NationalsProspects.com

Programming Note

The site is going to take an unscheduled hiatus while I take care of some personal issues. Not going away, just won’t be able to post for couple (maybe a few) days. Feel free to discuss the Nats and the minors in the comments during the interim.

50 Commments

  2. Best of luck, Luke. Take all the time you need. The inmates will handle this in your absence.

    1. Inmates. ? I resemble that remark.
      Lol
      Overall the pitching has been good
      Up and down the ladder. Some kids
      Have progressed . Some haven’t thus the importation of 12-14 arms
      To eat innings on the farm
      Crownover and Guilbeau have progressed.
      Fedde definitely the one major advancement outside of Lopez and Lucas G.
      Thoughts , inmates ? Lol

      1. Nice outing last night for Guilbeau
        Any other time of year he would
        Get bumped up but maybe
        Brass wants him around for playoffs ??

  4. Good luck & Godspeed, Luke. Take your time and there should be enough of us seamheads to keep things going.

    Okay everybody, time to chip in!

  5. Okay, this is chipping in time.
    Per the WP, here is important info on Harrisburg….

    First baseman Jose Marmolejos, 23, has an eight-game hitting streak and is batting .357 with an .838 OPS since getting called up from Class A Potomac.

    Tyler Mapes, 25, has pitched at least six innings in his last six starts and hasn’t allowed more than three earned runs during the span. The right-hander is fourth in the Eastern League in ERA (3.13), third in WHIP (1.20), and fifth in innings pitched (138).

    1. Looked better than I’ve seen him in a long time, begging though, questions like “Why did they make him go back and forth?” “Was it worth risking him having a bad start and damaging his confidence given what we now know about Strasburg?”

  8. Latos pitched well last night: 6 IP 6H 0R 3BB 3Ks.

    In 5 starts for the GCL Nats and the Cuse, he is: 22 IP 13H 3ER 10BB and 24Ks 1.23 ERA

    With Ross and SS out, looking like Mat (one “t”) will get some starts in September.

  9. Was checking in on Drew Ward, he’s doing better at Harrisburg now with an OPS in August of .671. Yes, that’s not exactly setting the world on fire but the transition from A+ to AA is by far the biggest one and he’s still just 21, which is so young for AA.
    Speaking of the jump, ‘Orange’ is still doing great at Harrisburg with an OPS of .861. He is 23 BTW.

  10. I’m curious to see what the Nats have in Weston Davis as he moves up. After last night, his WHIP through 9 starts is 0.84 and he’s only walked 7 in 45 innings. He doesn’t appear to have overpowering stuff – only 25 Ks – but opponents are only hitting .194 against him so presumably his control is pretty good.

    He’s only 20, so he should be one of the younger pitchers in the Sally next year – though Tyler Watson is a year younger – and it will be interesting to see how his stuff plays as he moves up.

    2. Okay, FG, you made me look him up.
      He has an ‘Ichabod Crane’ body (6’3″-185)that will hopefully fill out and generate more power.

      He missed all of last year, is he a TJ guy? Don’t know what happened.
      He just turned 20 in July.

        1. Thanks Luke, good story, I guess ‘Ichabod Crane’ body is too English Lit. obscure.

          I have to admit, I have no idea what his injury was but he’s seems full recovered and seems poised for a 19 year old.

          Thanks to FG & Luke, I now have another player to follow closely

  11. Whoah, Tyler Watson got promoted! Didn’t see that announced anywhere (not seeing it wasn’t, I could have missed it) and was completely surprised when I saw his name in the Hagerstown box score.

    Five IP, 3 H, 3 BB, 2 ER and 7 Ks. Not great but not bad for a 19-year old in his first appearance in full season ball.

    1. Those are pretty good numbers for a 1st start in Low A.
      Can’t expect the CIA, err, Nats F.O. to tell us about these things.

      1. According to Twitter, Blake Perkins has also been promoted to Hagerstown. Seems like the two of them are good friends.

        1. Thanks for posting that. Can this Twitter guy be trusted?

          I wonder if there will be a corresponding move promoting a bat to Auburn. Soto, Florentino or Franklin?

  12. Trevor Gott continues to look like a pitcher who will help the bullpen in September.

    Tuesday night, he threw another scoreless inning, giving up a hit a fanning one.

    In 8 games since he returned from the DL, he’s pitched 8.2 innings without allowing a run, allowed 5 hits and hasn’t walked anyone with 8 Ks. During that run he has dropped his ERA from 4.55 to 3.47.

    A closer look at his pre-DL numbers shows his ERA was inflated by three outings where he gave up a combined 8 runs in 2.2 IP, including 4 in his last outing before going on the DL. Minus those three outings, before he went on the DL he had pitched in 19 games for 25 innings and allowed 6 earned runs on 23 hits and 9 walks. That’s a 2.16 ERA and 1.28 WHIP.

    I know ignoring those 3 bad outings is kinda like “but other than that, how was the play, Mrs. Lincoln?” but it shows that Gott has actually had a pretty good season, especially since his worst showing and the one that really elevated his numbers, came right before he went on the DL so it happened when he was presumably hurt.

  13. More notes from AAA Tuesday night.

    Luke Giolito only went a scoreless inning as he was pulled to presumably keep him fresh for a start Sunday.

    Michael Taylor’s resurgence in Syracuse is appearing to have been very temporary. After having his average as high as .333 on Aug. 11, he went 0-for-4 Tuesday and is now 4 for his last 42 and seen his average drop to .223, which is just a point better than what he was hitting in the bigs. He’s struck out 29 times in 27 games.

    On the other end of the spectrum, recently sent-down Brian Goodwin went 2-for-4 with a homer, his 12th at Syracuse. Of the two, he appears to be in much better form to help the big club after the call-ups.

    Pedro Severino continued the hot bat he was swinging in the bigs, going 2-for-3 with 3 RBI.
    Oh, and you know I wasn’t gonna let this go: My boy Matt Skole went 2-for-5 with a double and a triple (his 1st in 169 games at AAA) and 2 RBI.

    In the ‘pen, pending call-up Sean Burnett pitched a scoreless inning allowing a hit with 1 K, lowering his AAA ERA for 2016 to 1.96.

    Rafael Martin pitched around a walk in a hit to pitch a scoreless 9th to continue a recent hot streak. In his last 10, he’s allowed 2 runs (earned) on 4 hits and 7 BB in 10 innings.

    While I don’t think he’ll earn a call-up, veteran Aaron Laffey pitched 5 shutout innings, lowering his ERA to 3.70. On another team, he’d be earning a look in September with his solid season but I don’t think it happens in DC.

  15. I will attempt to do Luke’s recaps justice. All these performances came in wins, meaning every Nats farm team from Syracuse to the DR won on Tuesday.

    At AA:
    Adrian Sanchez, who has been in the Nats system for 10-years (so long he played in the DSL under Jose Rijo), went 2-for-4 with 2 RBI.

    Rafy Bautista, Andrew Stephenson, Drew Ward and Spencer Kieboom all went 1-for-3.

    Former 30th rounder Tyler Mapes continues to pitch way above where he was drafted in 2014, allowing a run in 5 innings on 6 hits and a walk with 5 Ks to improve to 12-8 with a 3.08 ERA.

    At A+:
    Max Schrock had yet another multi-hit game, going 3-for-4 with 2 RBI to improve his average at Potomac to .341.

    Victor Robles continues to be a ball magnet. He went 0-for-3, dropping his Potomac average to .214, but the 19-year old got plunked again, the 33rd time in just 99 games (all levels) this season. Crazy.

    Hot-hitting Raudy Read went 0-for-1 but walked 3 times. He’s reached base in 9 of his last 10 during which he’s hitting .366 (15-for-41) with 7 walks.

    Drew Vettleson went 1-for-2 with 2 walks and a homer. He’s only batting .217 but he has 9 HR in 68 games after missing the first 2 months of the season. That said, he’s 25 and only at high A so his power needs to be kept in perspective.

    On the hill, Matthew Crownover didn’t allow an earned run for the second straight game. The undersized lefty scattered 3 hits and a walk over 7 innings (with two un-earned runs) while striking out 7 in what was likely the best outing in his 2 pro seasons.

    At A-ball:
    21- YO 3B Kelvin Gutierrez went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run to improve his average to .302. He only has 3 HRs this year, which is a little low for that position, but he has 22 2Bs and 6 3Bs, suggesting he might have some power once he finishes growing into his 6-3, 185 pound (if you believe the roster) frame. He also stole his 23rd base (4 at a rehab start at Auburn) in 30 attempts this year.

    Ian Sagdal, 23, went 1-for-4 to extend his hit streak to 7 games. He’s hitting .299 for the season. Between he and Schrock, the Nats got a couple of really good hitting second basemen in the 13th and 15th rounds last year.

    On the hill, we already covered Watson a couple of posts above but James Bourque, picked between Schrock and Sagdal last year, went 3 shutout innings, allowing a hit and a walk with 5 Ks to get the W. At 6-4 he’s got the size the Nats like in their hurlers but he’s been very inconsistent this year, hence his 5.29 ERA.

    2015 12th rounder Tommy Peterson pitched the 9th for his 6th save, lowering his ERA to 2.27 at Hagerstown after posting a respectable 3.66 ERA in 19.2 IP at Potomac. Not sure yet what the Nats have in him.

    At A-:
    Daniel Johnson, this year’s 5th round pick, went 3-for-5 with 2 doubles, raising his average to .255.

    1st round pick Dane Dunning showed why he went so high, pitching 5 scoreless innings allowing just 4 hits and no walks while fanning 3. That lowers his ERA to 2.75 but it should be even lower as he has 3 shutout innings (3 hits, 0 walks, 5 Ks) in a game suspended by rain that hasn’t been applied to his season stats yet (and might not if the game isn’t completed, though that’s currently scheduled for 9/4). Counting the suspended game, he’s thrown 24.2 games in 7 games and only allowed runs in 3 of them. He allowed for runs in 2.2 innings on July 31 meaning the rest of his brief career he’s allowed 2 earned runs in 22 innings which I’m told is pretty good.

    Maryland product Kevin Mooney pitched 2 scoreless innings in relief of Dunning, lowering the 2015 15th rounder’s ERA to 2.11 and a 0.99 WHIP. He’s got a long way to go to be considered a legit prospect, but if he has a solid season at Hagerstown next year, that would obviously change.

    At Rookie League:
    17-year old OF Juan Soto went 2-for-4, with 2 doubles and 2 RBI, raising his average to .351 and his OPS to .930, both of which now lead the GCL. In 41 games, he has 10 doubles, 3 tripes, 4 HRs and stolen 5 of 7 bases while walking 12 times and striking out 12. Prospect? Yeah, I think so.

    Fellow Dominican teenager Anderson Franco also went 2-for-4, raising his average to .277. After missing most of the season because of his mystery injury, Franco predictably started slow, hitting .250 his first 14 games. But in his last 10, he’s 12-for-39 (.308) with a homer a double and 3 BBs.

    Darryl Florentino, 20, went 1-for-5, which lowered his GCL batting average to .352 in 31 games after hitting .056 in 8 games at Auburn. Not sure what to make of such a gap in performance.

    Israel Mota and Joshual Ramirez (both 20), both has 2-hit games, each with a double, raising their GCL averages to .209 and .224 respectively.

    20-year old Venezuelan Aldrem Corredor went 1-for-4 with an RBI and is now hitting .281.

    Sterling Sharp, a 22nd rounder this year, lived up to his name, allowing 1 run in 5 innings as he scattered 8 hits and fanned 6 to lower his ERA to 3.44 in 10 games.

    Undersized (5-9) lefty Jeremy McDonald, taken in the 27th round this year, pitched 3 shutout innings, lowering his ERA to 3.44 in 26.1 innings with a 1.22 WHIP. Neither are likely future big leaguers but Tanner Roark was once a 25th round pick so you never know.

    At the DSL:
    SS Juan Pascal, 18, went 2-for-4 with an RBI to account for a third of the Nats’ hits, raising his average to .245. That actually makes him one of the team’s better hitters as – probably because the aforementioned teenagers are already in the US – only two DSL Nats are hitting above .256. They are 19-YO Venezuelan C/1B Jose Cabello (.282 after going 1-for-3 with a walk Tuesday) and 20 YO OF Andri De Los Santos (.279 and a team-leading 2 HRs).

    On the hill, 17 YO Venezuelan lefty Alfonso Hernandez pitched 3 innings scoreless innings without a hit while walking 1 and striking out 3, to lower his ERA to 1.32. In 13.2 IP he’s only allowed 3 hits, struck out 14 and walked 5.

    Warner Duran, 18, pitched a perfect 9th for his 6th save, lowering his ERA to 1.65 and his WHIP to 0.73 in 32.2 innings spread over 19 games.

    1. Nice writeup, Guest. Having (finally) made a pilgrimage to Potomac last weekend, it was easy to see how Robles gets plunked so often. His first move in his swing is to dive towards the plate, so if the pitch is inside he is definitely putting himself in harm’s way. I wonder if this is something that may decrease as he moves up as he faces pitchers with better command.

      1. Grissom had a similar stance

        Kids can garner good value
        Max brings much needed salty
        Lefty a guy dusty loves
        Bryan Mejia , Ian Sagdal and
        Austin Davidsoncan now feel more
        Love from brass with Max ABs
        Gone
        Who hits behind Robles ?? Davidson my guess

        Luke. Blessings on all your doings

    3. Florentino did not get much
      Playing time with june 16 NCAA
      Outfielders
      20 is young. Give youth time

    1. Yes Guilbeau took crownover
      Role after matthew went to potomAc
      That second starter4-7 innings
      Tandemed with another until earning starting bump nod

  17. Can’t replicate Luke, but here’s the skinny on the last 2 Harrisburg games.

    Tuesday was a 4-3 win to give Tyler Mapes his E.L. leading 12th victory; not bad for a 30th rounder just 2 years removed from college. The 4 RBI’s were by Drew Ward & Kevin Keyes.

    Wednesday was also a 4-3 win, this time a walk-off victory. The main instigator in the 9th was Andrew Stevenson with Adrian Sanchez driving in the winning run.

  18. Nationals announce they've acquired LHP Marc Rzepczynski & cash from the Athletics in exchange for minor leaguer Max Schrock.— Jorge Castillo (@jorgeccastillo) August 25, 2016

  19. Great trade !!!
    The dude was huge for STL
    A couple years ago
    Rivero replaced
    There lefties for Dusty. Sounds like
    A jazz song. Pat methany on guitar
    Michael breaker on sax
    Ummmm
    Sagdal up to potomAc GIl Grissom

    1. ???
      9 trades between clever beane and
      Rizzo
      Baseball junkies. Max muncy
      On oakland with some talented
      Guys now . Max Max. Some oakland
      PR guy will come up with catching
      Tee shirt line

      Second thoughts on Burnett by Rizzo
      Or just three deep nice for dusty ??

  20. In the GCL, Juan Soto just smacked his team-leading 5th HR of the season. That’s in addition to leading the GCL in batting average and OPS. Once again, he’s 17.

    I wonder if the Nats will have him skip Auburn next spring and go straight to Hagerstown or if he’ll have to toil in extended spring training till mid-June.

  21. I’m traveling so I’m a little behind, but Erick Fedde Wap had a real nice start Friday, going 7 innings and allowing one run and fanning 8.

    He’s now had 4 starts at AA. Two of them have been very strong, two of them poor. Definitely not out of place at this level, just needs to continue to adjust and get consistency.

    He’s also at 115 innings pitched this year after throwing 64 last year. Either the Nats have a new philosophy for post-TJ innings or they want him to throw more this year because they want him to be able to throw 150 or so next year and they want him to build up this year.

    In a non-Fedde note, 3B Kelvin Gutierrez was rewarded for hitting .300 at Hagerstown and got the bump to Potomac. He turns 22 today so nice birthday present.

  22. All the talk monday will be about Watsonfor hags sunday
    But quietly simonetti hits 5 / 6 HRs
    Sunday in gcl action sunday

    1. Simonetti has legit pop.

      At Kent State, he hit 17 dingers this year as a Jr. That was in 57 games and 222 ABs. In three seasons, he hit 31 HRs in 126 games (Don’t have the career ABs available on KSU’s site.) while improving his batting average dramatically every year, from .163 as a freshman to .283 as a sophomore to .311 last spring.

      So there is some power there. Now he just needs to show he can continue to produce as he moves up.

  23. Watson continues to impress. I realize 4 runs in 10 innings thru starts isn’t world-beating but for a 19-year old in his first two starts at full-season A-ball, it’s a damn good total, especially when you figure in he only gave up 7 hits and has fanned 14.

    The only real blemish is he’s learning that hitters at this level are a little more disciplined and patient and don’t chase as much, hence the four walks. But I suspect he will adjust.

    It will be interesting to see where Watson starts next year. I would be stunned if he doesn’t begin at Hagerstown next year. He likely has one more regular season start plus likely at leaast one in the playoffs. I can’t see that being enough for the Nats to have him start next year at Potomac.

    But I could see him being moved up the end of May if he pitches well and if he doesn’t stall at high A, getting a late taste of AA next year. Either way, we’re looking at a kid who could begin 2018 as a 20-year old at AA. That’s pretty impressive.

  24. Decisions. PotomAc vs FRED
    Or burg vs bowie
    Guess I will see Austen Williams
    Work towards another QS.

  25. Well. No more promotions for playoff bound clubs
    The playing ceilings for many
    NCAA kids are maxed ?

Comments are closed.