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Thursday’s News & Notes

Team Yesterday Today Probable Pitchers
Syracuse Won, 7-4 @ Pawtucket,
7:05 p.m.		 Espino (3-5, 3.42) vs.
Cuevas (AAA debut)
Harrisburg Won, 3-2 vs. Akron,
7:00 p.m.		 Purke (1-1, 8.64) vs.
Morimando (8-10, 2.99)
Potomac Lost, 7-6 @ Lynchburg,
6:30 p.m.		 Lopez (5-7, 4.77) vs.
Kaminsky (6-5, 2.09 @ FSL in ’15)
Hagerstown Lost, 7-2 vs. Delmarva,
7:05 p.m.		 Reyes (5-7, 5.17) vs.
Delgado (4-3, 3.39)
Auburn Won, 8-5 (10 inn.) vs. Williamsport,
7:05 p.m.		 TBD vs. Gueller (5-1, 2.21)


Syracuse 7 Pawtucket 4
• Jordan (W, 4-4) 7IP, 3H, R, ER, 2BB, 5K
• Solis (SV, 1) 2IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 1K, 3-1 IR-S
• Lerud 2-2, R, BB, 2RBI
• Ramsey 2-3, 2R, BB, RBI, SB
• Lisson 2-3, 2R, BB,

Syracuse completed its sweep of Pawtucket with a 7-4 win to take sole possession of 5th place in the I.L. East. Taylor Jordan spun seven innings of one-run ball on three hits and two walks while fanning five to win his fourth AAA game. Sammy Solis stranded two of three runners inherited from Matt Grace, who faced five batters in the 8th and put each one of them on base, to earn the save. The bottom third of the lineup (Caleb Ramsey, Mario Lisson, Steven Lerud) combined to go 6-for-8 with three walks drawn and five runs scored.

Harrisburg 3 Akron 2
• Voth 8IP, 5H, 2R, 2ER, 0BB, 6K, 2HR
• Davis (W, 1-0) 1IP, 0H, 0R, BB, K
• Ballou 2-4, 3B, 2RBI
• Severino 2-4, R

Isaac Ballou’s walkoff RBI single capped a two-run rally in the bottom of the 9th for a 3-2 Sens win over the RubberDucks. Erik Davis got the win for pitching a scoreless 9th. Austin Voth got yet another no-decision with two runs allowed, albeit both on solo HR, over eight innings and five hits total. He walked none and struck out six. Ballou and Pedro Severino both went 2-for-4 as Harrisburg registered 10 hits and one walk total for the night.

Lynchburg 7 Potomac 6
• Rauh 6IP, 11H, 6R, 6ER, 4BB, 7K, 2WP
• Walsh (L, 0-1) 2IP, 1H, R, ER, BB, 3K, HR
• Manuel 2-3, R, BB, 2RBI
• Corona 2-5, R, 2RBI

Potomac couldn’t hold an early 6-1 lead and managed just two hits over the final six innings while losing to Lynchburg, 7-6. Brian Rauh was pounded for six runs on 11 hits and four walks in his six-inning no-decision. He struck out seven. Jake Walsh pitched the final two innings and took the loss on a leadoff HR in the bottom of the 8th. Craig Manuel reached base three times with one of four walks and two nine singles that Potomac registered. He and Reegie Corona both drove in two runs and scored a run.

Charleston 7 Hagerstown 4
• Van Orden 5IP, 5H, 2R, 1ER, BB, K, HR
• Glover (BS, 1; L, 0-1) 2IP, 3H, 3R, 2ER, 0BB, 2K, 2HR, 1-1 IR-S
• Abreu 2-4, R, BB, RBI,
• Page 1-3, BB

Charleston struck for one in the 8th and three in the 9th to turn a 4-3 deficit into a 7-4 win over Hagerstown. Koda Glover got the blown save and the loss, giving up three runs of his own and one inherited over those two innings on a single and two homers. Drew Van Orden started and went the first five, allowing two runs (one earned) on five hits and a walk. He struck out one while the no-decision snapped a four-start losing streak. Osvaldo Abreu singled twice and walked once to lead the Suns offense.

Auburn 8 West Virginia 5 (10 inn.)
• Crownover 4⅔ IP, 5H, 2R, 2ER, 2BB, 4K
• Johns (BS, 1; W, 1-0) 2IP, 3H, 2R, 2ER, 2BB, 1K, HR
• Gutierrez 2-4, BB
• Eusebio 2-4, 2B, RBI
• Robles 2-5, R, 2B

The Doubledays put up two big innings late to take the series finale from the Black Bears, 8-5 in 10 innings. Auburn erased a 3-0 deficit with a five-run 8th only to see the lead slip away with single runs in the 8th and 9th innings off Sam Johns. Randy Encarnacion drove in the decisive three runs with a two-out double in the top of the 10th. Adam Boghosian worked around a walk in the bottom of the 10th for the save. Matthew Crownover started and gave up two runs on five hits and two walks over four and 2/3rds innings. Kelvin Gutierrez reached base three times with a walk and two singles to lead Auburn’s nine-hit parade.

18 Commments

  1. Very good to see strong starts this week from Jordan and Cole, as well as from Voth. It would be good to have all of them finishing the season strongly.

    Meanwhile, it sounds like Grace was about as effective last night as Thornton and Rivero were. Oy. It was a nice time for a good showing from Solis, though. I’m wondering whether Barrett is approaching the point where they’ll treat him like they did Treinen and send him to Syracuse to work some things out.

    As for yesterday’s discussion, I wasn’t strongly advocating for a Skole call-up at all. It was much more of a “who else is there?” than a “he’s my guy.” His BA is currently below the Mendoza line, but he, Martinson, and maybe Keyes are the only hints of power in the upper minors. I do think a lot of the pitchers who are already on the 40-man will get the call, particularly for nights like last night. Certainly Difo and den Dekker will be there, and maybe Turner. We’ll soon see.

  2. Voth has had an excellent season. That last outing puts him into second in strikeouts in AA (15th best in the entirety of the minors). But what’s most notable is his excellent command. Only 29 walks. Only one of the 14 pitchers with more strikeouts has fewer walks than that.

    Also, it’s nice to see he’s still pitching strong into August, when he seemed to really burn out at this time last season

    1. Last season he jumped from 46 IP in 2013 (plus whatever he pitched in college before being drafted) to 126 IP for the year. This season he is sitting on 124 IP, and will likely be bumped up to around 150-160 IP by season’s end. So it was likely a matter of needing to build up his arm strength.

      Nevertheless, he’s is certainly on track to make his debut next year. My prediction: if all goes well he’ll be the 6th starter coming out of ST and will make his debut when needed as an injury replacement. By late next year or 2017 at the latest he’ll be a rotation mainstay.

      1. Voth is kind of an underrated asset in this system. I view him kind of like a Tim Hudson kinda guy, under sized a little bit, doesn’t overpower you with his velocity. He’s the kind of prospect that nobody knows about b/c he isn’t 6’6″ and hitting 98. But he could be a very effective pitcher if given the chance.

        http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?sid=milb&player_id=608723#/career/R/pitching/2015/ALL

        He’d just had exquisite numbers wherever he’s gone. And as the Nats say, once you hit AA, you’re ready to be called up. I agree with karl; I could easily see him “in the mix” for the 2016 rotation in ST but then falling to AAA to await an injury. He’s a good arm to have in the wings; i just hope he doesn’t “top out” like Jordan/Cole/Hill seem to be right now.

      2. I think realistically he’s trade-bait.

        Can’t see him starting over Ross and Giolito and probably, Fedde, too (in 2017). Combine them with Scherzer and Strasburg and there’s no place for him.

        This isn’t to say I don’t like him, but the other three are above him so I see him getting flipped as a package for something the Nats’ need… like relievers and power hitters!

        1. Can’t guarantee any of them will be successful in the majors–even Giolito. And as the old saying goes, you can’t have too much pitching.

          1. Oh, and don’t forget that Strasburg is almost certainly gone via free agency after next year, while Gio will likely go after 2018. Lots of rotation spots will need filling in the next few years.

  3. Congratulations to Michael Taylor for being the franchise’s only player to hit a HR last night. I was actually at Nats Park to see it in the bottom of the 9th, along with around 5,000 of my closest friends. The other 32,000 announced attendees had already split.

  4. DSL Nats aren’t covered here, but there’s finally some noteworthy play going on there. Gone are the rosters full of guys in their 20s from a few years ago.

    For example, yesterday Pedro Avila and Francys Peguero pitched 7.1 innings of pretty solid ball. They’re sporting pretty fantastic numbers

    Peguero: 11/12 is save opportunities, 29.1 IP, a remarkable 45 K, an even more remarkable 4 BB, 1.53 ERA

    Those are pretty fantastic numbers for a 19 year old.

    Avila: 49 IP, 71 K, 14 BB, 2.39 ERA, and only 18 years old.

    It’s nice to see some potential coming from those Dominican arms…

    1. Will, thanks for the heads up. The DSL is followed here but Luke only has so much time with kids at home so anything you can add is always a plus.

    2. The proliferance of Latin – mostly but not exclusively Dominican – players in the Nats system the last few years is amazing and a very good thing to see. Last night in 4 levels between Auburn and Harrisburg, 17 Latin players played for the Nats minor league teams.

      While a lot of them are roster fodder, just like their American counterparts, several are top prospects (Difo, Robles, Severino, etc..) and that doesn’t even include GCL and DSL.

      They’ve come a long way post-Smiley and Johnny DiPuglia’s done a great job.

      1. The Nats are still playing catch up after the “Smiley” fiasco. Eury Perez (now with the Braves), Difo and Atahualpa Severino (cup of coffee as a LH reliever) are I believe still the only “graduates” of their DSL team(s) to make it to the big club. In other words, they have yet to see any real impact at the MLB level from over a decade of investment down there, and the fact that they are lagging behind most other clubs is still hurting the organizational depth more than six years after the scandal the got Bowden fired.

        It also goes to show just how LONG it takes to mould these raw Dominican (and other Latin American) teenagers into big league players.

        1. It can be a similar long haul for U.S. HS prospects as well. Taylor is in his sixth professional season (as is Difo); Souza, who admittedly had some ups and downs, is finally up for good this year in his ninth season.

  5. Andrew Stevenson – 29 pro games between Auburn, a 2-game rehab stint in the GCL and A-Ball: Has a hit in 25 of them and reached base in 27. He’s left-handed and plays good defense in the OF.

    Won’t be ready for next year, but can totally see him as the starting LF and batting 1st or 2nd in 2017.

    1. A potential replacement for Werth–along with Robles. It will be interesting to watch those guys develop.

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