Thursday’s News & Notes
| Team | Yesterday | Today | Probable Pitchers |
| Syracuse | Lost, 7-1 | vs. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, 6:35 p.m. |
McGowin (0-2, 9.39) vs. Mitchell (0-0, 3.00) |
| Harrisburg | Lost, 5-3 | @ Trenton, 7:00 p.m. |
Fedde (1-3, 3.28) vs. Sheffield (1-1, 3.28) |
| Potomac | Won, 6-1; Lost, 4-3 (11 inn.) |
@ Wilmington, 6:35 p.m. |
Reyes (1-5, 6.32) vs. Puckett (3-2, 2.94) |
| Hagerstown | Lost, 8-7 | @ Rome, 10:30 a.m. |
C. Pena (1-1, 10.35) vs. Wilson (2-0, 2.05) |
Buffalo 7 Syracuse 1
• Hill (L, 1-4) 5IP, 9H, 7R, 7ER, BB, 4K, HBP, 0HR
• Gott 2IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 0K
• Snyder 2-4, R, 2B, OF assist at 2B
• Severino 1-4, RBI
• 1-for-7 RISP, 7 LOB
Pedro Severino broke up Buffalo’s shutout bid with two out in the 9th as Syracuse reverted to the mean with a 7-1 loss. Taylor Hill kept the ball in the yard but kept the fielders busy with nine hits allowed and seven runs let in over five innings for his fourth loss in six starts. Mike Broadway and Trevor Gott both did their part with two scoreless inning apiece, but the Chiefs offense was out to lunch with just four hits total, led by Brandon Snyder who singled, doubled, and scored the lone run.
Erie 5 Harrisburg 3
• Long 6IP, 8H, 2R, 2ER, 2BB, 5K, WP
• Glover (H, 1) 1IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• Lara (BS, 2; L, 0-1) ⅔ IP, 4H, 3R, 3ER, 0BB, 0K, HR
• Keller 2-4, R, 2B
• Norfork 1-3, 2B
Another Sens quality start was ruined by a bullpen implosion as Braulio Lara gave up three in the 8th to turn a 3-2 Harrisburg lead into a 5-3 loss. Jaron Long allowed two runs on eight hits and two walk over six innings for the no-decision. After Koda Glover came on to put in his rehab work in the 7th, Lara got a popup and then served up a single-homer-single-single-single combo before getting a sac fly that ended his outing in the 8th. Alec Keller went 2-for-4 with a double to lead the Senators’ seven-hit, one-walk offense. Roster move: Koda Glover assigned from Washington for MLB rehab.
Potomac 6 Wilmington 1 – GAME ONE
• Baez (W, 1-4) 5IP, 4H, 1R, 1ER, 4BB, 3K, WP
• Schepel 2IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 3K
• Gushue 2-3, 2R, 2HR, 4RBI, E(3)
• Davidson 2-3, R, SB
• Mejia 2-3, R, 2B, RBI, SB
Taylor Gushue crushed a pair of two-run homers while Joan Baez spun his second straight one-run outing as Potomac took the opener, 6-1 from Wilmington. Baez allowed the lone Blue Rocks run on four hits and four walks while striking out three in five innings for his first win of 2017. Kyle Schepel pitched two scoreless to close it out. Gushue, Austin Davidson, and Bryan Mejia each went 2-for-3 as the P-Nats collected eight hits and went 2-for-4 with RISP.
Wilmington 4 Potomac 3 (11 inn.) – GAME TWO
• Crownover 6IP, 3H, 1R, 1ER, 0BB, 5K
• Held (L, 0-2) 2⅓ IP, 3H, 2R, 2ER, 3BB, 2K
• Page 3-4, R, 2B
• Robles 0-3, 2SAC, GIDP (6-for-35 since coming off the DL)
• 20K by Wilmington pitchers
Potomac rallied twice in the late innings but Wilmington answered both times, tying it in the 8th, and winning it in the 11th to earn a doubleheader split. Matt Crownover got in on the no-decision fun with six innings of one-run ball on three hits with nary a walk and five whiffs. Sam Held got a groundout to start his third inning of work but then loaded the bases on a single, hit batsman, and a walk and served up the game-winning two-run single for the loss, his second. Matt Page went 3-for-4 with a double and a run scored as the only P-Nat with more than one hit and less than two strikeouts, as the Blue Rocks pitchers struck out 20 in 11 innings – eight by Gabe Cramer in the last three innings.
Rome 8 Hagerstown 7 (10 inn.)
• Bourque 5⅓ IP, 7H, 4R, 4ER, BB, 5K, WP
• Peterson (BS, 1) 1⅓ IP, 2H, R, ER, BB, 0K, 2-2 IR-S
• J. Mills (L, 4-1) 1IP, 2H, R, ER, BB, K
• Perkins 2-5, 2R, 2B, BB, SB
• Neuse 2-4, BB, RBI, SB
• Kieboom 2-4, R, 2B, RBI (ejected in 7th)
The Suns rallied from 4-1 early to take a 6-4 lead late but fell in extras, 8-7. James Bourque pitched into the 6th and let in the first four Braves runs on seven hits over five and a 1/3rd innings. He walked one and struck out five. Jordan Mills lost for the first time as Rome rallied in the 10th for a run on two singles and a walk. Blake Perkins and Sheldon Neuse both reached base three times and stole a bag to lead Hagerstown’s 15-hit parade. Roster move: RHP Tommy Peterson activated from the 7-Day DL, reassigned from Potomac.
I’m still a bit puzzled by that Chris Bostick trade last year. Considering we were short on upper level depth, we traded away one of our most big league ready bats, who could play just about anywhere on the field besides SS and C.
Bostick has gone on to hit .320/.347/.495 in AAA and just got promoted to the big leagues 2 days ago. He’s still barely 24 years old.
Taylor Gushue was looking like a pretty paltry return. Catcher was a position the Nats didn’t have much need for (Kieboom, Reetz and Read are all at similar levels of development). And yet, Gushue has been nothing short of fantastic. His line of .317/.372/.720 dwarfs Bostick’s impressive offensive performance. His 10 HR are the most in the Carolina League, and 3rd most across all levels.
It was a curious trade then, and it still is now. But at least it’s working out fine for both sides.
Bostick was DFA’d and got claimed, so they actually came out pretty well to get anything of worth for him.
Gushue has TEN (10) homers in 23 games. Flukish or not, the Nats have no one else in the system showing power like that (although Soto is on the shelf). S. Kieboom is hitting only .171 at Harrisburg, where Read has also cooled after a hot start. There’s going to be some interesting decisions soon on that front.
Bostick was DFA’d so they could keep a throwaway pitcher, I think Matt Latos, on the 40 man in September. It’s a miracle they got anything of value for him.
I agree with Will, we needed him then and now.
Sticking to catching, what in the world is going on with Pedro Severino? I know he was never going to be an offensive force, but geez that .187 BA is horrible, especially for someone who already had some big league experience and who was supposedly was close to being on the big league club.
Severino has a lot of company among those on the Cuse roster with massive offensive struggles:
– Andrew Stevenson .138
– Matt Skole .193
– Clint Robinson .177
At least Severino is known as a plus defensive player. Also, note that the player just ahead of Severino in the Nats catching depth chart, Jose Lobaton, is hitting .094 with one extra base hit on the season. So, .187 could actually be considered an upgrade.
Severino is a transformative defensive catcher, the best since Brian Schneider. If he can hit…………….
How is Gushue’s defense (I see that Luke noted he made his third error yesterday)? Switch-hitting catchers with power are a rare commodity; so, if his defense is even average, would think that he has a brighter MLB future than Bostick, who is at best 25th man on an MLB roster that can play multiple positions.
Even if he’s not much for catching, put him at 1B or LF. ANYBODY with power in this organization should be celebrated and promoted. (Plus Read sure didn’t get promoted based on his defensive prowess.)
For a little perspective, Gushue is repeating the A+ level, where he spent all of last season, hitting only eight homers in 90 games. He was a 4th-round pick from a top SEC program, though, so he’s got a pedigree.
I agree about not losing anything with Bostick, who was a poor man’s Difo at best.
He’s not good at throwing runners out. He’s 10/33 so far in CS/SB attempts (30%).
On the bright side, his defense appears to be improving. He had 24 passed balls in his first full season in 2015, then 14 the following season, and only 3 so far this season (though this is almost exactly on pace with last season’s rate, just smaller sample size).
However, the difference with Gushue is that he has the potential to contribute in the big leagues. Bostick is actually doing that right now. But we’ll see how it plays out. Gushue isn’t particularly young (23), and has never displayed power like this before, nor an ability to hit for average. In his 3 seasons with the Pirates, his BA was .231 and SLG .360. He doesn’t look like the same player this season. I’m hopeful he can keep it up, but there’s little from his past to justify the hope.
Bostick slashed .203/.261/.297 in 64 games at Syracuse last year while striking out 28% of the time. He was very much a prime DFA candidate. Good for him for figuring something out with a different organization (his 4th), but good for the Nats for getting someone decent in return.
I’d hope we don’t judge our players by 64 game sample sizes. Bostick started in Harrisburg, and hit an impressive .290/.356/.462 there. It’s totally normal for a player to experience a bit of difficulty after a promotion, especially for one that’s several years younger than the league average.
Bostick is the same age as Turner, Fedde, Bautista. And last season in AAA was the same age as Stevenson is this season. I hope we don’t hold Stevenson to the same high standard as we did Bostick.
Average defense, below average arm.
Thanks.