Thursday’s News & Notes
Suns score seven in the 8th, complete a three-game sweep
| Team | Yesterday | Today | Probable Pitchers |
| Syracuse | Lost, 6-0 | @ Pawtucket, 12:05 p.m. |
J. Ross (0-1, 10.13) vs. B. Johnson (0-0, 2.25) |
| Harrisburg | Won, 6-0 | @ Bowie, 6:35 p.m. |
Fedde (1-0, 0.00) vs. Means (1-0, 1.50) |
| Potomac | Won, 5-3 | vs. Wilmington, 7:05 p.m. |
Silvestre (0-0, 6.75) vs. Blewett (0-0, 5.40) |
| Hagerstown | Won, 10-2 | @ Delmarva, 7:05 p.m. |
Acevedo (0-0, 0.00) vs. Dietz (0-0, 9.00) |
Pawtucket 6 Syracuse 0
• Grace (L, 0-2) 3IP, 6H, 3R, 3ER, 0BB, 2K, HR
• Cotts 1⅓ IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 1K, 2-0 IR-S
• Goodwin 2-3, BB
• Falu 1-3, 2B
Brian Goodwin singled twice and walked in four PA’s Irving Falu doubled once in three AB’s. The rest of the lineup was 1-for-24 with two walks as Pawtucket shut out Syracuse, 6-0. Matt Grace made the spot start and was knocked for the first three PawSox runs on six hits, including a leadoff HR, over three innings to suffer the loss. Trevor Gott gave up the last three runs over an inning and 2/3rds before Neal Cotts, who had the Mott’s, got the last out and stranded two to end the 5th. Cotts, Joe Nathan, and Mike Broadway kept Pwatucket off the board the rest of the way, but the offense never responded. Roster move: IF Grant Green selected by, recalled to Washington; no corresponding move yet.
Harrisburg 6 Hartford 0
• Long (W, 1-1) 6IP, 4H, 0R, BB, 0K
• Lara (H, 2) 2IP, 0H, 0R, BB, 2K
• Suero 1IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 0K
• N. Soto 2-3, R, RBI, BB
• Lisson 2-3, 2R, 2B, BB
• Hernandez 2-4, 2B, 3RBI
Three Senators pitchers combined on a five-hit, 6-0 shutout of Hartford. The BABIP gods were on the side of Jaron Long (6IP), Braulio Lara (2IP), and Wander Suero (1IP) as the trio struck out just two batters, and got some “help” as Yard Goats’ Max White tried for an inside-the-park HR with two outs in 3rd but was gunned down at home. Veterans Neftali Soto and Mario Lisson both went 2-for-3 with a walk while Yadiel Hernandez drove in three with a two-out, three-run double to cap off a four-run 8th.
Potomac 5 Frederick 3
• Reyes (W, 1-1) 6IP, 8H, 2R, 2ER, BB, 5K, HR, 2WP
• Bacus (S, 1) 3IP, 5H, R, ER, 0BB, 2K, HR
• Gushue 3-4, R, HR, 4RBI
• Lora 2-3, BB, CS
• Robles 2-4, R, SB, OF assist @ 2B
Potomac rallied for two in the 9th and it turned out to be the difference in a 5-3 win over Frederick. Taylor Gushue drove in four runs with an Earl Weaver special in the 5th—the only hit with RISP in 12 chances—and a sac fly in the 9th. The P-Nats collected 12 hits but struck out 13 times, with Gushue leading the hit column with three and Dale Carey cooling the IF with three whiffs. Luis Reyes evened up his won-loss record with a quality start of two runs on eight hits over six innings. He walked one and struck out five. Dakota Bacus closed it out with three innings pitched and one run let in on a solo HR in the 9th.
Hagerstown 10 Lakewood 2
• Watson 5IP, 5H, 2R, 2ER, 3BB, 7K, HR, HBP
• Pantoja (W, 1-0) 3IP, 3H, 0R, BB, 2K
• Perkins 2-2, 2R, 2B, 2BB
• Soto 3-5, R, HR, 3RBI
• Banks 3-5, R, HR, 3RBI
The Suns boiled the Blue Claws bullpen for eight runs, including seven in the 8th, for 10-2 win and a three-game sweep. Tyler Watson turned in five runs of two-run ball on five hits with three walks and seven K’s but got a no-decision. Jorge Pantoja was the winning pitcher with three scoreless innings. Juan Soto and Nick Banks both homered, drove in three, and went 3-for-5 while Blake Perkins singled, doubled, and walked twice to lead the ten-hit, seven-walk Hagerstown offense.
The hit parade continues. Robles, Soto, and just about every other batter of note is performing exceptionally well. It’s actually easier to list the players who aren’t exceeding expectations, and that list is still small:
Goodwin and Bautista have started slow in AAA. Abreu in AA. Franco and Corredor in A. That’s about it. It’s pretty remarkable.
A few lesser-regarded players I’m keeping an eye on:
Yadiel Hernandez – could rise to DC quickly if his bat shows some power
Edwin Lora – has flashed some serious power. If his defense improves, he could be a real gem, and much needed depth at SS
Taylor Gushue – don’t really know what to make of him yet, but he’s shown some serious power so far.
Daniel Johnson – an unimpressive 2016 really wore off a lot of his prospect luster, but he’s already hit 3 HR in 7 games, when he hit only one in 62 last season. Can he keep up the hot start?
Will, yes, there’s a lot to like at the plate, particularly considering the general organizational batting struggles in 2016. I would add Neuse to the minority “struggling” report at only .214, although he did manage to draw two walks and score two runs last night despite an 0-for-3.
Hernandez is 29, turning 30 in October. I agree that they’ll try to do something with him sooner rather than later if he’s legit. Can he be an everyday major-leaguer? His calling card in Cuba was a lot more getting on base and doubles than big power. I guess the ideal would be that he positions himself in the conversation to replace Werth next year, along with Taylor, Goodwin, Stevenson, and maybe Robles if he continues to advance. Robles probably has the highest ceiling among that quintet, but he’s also the youngest and the farthest down the organizational food chain.
Taylor Gushue is starting to look like a find. He was a 4th-round pick in 2014 and is only 23. His stats in the Pirate organization weren’t great, but they weren’t terrible, either, particularly for a catcher. It’s curious that they released him.
Gushue was actually part of the trade for Bostick.
Good memory there; I completely missed that. Not bad for a return on a DFA claim.
I had thought we received nothing for the Bostick DFA.
Thanks Will.
Grace got his first start since 2012. Don’t know whether we should read anything into that or not. Maybe they just needed a spot starter. Maybe they think he’s dropped behind a number of lefty relievers on the depth chart and wanted to give him a different angle to potentially reestablish his value. Maybe they noticed that they don’t have any starters with much of a chance of making the majors above Hagerstown.
Speaking of lefties at Hags, it was good to see Watson bounce back with a solid outing after he struggled in his first start. Maybe the AZ kid just needs warmer weather!
Also, it’s home opening night for Potomac! There’s a Dollar Monday coming up at Potomac on the 17th. No excuses, people — see Robles now.
Yesterday’s MASN Post. Old-timers here will love the reference to a longtime O’s prospect.
That’s a good, short overview of where the top guys are, without getting too much into the insanity of the prospect rankings. I hope you’ll do a follow-up on guys who haven’t gotten as much notice on the prospect lists but who have played well and progressed in the system.
I’m wide open for ideas since I don’t have an editorial calendar (and given how quickly things can change, that’d prolly be folly).
Terrific synopsis for the non-seamheads, Luke.
I was wondering how many weeks before the trademark snark that we all love here at NP would show up.
Folks, we have an answer– week 2!
Wow–Syracuse is a real dumpster fire right now.
On the flip, Robles and Soto look amazing. I think it is very possible that if they don’t re-sign Harper that those two could form two-thirds of the outfield starting in 2019 and be the core of the offense well into the 2020s.