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Tuesday’s News & Notes

Team Yesterday Today Probable Pitchers
Syracuse Won, 7-4 vs. Gwinnett,
6:35 p.m.		 Giolito (AAA debut) vs.
Kelly (2-5, 3.90)
Harrisburg Won, 5-1 @ Erie,
7:05 p.m.		 Blackmar (1st AA start of
’16) vs. Turley (4-6, 4.29)
Potomac Won, 7-2 @ Salem,
7:05 p.m.		 Fedde (5-3, 3.76)
Kent (8-4, 3.51)
Hagerstown Won, 9-6 OFF DAY N/A
Auburn Won, 4-3
(11 inn.)		 vs. Mahoning Valley,
7:05 p.m.		 Mills (3-1, 2.31) vs.
McKenzie (2-2, 0.28)


Syracuse 7 Gwinnett 4
• Long (W, 2-3) 6IP, 8H, 4R, 4ER, BB, 7K
• Martin (SV, 18) 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• Martinson 2-4, 2R, 3B, HR, 3RBI
• Lombardozzi 2-4, R, 3B
• Goodwin 1-3, R, BB, HR, RBI

Syracuse’s Jason Martinson tripled and homered to drive in three in a 7-4 series-opening win over Gwinnett. Jaron Long gave up all four Braves runs on eight hits and a walk while striking out seven to earn the win. Erik Davis, Matt Grace, and Rafael Martin each turned in a scoreless inning to seal the deal. Brian Goodwin also homered while Pedro Severino and Steve Lombardozzi both connected twice to lead the Chiefs’ ten-hit parade.

Harrisburg 5 Erie 1
• Mapes (W, 9-6) 9IP, 4H, R, ER, 3BB, 3K, HR
• Soto 3-3, 2B, 2RBI
• Ballou 2-4, R, 2B
• Bautista 1-3, 2R, 2BB, SB(40)

The Seawolves may mind Tyler Mapes coming here and wasting all their time, but the Senators don’t because his complete game effort was just what they needed for a 5-1 win. The Harrisburg bullpen got the night off after throwing 13⅓ IP in the previous two games as the birthday boy (25) allowed four hits, including solo HR in the 7th, three walks, and struck out three. Neftali Solo singled twice, doubled once, and drove in two while Rafael Bautista singled once, drew two walks, and swiped base #40 to pace the Sens’ offense. Roster moves: RHPs Boone Whiting, Greg Ross on the 7-Day DL (Boone retroactive to 7/15); RHP Mark Blackmar reassigned from Potomac; C Brian Jeroloman activated from 3-Day TIL.

Potomac 7 Salem 2
• Spann (W, 2-1) 6IP, 3H, 0R, 2BB, 6K
• Estevez 2IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 2K
• Mejia 2-3, 2B, BB, SAC, CS
• Marmolejos 2-5, 2R, 3B, RBI
• Keller 1-3, 2B, 2BB, RBI
• Robles 0-0, HBP, sorry

Matt Spann came up big for Potomac in a spot start as he outdueled flamethrower Michael Kopech in a 7-2 win to even the series. The 25-y.o. spun six scoreless innings, giving up three hits and two walks while fanning six to garner his second “W.” Bryan Mejia and Alec Keller each reached base three times while Drew Vettleson and Jake Lowery both drove in two as the P-Nats pounded out 12 hits total and drew five walks. No corresponding move yet to removal of RHP Mark Blackmar from the roster. Erick Fedde was named the Carolina League Pitcher of the Week for July 11-17.

Hagerstown 9 Greenville 6
• Bourque (W, 2-4) 5IP, 4H, 4R, 4ER, BB, 6K
• Pantoja (SV, 3) 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 0K
• Encarnacion 3-5, 2-2B, 2RBI, SB, CS
• Sagdal 2-4, 2R, HR, BB, 3RBI
• Agustin 2-4, R, 2RBI, CS

Ian Sagdal and Randy Encarnacion once again dominated the Drive pitchers, combining for five hits and five RBI in the Suns’ 9-6 win to finish the four-game sweep. James Bourque wobbled through five innings, letting in four runs on four hits and a walk, but set down six on strikes to win for the second time. Telmito Agustin and Kelvin Gutierrez also terrorized Greenville pitchers for four hits and three RBI as Hagerstown pounded out 12 hits total.

Auburn 4 Mahoning Valley 3 (11 inn.)
• Watson 5IP, 2H, 0R, 0BB, 7K
• Conner (BS, 1) 2IP, 3H, 3R, 3ER, BB, 3K
• Morse (W, 1-0) 2IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• Neuse 2-4, R, BB, RBI, SB, CS
• Banks 2-4, 2B, RBI, SAC, SB

Mahoning Valley rallied for three in the 8th to send this into extras but Auburn walked off in the 11th with a 4-3 win. Tyler Watson did not succumb to the curse of the GBI as the 19-y.o. threw five shutout frames with just two hits allowed and no walks while setting down seven on strikes. Blake Perkins singled with two out in the 11th and scored all the way from 1st on a safety to RF off the bat of Dan Johnson. Sheldon Neuse and Nick Banks led the Doubledays’ hit column with two hits and an RBI apiece.

17 Commments

  1. Damn you, Luke! Kopech too, that must really hurt. Wrist injuries can take a long time to heal. Any word on the severity?

    Neuse and Banks seem to be coming on, nice to see. Watson with a strong effort.

    1. You can really see from the angle of the video why Robles gets hit so often. He stands with his toes almost on the inside line of the batter’s box.

      Banks is up to .282 after a slow start. Neuse had a couple of good games to begin, then really went into a hole. He has seven hits over the last three games he has started, though, so he seems to be finding his rhythm. I’d like to see both of those guys get a little time at Hagerstown this year, if they can keep hitting.

      If I were talking trade with the Nats right now, Tyler Watson would be a name I’d be bringing up a lot. He may get some time at Hagerstown this year as well, at age 19, like Avila.

    2. We’ve talked about this before. It’s a matter of time before Robles gets seriously injured.

      I hope it’s not now, but his managers should have been intervening ages ago to ensure he’s not getting hit regularly.

      That was his 29th of the season. 21 last year. 13 the year before.

      That’s a ticking time bomb.

      1. Just for reference. In the Carolina League, there have been 312 HBP in 28002 PA. That’s a bit batter once every 89.8 plate appearances.

        Robles, so far has been hit 7 times in 87, or once every 12.4 plate appearances.

        In the SALLY League, it’s on average once every 71.8 PA. Robles was hit once every 13 PA.

        He’s getting hit more than 6(!) times more frequently than average.

      2. He’s basically getting hit once every 3 games. That’s both for the season (29 in 83) and his minor league career dating back to the DSL (63 191).

        To put that in perspective, Derek Dietrich of the Marlins currently leads the NL having been hit by pitch 17 times (3 more than Danny Espinosa, who is second) in 80 games, or almost once every 5 games.

        In other words, Robles is getting hit at a far greater rate than the current NL leader in that category. As Will says, it’s a ticking time bomb because eventually one of those plunks is gonna do some damage.

    1. Whenever a player gets tagged as “Good,” his hot streak seems to come to an end. Vice-versa for “Bad,” but it’s not as noticeable. It’s poppycock, of course, but I’d be tilting at windmills to argue against folks’ superstitions…

  3. Brian Goodwin now has a very healthy .792 OPS at Syracuse. You have to figure he’s supplanted den Dekker as the next callup.

    Agree with you, KW, on Banks. He should at least get a taste of Low A before the season is out. The Instructs in the fall are crucial for these college players since it takes about 600 AB’s to get the aluminum out of their swing.

  4. Continue to be excited about Tyler Watson. Whatever scout in the Nats’ system convinced the team to fork out 400K for a 34th rounder (and for Watson to take it) should get a raise.

    Yes, it’s still a small sample size of total innings pitched (42.1) he is fanning more than one per inning, his WHIP is under 1, his ERA under 2 and opponents are hitting below .200.

    All this for a 6-5 19-year old lefty.

    I’d love to see him get bumped to Hagerstown in a few starts but given his youth and lack of innings pitched, odds are the Nats will wait till next spring. Still, if he does well next year he could realistically start 2018 at AA and we all know once a Nats prospect gets there, anything can happen if they do well.

    1. Th fact that Watson was drafted in the 34th round is irrelevant–all it meant was that he was expected to go to college and the Nats were able to talk him out of it. It is better to think of the draft picks not in the order of where they were selected, but how big of a bonus they received. By that measure, Watson was really the Nats’ 6th pick a years ago, behind (in bonus order) Perkins, Stevenson, Wiseman, Schrock and Rivera.

  5. So strange that no one seems to know what has happened to Franco. He’s on the Gulf league roster but is not on the injury list. Have I missed any information on this situations? Sorta like the Bermuda Triangle mystery.

    1. No news from anyone about it.

      If it were an injury, it would have been reported like every other long-term injury. Could it be a visa issue? But if that were the case, then wouldn’t playing him in the DSL still be better than nothing? Also, he didn’t have any issues last season. If it were drug-related, we’d have heard about it.

      Without any logical explanations, it’s hard to not think it’s something more troubling.

      1. Seems rather par for the course for the Nats as it relates to injuries, actually. That’s my guess.

        1. It’s probably the most likely answer, but it seems weird that they’d publicly place other players like Nector Ramirez, Luis Rengel, Ryan Williamson or Jesus Luzardo on the DL, but not Franco.

          1. Franco has a back injury. There have been several reports on it, the most recent being in the BA midseason update for the Nats top ten. The Nats are hoping he can play this year.

          2. John, can you point me to these several articles? This is the first I (and probably most others here) have heard of any mention of a back injury. It would clear things up a lot!

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