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Thursday’s News & Notes

Team Yesterday Today Probable Pitchers
Syracuse Won, 3-2 vs. Louisville,
11:00 a.m.		 Maya (5-6, 4.50) vs.
Pino (2-5, 3.30)
Harrisburg Won, 3-2 (10 inn.) @ Portland,
7:00 p.m.		 Cole (AA Debut) vs.
Barnes (5-6, 4.75)
Potomac Won, 9-8 @ Lynchburg,
7:05 p.m.		 Demny (1st A+ start of ’13) vs.
Miller (7-6, 3.56)
Hagerstown OFF DAY vs. Delmarva,
7:05 p.m.		 Turnbull (4-2, 5.60) vs.
Taylor (4-8, 3.10)
Auburn Won, 3-2; Lost, 4-1 vs. Williamsport,
7:05 p.m.		 Orlan (0-1, 4.56) vs.
Anderson (3-2, 3.22)
GCL Nationals Won, 3-1; Won, 3-0 vs. GCL Cardinals,
12:00 p.m.		 Giolito (0-0, 3.00) vs.
Flores (3-1, 3.80)
DSL Nationals Lost, 2-0 vs. DSL Pirates2,
10:30 a.m.		 Torres (0-3, 4.14) vs.
Batista (1-0, 3.07)



Syracuse 3 Louisville 2
• Clay 7IP, 5H, 2R, 2ER, BB, 3K
• Davis (W, 2-5) 1IP, 2H, 0R, 0BB, 2K
• Walters 2-4, 2B, HR, RBI
• Perez 2-5, RBI, SB

Eury Perez’s RBI single in the bottom of the ninth was the last post in a Syracuse picket fence, giving the Chiefs a 3-2 walkoff win over the Louisville Bats. Starter Caleb Clay gave up runs in the 3rd and 7th innings, allowing five hits and a walk while striking out three. Down 2-0, the Chiefs scored single runs in the final three innings. Zach Walters homered for the fourth time in five games to start the comeback. Chris Marrero’s two-out RBI single in the 8th tied it. Jeff Mandel tossed a 1-2-3 eighth while Erik Davis got the win with a scoreless 9th.

Harrisburg 3 New Hampshire 2 (10 inn.)
• Gilliam 6IP, 5H, R, ER, 3BB, 4K
• Grace (SV, 1) 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• Goodwin 1-3, R, HR, 2BB, RBI, OF assist at 2B
• Hood 1-3, BB, RBI, CS

Steve Souza Jr. walked with the bases loaded in the top of the 10th to plate what proved to be the winning run as Harrisburg edged New Hampshire, 3-2 to take the series 2-1. The base on balls gave Neil Holland the win and took the sting out of Aaron Barrett’s third blown save. Matt Grace retired the side in order for his first AA save. Brian Goodwin walked twice and hit a solo HR to the lead the Harrisburg offense, which was held to six hits and five walks.

Potomac 9 Lynchburg 8
• Purke 4⅔ IP, 9H, 6R, 3ER, BB, 3K
• Holt (W, 5-0) 1⅓ IP, 3H, 2R, 2ER, BB, 2K, 1-0 IR-S
• Wort (SV, 5) 2IP, 0H, 0R, BB, 4K
• Burns 1-3, 2R, 3B, 2RBI, BB
• Gilmartin 2-4, R, 2B, BB
• 36-minute rain delay

Potomac blew a 6-0 lead after five innings, but rallied against the Lynchburg bullpen for a 9-8 win. Starter Matt Purke hit the wall in the 5th, giving up all six runs (three earned, thanks to a Nieto throwing error on what should have been a rundown between home and third on a tapper back to the mound) and six of the nine hits he allowed. The 23-y.o. walked one and struck out three over four and 2/3rds innings. Every P-Nat batter hit safely, with Mike Gilmartin collecting two hits, while Billy Burns, Cutter Dykstra and Kevin Keyes each drove in two runs. Roster moves: RHPs Cameron Selik, Colin Bates activated from the DL; RHP Marcos Frias released.

Hagerstown Suns — OFF DAY
After a 4-3 swing though North Carolina, the Suns return to the Hub City for a four-game tilt against the Shorebirds. Hagerstown trails West Virginia by a ½ game but leads third-place Hickory by 2½ in the Sally North, as the Power have won six straight while the Crawdads have lost six straight. Roster moves: OF Mike McQuillan and 1B Shawn Pleffner reassigned from GCL; corresponding moves not yet announced.

Auburn 3 Williamsport 2 — (COMP.)
• Turnbull 2⅓ IP, 4H, 0R, 0BB, 2K
• Barrientos (W, 1-0) 2⅔ IP, 1H, 0R, BB, 0K, 2-2 IR-S
• Hollins (SV, 3) 2IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 0K
• Valdez 2-3, 2R, RBI
• Difo 1-3, BB, SB

Piking up where they left off on June 27, Auburn lost a 1-0 lead on a passed ball and an error when play resume with two on and no outs in the 3rd but got them back in the 4th on a Williamsport error for a 3-2 win. Joel Barrientos got the win with two and 2/3rds innings with a walk and hit allowed, though he committed the throwing error that sent in the second Williamsport run. The Doubledays committed five errors total and were an abysmal 1-for-12 with RISP. Jean Carlos Valdez accounted for all three runs, scoring twice and driving in one with a 2-for-3 game.

Williamsport 4 Auburn 1 — GAME TWO
• Selsor (L, 0-4) 3⅓ IP, 6H, 4R, 4ER, BB, 4K
• Derosier 2⅔ IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 1K, 2-0 IR-S
• Ballou 2-3, RBI
• Reistetter 1-2

The Crosscutters broke open a 1-0 game with three in the 4th and took the nightcap, 4-1. Casey Selsor gave up all four Williamsport runs on six hits and a walk while striking out four in his fourth loss. Matt Derosier stranded two and pitched two and 2/3rds scoreless in his NYPL debut. Auburn mustered just three hits total, with leadoff man Isaac Ballou driving in the sole Doubleday run while going 2-for-3 and NDFA Matt Reistetter going 1-for-2 in his pro debut.

GCL Nationals 3 GCL Cardinals 1 — GAME ONE
• Pivetta 4IP, 3H, R, ER, 0BB, 0K
• K. Rodriguez (W, 3-0) 3IP, 2H, 0R, BB, 2K
• Eusebio 1-3, 2B, RBI
• Abreu 2-2

Diomedes Eusebio’s RBI double in the 6th snapped a 1-1 tie as the D-Nats won their seventh straight, 3-1. Nick Pivetta got the start and went the first four inings, giving up the G-Cards run on three hits and no walks. He struck out none. Osvaldo Abreu led the eight-hit attack with a 2-for-2 game as seven of nine batters hit safely.

GCL Nationals 3 GCL Cardinals 0 — GAME TWO
• Suero (W, 3-1) 6IP, 3H, 0R, 3BB, 3K
• Spezial (SV, 1) 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 2K
• Marmolejos-Diaz 2-3, RBI
• Medina 2-3, R, SB

Wander Suero and Niko Spezial combined to shut out the G-Cards in the second game, 3-0, which extended the G-Nats’ win streak to eight consecutive games. Suero threw six shutout innings, giving up three hits and walking three while fanning three. Spezial set side down in order with two strikeouts for his first professional save. Jose “Orange” Marmolejos-Diaz and Willie Medina both went 2-for-3 to lead the G-Nats offense.

DSL Pirates2 2 DSL Nationals 0
• Yrizzari (L, 3-2) 5⅓ IP, 4H, R, ER, BB, 3K
• Reynoso 2⅔ IP, 2H, R, ER, 0BB, 2K, 1-0 IR-S
• Corredor 2-4, 2B
• Lora 1-2, BB

The D-Pirates2 got the best of the D-Nats, scoring single runs in the 6th and 8th innings for a 2-0 win. Starter Deibi Yrizarri took the loss, pitching five and a 1/3rd innings, and giving up a run on four hits and a walk. He struck out three. The D-Nats were limited to six hits, with Aldrem Corredor (single, double) and Edwin Lora (single, walk) the only two batters to reach base twice.

14 Commments

  1. Luke, you ho-hummed a rather major release today. Marcos Frias has been in the Nats system for almost 7 full seasons. Looking at the numbers, you get the feeling he’s been hurt the last 2 years.
    Still only 24 aftr all this time.

    1. No, I’m afraid the case is that Frias hit his ceiling. I will say that this year the releases haven’t been buried (e.g. relayed to BA after the player is put on the DL, sent to the GCL, or both) as much as they have been in the past, which as a newsman, is refreshing.

  2. Should be interesting to see how Triipp
    Fills out the line- up card with two key LH bats
    Back on deck
    Paul Menhart @ Harrisburg sure has
    An interesting mound corp to teach and guide
    Now. I wonder who he gives credit to teaching
    Him the change – up? He was teammates with
    Randy St Claire who was heavily influenced
    By Buck Rodgers and Larry Bearnearth in Montreal
    Playing and coaching years

  4. Walters’ season has been unbelievable. He’s top 20 in HR and ISO this year across all minor league levels. And he’s a SS!

    The walks:strikeouts concerns me, but so did Ian Desmond’s. Has Walters ever played 2B? Given Rendon’s quick learning curve at second, we might only need to shift Zimm to 1B and Walters to 3B.

    I don’t think LaRoche has a role in the future of the club. His offense is deceptively empty, and not all that cheap. Hopefully we can offload him for some bullpen/farm depth, and give Walters a 2 month audition. If he doesn’t work out, go after Cano, with a back up plan of signing someone like Morales, Morse, Lind or Michael Young to a one year deal. They each offer more offense than LaRoche.

    1. In your last paragraph, what does trading LaRoche have to do with Walters? If we trade ALR, then we need someone to play 1B, are you implying that you’d put Zimmerman there, move Rendon to 3B and then have Walters play 2B?

    2. Walters best use may be as a third baseman. At shortstop (and if he went to 2nd) he doesn’t work thru the ball. He also double clutches on his throws. As a result there are plays he doesn’t make and often throws away the ball because he is muscling up to make up for it. He is leading the league in errors and most of them are on throws. At third his glove work will be better and he will have more time to throw. His bat also profiles well for a third baseman.

      Zimmerman still isn’t throwing well. His future may be at first base. The problem of not having another lefthanded power bat besides Harper would emerge if LaRoche is gone.

      1. I politely disagree about moving him to 3B, and would say if he doesn’t have the defense for SS then 2B is the better spot to move him to.

        1. The only reason 2nd is considered easier than ss is that arm strength is not as big a factor in making routine plays. Range and glove work are every bit as important. In fact turning the double play is harder at second than at short.

          1. If he can’t make accurate throws from SS then you want him closer to 1B (2B). 3B is a very long throw, and you really don’t typically have extra time to make it. It’s mostly bang bang plays on balls hit around 3B.

          2. It is overthrowing the ball which is causing his problems not the distance to first. It is his glovework which makes it harder to be in position to throw. Working thru the ball means having the footwork which will give you momentum toward first when throwing.Not doing this causes you to need to overthrow to get the ball to first in time.
            At third most plays except the slow roller or bunt down the line are reaction plays without the need or ability to work thru the ball. The ball gets to the fielder much quicker at third than at ss because it is closer to the plate and thus there is a little more time to throw. Walters has plenty of arm for that position.
            At second footwork is every bit as important as at ss and the double play requires even more agility and footwork around the bag. If he hasn’t shown the ability to get his footwork right at ss then second will be as hard.

          3. Just seems that rarely (as far as I’m aware, which probably isn’t worth much) that SS’s are moved to 3B. But it appears he’s been playing a bit of 3B with Espinoza at SS, so maybe this could happen. I also had it in my head he wasn’t nearly 6’2″ 210lbs like he’s listed.

          4. I would still ask what I consider to be the million dollar or so question …

            How will his platoon bat play in the majors given the record of the two ballyhooed platoon bats
            that came before him? It makes the walks/SO ratio far more pertinent when compared to one Danny Espinosa as opposed to RHB Ian Desmond?

            From what I’ve seen Walters still has some work to do but I could be wrong.

            1. Danny Espinosa
            2. Stephen Lombardozzi

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