Wednesday’s News & Notes
| Team | Yesterday | Today | Probable Pitchers |
| Syracuse | Lost, 3-1 | @ Norfolk, 6:35 p.m. |
McGregor (3-3, 3.35) vs. Bowden (3-1, 1.97) |
| Harrisburg | Lost, 6-3 | @ Richmond, 6:35 p.m. |
Bleier (3-0, 2.48) vs. Biagini (2-3, 1.76) |
| Potomac | OFF DAY | vs. Wilmington, 5:05 p.m. |
Spann (0-4, 4.66) and Mapes (0-0, 3.60) vs. Rico (2-2, 2.70) and Mills (2-3, 3.32) |
| Hagerstown | Won, 10-3 | @ Greensboro, 12:30 p.m. |
Reyes (1-3, 5.44) vs. Cavanerio (0-1, 3.21) |
Norfolk 3 Syracuse 1
• Lively (L, 0-1) 2IP, 4H, 2R, 2ER, 2BB, 2K
• Fornataro 2IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• Burriss 1-3, R, BB, 2SB
• Gwynn 1-4, 2B, RBI, OF assist at HP
The Chiefs bats were held to just three hits in a 3-1 loss to the Tides. Mitch Lively was the first of five pitchers to take the mound and the loser for allowing two runs on four hits and two walks with two K’s. Eric Fornataro followed with two scoreless, while Erik Davis let in the third Norfolk run in his two frames. Emmanuel Burriss singled, walked, and stole two bases while scoring the sole Syracuse run. Tony Gwynn Jr. drove him in with a double in the 1st while Josh Johnson accounted for the third and final hit in 9th.
Richmond 6 Harrisburg 3
• Bacus (L, 1-1) 5IP, 7H, 6R, 6ER, 2BB, 3K, HR
• Mendez 2IP, 2H, 0R, 2BB, 3K
• Robinson 3-4, SB
• Hague 0-2, R, 2BB
Richmond exploded for five runs in the 3rd and cruised to a 6-3 win over Harrisburg. Dakota Bacus took the loss in his second AA start, charged with all six runs on seven hits (including a three-run HR) over five innings. He walked two and struck out three. Gilberto Mendez tossed two scoreless innings and Brian Dupra one to keep the Sens within striking distance. Derrick Robinson led the Harrisburg offense with three singles and a stolen base, but the rest of the lineup managed just five hits and left on 12 baserunners.
LHP Richard Bleier was named the Eastern League Pitcher of the Week.
Potomac — OFF DAY
After a drive-by, three-game homestand last week, the last-place P-Nats are in town for eight games in seven days, beginning with a doubleheader tonight (weather permitting) against the first-place Blue Rocks.
Hagerstown 10 Greensboro 3
• Dickey 2⅔ IP, 6H, 3R, 3ER, BB, 4K, HR, WP
• Cooper (W, 1-2) 2⅓ IP, 2H, 0R, BB, 0K, 2-0 IR-S
• Van Orden (SV, 2) 4IP, 4H, 0R, 0BB, K
• Carey 2-4, 2R, BB, 2HR, 3RBI
• DeBruin 2-5, 2B, 2RBI
• Read 0-2, R, 3BB, 2GIDP
Dale Carey homered twice and drove in three as the Suns scored the last seven runs in a 10-3 win over the Grasshoppers. Robbie Dickey was activated shortly before the game but was ineffective, giving up all three Greensboro runs on six hits and a walk over two and 2/3rds innings. The win went to Andrew Cooper, who stranded two in the 3rd and went two and a 1/3rd innings total. Expected starter Drew Van Orden tossed four shutout innings for the rulebook save. Grant DeBruin was the only other Hagerstown batter to record multiple hits, thanks the Grasshopper pitchers issuing nine walks to enable ten runs to score on just eight hits.
Roster moves: RHP Austen Williams reassigned to XST, RHP Robbie Dickey reassigned from XST.
Trea Turner Update
Turner singled and doubled and stole a base for a 2-for-4 night, a 12-game hit streak, and a 25-game on-base streak.
I do not understand why Williams is demoted to Auburn/XST with his current record. What am i missing???
Maybe he needs to make some sort of adjustment or it’s just roster maneuvering between starts.
My money is (always) on roster maneuvering.
Not necessarily a big deal. Around this time last year, the Nats sent Reynaldo Lopez from Hagerstown to Auburn, and a year later, he is considered among the elite pitching prospects in the organization, if not all of baseball.
Gotta say that Turner’s performance is making me wonder if the Padres might think about petitioning Commissioner Manfred to let them keep Turner on the grounds that his identity becoming known violated the terms of the trade, and make the Nats accept other player(s) instead. I have no reason to believe the Padres would do that, or that Manfred would Givesuch an appeal the time of day, but stranger things have happened…
Let’s hope you’re wrong. I’m breaking out the champagne the day Trea Turner hits the Harrisburg city limits.
It is a) the equivalent of limiting his innings for a long season, now that he is emerging as one of the better pitching prospects of the organization; this way, they won;t be shutting down the elite pitchers for playoff time and killing the affiliates, and b) a way to get Robbie Dickey back into a rotation, as he is in exactly the same class – a highly thought of starting pitching arm.
The Nats have a glut of talent at the low A level that has been amplified by the underperformance of players at A and A+. By now, one would expect more than Wilmer Difo to earn promotion to AA, and more than Caleb Ramsey to earn promotion to AAA to free up spots and opportunity at the AA level. But all across the lower minors, players have performed only well enough to stay, but poorly enough to not warrant promotion.
The system will shake itself out by July 1. It has to. But when you have healthy and more talented arms who deserve game action at levels higher than Auburn, you will see moves like Williams taking place.
The position players have the same dilemma. Witness the shuffle of Marmelos-Diaz/Lopez and Read/Tillero. Meanwhile, there are a number of players one might think would be ticketed for Hagerstown but will not surface until the NY Penn League starts. Page, Reetz, Mejia, Gutierrez, Eusebio and all of those stud Dominicans (Robles, Franco, Pimentel, Mota) who are still learning English.
Complicating this are the injuries – who is truly injured among Silvestre, Dickson, Turnbull, and other high A arms we expected to see by now?
I think we’ll see lots more shuffling. Not that that is a bad thing. If you watch Gardner and Carey at Hagerstown, for example, it’s taken awhile for them to ignite, but now they have. Patience is paying off. Perhaps Bostick and Masters (recent entry) are the same.
Reetz is a young catcher, so he’s probably ticketed for Auburn. Robles is 18 and Franco is 17, and neither has debuted stateside, so they’ll head for the GCL, at least to start their season.
So there are people in XST because there simply are not enough spots available for them at upper levels because talent is slower to mature this year. Anderson Martinez and Luis Torres are other promising starters who could easily have been bumped, and who knows about Joan Baez. So there are folks in a pipeline at XSt simply waiting to get on a roster above Auburn.
And whatever became of Matt Purke?
He was at spring training and was assigned to the minor league camp. I’d assume he’s still in Viera working on his Tommy John rehab.
Turner will be in Washington come roster expansion in September. If nothing more than as a pinch runner, he would do better than Escobar did last night.
I would be surprised if Turner is brought to Washington in September. He would have to be added to the 40 man roster, thus requiring options to send him back down, and his time in DC would start his service clock. There’s also the dynamic of bringing up the heir apparent while Desmond is still on the team. Why create needless drama?
While I would be surprised, I wouldn’t be shocked. Of course Turner would also have to keep wearing out AA while some combination of the incumbent middle infielders struggled.
If he is the heir apparent, be it SS or 2B, there is no point leaving him indefinitely in Harrisburg without a promotion to AAA. When he comes into the system, something has to give – either Turner or Renda or Difo to AAA. None of them are going to A+, and none of them are going to sit. Renda cannot play anywhere else.And why play either Difo or Turner off the middle infield when they need the reps?
I understand the limited IP for some guys at hags to head down to XST, Gil Grissom, but Diaz at 1b is still
a head scratcher.
the jury is stil out on the guys on auburn from 2014. alas every guy the jury is out on unless / until
thjey make AA.
safe week everybody.