Wednesday’s News & Notes
| Team | Yesterday | Today | Probable Pitchers |
| Syracuse | Won, 4-1 | vs. Lehigh Valley, 7:05 p.m. |
Espino (4-5, 3.09) vs. Vasquez (7-4, 3.87) |
| Harrisburg | Lost, 11-8 | @ Reading, 7:05 p.m. |
Purke (1-2, 8.03) vs. Jo. Rodriguez (4-2, 5.01) |
| Potomac | Won, 8-5; Lost, 1-0 |
vs. Winston-Salem, 7:05 p.m. |
Lopez (5-7, 4.55) vs. Almonte (2-0, 0.00) |
| Hagerstown | Lost, 9-1 | @ Augusta, 7:05 p.m. |
Reyes (5-7, 5.18) vs. Johnson (1-2, 6.41) |
| Auburn | Canceled | @ Tri-City, 7:05 p.m. |
Hearn (1-3, 2.89) vs. Murphy (0-1, 1.42) |
Syracuse 4 Lehigh Valley 1
• Jordan 2IP, 2H, 0R, 0BB, 0K
• McGregor (W, 5-5) 3IP, 5H, R, ER, 0BB, 0K
• Burriss 1-4, 3B, 2RBI
• den Dekker 1-3, R, 3B, 2RBI
The Chiefs rallied for four in the 2nd as they extended their win streak to eight with a 4-1 triumph over the IronPigs. Taylor Jordan got the start but was lifted after two scoreless innings (injury unlikely since he also struck out in the bottom of the 2nd). Scott McGregor got the win in relief, allowing one run on five hits over three innings without a walk or a whiff. Emmanuel Burriss and Matt den Dekker both had two-run triples in the Syracuse 2nd to pace the offense.
Roster move: RHP J.C. Gutierrez assigned from Washington.
Reading 11 Harrisburg 8
• Voth 5IP, 4H, 3R, 3ER, 4BB, 7K, HR
• Mendez (BS, 5; L, 6-4) 4BF, 4H, 3R, 3ER, 0BB, 0K, 0HR, 2-2 IR-S
• Ballou 4-4, 3R, BB, RBI
• Difo 4-5, 2RBI
• Pleffner 3-4, BB, RBI, SB
A six-run lead was too small for the Harrisburg bullpen to hold as they coughed up eight runs in the 7th to lose to Reading, 11-8. Austin Voth started and was knocked for three runs on four hits, including a two-run HR, over five innings. He struck out seven, but walked four. Wander Suero bore the brunt of the beating with five runs charged over an inning and a 1/3rd but the loss went to Gilberto Mendez, who let in two runners and three of his own while failing to retire a batter. Isaac Ballou reached base five times with four singles and a walk to lead the Sens’ 16-hit parade that saw seven of eight position players hit safely.
Potomac 8 Winston-Salem 5 — COMP.
• Mapes (W, 2-1) 4IP, 5H, 2R, 1ER, BB, 3K
• Orlan (H, 1) 2IP, 2H, 0R, BB, K
• Wright 2-3, 2R, 2-2B
• DeBruin 2-4, R, 2-2B, 3RBI
• Mesa 2-5, R, 2RBI, 2SB
A five-run 6th erased a 4-3 deficit as the P-Nats took the completion from the Dash, 8-5. Tyler Mapes picked up the win in relief of Matt Purke with two runs allowed over four innings on five hits and a walk. R.C. Orlan and Phillips Valdez combined for three scoreless to earn the hold and save, respectively. Grant DeBruin doubled twice and drove in three while going 2-for-4 to lead the Potomac attack.
Winston-Salem 1 Potomac 0 — GAME TWO
• Rauh (L, 2-1) 7IP, 5H, R, ER, BB, 9K
• Keller 1-3, 2B
• S. Perez 2-2, 2B
Brian Rauh pitched a complete-game loss as the P-Nats bats were stifled in the nightcap for a 1-0 loss. Rauh went the full seven, letting in a run on five hits and one walk while fanning nine. Potomac was held to four hits and two walks and hit into four double plays to offset three Winston-Salem errors.
Augusta 9 Hagerstown 1
• Fedde (L, 0-1) 4⅓ IP, 5H, 6R, 6ER, 2BB, 3K
• D. Williams 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• Marmolejos-Diaz 2-4, 2B
• Carey 2-4
The Nats continued their tradition of promoting high-profile pitchers to start on the road and were “rewarded” for their caution as Erick Fedde was stung for six runs by the GreenJackets in a 9-1 loss. Fedde gave up five hits, walked two, and struck out three over four and a 1/3rd innings in his Low-A debut. D.K. Carey and “Orange” Marmolejos-Diaz both went 2-for-4 but the rest of the Suns were 2-for-28 as they were limited to six hits and a walk.
Roster moves: RHP Erick Fedde promoted from Auburn; RHP Kevin Perez placed on 7-Day DL.
Auburn vs. Connecticut — CNCLD
Rain washed out the finale between the Tigers and the Doubledays. It will not be made up because the two teams do not meet again in 2015.
Roster move: LHP David Ramos reassigned from GCL Nationals for MiLB rehab.
Fedde finally gets the call! He should get about 5 starts at HAG before the end of the season.
Meanwhile, Ross apparently doesn’t want to lose his prospect status. After last night’s short outing he’s sitting on 49.2 IP with 50 IP needed to “graduate.”
Just noticed too that the entire Nationals franchise went homerless last night. The power shortage has turned into a full blown energy crisis.
God forbid we have no playoff club from DC
To SS!
Difo has 18 hits in the last 8 games! Obviously AA is too easy for him, but that’s where he can keep playing SS, with Turner at AAA. The only concern, as other have noted, is that his HR power seems to have dried up. He had three at Potomac but none in Harrisburg. And here I thought the advantage Difo was going to have over Turner was going to be his power.
The Taylor Jordan early removal is curious. Hope he isn’t dinged. I guess it’s possible the big club had him pulled in case they need him later this week.
And the Fedde promotion finally came. Looks like the level will be a good test for him. From Hagerstown, I wonder when/if our buddy Orange Marmolejos-Diaz will get a call to Potomac so Luke can finally see him in person.
Difo still has some learning to do in Harrisburg. He’s forgotten how to take a walk. He’s walking about 3 times less than his career average, which also by far the worst rate he’s posted at any level. He’s also striking out a lot more- about 50% more than his career average. To top that off, as you pointed out, his power has evaporated. His .080 ISO is the lowest since the .066 he posted in 2012 in the GCL.
As a result, his batting average looks good (and his baserunning has been very good), but the rest… not so good.
Better game from him last night, in that case… triple and a homer (we’ll gloss over his 11th error at AA….)
Nice little MiLB article from his 5-hit; 4-SB game a week ago:
http://www.milb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20150802&content_id=140653996&fext=.jsp&vkey=news_milb&sid=milb
Man, the Washington franchise is discouraging this year. Syracuse is twelfth of fourteen teams; Harrisburg is ninth of twelve; Potomac is eighth of eight (full season); Hagerstown is ninth of fourteen; Auburn tenth of fourteen and gulf Nats eleventh of sixteen. Add to that the mediocre to poor performances by many of our top prospects and many members of the big league club, and I find myself discouraged with baseball this year.
Heck, as a former Expo fan with it’s many tribulations over the years and a man getting older, I’m beginning to feel like I imagine Ted Turner must feel. Or Older fans of the Chicago Cubs.
My apologies ahead of time for my glass half empty rant.
You are not alone Jeeves
This window closing on 27/20 for Nats spurs
The desperate soul stirring in August.
The question is if and when the mets wheels
Will hit a few bumps in the road
As for Suns promotions to potomAc ? Keep in mind
Nats play a few extra home dates after Suns
Season sets a few days earlier .
Make that Ted Lerner. Freudian slip. I did say I was old.
While it’s preferable to win, winning percentage is not necessarily reflective of the quality of MLB prospects in an organization. In Giolito, Turner, Ross, Difo, Robles, Lopez, the Nats have quite a few players in their system that project to be quality MLB players and some (Giolito) project to be superstars.
The system (particularly the AAA and AA teams) have been hurt by injuries at the MLB level which have caused the Nats to use some of their most talented young players in the Majors (Taylor, Ross, Difo) rather than keep in the minors as planned. Also, the Nats did not play Giolito and Lopez until mid-May to keep them fresh at the end of the season (don’t be shocked if the Nats use Giolito as a power reliever in September). Turner didn’t join the Nats organization until June (pretty sure that the Cuse has winning record since he joined).
Agree with the general concern about power in the organization (it appears that the Nats generally value speed over power), but the Nats could have worked their farm system to have a better record, and it would not mean that their system is any better shape overall.
On Difo. I need to strongly disagree with what’s being said here. This guy blew through Potomac, which was already a level up. On his second level, he proved to be the most dynamic player in Harrisburg as soon as he got there. Then, he was quickly yo-yoed, then seated to wait for Turner to settle in., then yoyod again.
I wrote a few weeks ago on this site that a player to watch would be Difo, should he simply have the opportunity to settle in and play day to day. This is a player adjusting not only to his second level up, but going to AA, a big leap for anyone.
He is batting leadoff. The priorities are different. He is now 18 of his last 38 AB and is closing in on .300. He has stolen 25 bases this year, caught only twice. He has ably played both 2B and SS, and he is younger than league average. Are we actually complaining about him? Seriously. he is adjusting. Adjusting. He will be fine. He is legit.
Difo’s power is real and it will come. If he worries about it, he will strike out. If he does not, he will hit in the major leagues, hit with power, steal lots of bases, and be a high energy, great attitude player.
Nope, no one is complaining here. I was just disagreeing that AA was too easy for Difo. He’s had an irregular year, and especially because of that he still needs more time in AA. Though as a leadoff hitter, I would expect his OBP to rise, not drop.
Just discussing the key components needed for the final big step: power, walks, and reducing strikeouts. Difo’s gap power is still there, as he’s well above last year’s pace for doubles. He’s just not getting the ball out of the park. Can he play in the majors without much HR power? Yes, *if he can get on base,* which is where the walks come in, and reducing the strikeouts. It’s very difficult to correct a K/BB imbalance once you get to the big leagues; just ask Michael Taylor (or Espinosa). Difo has already struck out as many times as he did last season in only about 60% of the plate appearances. He’s getting the hits so seems capable of putting the bat on the ball, so it seems more a matter of developing his eye and discipline.
We’re all pulling for him, just trying to be realistic about what he needs to do to be able to succeed at the highest level. He might be able to crack the bench with the big club next year, in what we’ll call the Uggla slot. He’ll certainly get called back up this Sept., although how much he sees the field will remain to be seen. If nothing else, he would be a great PR option.
The most encouraging thing about the Fedde promotion is that the Nats are still promoting on August 9. Hopefully this means more movement involving positions and players that really deserve to get a look at a higher level – for the good of the organization, and particularly at the lowest levels.
Keep in mind the players especially pitchers on the
Sidelines with injuries keeping them out or guys just
Slow in their progress,
So was Purke demoted or was he sent down to make an emergency start at Potomac?
I believe it was the completion of a suspended game from earlier this season – when Purke was still with Potomac.
Ah, thanks so much.
Silvestre, benincasa the most advanced notables. Better than last year.
Forensicane, as I think I’ve said before, I quite enjoy your posts and agree with practically all of them. But, to be fair, no one other than Will made a negative comment about Difo, and his was pretty minor. I totally agree that Difo has been jerked around and is still coming through. I’m a fan of his for sure.
Of course, I am posting now after my constitutional three glasses of wine at supper time, so might have misconstrued, well, everything.
Had a good round of golf today though.
fair enough JAJ (Just ask Jeeves – and thanks). there is just so much underachievement among position players all through the system that I find myself comparatively enthused for Wilmer. Once I reflect on the disappointments of Vettleson, Severino, Kieboom, Miller (now gone), Gardner, Read (slowly awakening), Reetz, Bostick, Skole, Encarnacion, Mota, Bautista, and Goodwin (and yes, we could go on and on), whatever the reasons, he’s practically the last man standing from those highly regarded position players coming into this year. Thank goodness that every year brings its revelations, which have of course been Robles, Mejia, Abreu, Franco, Augustin, and Page, and the draftees, of course. But still, power is a drought. A sickening drought for a braintrust as talented as the nats, and they have had it for a few years now and not resolved it when they had the chances — including this year, however talented their draft. There is a lot of gambling tied up in the Dominicans translating their game.
I don’t know whether this organization just scouts pitching better than it does hitting (or U.S. hitting; they’re getting much better Latin bats), or if it is an unwillingness to invest higher draft picks on hitters, or what. Admittedly, it’s hard, and “projecting power” may be the hardest thing to do of them all, and then being patient until it finally shows up (as with Michael Taylor). But every draft, the team goes heavily for arms. Even this year, with three OFs as the first three picks, it was heavily arms thereafter, and very, very little power. I’m still scratching my head on the overpay for Schrock.
Some guys got derailed by injuries, of course; Skole and Goodwin are prime examples. Skole was always seen as marginal by the prospect gurus (for whatever they’re worth), but they loved Goodwin.
Anyway, I believe your main point is that it’s hard to field competitive teams if there’s so much regression among the field players, and I heartily concur.