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Twins Double Up Nats, 4-2

Tanner Roark threw four strong innings early, but the Nats gave up four runs late to drop their fourth game, 4-2 to the Twins.

Roark, who will pitch for the United States in the WBC, allowed just two hits, no walks, and struck out three.

The loss went to Sammy Solis as the 28-y.o. southpaw served up three runs on three hits in the 8th, including a two-run HR. he walked one and struck out two.

Brian Goodwin got another start in LF, but struck out in his only at-bat. With tomorrow being a day off, manager Dusty Baker subbed early and often to make life difficult for the scorekeeper sure as many players got in as possible.

Here’s how the rest of the watchlist players did:
• Rafael Bautista was the third RF after Bryce Harper and Chris Heisey and went 1-for-2 with a run scored.
• Matt Skole spelled Anthony Rendon at 3B and grounded out in his sole at-bat.
• Drew Ward followed Skole and was 0-for-2 with a whiff.
• Pedro Severino was the third catcher after Derek Norris and Jose Lobaton and had an RBI single in the 7th.
• Raudy Read replaced Severino behind the plate but did not bat.
• Andrew Stevenson followed Goodwin in LF and rolled one to end the 5th before he was replaced by Brandon Snyder.

The Nats resume play on Tuesday against the Red Sox. It will be broadcast live on MASN only (no radio).

23 Commments

  1. Following up on the comments last week about the prospective new stadium for the P-Nats, I happened to pass the site while running errands over the weekend. The logic of trying to build a stadium on this particular spot escapes me. The majority of the plot is a gulch, perhaps 100 feet deep, all wooded. It will have to be cleared and filled before they can do anything. Also, there is a large power-line array across the property. On first glance, I would guess that it would be a multi-million-dollar job to relocate that run of power lines.

    The site is at a busy junction as well, and adjacent to a busy shopping area, so driving access won’t be easy no matter which way they route the roads. Right now, there is a bridge across the gulch into the shopping area. I assume that bridge would have to be torn down and traffic rerouted during construction, significantly constricting access to Potomac Town Center.

    The land is right by I-95, so there will be constant road noise at the park. A hospital is right across the street, so expect some ambulance traffic during games.

    Last but not least, if all these obstacles are overcome, the plot itself is small. It’s only big enough for the footprint of a stadium and a parking deck. Lord only knows how many passing cars will be hit by foul balls!

    All of this said, I’m not “anti-stadium” at all. I think that, within reason, the county should support a stadium project. It just seems nuts to try to build one on such a challenging location. I don’t know about the rest of you, but if I were looking for a stadium site, I’d start with a large plot of reasonably flat acreage. There are plenty of these in Prince William County.

    My $0.02.

    1. There is. Lesson learned in Palm Beach where the land was empty except for laying junk down
      As a casual fan I add my .02 with
      Build right next to old stadium.
      Fans are creatures of habit
      Also , Orlon on the Israel squad with
      Rickles reminds us of two Senators
      For 2017. Maybe no Nick Lee but brass did add enough loogies to press down to City Isle. LarA , Orlon
      And maybe even a rehabilitating Tim. Collins to go with Benincasa and Brinley. PotomAc can make due with Turnbull and Thomas until some Suns rise up?

  2. I saw that Israel had played in the the opening game of the WBC, and I checked the roster because Rhett Wiseman had played for them in the qualifying tournament in the fall. He’s not on the WBC roster, but R. C. Orlan and Nick Rickles are:

    https://www.worldbaseballclassic.com/teams/isr

    So are former Nats Nate Freiman and Jason Marquis.

    If anyone spies Nats on others rosters, please let us know.

    1. Here is a collective of the WBC rosters:

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_World_Baseball_Classic_rosters

      The Groovin’ Aruban is playing for the Dutch! So is Martis. (But no den Dekker, who I assume is working hard in camp just trying to keep his baseball career alive.) Just scanning down for other Nats. Clip is on the U.S. team along with Murph and Roark. Canada has Pivetta and Pete Orr. The Onion, hot off his scorching spring training, is playing for Columbia. Former and current lefties Abad and Romero are with the DR. Martin and Ollie Perez are in the Mexican bullpen. Petit is with Venezuela.

      Those are the guys I see on a quick scan, beyond the Israel quartet. I imagine I missed a few.

    1. Thanks, SD, a lot to chew on.

      They say Spiderman’s arm is bad, hope that is an issue he can work on.

    2. Thanks a bunch, SD. Interesting to note that they see no MLB future for Ward despite his relative youth. On the flip side, they are really high on Garcia, who has yet to play a game as a pro. Of course, as always with this scouting stuff perceptions will change greatly once everybody starts actually playing the games. 🙂

    3. If you take their FV grades literally, they see only three future MLB regulars in the Nats’ system: Robles, Soto, and Fedde. Wow. That said, the write-ups strike me as pretty solid. It’s interesting to see some scouting takes on our guys, even if the takes are a bit painful.

      As for Stevenson, when he was drafted, I saw Revere listed as a comp by more than one person — great speed, no power, weak arm. I had wondered whether Stevenson’s better success in driving the ball in AZ had moved the needle any in the scouts’ minds, but it doesn’t sound like it.

      Stevenson is bigger than Revere, maybe by three or four inches in height, so perhaps he can fill out a bit more. I don’t know. If not, he had better hope that Turner, Eaton, and Robles all elevate their HRs to the 15-20 range, as it’s hard to see a lineup supporting a 4×100 relay team without a lot of pop . . . unless the Nats lose Harper and decide to move the fences back!

    4. It’s a pretty solid write up. The author is clearly quite well informed.

      With that said, I’m still really surprised how lowly regarded Watson is. He’s being treated like a 34th rounder, when he’s simply just a product of a broken draft system. He was a pretty high regarded HS product, who was thought to be strongly committed to Loyola Marymount, so most teams didn’t bother.

      The Nats signed him for $400k, the equivalent of a 4th round pick, which suggests where his true value lay. But since then, almost no scouts have paid him any attention, too distracted by the 34th round tag. This is the most detailed scouting report I’ve seen on these prospect lists, and it’s still notably lacking in details (Just compare Watson’s to Skole’s above his and Reetz’s below his).

      I mean, these lists are all about potential. Luis Garcia gets a 45 grade, but Watson is almost dinged for lacking polish. It’s a bit pedantic, but it’s a peeve of mine.

      Anyway, I just came across this BP article about Watson from last month, but it’s behind a paywall. Can any subscribers shed any insight on the main points of it?
      http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/tyler-watson-ready-quest/#DFhDxf5x5B2cwKPC.97

      1. Will, I’m fine if Watson continues to fly under the radar. With another year like his first two, he’s going to start to be attached to every trade rumor. Based on the sketchy news we can get about him, it seemed that he gained around 3 mph on his fastball this year, a significant development for a 19-year-old.

        I was also surprised that Watson’s fellow teenaged rotation mates at Auburn didn’t show up on the list at all. Again, I’m fine with that. There are a few sharp GMs out there like Rizzo who will soon trying to get Mills/Davis/Ramirez as “throw-ins” on trades.

        Meanwhile, I also scratch my head at the inclusion of several guys who have yet to play . . . as well as Johannsen! Will he even be back this year? There does seem to be a bias toward high draft picks, even when they’ve yet to show much performance-wise, not just in this list, but in others as well.

    5. For the most part, I agree with the scouting reports, with some curious exceptions:

      “[Raudy Read is] Another glove-first catching prospect.” and Steven Souza had excellent makeup and a team-first attitude.

      “[S]couts consider [Marmolejos] athletic enough to pass in the outfield corners…” despite being slower than Tyler Moore?

      “[Gutierrez’s] lean, angular build looks as though it has some room for more mass.” if you consider 200 to 210 lbs on a legit 6’3″ frame “lean,” natch

  4. Spencer Kieboom has cleared waivers and has been outrighted so is still in the system.

    1. That’s good news, give him another year to develop. Hope springs eternal.
      Good for the family dynamic, too.

  5. On the bad-news sign of the ledger, Nick Lee has some sort of fracture of his pitching elbow. That’s “better” than ligament damage, but still not good.

  6. Just read on BA transactions that the Nats signed signed old friend John Lannan. I get the whole depth signing thing, but really? John Lannan?

    1. I’ve often thought that I should have sued my parents for not making me throw left-handed . . .

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