Wednesdays’ News & Notes
| Team | Yesterday | Today | Probable Pitchers |
| Syracuse | Lost, 5-4 | @ Pawtucket, 4:05 p.m. |
Grace (0-1, 9.00) vs. Havliand (1-0, 6.35) |
| Harrisburg | Lost, 4-0 | vs. Hartford, 12:00 p.m. |
Long (0-1, 1.80) vs. Wynkoop (1-0, 1.42) |
| Potomac | Lost, 16-6 | @ Frederick, 11:00 a.m. |
Reyes (0-1, 3.60) vs. Akin (0-0, 81.00) |
| Hagerstown | Won, 4-3 (15 inn.) |
vs. Lakewood, 6:05 p.m. |
Watson (0-1, 5.79) vs. Romero (0-0, 9.00) |
Pawtucket 5 Syracuse 4
• Cole 4+ IP, 3H, 4R, 4ER, 5BB, 6K, HR
• Antolin (L, 0-1) 2IP, 2H, R, ER, 2BB, 1K, 2-2 IR-S
• Skole 1-2, R, 2BB
• Bautista 1-4, 2R, BB, SB
The Chiefs scored three times in the first five innings, but were shut down the by the PawSox ‘pen over the last four in a 5-4 loss. A.J. Cole’s longball woes continur as he served up a solo shot in the 1st and walked five over four-plus innings. He was charged with four runs on three hits. The loss went to Dustin Antolin, who let in two inherited runners and one of his own as he was unable to hold the 4-2 lead in Pawtucket’s three-run 5th. Matt Skole reached base with a single and two walks while Rafael Bautista scored twice, reached base twice, and stole a base to led the Syracuse offense, which piled up 14 strikeouts – five by Brian Goodwin.
Hartford 4 Harrisburg 0
• Simms (L, 0-1) 6IP, 2H, 2R, 2ER, 0BB, 3K, HR
• Cordero 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• Stevenson 2-4, 2K
• N. Soto 1-3, BB
Three Hartford pitchers combined on a six-hit shutout of Harrisburg, 4-0. John Simms turned in a quality start of two runs on two hits, no walks, and three whiffs, but was charged with the loss. Andrew Stevenson had two of the six singles while Neftali Soto, Raudy Read, and Yadiel Hernandez each drew a walk to comprise the Senators offense.
Frederick 16 Potomac 6
• Estevez (L, 0-1) 4⅔ IP, 8H, 7R, 7ER, 0BB, 5K, 3HR
• Guilbeau 1⅓ IP, 6H, 8R, 7ER, 3BB, 1K, HR, 1-1 IR-S
• Davidson 3-4, R, BB
• Wiseman 2-5, R, 2B, RBI
• Robles 1-4, K, 2 OF assists, (*sigh*) HBP
Potomac battled back from a 5-0 deficit to pull within one at 5-4, and again to two at 8-6, but a touchdown in the Frederick 6th and rouge in the 7th completed the 16-6 smackdown. Wirkin “For The Weekend” Estevez was strafed for seven runs on eight hits, including three home runs, over four and 2/3rds innings to take the loss. Austin Davidson led the P-Nats attack with three singles and a walk, but the clutch hit came just twice in 16 scoring chances and led to ten men left on base. Potomac also committed three errors and had a passed ball.
Hagerstown 4 Lakewood 3 (15 inn.)
• Sharp 5IP, 4H, 2R, 2ER, 2BB, 4K, WP
• VanVossen (BS, 1) 3IP, 1H, R, ER, BB, 3K, 2WP
• Mills (W, 1-0) 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• C. Kieboom 3-7, E(2)
• Soto 2-5, 2R, 2B, 2BB
• Neuse 2-7, R, 2B, 2RBI
After blowing it in the 9th on a defensive misplay—Aldrem Corredor stepped on first instead of throwing to second to start a would-be 3-6-3 double play with one out and runners on the corners—Hagerstown got the gamewinner on a Juan Soto leadoff walk in the 15th followed by a Sheldon Neuse* double for a 4-3 win in extras. Jordan Mills got the win in relief. Sterling Sharp started and pitched five innings of two-run ball on four hits and two walks. James Bourque and Sam Held both pitched three innings of scoreless relief while Carter Kieboom and Nick Banks both had three hits.
* With just 632 listed in attendance at the start of the game, can’t really say he brought the noise.
Wirkin “For The Weekend” pitched more like “Weekend at Bernie’s,” as in DOA. Lots to like from the young hitters at Potomac and Hagerstown, though.
In looking at the box score of the Hags marathon, it’s interesting to see that the Phils have already pushed Mickey Moniak to the Sally League at age 18.
Carter Kieboom is in the same HS Class (2016), and he is in the Sally League as well. While it’s early, CK is off to a good start despite being very young for that league.
And Soto is even younger. It’s hard not to be pleased/impressed with the start Soto and Kieboom have gotten at this level. I think a good start is particularly important for the younger kids. Periods of struggle will inevitably come, but if they’ve posted a few good weeks, they know in their heads that they can hit at this level.
The one thing that could derail Robles career will be if he can’t cut way down on his hbp’s. A big potential obstacle.
I’ll say it again, but it’s especially relevant given the Nats’ bullpen woes: we need to convert Cole to the bullpen.
Cole’s entering his 7th season in the minors with increasingly poor results. And now with the Nats bullpen in disarray, it might be useful to add an power arm, who could also add support in long relief, sort of like Stammen did a few years ago.
At least based on his limited MLB splits, Cole gets clobbered the second time through the order (1.123 OPS allowed). So yeah, making him a reliever seems about the only logical step left. I had really hoped they would flip him at some point over the last couple of years as a back-end starter for a non-contender, but now he has virtually no value.
Hey Luke – I wanted to thank you for the work you do with this site. I’m not exaggerating when I say that without this site, I wouldn’t follow the Nats prospects at all.
Is there anything that would help you? Is there a YELP for blogs? Should I randomly click on your site 100 times a day to increase traffic?
I’m not Luke, but disable Adblock for the site if you have it enabled. And perhaps click on the ads every now and then (Luke would be able to better clarify if his ad revenue is view-based or click-based).
I think it’s a combination of both… I haven’t researched it lately because I haven’t had an advertiser approach me with a request that didn’t immediately strike me as “ewww” — in-line advertising (think like Google search results) or for something like gambling. That suggestion is a good one for a lot of sites you like/support. I’m just not allowed to exhort it explicitly; hence “Pay the Bills.”
Wait, what? — I just noticed that Matt Grace is listed as the starter for today. He hasn’t started a game since 2012!