Saturday’s News & Notes
| Team | Yesterday | Today | Probable Pitchers |
| Syracuse | Won, 3-2 | vs. Pawtucket, 1:05 p.m. |
Voth (0-1, 2.00) vs. Elias (0-1, 3.86) |
| Harrisburg | Lost, 4-3 | vs. Bowie, 7:00 p.m. |
A. Williams (0-3, 11.37) vs. C. Lee (3-0, 2.95) |
| Potomac | Won, 5-1 | vs. Wilmington, 6:35 p.m. |
Valdez (3-1, 5.40) vs. Lovvorn (0-4, 4.50) |
| Hagerstown | Won, 3-1 | vs. Rome, 6:05 p.m. |
Avila (0-0, 3.86) vs. Weigel (1-1, 3.27) |
Syracuse 3 Pawtucket 1
• Hill 6IP, 6H, 2R, 2BB, 6K, HR
• J. Gutierrez (W, 1-0) 1⅔ IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 1K, 2-0 IR-S
• Martinson 4-5, 2B, RBI
• Goodwin 1-3, BB, RBI
The Chiefs took advantage of three errors in the 9th to score twice and turn a 2-1 defeat into a 3-2 walkoff win over the PawSox. Trea Turner reached on an error, stole second, took third on a dropped third strike that the catcher threw wide of first trying to retire Kevin Keyes, and scored on Jason Martinson’s fourth hit of the night. The gamewinner, scored by Jose Lozada in place of Keyes, came when PawSox shortstop Deven Marrero hit the baserunner at second trying to get an out on Martinson’s IF single. The miscues made a winner of J.C. Gutierrez, who stranded two in the 8th with a double-play ball and set the side down in order in the 9th. Taylor Hill got the start and went the first six innings, giving up both Pawtucket runs on six hits and two walks. Roster move: J.C. Gutierrez reassigned from Harrisburg.
Bowie 4 Harrisburg 3
• Giolito 4IP, 6H, 3R, 2ER, 2BB, 4K, 77-44 P-K
• Mendez (L, 0-1) 1⅔ IP, 2H, R, ER, BB, 2K
• Bautista 0-1, 3BB, SB(10), OF assist at 2B
• Collier 1-4, R, 3B, RBI
Harrisburg took advantage of a walk and two errors to score three runs in the first two innings on just one hit but it wasn’t enough as Bowie chipped away and scored four unanswered runs for a 4-3 win. Lucas Giolito failed to go five innings for the fourth time in as many starts, laboring through four innings on 77 pitches (just 44 for strikes). He let in three runs (two earned) on six hits and two walks wiule striking out four. Gilberto Mendez was charged with the loss with one run allowed on two hits and a walk over an inning and 2/3rds.
Zach Collier’s triple in the 2nd drove in the second Sens run while Stephen Perez’s bunt single accounted for the second and final hit of the night. Roster move: RHP Koda Glover reassigned from Potomac, replacing J.C. Gutierrez.
Potomac 5 Wilmington 1
• Reyes (W, 2-2) 5⅔ IP, 5H, R, ER, 3BB, 8K, WP
• M. Sanchez 1⅓ IP, 2H, 0R, BB, 2K, 2-0 IR-S
• Abreu 2-3, R, BB, 2RBI, SB
• Stevenson 1-2, R, 2BB, SB(10)
• Mejia 2-4, R, 3B, E(5)
The P-Nats may have shaken their losing ways at the Pfitz Last Night In Woodbridge.
Roster move: LHP Matthew Spann reassigned from XST, replacing Koda Glover.
Hagerstown 3 Rome 1
• A. Lee 5IP, 3H, R, ER, 0BB, 1K
• Pantoja (W, 2-0) 3IP, 3H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• Robles 2-4, R, CS(5), OF assist at 2B
• Schrock 2-4, R, 2B, RBI
• Gutierrez 2-4, 2B, RBI, E(5)
Andrew Lee pitches five strong innings, leaves with a no-decision. In other news, Suns rallied for two in the bottom of the 8th to break a 1-1 tie and beat the Braves, 3-1. Lee allowed the lone Rome run on three hits and no walks while striking out one. Jorge Pantoja tossed three scoreless to earn the win while Tommy Peterson pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for the save. Kelvin Gutierrez extended his hit streak to 10 games with his fifth straight multihit game, joined by Victor Robles and Max “For Those About To” Schrock with a 2-for-4 night with a run scored.
Roster moves: RHP Ronald Pena placed on the 7-Day DL; RHP Trey Lambert assigned from Washington.
I really like what I see from Stevenson. His consistency almost makes me think he could be a decent major league player now. Better than some of the Nats are at this point.
But one hears almost nothing about him in the weekly prospect list or otherwise. When a player doesn’t have much power, they don’t seem to get noticed.
Sadly, almost all the Nats minor leaguers are deficient in power,
It’s almost like after having so many free swingers who struck out a lot at the big league level, they decided to emphasize contact hitters throughout the organization.
That’s great, and I think guys like Stevenson and Turner will be fantastic additions to the lineup, but a little pop will be nice, I expect the two things they’ll emphasize in this year’s draft are power hitters and left handed pitchers. Of course, that’s what pretty much every team is trying to find, too.
Giolito with another poor performance. At this rate it is highly unlikely that he will be promoted to the big club anytime soon. Fortunately, with the way the rotation is performing they don’t need him right now.
Glover with well the deserved quick promotion, but I fear he may end up being a prime trade chip come July. The big club is going to need to upgrade its putrid offense if it hopes to have a chance come playoff time, and at least a couple of our favorites are likely to be the return going the other way.
Gutierrez and Glover are basically backfilling Solis’s recall to majors. I’d love to be wrong, but that’s what it looks like.
I don’t think the Nats will be looking to trade Glover. He’s very much a part of the MLB bullpen of the (near) future, with the stuff to have an outside shot of getting into the closer competition next year. Much better to find someone from inside from Rivero, Treinen, Gott, and whomever else (Glover, maybe Lopez) than spend big for someone like Chapman or Jansen.
I’m not that worried about Giolito. In the long run, it may relieve some of the pressure on him if he doesn’t zoom to the majors. No worries with the MLB rotation thus far, assuming that that Scherzer fella gets his act together.
Elsewhere, good for Taylor Hill for bouncing back with a solid year thus far. Like Taylor Jordan, I think he’ll eventually get a look in the majors, maybe not with the Nats, but somewhere.
And my guy Andrew Lee continues to roll, low on the Ks, but with no BBs. Good to see a solid start from Reyes as well.
A few observations that may seem a bit out of the paradigm:
1) Victor Robles is off to such a dominant start that he has the makings of the Nats #1 prospect by the end of 2016.
2) Max Schrock is off to an extremely impressive start, even if overshadowed by Robles. I can see him getting promoted before Robles because of his baserunning discipline and Robles’ age.
3) Glover’s promotion may have been backfilling, but with other really impressive performances at Potomac, they certainly are not afraid to challenge him. With that said, it’s starting to look like Abel De Los Santos is putting it all together, and worth watching how he is used at Syracuse.
4) Jeff Gardner’s return marked by a power surge, Pedro Avila starting well out of XST, Ian Sagdal showing up well with the bat (as we were warned), numerous notables not yet surfacing from XST, and both lower minor teams faring well. The lower minors are well stocked.It’s only a matter of developmental time before the upward mobility pans out. Of course, there are disappointments aplenty at AA thus far.