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Tuesday’s News & Notes

Team Yesterday Today Probable Pitchers
Syracuse OFF DAY @ Charlotte,
7:05 p.m.		 G. Ross (1-3, 8.63) vs.
Fulmer (5-2, 3.86)
Harrisburg Won, 14-13 @ Erie,
7:05 p.m.		 Eitel (0-1, 21.60) vs.
Jaye (0-4, 5.12)
Potomac Lost, 4-3 (10 inn.) vs. Frederick,
7:05 p.m.		 Silvestre (3-1, 3.83) vs.
Sedlock (4-2, 6.18)
Hagerstown Won, 6-0 @ Delmarva,
7:05 p.m.		 Watson (3-1, 3.89) vs.
Muckenhirn (1-4, 4.91)

Syracuse – OFF DAY
The Chiefs figured out how to not lose and not blow a lead by not playing yesterday, their second scheduled off day in May. They’ll start a six-game swing through North Carolina and Georgia with three apiece against Charlotte and Gwinnett before returning to upstate New York a week from today. Roster move: Not yet, folks; Greg Ross was moved up a day and Joe Ross was scheduled to pitch today.

Harrisburg 14 Erie 13
• Hill 3IP, 8H, 9R, 9ER, 2BB, 3K, 4HR, WP
• Orlan (W, 1-0) 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• Suero (S, 7) 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 2K
• Marmolejos 5-6, 3R, 2B, HR(GS), 5RBI, CS
• Ward 3-5, 2R, 3RBI
• Abreu 3-5, 2R, HR, 2RBI

Jose Marmolejos stunned Erie with a two-out grand slam in the top of the 9th to give Harrisburg a 14-13 win. The comeback was made necessary by Taylor Hill who continues to throw in-game batting practice with four homers (nos. 11-15 in 40IP in ’17) and eight hits (67 total) given up over just three innings. The offense was able to keep up as they pounded out 18 hits, led by the Orange with five (he also doubled), and followed by Drew Ward and Osvaldo Abreu with three hits each. R.C. Orlan pitched a perfect 8th for the win while Wander Suero went 1-2-3 in the 9th for the save.

Lynchburg 4 Potomac 3 (10 inn.)
• Crownover 7IP, 5H, 2R, 2ER, 3BB, 5K, WP
• Rivera (BS, 2; L, 0-1) 2⅓ IP, 4H, 2R, 2ER, 0BB, 0K
• Gutierrez 2-5, 2B
• Sundberg 1-3, R, 2B, BB

After a brief stabilization, the P-Nats’ orbital decay continued with its eighth loss in its last ten games, 4-3 to Lynchburg. Matthew Crownover pitched a season-high seven innings and let in the first two Hillcats runs on five hits and three walks while fanning five. Mariano Rivera III blew the save in the 9th and took the loss in the 10th. Kelvin Gutierrez singled and doubled while Jack Sundberg doubled and walked but the Potomac lineup was held to just six hits total. Roster move: RHP Kyle Schepel reassigned from Harrisburg.

Hagerstown 6 Delmarva 0
• C. Pena (W, 3-2) 7IP, 4H, 0R, 0BB, 2K
• J. Mills 2IP, 2H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• Perkins 2-4, R, 2B, RBI
• Corredor 2-4, 2B
• Reetz 2-5, R, 2B, RBI

Two Hagerstown pitchers combined on a six-hit shutout by 6-0 margin over Delmarva. Carlos Pena went the first seven and allowed four hits as he won his third game. He struck out two and walked non. Jordan Mills closed it out and worked around a pair of one-out singles in the 8th. Jake Noll was the beer man in an 11-hit offense that saw Blake Perkins, Aldrem Corredor, and Jakson Reetz connect for both a single and a double.

14 Commments

  1. Brought this up a couple days ago, but Franco and Corredor have maintained their power streaks. Franco has now homered in 4 of his last 6 games, and now has surpassed his previous record for HRs in a season (4). His isolated slugging % (ISO) is now at .171, well above his career of .120. The average is still down, but I’d be more encouraged to see his power develop than his AVG at this stage.

    Corredor now has 9 XBH in his last 7 games. None were HR, but that’s still extremely impressive. Even if it’s gap power, that will still play, since he’s got a track record of hitting well (AVG of .303, .290 and .323 over the past 3 seasons). His SLG is up to .508.

    Finally, it’s great to see Orange back! He too has gap power, but has still managed a SLG of just shy of .500 in the past two season (.485 and .475), but in an admittedly small sample, he’s batting a robust .385/.405/.641 this season. You can watch his game winning slam here: http://www.milb.com/multimedia/vpp.jsp?content_id=1419061783&sid=t547

    The Nats are going to need to make a decision on him and the 40 man very soon. It’d be beyond stupid to let him go, but we’ve DFA’d equally good players in the past (Bostick), so I won’t make any predictions. But Cordero, Bautista and Skole should be dumped before Marmolejos.

    2. Why do the Nats “need to make a decision” on Marmolejos? He’s on the 40-man and he has 2 options left. He can sit in the minors for all of this year, 2018 and 2019 before he has to be waived.

      If the Nats “needed” to make a 40-man move, Eaton to 60-day is the first, easiest move. Second is probably Solis to the 60-day D/L: he has “no timetable” for his return and his 60-day move can be back dated to 4/28/17. After that? I’d DFA Cordero and Martin to make room before really having to make a decision. Bautista is a kid who just made it on; he’s not going anywhere this year. The team seems to have very little confidence in either Gott or Adams (they’ve gone out of their way to give NRIs chances over them), so they seem like they’d be options to DFA before talking about names like Marmolejos, Bautista, Skole, etc.

      1. He’s currently on rehab from his 60 day DL stint. He was temporarily removed back in March to make space for someone else. See here, for example with the accompanying note: http://m.mlb.com/was/roster/40-man/

        But you and Alex make a good point that he can just swap places with Eaton.

        1. I think the time limit on rehab assignments is 30 days. Orange made his first appearance on 5/12, so they’ve still got almost three weeks before they have to make a 40-man move to keep him active. They may move Eaton to the 60-day before then to clear space for someone like Cotts or Nathan.

          I don’t think Gott or Adams would be DFA’d anytime soon considering the ongoing bullpen woes. Jimmy Cordero would seem to be the most endangered. And while I know clubs hate to DFA catchers, Spencer Kieboom is only hitting .170 and has only appeared in 14 games. Plus Gushue deserves a AA look, and soon.

  2. On the flip side, poor Taylor Hill. He’s now given up 44 runs in 40 innings this season, including the 15 homers that Luke mentioned. In 2014, he had a 2.81 ERA at AAA and got a cup of coffee in the majors. I have no idea what it’s like when guys face points in their careers like this, but it’s got to be tough.

    1. THill seems like he’s making way when the next roster shuffle happens. I think 6/1 is a good bench mark for moves; two months or so. Is there anyone in Potomac really making a statement for promotion? Reyes, Baez, Estevez all have ERAs > 5.00. Maybe Silvestre? He’s got decent numbers in 9 starts and is 24 (old for High-A). Jefry Rodriguez’s having a nice season … until his suspension.

      I don’t get their usage of Crownover or Borne this year but both are dominating Carolina league so far. But its all SSS really.

      I don’t see a slam dunk here pushing for promotion, so perhaps Mr. Hill gets more innings to try to figure it outl.

        1. Apparently.

          Martin’s twitter identifies him as a member of the Nats’ organization, and he isn’t on any Nats minor league active roster right now. That would leave extended ST as his likely locale. Would guess that Martin would start in Auburn, unless openings arise at Hagerstown in the next two weeks.

  3. Great topic — who is the next man promoted? My top 5:

    1) Victor Robles – 1) He is back to dominating A+ and has nothing more to prove there. 2) That, and AA is a good training ground for him for the unthinkable — what would happen if the Nats lost another core outfielder to major injury? 3) There is room for him in AA since Stevenson was bumped up
    2) Wander Suero – If the imperative is to develop closers, he has been closing and has a nice run going. His “stuff” is not that impressive, but then, why not just see what he has in AAA if the team does not believe in Martin anymore?
    3) Matthew Crownover – Lefty starter and has put in A+ time, consistent, excellent outings
    4) Gott – He has come around to consistency and deserves a look, especially since the Nats know what they have otherwise.

    Gushue is blocked in the chain by Read/Severino; when would he get the innings to work on his defense? Marmelos just came back, and his promotion would displace a prospect (Skole/Stevenson/Goodwin) or the even as Chiefs best player (Snyder) even as the weather is warming up and some players deserve another month or more to see if they will come around (Skole). Fedde is being groomed for a different role. Martin takes steps forward and then backward.

    Someone who does not get mentioned here and is getting more looks is Adrian Sanchez, now at AAA. He had a strong offensive winter, plays all over the infield, and I wonder how he compares to Emmanuel Burrus, according to those who have seen him.

    I’m intrigued with the chatter about Seth Romero, in the Boras stable. Will the Nats go the boom/bust route on Randy Moss at #25?

  4. Re Tillero chats – I cannot imagine his being retired, given what he was showing before being placed on restricted. I found myself thinking of the Souza confrontation and his near release. Tillero never gets a full time chance, and one wonders how that must be given his production and the others who get the hype in a catcher filler system.

  5. Sorry #5) Yadiel Hernandez – Mature, smart player who is now really catching on. Older and at AA to get feet wet.

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