Sunday’s News & Notes
| Team | Yesterday | Today | Probable Pitchers |
| Syracuse | Won, 7-1 | vs. Rochester, 5:00 p.m. |
Tatusko (3-3, 3.59) vs. Albers (9-4, 3.11) |
| Harrisburg | Lost, 3-2 (10 inn.) | vs. Akron, 2:00 p.m. |
Ray (2-0, 1.59) vs. Brach (5-6, 4.77) |
| Potomac | Won, 5-2 | vs. Salem, 6:05 p.m. |
Solis (0-0, 2.70) vs. Augliera (6-6, 4.69) |
| Hagerstown | Lost, 9-4 | @ Greensboro, 4:00 p.m. |
Dickson (0-2, 6.85) vs. Del Orbe (5-5, 4.79) |
| Auburn | Lost, 8-4 | @ Vermont, 5:05 p.m |
Voth (0-0, 2.25) vs. Trivino (0-1, 3.24) |
| GCL Nationals | Won, 6-3 | OFF DAY | N/A |
| DSL Nationals | OFF DAY | OFF DAY | N/A |
Syracuse 7 Rochester 1
• Maya (W, 5-6) 6⅔ IP, 2H, R, ER, BB, 2K, HR
• Lowe 1⅓ IP, 2H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• Walters 3-4, 3R, 2B, HR (20), 2RBI
• Rhymes 3-4, R, 2B, 2RBI
• Brown 2-3, 2R, 2B, 3B, BB
Yunesky Maya was one pitch short of tossing a six and 2/3rds scoreless, Zach Walters was triple shy of the cycle as the Chiefs clipped the Red Wings, 7-1. The 31-y.o. Cuban allowed just two hits, including a solo shot in the 5th, walked one and struck out two for his 5th win. The offense served up a baker’s dozen of hits, led by Walters and Will Rhymes, who both went 3-for-4 with a double and two RBI.
Akron 3 Harrisburg 2 (10 inn.)
• Treinen 5⅔ IP, 4H, 2R, 1ER, 3BB, 4K
• Grace 1⅓ IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• Perry (L, 0-3) 1⅔ IP, 2H, R, ER, 0BB, 2K, HR
• Martinson 2-4, R, 3B, HR, 2RBI, 2K, 2E
Jesus Aguilar’s solo shot in the 10th off Ryan Perry propelled the Aeros past the Senators for a 3-2 win in extras. For five innings, Harrisburg was held hitless and they mustered just six hits total. Jason Martinson accounted for both runs, connecting for a big fly in the 5th and driving in Carlos Rivero with an RBI triple in the 7th. Starter Blake Treinen went five and 2/3rds innings, allowed two runs (one earned) on four hits and three walks while striking out four.
Potomac 5 Lynchburg 2
• Cole (W, 6-3) 6IP, 2H, 2R, ER, BB, 3K, HR
• Benincasa (SV, 7) 1IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 0K
• Keyes 1-2, R, 2B, 2BB, 2RBI
• Nieto 1-3, R, BB
Potomac rebounded from just its second six-run loss of the season with a 5-2 win over Lynchburg. A.J. Cole dominated eight of the nine Hillcats bats, but Trent Moses solved him twice, singling and homering for the two hits Cole allowed over six innings. The 21-y.o. walked one and struck out three while earning his sixth win. Kevin Keyes led the P-Nats attack with two walks and a two-run double, while Michael Taylor and Franciscoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo Soriano contributed RBI singles.
Greensboro 9 Hagerstown 4
• Encarnacion (L, 7-6) 5⅓ IP, 8H, 5R, 5ER, 2BB, 4K
• Henke 2⅓ IP, 4H, 3R, 3ER, BB, 0K, 2-1 IR-S
• Mesa 3-4, RBI, CS
• Renda 3-4, CS
Greensboro exploded for four runs in the bottom of the 8th to put away the game for a 9-4 win over Hagerstown. It was the second four-run rally of the game, the first of which chased starter Pedro Encarnacion in the 6th. The 22-y.o. Dominican suffered the loss with five runs allowed on eight hits and two walks. He set down four on strikes. The Suns got double digits in hits and strikeouts (10 apiece) with Narciso Mesa and Tony Renda each going 3-for-4 and Bryan Lippincott completing the hat trick.
Vermont 8 Auburn 4
• Williams 4⅓ IP, 5H, 4R, 4ER, 4BB, 2K
• Medina (L, 0-3) 1IP, 2H, 4R, 4ER, 2BB, 2K, HR(GS)
• Foat 2-4, 2R, HR, RBI
• Chubb 2-4
The last of the 8th was unkind to the Doubledays, too, as the Lake Monsters snapped a 4-4 tie with a grand slam off Silvio Medina for an 8-4 win. Shortstop-turned-pitcher Deion Williams continues to struggle with the conversion, knocked for four runs on five hits and four walks over four and a 1/3rd innings, which actually lowered his ERA from 8.44 to 8.41. Matt Foat and Austin Chubb both went 2-for-4 as Auburn was held to just six hits and three walks while Vermont committed three errors, which lead to an unearned run in the 4th.
GCL Nationals 6 GCL Mets 3
• Giolito ⅔IP, 0H, R, ER, 3BB, K, WP
• Spezial (W, 1-0) 2IP, 3H, R, ER, 0BB, 5K
• K. Rodriguez (H, 1) 3IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• Jennings 3-4, R, 2B, 3B, 3RBI, SB
• McQuillan 1-3, R, 2B, BB, RBI
The G-Nats continue to roll, doubling up the G-Mets, 6-3, for their 19th win in 24 games. Lucas Giolito, who went a career-high three innings on Monday couldn’t make it out of the 1st, walking three of five batters faced and presumably hitting his pitch limit as he was lifted with two outs. Niko Spezial got the win in relied with a run on three hits over two innings, though he got five of six out by way of the K. Hayden Jennings led the offense with a 3-for-4 game, falling a homer shy of the cycle but driving in three.
DSL Nationals — OFF DAY
Today is the DSL All-Star Game, which pits the prospects from… wait for it… the American League vs. the National League. Two D-Nat pitchers made the squad: 18-year-old Venezuelan reliever Melvi Salazar and 17-year-old Dominican starter Maximo Valerio (he turns 18 tomorrow).
Consider these numbers when you look at why the AAA Chiefs are doing so badly. Here is tonight’s lineup with the batting averages, rbi totals, and OPS numbers for the last 10 games.
Perez .364 3rbi 1.006
Rhymes .270 8rbi .858
Espinosa .282 6rbi .828
Moore .342 9rbi .983
Maerro .256 3rbi .592
Brown .257 5rbi .887
Walters .188 3rbi .587
Solano .167 3rbi .475
Rahl .472 6rbi 1.250
Why would you bat your best hitter over the last 10 games (and for most of the season) last? Does Espinosa have to hit 3rd? And if so why not hit Rahl 5th? Why put your third best rbi man after the players who have the least chance of being in scoring position when he comes up? On a team as pitching challenged as this one maximizing your offense is critical!
The point of the minor leagues is not to win games, it is to best develop the players so they can reach the major league. If they can win in the process, that’s great, but it is not the most important consideration.
With that in mine, Chris Rahl is 29 years old. He has absolutely no future with the Nationals. He’s inconsequential, filling a spot where there is no one else. For this reason, he’s batting in the most inconsequential spot in the line up. Perez, Espinosa, Moore, Marerro, Brown and Walters all do have a future, hence their prioritization.
Also, 10 games is a comically low threshold to determine batting order. For one, Walters is now hitting .219 6 RBI .742 since you posted (one game can change things dramatically). Also, over the past two weeks, Chad Tracy is hitting .417/.417/.583, but Ian Desmond is only hitting .289/.341/.342, and Harper is only hitting .235/.366/.382. Should Tracy supplant either of them in the batting order?
10 games gives you a real look at who is hitting now not who had a hot May.
As to who has a future with the Nationals probably all of the ones you named fall into the no future category. All of them have failed at the major league level except Walters who hasn’t been. If development was foremost then only Perez is really being prepared for a future role w a big league club (not the Nationals).
Additionally while development is important so is fostering a culture of winning and competing. It is only by playing the best most productive players that an organization can achieve that. None of the mentioned players have just been moved up from a lower league or are coming back from an injury. An organization that doesn’t play the best nine is not operating with integrity and has no way of really getting players to perform at maximum production. It also has no way of administering a standard to evaluate against. This leads to poor evaluations of talent and bad decisions. The Harpers and Strasbourgs of the world are easy to evaluate and value. The rest need a real framework in which to make good player personnel decisions.
“As to who has a future with the Nationals probably all of the ones you named fall into the no future category. All of them have failed at the major league level except Walters who hasn’t been.”
That is a very short sighted comment. Moore has struggled this year in the majors but was very solid last season. Espinosa has just as much of a succesful track record in the majors as he does failure and people seem to forget he is only 26. Eury Perez has too small of a sample size to be considered a failure but I do agree his future is not as a National more than likely. Corey Brown is a AAAA guy all the way and Marrero looks like one to me as well but Marrero still has age on his side vs Brown. Walters looks like a future utility guy with some pop off the bench.
“An organization that doesn’t play the best nine is not operating with integrity and has no way of really getting players to perform at maximum production.”
Who do you think they should be playing at Syracuse over the 9 in that lineup? You’re point is confusing. The team IS playing the best 9 but they just aren’t hitting them in the order YOU think they should be. Also we are talking about AAA where the majority of teams stock depth not prospects.
Didn’t mean to confuse. I wasn’t clear that the lineup is symptomatic of an organization that at the Major League level lets Espinosa play 44 games while hitting .158. That plays minor league second basemen as starting outfielders. This is all for a supposed contending club. It doesn’t seem to reward performance but operates on hoping things will work.
Yes Moore did well last year. But his future isn’t with the Nats. He won’t push Harper or Werth out of a corner of job and as a right handed hitting first baseman he isn’t the answer to Laroche (that spot will be Zimmerman’s given his continued throwing problems).Walters should be a 3rd baseman. He doesn’t work through the ball and double clutches his throws leading to a league leading number of errors at short. Espinosa should be a ss but he won’t supplant Desmond. Also his hitting even in AAA is still questionable.
Yes AAA isn’t about development most of the time. Most of that is done down in the low minors. AAA should be about fine tuning players and getting and keeping replacement parts ready to help the big club. Part of that is setting your batting order correctly and using you bullpen the right way. Neither of which are being done in Syracuse.