Saturday’s News & Notes
| Team | Yesterday | Today | Probable Pitchers |
| Syracuse | Lost, 9-0 | @ Buffalo, 7:05 p.m. |
Billings (7-5, 4.19) vs. Redmond (2-4, 4.47) |
| Harrisburg | Won, 5-3 | vs. Portland, 7:05 p.m. |
Voth (4-6, 3.01) vs. McCarthy (6-6, 3.52) |
| Potomac | Lost, 5-2 | @ Lynchburg, 6:30 p.m. |
Spann (1-6, 4.92) vs. Kime (3-6, 4.57) |
| Hagerstown | Lost, 5-2; Won, 6-1 |
vs. Lexington, 5:05 p.m. |
Fedde (0-1, 6.00) vs. Griffin (2-5, 6.13) |
| Auburn | Lost, 3-1 | vs. Williamsport, 7:05 p.m. |
Crownover (0-4, 4.66) vs. Arteaga (4-1, 2.75) |
Buffalo 9 Syracuse 0
• Hill (L, 3-9) 4IP, 12H, 5R, 5ER, BB, 4K, 0HR
• den Dekker 2-3
Buffalo scored in five of their first six turns at bat as they shut out Syracuse, 9-0. Taylor Hill took the brunt of it with five runs charged on 12 hits and one walk over four innings. He struck out four. Matt den Dekker singled twice as did the rest of the Chiefs, who finished with four hits and one walk with just one baserunner reaching second base.
Roster moves: SS Trea Turner placed on the 40-man roster, recalled to Washington; UT Jose Lozada reassigned from Harrisburg.
Harrisburg 11 Portland 6
• Bates (W, 5-4) 6IP, 6H, 5R, 3ER, 3BB, 4K, HR
• Carpenter 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• A. Sanchez 3-4, R, 2-2B, 2RBI
• Goodwin 2-4, R, BB, 3RBI
• Bostick 2-4, 2R, HR, 3RBI
The Senators snapped a 3-3 tie with a four-run 5th and cruised to an 11-6 win over the Sea Dogs in the series opener. Colin Bates got the Jack Morris win with five runs allowed on six hits and three walks while striking out four over six innings. Adrian Sanchez, Brian Goodwin, and Christopher Bostick combined for seven of the nine Harrisburg hits and eight of the 11 RBI with Sanchez going 3-for-4 and Bostick hitting a three-run HR in the aforementioned 5th.
Roster moves: LHP Matt Purke placed on the 7-Day DL; RHP Brian Rauh reassigned from Potomac; OF Denard Span, IF Dan Uggla, RHP David Carpenter assigned from Washington for MLB rehab.
Lynchburg 5 Potomac 2
• A. Williams (L, 4-4) 6IP, 6H, 5R, 4ER, BB, 6K
• Walsh 2IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 2K
• Bautista 1-4, R
• Manuel 1-4, R
Potomac scored early but Lynchburg scored often as the Hillcats beat the P-Nats 5-2. Austen Williams gave up all five runs on six hits and a walk over six innings while striking out six. Jake Walsh followed with two perfect innings of relief with two K’s. The offense was limited to five hits and two walks with no batter reaching base twice. Both runs came in the 3rd with the help of a two-base error that enabled Craig Manuel to score from second and Rafael Bautista to take 3rd and score on a groundout by Alec Keller.
Roster move: RHP Jeff Howell reassigned from Hagerstown.
Lexington 5 Hagerstown 2 — GAME ONE
• Bach (L, 6-4) 4IP, 3H, 3R, 2ER, 5BB, 2K
• Gardner 1-3, R, 2B, SB
• W. Rodriguez 1-3, 2B, RBI
The Legends took advantage of seven walks to score five times on just five hits as they eclipsed the Suns, 5-2 in the opener. Connor Bach issued five of those free passes in just four innings, as he lost for the fourth time with three runs let in over four innings. Jeff Gardner and Wilman Rodriguez both went 1-for-3 with a double but Hagerstown was held to just six hits total.
Hagerstown 6 Lexington 1 — GAME TWO
• A. Lee 4IP, 1H, R, ER, 2BB, 6K
• Napoli (W, 6-4) 2IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• Keniry 2-2, R, 2RBI
• W. Rodriguez 2-2, R, BB, RBI, SB
Hagerstown broke out for five runs in the 2nd and took the nightcap by a 6-1 score over Lexington. Andrew Lee went the first four frames with a one run allowed over four innings on one hit and two walks. He struck out six. David Napoli got the “W” with two scoreless innings of relief. Wilman Rodriguez stayed hot with two singles, a walk, a run scored, and an RBI to lead the offense.
Roster moves: RHP Kevin Perez, OF D.K. Carey activated from the 7-Day DL; C Jake Mayers place on the 7-Day DL.
Williamsport 3 Auburn 1
• Borne (L, 1-3) 5IP, 4H, 3R, 3ER, 0BB, 6K
• Pirro 1IP, 5H, 3R, 3ER, 0BB, 2K
• Kerian 2-4, 2R, 2B, 3B
• Jefferies 1-3, R, BB
The Crosscutters struck for three in the 3rd and held off the Doubledays to take the opener, 3-1. Starter Grant Borne took the loss with all three Williamsport runs given up on four hits and no walks while fanning six. Three relievers each turned in a scoreless inning but the offense, which was led by David Kerian’s double and triple in four ABs, couldn’t convert its nine hits and one walk into more than just the one run.
So the Nats make the desperation move by calling up Turner, and it does exactly nothing to help them–as predicted by those of us who were against it.
A bit early to quit on him!!! The good thing vs Difo and Burriss is that they plan to play him rather than sit on the bench. Already played in his first game which is more than Difo and Burriss did in two weeks! I was surprised by the call up as they do not really needed another IF but if they are to bring him up then I hope they will play him even if it is at end of games to start with like yesterday. And who knows, they may be able to trade Desmond before end of August if he clears the waivers (assuming they are way off the first place by the end of August). Tough to read why they brought him in, there may be more than we know/think.
So far only garbage time for Turner… Just like Difo and Manny. Ugh
Let’s not forget that this call up was due to injury to Tyler Moore. They’re in a pennant race and they need the best player who can contribute in a pinch. They can shift Espinosa to emergency LF/1B and have Turner play some backup infield. Let’s hope that we get some blowouts with the good guys winning to get Trea Turner some helpful MLB experience, but do we really see him being but so much more than a speedy pinch runner down the stretch? In all likelihood, he’s an upgrade over Tyler Moore for a postseason roster as a pinch runner, but we’ve got a long way to go before we need to even think about postseason rosters.
Tyler Watson, a 6-5 18-year old lefty the Nats took a flier on in the 34th round and convinced to give up college (he’d committed to Loyola Marymount) with a 400K signing bonus, is off to a really promising start in the Gulf Coast League.
After throwing three scoreless innings today, he’s pitched in 4 games for 9.1 innings and allowed 6 hits, 3 walks, and 1 unearned run while striking out 11.
It’s a very small sample size and it’s against rookie league players, so it’s obviously way too early to start getting excited. But…
A 0.00 ERA, a WHIP under 1.00 and averaging more than a K per inning gets your attention, especially with a tall lefty who just finished HS.
The Nats made lefty pitchers in this draft a priority, taking college pitchers Hearn (5th round), Crownover (6th), Borne (7th) and Guilbeau (10th) and they have gotten a steal in the 34th in Watson.
This week, Byron Kerr at MASN had a few interesting articles referencing the farm system. These included comments attributed to Gary Cathcart, the Auburn manager, in which he said that the organization never really tinkers with draftee pitchers before they get to the instructional league. That noted, it’s premature to write off pitchers with unimpressive starts to their pro careers. Of course, it also means that those with impressive starts may have an even higher ceiling than envisioned.
A look at recent draftees supports this characterization. It makes Watson’s start more hopeful.
Speaking of hope, we have to like how Pedro Avila said “hello” today in Viera. He’l get opportunity to show more before the instrux league, but he’s another guy who will attract discussion in the “prospect lists” of the offseason.
One of the ways I have been amusing myself is to watch Michael Taylor’s progress head to head with Steven Souza’s. It’s given me the opportunity to return to one of the biggest drawbacks on Souza – his inability to stay healthy, whatever his talent. While it may hearten some of us that the Nats essentially chose Taylor’s future over that of Souza, it also raises the question of whether Anthony Rendon will be that same player of unfulfilled promise, just as we fear of Ramos and Ryan Zimmerman.
It’s still a longshot, but how amazing would it be if Taylor finished 20/20? I wonder how many rookies have achieved that?
Michael A. Taylor has makeup for days, and Mike Rizzo loves him some makeup. I don’t care whether Taylor finishes 20/20 or not. That’s an arbitrary number in many ways. It’s best for the Nats if he doesn’t finish 20/20 and Werth and Span return to their career norms and Taylor returns to the bench bat they wanted him to be in September the entire time. The rub on Taylor is can he get on base enough to reach his Mike Cameron potential. Right now, the answer is still not yet. Can he get a .320 or so OBP and consistently hit a .750 OPS instead of a .650-.700 OPS. We know he can hit a fastball a long, long way. Can he close the hole in his swing? That’s why they pay the player development guys the big money. I do know that Michael BATMAN Taylor bats are appreciating assets and the dude is making me look like Nostradamus so I remain all in for Michael Taylor. He’ll figure it out!