Monday’s News & Notes
| Team | Yesterday | Today | Probable Pitchers |
| Syracuse | Won, 1-0 (10 inn.) | vs. Buffalo, 1:05 p.m. |
Espino (1-3, 2.97) vs. TBD |
| Harrisburg | Lost, 7-3 | @ Altoona, 6:00 p.m. |
Bates (2-0, 3.76) and Simmons (3-3, 3.42) vs. Dodson (3-3, 3.10) and Harlan (4-2, 3.89) |
| Potomac | Won, 4-0; Won, 1-0 |
ALL-STAR BREAK | N/A |
| Hagerstown | Lost, 6-3 | ALL-STAR BREAK | N/A |
| Auburn | Won, 9-5 | @ State College, 1:05 p.m. |
TBD vs. J. Perez (5-3, 3.24 @ Appy Lg. in ’14) |
Syracuse 1 Buffalo 0 (10 inn.)
• Jordan 7IP, 2H, 0R, 3BB, 2K
• Billings (W, 2-3) 1IP, 2H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• Hague 1-2, BB
• Gwynn 1-4, RBI
Tony Gwynn Jr.’s walkoff single in the 10th broke up the Star Trek convention on the NBT Bank scoreboard for a 1-0 Chiefs win, preventing a three-game sweep by the Bisons. Taylor Jordan ran his scoreless inning streak to 14 with another seven frames, letting up just two hits and walking three. The win went to Bruce Billings, who worked around a pair of two-out singles in the top of the 10th. Syracuse managed just five hits total, with Ricky Hague the sole batter to reach base twice with a single and a walk.
Roster moves: RHP Taylor Hill optioned from Washington; OF Mark Minicozzi released; IF Chris Nelson assigned from Washington.
Altoona 7 Harrisburg 3
• Voth (L, 3-5) 4⅓ IP, 7H, 6R, 5ER, 2BB, 6K
• De Los Santos 2IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 5K
• Pleffner 1-3, R, 3B, BB, 2RBI
• Vettleson 1-2, R, 2B, 2BB
The wheels came off the bus in the 5th as Altoona scored five times to turn a 3-2 deficit into the eventual 7-3 winning score over Harrisburg. Austin Voth lost for the fifth time, charged with six runs (five earned) on seven hits and two walks while striking out six.
The Senators mustered just five hits total, though three were for extra bases with doubles by Matt Skole and Drew Vettleson and a triple by Shawn Pleffner. You can unbunch your panties about Trea Turner not playing all nine innings. He was spotted slowing up on his way to first after an infield popup (that was nearly dropped) and was most likely benched as a result.
Potomac 4 Carolina 0 — COMP.
• Lopez 3IP, 2H, 0R, 0BB, 5K
• Suero (W, 6-2) 5IP, 1H, 0R, 2BB, 3K
• Yezzo 2-3, R, RBI
• A. Sanchez 1-3, R, BB, RBI, 2SB
Potomac scored twice before the rains came on Saturday and twice on Sunday as they shut out Carolina, 4-0 in the completion. Three pitchers combined on the three-hit shutout, with starter Reynaldo Lopez allowing two in his three innings on Saturday, winning pitcher Wander Suero one in his five innings on Sunday and Manny Rodriguez striking out two in the 9th. James Yezzo led the Potomac offense with a 2-for-3 game, followed by Adrian Sanchez 1-for-3 effort with a walk and two steals.
Potomac 1 Carolina 0 — GAME TWO
• Mapes (W, 1-0) 5IP, 2H, 0R, 0BB, 2K
• Lee (SV, 8) 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, K
• Ballou 3-3, 2B
• Martinez 1-1, HBP, SB
In the regularly scheduled game, the P-Nats repeated the feat with a 1-0 shutout to close out the first half with three straight wins and a third-place finish in the Carolina North for the 1st half. Tyler Mapes got the win with five innings of two-hit ball, Justin Amlung the hold with a 1-2-3 sixth, and Nick Lee his eighth save with a 1-2-3 seventh. Drew Ward drove in Stephen Perez with the third of three 1st-inning singles to plate the lone Potomac run.
Hagerstown 6 Delmarva 3
• Purke 4IP, 5H, 3R, 3ER, 0BB, 4K, HR
• M. Sanchez (W, 4-2) 2IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• Abreu 2-5, R, RBI, CS, E(20)
• Reistetter 2-3, RBI
• Davidson 1-2, 2BB
The Suns rallied for three in the bottom of the 5th to erase a 3-2 Shorebirds lead and held on for 6-3 win that assured a winning record (35-33) for the 1st half. Matt Purke was knocked for three runs, including a two-run HR in his fourth and final inning of work for a no-decision. Mario Sanchez got the win with two perfect innings of relief, while R.C. Orlan, Kevin Perez, and Jake Walsh each turned in a scoreless inning to close out the game. Osvaldo Abreu and Matt Reistetter both had two hits and an RBI as Hagerstown registered 10 hits total on the afternoon.
Auburn 9 Batavia 5
• Fedde 3IP, 2H, R, ER, 3BB, 4K
• Ullmann 4IP, 6H, 2R, 2ER, BB, K
• Webb (W, 1-0) 2IP, 2H, 2R, 1ER, 2BB, K
• Eusebio 3-5, 2RBI
• Encarnacion 2-4, R
• Dulin 1-3, R, 2B, 2BB
Batavia took a 5-2 lead into the 9th only to see Auburn score seven times to complete the sweep. Erick Fedde allowed one run on two hits over three innings in his professional debut, though he walked three and struck out four. Joey Webb got the win despite giving up two runs in the 8th on two hits and two walks. Diomedes Eusebio led the Doubledays hit column with a 3-for-5 effort, followed by Randy Encarnacion at 2-for-4.
Nice to have an Erick Fedde sighting. I imagine he’ll be on a fairly careful pitch management system given his surgery last year, but a good 40-50 innings at SS-A will set him up for full season ball next year.
And, in feel-good stories, how nice for Tony Gwynn Jr to have the walk-off hit on fathers’ day?
I’d be interested to know how many times in pro ball history a team has struck out 16 batters in 8 innings yet given up 7 runs and lost the game as Harrisburg did. That is quite a feat.
If Turner did indeed get benched for not running out the popup, it serves as a reminder of just how green he still is. I’d rather see Espinosa spelling Desmond right now than have Turner called up only to struggle because he got promoted too soon.
The Senators game was on a minor league
Baseball network broadcasted on the THIS
Channel. Demny’s fastball had late life through
The strike zone but numerous walks .
David Masters defense has been the theme
Of the three games I caught this past week.
Remind ful of JJ Hardy .
Jeff, you’ve sung his praises enough now that I felt compelled to look up this Masters fellow, who I know nothing about.
He’s no spring chicken as he just turned 22, so an aggressive promotion is in the cards, especially if his glove is that great. So far this year, his OPS is only .638.
A real good vibe out of Auburn from this weekend. And no surprise. Fedde started at Auburn and started well. The team dominated and swept – haven’t seen that from Auburn in a few years – with virtually no contributions (yet) for 2015 draftees (Dulin had a good game on Sunday, ok). Page powering like the guy they drafted last year. Feliz an arm to watch.
GCL starts today — and the big studs from 2014 DSL are all there (Agustin, Robles, Pimentel, Mota, Franco and the SS). along with Perkins (the two SEC OF are not yet assigned, and ultimately headed to Auburn). Nothing is better than talent competing for playing time all over the diamond. May the best talent win — and go to Auburn and above. The wave is coming. It’s put up or not for the hitters at Hagerstown and Potomac)
Still no sign of Hector Silvestre. With Solis’ star dimming, one can see how the system is trying to restock lefthanded starting pitching.
While we cross fingers for Purke at A, the trade watch gains a boost from the Ross performance and one has to imagine that any trade our free agents to be will bring back left handed starting pitching in return that can slot in where Ross-Treinen-Cole and others entered the system (A+-AA).
any trade [of] our free agents to be
None of the pending free agents – or at least none of the top tier JZim/Fister/Desmond/Span – are going to be traded for prospects/bullpen help/whatever. For a variety of reasons, most tellingly that the Nationals aren’t going to weaken this year’s team as it tries to make the playoffs and get past the NLDS hump. And anything that the Nats would get back that would appreciably strengthen the team this year is likely to come from a team that is looking to the future; that means that a three month rental would be useless to them.
There’s no way they trade Jordan Zimmermann; he’s needed for Scherzer insurance so that the team remains viable in the playoffs even without Mad Max. Strasburg, Fister and Desmond have combined spotty performance with pretty hefty in-season price tags in a way that means, frankly, that they are worth more to the Nationals than they do to anyone else. With Werth targeting 1 August for a return (and his performance level unclear even then), trading Span would be a bad idea – unless you like the thought of a starting OF of Harper/Taylor/ … er, someone else.
If the team collapses over the next six weeks (very unlikely, but theoretically possible) then sure, all bets are off. Until then? If the over/under on trades of pending free agents is 0.5, bet the under.
The point is would the return be worth more than a 1st round/comp pick. Almost always, the answer is no.
I think there is a chance we see a Fister trade, but otherwise agree with the above. The reason that I think Fister might get traded is (a) his performance brings into question whether he receives a QO, (b) Roark and Ross have been outpitching him and arguably should be starting over him anyway (and despite the puzzling clamor for Stras, Fister is the only rotation spot that might get bumped for Roark or Ross), and (c) by the break, there are only two months left, so if the others are healthy there are still several options to step in for an injury. It would still be a bit of a risk there but one Rizzo might take if someone offers something decent.
If he does get traded, an A ball pitcher or maybe a 4th outfielder who’s better than TMo or Clint Robby right now might be the return.
John raises a point about whatever the return, is the insurance that the player provides worth the spread of that return? I suppose it depends on the depth. So long as injuries/underperformance happen, now is audition time. Ross has impressed. Taylor will get better, but he is not there yet. The others have not demonstrated they cn be plugged in. And as much as we are intrigued with Turner, neither has he.
But there are many, many variables here. So the Nats benefit by letting the market come to them anyway. Rizzo & co. have until the trading deadline to make that call. The last time there was a borderline call was Dan Haren — they should have flipped him!
With that said, I think the Nats’ interest in Chapman is as a lefthanded starter. If they have an interest in him. It would not be far fetched for them to broker a three way deal to trade off pending free agents pieces for players who enable a Chapman acquisition.
I think Rizzo has learned a valuable lesson from this winter. There is no such thing as depth.
He traded Clippard and Blevins from a perceived position of power. But then Roark-the-reliever hasn’t worked very well, and the pack of young relief (Treinen, Barrett, Grace, Rivero, Cedeno) have almost without exception fared very poorly.
That trade of Blevins for den Dekker is looking mighty foolish right now. Escobar has been better than expected, but I bet Rizzo is wishing he had dealt someone other than Clipp.
Jeff, is there anyone at Hagerstown you see who should be playing up a level? Did you see Walsh? Sanchez? Thoughts?
Forensicane, I believe it was only two years ago that Auburn had the best record in all the minor leagues … Percentage wise, that is. They went on to win it all.
You are thinking of the hallowed GCL Nats. There has not been a first place team in Auburn since 2004, though they won the playoffs in 2007.
Yes. That GCL club with Meiija, JefryRod, Silvestre
And others .
Gil Grissom. Sanchez is interesting as a swing guy.
He started game 2 of a DH last week then followed
Purke in sunday dog day matinee .
Abreau looks like a solid utility guy in future .
Masters game could take him to potomAc but he probably
Needs time to incubate like others in low A
I was worn out from the heat and watching my dog
Sunday that Walsh outing was one two three.
Orlon has a Springfield rifle in his left arm.
Good forum on page today.
Overall we are awaiting the expected ten game
Winning streak .
Rizzo pulled off a three team deal in last winter.
Time will tell.
How odd to express the thought : we could use
a healthy McLouth this summer??
Excuse me , Gil Grissom. Either DeBruin or Jose M
Depending on what a Keister could use in his system .
Read is an energetic leader behind the plate and with
His whipping stick !
Interesting intel on Read. Reminds me of what they say about Severino and Reetz (former quarterback). I wonder whether the organization is recruiting that exceptional quality in its catchers. Vilero had a nice game in GCL yesterday and Pimentel was not starting. Tillero in Auburn. I wonder whether we are only now seeing more of the pipeline=why more catchers were not drafted.
Speaking of depth – until Severino (or Kieboom) graduates AA, still vulnerable to a Ramos blowout.
My bad, Forensicane. I should check first although I was so certain it was Auburn. God, I’m getting old.
I wish you were right. Imagine how many depth [problems it would solve to have them a year ahead and acing their exams! The highest star on that team is still no higher than A+….