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Monday’s News & Notes

Team Yesterday Today Probable Pitchers
Syracuse Lost, 3-1 @ Pawtucket,
1:05 p.m.		 Espino (5-5, 3.43)
Escobar, Ed (0-2, 6.51)
Harrisburg Lost, 7-3 OFF DAY N/A
Potomac Lost, 4-1 OFF DAY N/A
Hagerstown Won, 7-2;
Won, 4-3		 vs. Hickory,
7:05 p.m.		 TBD vs. TBD
Auburn Won, 5-2 ALL-STAR BREAK N/A


Buffalo 3 Syracuse 1
• Billings (L, 7-5) 6IP, 6H, 3R, 3ER, BB, 3K
• Grace 2IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 3K
• den Dekker 1-3, R, HR, RBI
• Mastroianni 1-4, 2B

Syracuse’s reversion to the mean continued with a second straight loss to Buffalo, 3-1. Bruce Billings turned in a quality start of three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts over six innings and was rewarded with a loss. The offense was limited to just five hits, with Matt den Dekker’s solo HR in the 5th breaking up the Bisons’ shutout bid.

Bowie 7 Harrisburg 3
• Voth (L, 4-6) 5IP, 6H, 2R, 2ER, 2BB, 5K
• Bacus 2IP, 2H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• Corona 1-2, R, BB
• Difo 2-5

Austin Voth pitches well, gets no-decision; bullpen implodes, offense is too little, too late. It was a familiar sequence as Harrisburg lost the rubber game of the series, 7-3. Voth let in two runs over five innings on six hits and two walks while fanning five. The BaySox piled on two in the 8th and three in the 9th to break open a 2-1 game. The Sens managed just six hits, with Wilmer Difo and Reegie Corona the only batters to reach base twice.

Wilmington 4 Potomac 1
• Rauh (L, 2-2) 7IP, 7H, 3R, 3ER, 2BB, 9K, HR, HBP
• Valdez 1IP, 0H, 0R, BB, K
• DeBruin 2-4, 2B
• Norfork 2-4, R

Starter Brian Rauh pitched well enough to win, but the offense was out to lunch as the Blue Rocks took the series finale from the P-Nats, 4-1. Rauh gave up three runs on seven hits and two walks but struck out nine over seven innings. The Potomac offense eked out six hits, including a double by Grant DeBruin and an RBI triple by Zach Wright but was 0-for-6 with RISP and left on six.
Roster move: OF Denard Span assigned from Washington for MLB rehab.

Hagerstown 7 Kannapolis 2 — GAME ONE
• Bach (W, 6-3) 5IP, 2H, 2R, 1ER, 2BB, 4K, WP
• Brinley 2IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• Stevenson 2-3, R, BB, SB
• Mayers 2-4, R, RBI
• Marmolejos-Diaz 1-4, R, HR, 5RBI

Highlighted by a grand slam off the bat of “Orange” Marmolejos-Diaz, the Suns broke out for six runs in the 6th, and took the opener from the Intimidators, 7-2. The big fly took Connor Bach off the hook for the would-be 2-1 loss and instead gave him his sixth “W” with two runs allowed on two hits and two walks over five innings. He struck out four. Andrew Stevenson paced the Hagerstown attack with two singles, a walk, and a stolen base.

Hagerstown 4 vs. Kannapolis 3 — GAME TWO
• A. Lee 3IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 3K
• D. Williams (W, 1-1) 2IP, 1H, 0R, BB, 2K
• Marmolejos-Diaz 2-3, 2R
• Mejia 2-3, SB
• Reistetter 2-4, 2RBI

Hagerstown survived a late rally from Kannapolis to take the nightcap, 4-3 and sweep the doubleheader. Andrew Lee got the spot start and was perfect through three before turning the ball over to Deion Williams, who got the win with two scoreless innings. “Orange” Marmolejos-Diaz, Bryan Mejia, and Matt Reistetter each collected two singles as the Suns registered eight hits total.

Auburn 5 Batavia 2
• Crownover 5IP, 5H, R, ER, 0BB, 2K
• Boghosian (W, 3-0) 1IP, 1H, 1R, 1ER, 1BB, 0K
• Encarnacion 2-3, R, 2B
• Gutierrez 2-4, R

The Doubledays fell behind 2-1 in the top of the 8th but rallied for four to take the series finale, 5-2. Starter Matthew Crownover gave up a run on five hits but walked none and struck out two for a no-decision. Maximo Valerio followed with two goose eggs in his NYPL debut. Adam Boghosian was credited with the win as the pitcher of record but gave up the go-ahead run in the 8th on a hit and a walk. Luis Torres pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for the save, his second. Rhett Wiseman’s two-run single highlighted Auburn’s four-run 8th. Randy Encarnacion led the offense with single and a double and a run scored.

17 Commments

  2. This could be the first time in my memory that we might have a playoff-free minor league system. Say it ain’t so!

  4. GG. Encarnacion trying to finish SS strong .
    Big G near .378 for Barrett boys.
    Luke. Anymore Latin signings despite the cash
    Pool cap ??
    Not even my dog could give Nats good Boston
    Terrier karma . He is still awaiting a Rizzo contract
    With his fly / catch skills !!!

  5. Three ’15 draft picks not only already in Hagerstown but doing very well: Stevenson, Glover, and A. Lee (still unscored upon in across three levels). Interesting that he got a “spot start.” I wonder whether he’ll get more.

    1. KW – Brinley is there also

      However, on the flip side, the fact that there is only one offensive player at Hagerstown in a college heavy draft is still underwhelming.

      1. Oh, I agree that I wish they had more offensive players advancing. Wiseman got a very late start because of the CWS and has struck out 40 times in 35 games. Kerian was supposed to be their bargain power guy, but he’s slugging .289 with no HRs. Schrock is showing pretty well at the plate thus far, though, and apparently is playing some SS, despite concerns when he was drafted the he was below average defensively at 2B.

  6. Orange Marm-Diaz looking like the organizational player of the year. Could be Trea Turner, given his success after promotion, but from mid-June- Sept? Not the organizational style to flaunt the yield from a trade. I say OMD.

    1. GG we are on the same psychic realm.
      I was here to say: 40 or 45 doubles for
      A guy raking with Read ( a good tee shirt
      Line monogram ?!).
      Next spring some of the NCAA guys will put it into
      Another gear or two. This summer is just test
      Drive mode .
      Natsgm asked the big question : sleeper in farm?
      I would have to say $500K Max Schrock in the exhaust
      Fumes of Abreau / Meiija tandem .

      1. 46 games to go. All I will say in this square is I will
        Wait to see how Denard Span returns or not .
        We all know that Randy Knorr the ex catcher knows
        How to handle a bullpen . Even with Stammen on DL.
        We may just have to tip the cap to the kiddie Mets arms
        Wgo have brought the QS numbers a blaze

    3. If Bob miller was brought in for financials.
      Then Dombrowski could be an advisor to transition
      With new additions after subtractions

  7. Of course the college position player draftees will have the chance to get coached up this winter in the instructional league. They and the Dominicans will dominate the rosters this fall. The AFL could look like GCL 2013 with Bautista and Mejia. Give them AB from their shorter season. And if a draftee like Stevenson makes it, that will speak volumes of what they see.

    The performance of Giolito and Ross, and Fister and Zimmerman, seal the fate of Strasburg. I think he goes. Just as I think others, like Storen, will get swapped to acquire some premium bat prospects. There is still enough minor league pitching to get an impact bat to play 1B or OF. The team will have to make decisions about Werth, Zimmerman, and Ramos if they aim for a WS run in 2016.

    Still interested in where Dombrowski fits in.

  8. GG once again you are spot on.
    What with hags only farm club in play besides
    Cuse. One can imagine the effect Stevenson
    Can have in Nats future plus the sixth-8 th duty
    Dutch Duke Drew could do .
    GG a retooling in the next year should be better
    Lead by Knorr than matty9 since catchers make great
    Staff handlers. I think that is what the ghost of Art
    fowler is yelling @ rizzo and McCatty !! Lol!
    GG 1 b and OF bat ???? Would TexAs trade
    Moreland with their club evolving nicely with that farm pipeline
    Richer than South Dakota fraking !!??
    Low profile suggestion about AFL is spot on GG!
    I like Webb addition to potomAc corp which could
    Be harrisburg 2016 corp. DeBruin and Wooten can
    Play corners along with Ward. GG your audition line might
    Apply to the manifestation of August 2016 infield
    Including Abreau Meiija Schrock masters OMD,
    ….early potomAc squad will be a track team. Doubling
    Clubs into submission .
    Could we see Franco and Kelvin G on same hags squad
    In early April 16??
    Denard or no October dance. Enough said

  9. I am with you on Span. He has a demonstrated catalytic effect on the team’s playing winning baseball. he has shown it time and again. I love the prospect of Taylor but he is a AAA star forced to adjust to the majors on the fly. Werth rushed back to save his job and recoup a season and just does not have it yet this year and may never get it back in 2015.

    I am inclined to think that the die for 2015 was cast when Werth, no doubt advised by Boras, hid his injury from the Nats last fall. They thought Souza to be surplus, made what seemed at the time to be a shrewd trade and what is now a great swap. However, the team, in so doing, swapped valuable protection for Harper in the lineup and forced Taylor to ripen in the bigs. We have witnessed the anemic Nats lineup.

    As for Span, he like Zimmerman, LaRoche, and Werth and Ramos, oft-injured players all, are no longer affordable commodities, whatever their price tag. Players who are repeatedly injured, unless organizational depth is significant, suck the life out of an organization. As much as I like Rizzo and applaud the team’s emphasis on chemistry and clubhouse, the team needs players who are year in, year out, on the field and producing. LaRoche went for nothing, nothing lost. Werth is a huge gamble as to whether he can regain the productive form needed to be a championship caliber OF. Zimmerman is a vivid example of the team accommodating a fan base by offering a huge contract that it now has to regret. But at least he is young and has the potential as a two way player. He just cannot stay on the field. And Ramos’ value is unrealized. Escobar’s trade value is high. Espinosa is a player to keep, as is Rendon (another oft-injured player).

    The answer is not trading for good players worth a risk. Escobar was a huge trade for Rizzo, and a revelation. Still I wonder whether he regresses to the mean. A better formula is a superstar waiting to happen, blocked at AAA or undervalued. Turner is a winner and the future. Ramos was that kind of trade. There are other such players all over the game and that is what having Rizzo helps with.

    But a real house cleaning with the kinds of trades that replenish a farm system of premium position player talent at the upper levels is in order. Ironically, the Nats’ weakest positions (middle IF) have inverted into their strongest depth, with Turner, Difo, Abreu, Mejia, Schrock, Lora, and the Auburn ensemble. Furthermore, the Nats have game changing speed guys, like Taylor, Difo, Turner, and Bautista. But the stolen base game has evaporated with no Span in 2015. A mystery of how the Nats became a punchless, plodding team. I’m all for getting rid of Williams.

    The power OF cupboard is bare. I am not so excited about Stevenson because I think that when all is said and done, Bautista will prove to have the higher ceiling because of his elite SB capabilities. With Harper and Taylor in the OF, there is only room for one high SB great defense CF. I see Bautista as a guy who will have folks forgetting Billy Burns and what a big impact an elite speed guy has at the top of the order. And just because Stevenson is at Hagerstown now does not mean that Robles will not be at the same level as he and passing him by late 2016.

    Also, big corner bats are in short supply. OMD is an offensive upgrade from a talented defensive Shawn Pleffner, but that’s not going to cut it. And Matt Skole is not going to turn into Jim Thome, either. Nor will he be a ‘large animal’ any other time of the year other than Halloween. At best he will be a hairy chested bench bat and pinch hitter in a post-Robinson, post-Moore world. Maybe Drew Ward will step it up next year. He is still very young. Maybe Franco leaps to Hags, but with KelvinG there, maybe not. It sure would be fun if he did, though!

    All of this tells me that the Nats ought not only to be active on the trade front, but on the Cuban front as well. The sheer numbers of talent hitting the market will drive prices down. I am sure that they have been tracking talent with the signing flexibility in mind.

    1. Agree agree especialky on the trade and Cuban fronts .
      Although Keyes should get a spring training invite to
      See him work towards that Tyler Moore bench spot.
      The NL Central has three strong clubs making
      Wild card not a curly W for Nats .
      Maybe we have talked out the near future for Nats
      And next is AFL, post season Viera camp for certain
      Kids and then Winter Meetings.
      This summer is more of a bummer than 2013.
      But we can say this : Clint Robinson has had a better
      Summer than LaRoche with ChiSox

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