Hello, October
We’re on the final weekend of the MLB season, but a week away from the start of the AFL season. The big boys are stumbling towards home-field advantage against the Dodgers in the NLDS, hoping to survive a series of late-season injuries at catcher, second base, and the outfield.
But this is a minors site, so let’s delve into what we can for today…
ORGANIZATIONAL AWARDS
It’s a bit of mystery why the team waited so long to announce its 2016 Organizational Awards, but then again, I wouldn’t put much money on the front office PR folks knowing the difference between Ed Bernays and Ed Walsh, never mind who they were.
Once Max Schrock was traded, the odds of Jose “Orange” Marmolejos repeating as Player of the Year went up tremendously, but I think he would have won anyway due to his performance at AA. Reynaldo Lopez winning Pitcher of the Year is also a, um, minor upset if you consider that the odds of a reliever getting named are very slim if he doesn’t rack up a garbage statistic. The fourth annual Bob Boone Award went to Rafael Bautista.
BA TOP PROSPECT LISTS
Nats 2016 1st Rd. pick Dane Dunning made Baseball America’s NYPL Top 20 at #6 while Victor Robles was tagged as the #1 prospect of the Sally League. Neither prospect was mentioned in the chats. For what it’s worth, former farmhand Schrock was #16 on the latter list. Given BA’s history of double-dipping, I’m expecting Robles to make the Carolina League list as well.
TRANSACTION STUFF
Nothing new here, thanks to my going “off cycle” with the previous post.
THE 2016 GCL NATIONALS
The team finished second with a 30-23 mark – the first winning season since 2013 when the team ran the table and won the GCL Championship. Thanks in part to 17-y.o. phenom Juan Soto, the team was nearly a full run above the league average (5.06 R/G vs. 4.12) on offense, which enabled them to overcome slightly subpar pitching (4.17) and defense (.962FA vs. .965). Thanks to the influx from the DSL, the team’s hitters were close to the league average. Thanks to the practice of using the GCL to rehab, the team’s pitchers were the oldest in the league, though the cohort of 21 and younger (13 total) weren’t bad: 11-11, 8SV, 3.18/3.28/1.31 in 217⅔ IP over 80 appearances.
After the obligatory reminder that short-season = small sample size (and that very, very few of these guys will rise above Low-A)…
| TOP 5 BATS | TOP 5 ARMS |
| 1. Juan Soto, RF .322 GPA, .550 SLG% |
1. Francys Peguero, RHSP 2.20/2.59/1.10, 6.80 K:BB ratio |
| 2. Connor Simonetti, 1B .261 GPA, 6HR |
2. Jeremy McDonald, LHRP 3.24/1.85/1.22, 9.23 K/9 |
| 3. Carter Kieboom, SS .258 GPA, .452 SLG% |
3. Sterling Sharp, RHSP 3.24/2.85/1.27, 1.3 BB/9 |
| 4. Joey Harris, C .269 GPA, .414 OBP |
4. Carlos Pena, RHSP 2.95/3.50/1.29, 0HR in 39⅔ IP |
| 5. Darryl Florentino, CF .267 GPA, .340 BA |
5. Ben Braymer, LHRP 4.12/3.02/1.32, 10.98 K/9 |
After the first three pitchers, I may as well have taken a dartboard to pick the last two. Honorable mentions go to Aldrem Corredor and Michael Rishwain for batter and pitcher, respectively. Folks interested in seeing the full team stats, can see them here.
Ty Luke many thanks 365 a year
Your dog photos even on off days
Remind us that look @ a dog
Spend time with one and dog days
Go away in the head
The kids were impressive today, Turner of, but Difo showed terrific range and Severino showed a defensive dimension not seen here since Schneider. That throw to 2nd today was Gold Glove material!
Agreed–I was at the game today and also saw what you saw. Superior athleticism is what will keep Difo and Severino in the majors for more than just a few cups of coffee. Whether they become everyday players at some point will depend on how well bats develop at the highest level.
I only saw the video on mlb.com: but they boys got da toolz! It was might impressive. Combine that with the way Severino turned on a pitch for a homer a few days ago, and Difo’s first MLB homer the other day…. They got a chance….
Severino has been tough especially as a young kid from warmer climate
Working his season in some cold
Nights in hags
Another thought: brother Harper
Would be nuts to leave op to play with Bryce
Congrats to Spencer Kieboom for making his MLB debut on the last day of the season, drawing a key walk and scoring a run. It’s a shame Ramos had to get injured in order for it to happen, but that doesn’t make it any less special for him.
Agree
John Sickels picks the Nats to win it all (and Rendon for Series MVP):
http://www.minorleagueball.com/2016/10/3/13153678/2016-mlb-post-season-predictions
Not sure if that carries any more weight than any of the millions of other predictions out there, but I like his prospect evaluations, so he has to be right on this also 🙂
Like the Tony Two Bag confidence. Sickels is the best – I’m glad he’s on our side.
Maybe Sickels believes Dusty
Can love the best out of Gio
And Ross plus bullpen work ( like
Padres in 1984 vs Cubs).
2 (and a bit) prospects for the Nats make it into the Carolina league top-20 in Baseball America today: Robles hits at #3, and Fedde makes #9. The bit comes from the dear departed Max Schrock, whose Potomac performances got him in at #20.
Chat will be on from 2pm EDT today….
….And in the EL top 20 prospects list, Giolito checks in at number 5, and Lopez rounds out the top 10…….
Did nats instructional league
Get shut down due to cane matthew,?
Yes, the instructional league was shutdown due to the hurricane. Now, the Nats are pondering what do about those players that are left off the 25 man roster for the NLDS. The Nats planned to send them to Florida to train with those in the instructional league so that they would be baseball ready in case the Nats wanted to adjust their roster for the NLCS or the World Series.