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Tuesday’s News & Notes

Team Yesterday Today Probable Pitchers
Syracuse OFF DAY vs. Buffalo,
5:35 p.m.		 Hill (4-9, 4.69) and
Laffey (4-4, 4.01) vs.
Lawrence (2-3, 3.98) and
Venditte (2-1, 4.94)
Harrisburg OFF DAY @ Binghamton,
5:35 p.m.		 Brady (2-5, 3.68) and
Valdez (3-2, 5.64) vs.
Pill (8-9, 4.08) and
Herron (2-2, 6.82)
Potomac Lost, 5-4 @ Lynchburg,
5:30 p.m.		 Williams (2-3, 4.31) and
Spann (2-1, 3.46) vs.
Robinson (1-1, 9.39) and TBD
Hagerstown Lost, 5-4
(10 inn.)		 vs. West Virginia,
7:05 p.m.		 Baez (6-7, 4.67) vs.
Agrazal (6-8, 4.36)
Auburn Won, 3-2
(10 inn.)		 @ Staten Island,
11:00 a.m.		 Watson (1-2, 2.53) vs.
Martin (3-2, 2.55)


Syracuse – OFF DAY
Tonight, Chiefs return home where they actually have a winning record (29-25) to play the Bison again for four games starting with a doubleheader tonight. Last-place Syracuse’s tragic number is 18 for both the I.L. Divisional and Wild-Card races.
Roster moves: RHP Trevor Gott activated from the 7-Day D.L..

Harrisburg – OFF DAY
Harrisburg, which is tied for first place in the E.L. West with Altoona, hits the road for four against Binghamton, beginning with a doubleheader. The Sens have been break-even on the road (26-26) but will need to make hay against one of the league’s also-rans as they’ve eased into contention with Rubberducks’ recent, um, tailspin (1-9 last 10 games). Harrisburg and Altoona meet for six games in August but are done playing Akron. Roster moves: 1B Jose Marmolejos promoted from Potomac; RHP Sam Runion reassigned from Syracuse.

Lynchburg 5 Potomac 4
• Mayberry (L, 3-2) 6IP, 8H, 3R, 2ER, 0BB, 5K, HR
• Read 4-4, 2R, 2-2B, RBI
• Mejia 3-4, 3RBI, CS(9)

The P-Nats took an early 2-1 lead but fell behind 5-2 and couldn’t catch the Hillcats as they fell, 5-4 and into a tie for 1st place in the C.L. North. Whit Mayberry turned in a quality start of three runs allowed on eight hits and no walks over six innings. He struck out five while losing for the second time. Raudy Read singled twice, doubled twice, and scored twice while Bryan Mejia drove in two in the 8th with his third single of the night before the Hillcats’ Travor Frank shut the door with a whiff of Dale Carey to end the threat. Potomac went in order in the 9th. Roster moves: LHP Matt Crownover placed on the 3-Day TIL; RHPs Ryan Brinley, Boone Whiting reassigned from Harrisburg; OF Matthew Page promoted from Hagerstown.

West Virgnia 5 Hagerstown 4 (10 inn.)
• Avila 4IP, 7H, 4R, 4ER, 4BB, 6K, WP
• Howell 4IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• Johansen (L, 1-1) 2IP, 3H, R, ER, BB, 2K
• Agustin 2-4, R, SB
• Gutierrez 2-5, RBI

The Sally League continues to drop hints that 19-y.o. Pedro Avila might be fatigued, the Power being the latest as they shocked him for four runs early in a 5-4 win over the Suns in extra innings. Avila was, um, charged with four runs on seven (7) hits and four walks over 82 pitches and four innings in the no-decision. Randy Encarnacion’s solo shot with two down in the 9th to force extras was quickly erased in the 10th on a walk-single-single sequence off losing pitcher Jake Johansen. Kelvin Gutierrez singled for the second time to lead off the 10th and took second on a sacrifice but watched the final two outs (liner to 2B, flyball to RF) as Hagerstown dropped into 2nd place with the loss. Roster moves: RHP Tommy Peterson reassigned from Potomac; 2B Jake Noll promoted from Auburn.

Auburn 3 Staten Island 2 (10 inn.)
• Reyes 1IP, 1H, 1R, 1ER, 1BB, 0K, 0HR
• Reid (W, 1-0) 3⅔ IP, 1H, 0R, BB, 5K, HBP, 1-0 IR-S
• Neuse 1-3, R, 3B, BB, RBI
• Johnson 2-5, R, 2B, RBI

Daniel Johnson’s two-out double in the 10th scored Blake Perkins all the way from first as Auburn edged Staten Island, 3-2 in 10 innings. Luis Reyes, assigned on a rehab from Potomac, was lifted after coughing up a run in is first and only inning. Steven Fuentes followed with two runs let in over four innings. The win went to Jonny Reid as he struck out five over three and 2/3rds innings to close out the game. Tres Barrera tripled and Sheldon Neuse doubled as both went 1-for-3 with a walk to lead the Doubleday offense.

12 Commments

  2. Last Night in Staten Island (or Shaolin, for you Wu-Tan folk)

    It was a beautiful summer evening to relearn the many maxims of Luke and Nationals Prospects when the Doubledays rolled into the stadium-by-the-ferry last night. Auburn won the game 4-3 in ten innings and the summary above has the details, and I (as neither a journalist or scout) can supply you with a bit of color.

    The Nats brought out Luis Reyes to start. Whatever his issue was, and he was throwing up to 93-94, he just did not have it. Falling behind hitters, and when he threw strikes they were thumped. He was fortunate to escape the first with one run.

    Steven Fuentes replaced him, and threw four innings. He was definitely better than the box score. For you velo fiends, he does not go above 90-91, but in four innings he was consistently around the plate, efficient, and the Yankees got noticeably poorer contact against him. Lots of dribbles and softly hit balls, with one of two exceptions, specifically a double from Drew Bridges off the wall that was poorly played by Nick Banks in RF and plated a run as a result. Banks’ arm in RF, and all of the Nats OF arms, did not impress. Fuentes gave up an unearned run courtesy of a sloppy error by Neuse at 3B and two PB-WP by Tres Barrera, who does not impress at catcher (laborious comes to mind). I liked Fuentes, perhaps more than any of the pitchers I saw last night. He does not get rattled at age 19, and the Yankee lineup was hitting weak ball after weak ball, even as he did not strike anyone out. Brayan Serrata followed him. He looks good in person, but he pitches like he is suffering. And so he did not last longer than he should. Jonny Reid was an interesting player. He has a funny delivery, does something with his head like he’s throwing it to the plate as well, but pitches with an urgency and confidence. He did not blow anyone away, but he got big strikeouts of big hitters in key spots and was fooling them. He has a fearless quality that will last only as long as 90 will take him, but bookending Serrate, it was obvious. Even into his fourth inning, the Nats had no one in the bullpen, even with the tying run at 2B.

    Now, the offensive players…I did not see any real pop to write home about. The Neuse triple was ashot that barely eluded the 1B leaping, was probably the hardest hit ball of the night. But there was very little hard contact by anyone. Simply balls that found holes and the occasional soft liner. Banks has a nice swing and hit one liner to left that was caught. But really, there is no power manifest from a one game sample size.

    Johnson looks like he is about 5’6 (OK, maybe 5’7). Very short legs. But he is quick and hustles. Perkins covers ground easily in CF. He does make it look easy out there. His bat from the left side is scratch. Banks had a quiet night. Neuse looks like the fattish kid who has athletic skills, and his stubby body may be why he was drafted lower. He has an arm on him across the diamond. I could see the 94 there. Clayton Brandt hits the ball in the air and his stats don’t lie. But he made the two excellent defensive plays on the Nats side, and he has polish at SS. Panacchio had no real defensive opportunities but looks overmatched at bat. Ripken was not impressive at all. Very tall, makes poor contact, dropped an easy pop at first. Pretty much what you are reading from the stat line tells you what you need to know.

    My boy got autographs (13!) and we got to interact with the players a bit and pick up the personalities. Russell Harmening was very sweet and warm. Mooney is a lovely guy. Simonds is a delight, very warm, very down to earth, he and Harmening the kindest. Brandt, also, very wholesome fella. Yonathan Ramirez gets the special award for going out of his way to get my son a ball. This making him a fan forever. His English is poor but workable. So yes, it’s talent that has him over her so soon in his professional trajectory.

    I sat with a scout for part of the game and picked his brain. He said Giolito was overhyped yet conceded he had listed him as the second most desired arm for his team in the minors, behind Severino. He covers all of the teams, and so he had onlylimited contact with the Nats, but he had particularly good things to say about Pedro Avila, whose curveball he loves and whom he feels has an advanced feel for pitching and a guy to watch. He also likes Agustin as a hitter and loves Rafael Bautista’s speed, and is a Difo believer. Not much else. But hey, I’m just a stringer.

    Takeaways:

    Velocity only teaches you so much
    You cannot pick up the kind of contact from a box score
    Fuentes is looking like a starting pitcher
    When you see a player open his mouth to reveal his braces, you know they.are.just.kids
    No one likely to be promoted (maybe, maybe, maybe Reid)
    Rizzo likes having Cal Ripken at the instructional league

    1. Good stuff! Sounds like you and kid had a fun evening.

      Just a couple of things come to mind. Johnson supposedly had a throw from the OF in college clocked at 101, so he may have a better hose than he got to show. As for Neuse, when I first looked him up when he was drafted, my first thought in looking at his build was “Uggla.” There was some talk at the time of the draft of possibly converting him to catcher, but that would presumably wait until the instructional league, if they try it at all.

      1. Point taken on Johnson. As for Neuse, the arm, and body, great idea! PS Scout liked Reetz as well, this year as well as GCL version of 2014.

    2. You’re right about there being no power in Auburn. The team has collectively hit 7 HR almost 1600 PA (2nd fewest in the NYPL). There’s a similar power outage on the Gulf Coast (besides Soto and Simonetti) and in the Dominican (dead last of 42 teams there with 2 total HR).

      Sometimes it feels the FO is actively avoiding players with power. Was Matt Skole in 2011 really the last draftee to show any signs of power at the plate?

      1. I’ve jumped up and down at the time of the last two drafts about the need for power. Simonetti was the only draftee this year who really hit a lot of HRs in college. Banks flashed power at times (2 long HRs in SEC title game vs. FLA) but has yet to show it consistently in college or pros.

        But yes, up and down the Nats’ system, there aren’t many guys who can get a ball out of the park on a regular basis. Not a problem with the big club, though.

  3. Per above question, instructional leagues and rest will tell a lot. Logic would suggest that Banks would be the first promoted, as a college product having played at an SEC program.

    1. I also think Banks may get a Hagerstown cup of coffee this summer. He seemed to have found his stride but then cooled off over the last few games. Banks, Johnson, and Perkins all seem to have done enough to start in Hags next year, as Melissa noted. I’m pleased with what Johnson is doing. He was described as pretty raw in a number of the draft reports, but he seems to have held his own with the power-conference college kids in NY/Penn. I’m still not sold on Perkins unless he can really bulk up.

  4. Another comment on Reid. I just looked up the stats and saw that he threw 69 pitches last night. He did not look tired at all at the end, and they had no one in the pen throwing. He may be the earliest contender for the Richie Mirowski award (guy drafted low who brings a lot more to the table and does a Tyler Mapes quiet rise faster than his peers).

  5. For the 4th time in 8 starts this season, Tyler Watson thru 5 shutout innings for Auburn this afternoon, lowering his ERA to 2.19. In 37 innings he has a 0.97 WHIP and 40 Ks (versus 8 BB).

    Since he’s just 19, there’s no rush to move him up and he’s likely gonna start next year at Hagerstown regardless, but it will be interesting to see if they reward his performance and give him a taste this year.

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