Interesting – Vol. 17
Our weekly look at the leaders, trailers, and outliers in the Washington Nationals minor leagues.
SYRACUSE CHIEFS 58-61, 5th place I.L. North, 8 games behind
| Good | Carlos Rivero .371/.451/.649 since All-Star break (27G) |
| Bad | 713 pitching K’s last in I.L. (next-worst, 824) |
| Interesting | Mitch Atkins 0.87ERA, 0.39WHIP in last six relief appearances |
HARRISBURG SENATORS 53-59, 5th place E.L. West, 13½ games behind
| Good | Justin Bloxom .281/.324/.344 last 10G |
| Bad | Team OBP of .315 dead last in Eastern League |
| Interesting | Team streaky — 3+ Wins, eight times; 3+ Losses, eight times |
POTOMAC NATIONALS 21-25, T3rd place C.L. North Division, 1½ games behind (52-64 overall)
| Good | Current starters named Meyers or Karns: 1.73ERA, 0.93WHIP |
| Bad | Current starters not named Meyers or Karns: 5.98ERA, 1.67WHIP |
| Interesting | Steve Souza Jr. .875OPS in 12G |
HAGERSTOWN SUNS 25-22, T3rd place Sally League North Divison, 1 game behind (67-49 overall)
| Good | Matt Skole 1.019OPS (Best in Low-A) |
| Bad | Wilson Eusebio 7.71ERA, 1.88WHIP |
| Interesting | Billy Burns .323BA, 3rd in Sally Lg. (.328 vs. RHBs, .315 vs. LHBs) First full year of switch-hitting |
AUBURN DOUBLEDAYS 30-20, 1st place Pinckney Division, N.Y.-Penn League, 4 games ahead
| Good | Mike McQuillan .300/.371/.488 in 23G |
| Bad | Jason Smith 7.94ERA, 1.85WHIP in 22⅔ IP |
| Interesting | Nick Lee 43K in 42IP |
GCL NATIONALS 20-25, 4th Place GCL East, 8½ games behind
| Good | Joel Barrientos 3-0, 2.48ERA, 1.29WHIP |
| Bad | Michael Albaladejo .483OPS |
| Interesting | Hayden Jennings .281BA, 9SB in last 10G |
DSL NATIONALS 31-26, 3rd Place Boca Chica South Division, 9½ games behind
| Good | 19-y.o. Younaifred Aguero .294/.397/.394 in 40G | |
| Bad | 20-y.o. Philips Valdez 5.80ERA, 2.01WHIP in 40⅓ IP | |
| Interesting | 19-y.o. LHP Hector Silvestre 2-1, 1.71ERA in last four appearances |
If Bloxom’s triple slash is the best you could come up with for Harrisburg, then things really must be looking pretty bleak…
One of the beat writers has offered to shave his head if the Sens finish at or above .500
Congrats on the new pup, is she trained in copy editting?
Riley is our new IT gal. Perhaps even security, but first she needs to stop barking at her own reflection.
For folks that missed it, I created an Staff Photos album on the site’s Facebook page
Yes, the dog photos are the best!
Carlos Rivera’s OPS — Wow
Billy Burns is fascinating, zero adjustment problems to switch hitting. Next year is a big year for him.
From a pitching perspective, the minors are definitely bleak. The only team that will make the playoffs is Auburn and their pitching is pretty gloomy too. Whether two good pitchers and Rendon at Potomac will do the job is being answered. Hagerstown is doing its usual late season swoon, while Harrisburg and Syracuse haven’t a snowball’s hope. But have you seen our major league team lately–a product of said minor leagues.
I dont think the pitching is that bad, with Karns, Meyer, Giolito, Pinyero, and Perry(plus whoever im forgeting) to go along with Zimmermann, Detwiler, Strasburg, and Gonzalez locked down at the MLB level
Who I’d add to your list of solid minor leaguers by stats this season:
Auburn Starters: Mooneyham (2.53 ERA), Monar (2.68), Lee (3.86)
Auburn Relivers: Henke (3.25), Self (3.47)
Hagerstown Starters: Schwartz (3.8)
Hagerstown Relievers: Meza (2.54), Holt (3.96 ERA), Bates (2.81)
Potomac Relievers: Holland (1.29), Wort (2.14)
Were also forgeting Sammy Solis, who will be back next year. Hagerstown and Auburn seem to be stacked with talent, while Potomac and Harrisburg seem a little weak
Auburn boasts a VERY solid 5 man starting rotation:
Monar – 9 starts, 2.68 ERA, 42 Ks in 43.2 IP
Mooneyham – 5 starts (6 games), 2.53 ERA, 14Ks in 21.1 IP
Lee – 7 starts (9 games), 3.86 ERA, 43 ks in 42 IP
Pineyro – 4 starts, 3.27 ERA, 19 Ks in 22 IP
Encarnacion – 8 starts (9 games), 4.43 ERA, 36 Ks in 42.2 IP
That’s not many pitchers at the minor league level, jeff. And Giolito, like Purke is a question mark health wise. Actually, that is not quite true. As far as I am concerned, Purke isn’t a question mark. He will never be healthy in the foreseeable future. Perry is interesting though, and there are a couple of other possibilities. But overall, not much to get excited about and our minor league standings attest to that.