Wednesday’s News & Notes
| Team | Yesterday | Today | Probable Pitchers |
| Syracuse | Won, 8-4 | vs. Buffalo, 10:35 a.m. |
Hill (1-3, 8.65) vs. C. Valdez (1st AAA start of ’17) |
| Harrisburg | Lost, 5-4 | vs. Erie, 10:30 a.m. |
Long (3-3, 2.02) vs. Crouse (3-0, 5.87) |
| Potomac | Lost, 3-2 | @ Wilmington, 5:05 p.m. |
Baez (0-4, 6.65) and Crownover (3-0, 1.29) vs. Blewett (1-2, 3.15) and Puckett (3-2, 6.65) |
| Hagerstown | OFF DAY | @ Rome, 7:05 p.m. |
Bourque (0-1, 2.41) vs. Lawlor (2-0, 2.16) |
Syracuse 8 Buffalo 4
• Voth 4⅓ IP, 5H, 4R, 2ER, 4BB, 3K, 2WP
• Cotts (W, 1-0) 1IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• Robinson 2-4, 2R, 2HR, 5RBI
• Skole 1-3, R, 2B, SF, 2RBI
• Sanchez 2-3, 2R, BB
Clint Robinson homered twice and drove in five to help end the Chiefs’ five-game slide, 8-4 over the Bison. Austin Voth got the start but didn’t make it out of the 5th, charged with four runs (two earned) on five hits and four walks over four and a 1/3rd innings. The win went to Neal Cotts for a single scoreless inning in the top of the 7th while the Syracuse scored four in the bottom of the 7th. Adrian Sanchez reached base three times with two singles and a walk and scored twice to lead the Chiefs’ 13-hit parade.
Erie 5 Harrisburg 4
• Simms 6IP, 8H, 3R, 3ER, BB, K, HBP
• Suero (L, 0-1) 1IP, 1H, 1R, 1ER, 0BB, 1K, WP
• Collier 3-5, R, 2B, RBI, SB
• Abreu 1-2, R, 2B, BB
Harrisburg’s bullpen woes continue as they gave up single runs in the 8th and 9th innings to turn 4-3 lead in to a 5-4 loss to Erie. John Simms turned in his third straight quality start and his third no-decision with three runs on eight hits and a walk over six innings. Wander Suero lost it in the 9th as a single, stolen base, and—don’t forget who’s catching—a wild pitch plated the game-winning run. Zach Collier went 3-for-5 with a double and an RBI but the Sens managed just six hits total and were a woeful 2-for-13 with RISP, including two flyouts with the tying run on second in the 9th.
Wilmington 3 Potomac 2
• Rodriguez 6IP, 4H, 2R, 2ER, 4BB, 5K, HBP
• R. Pena (L, 1-1) 1IP, 2H, R, ER, 2BB, 0K, WP
• Davidson 1-2, 2B, 2BB, RBI
• Wiseman 1-3
The P-Nats scored two in the 1st but were shut down after that as the Blue Rocks tied it in the 3rd and walked off in the 9th. Jefry Rodriguez allowed the first two runs on four hits and four walks ans struck out five over six innings. Ronald Pena suffered the loss as he let in the gamewinner on two hits and two walks. Austin Davidson doubled and walked twice but Potomac was held to just three hits and three walks total.
Hagerstown – OFF DAY
After a 4-3 homestand, Northern Division-leading Hagerstown takes the show on the road for seven against the 2nd- and 3rd-place teams in the Southern Division, starting with three against Rome, then four against Asheville.
Cotts and Adams are making their case to get called up at exactly the right time. They could hardly do worse than the Nats’ current bullpen.
Cotts would require a 40-man move or probably would have been up already.
The Nats are going to have make a major move for a closer. It’s going to cost them valuable prospects (e.g., to get Kelvin Herrera; think about what the Cubs and Indians gave up last year to get Chapman and Miller). Given the large drop-off after Robles, Fedde and maybe Soto, do you agree with giving up at least one of these prospects plus Kieboom (Carter) for a proven closer? At this point, seems like such a move is inevitable as the Nats are in win-now mode.
Unfortunately, the Nats need far more than just a closer. I doubt they would trade Fedde as he is the only healthy pitching prospect the have who hasn’t been awful this year. It would not surprise me to see two of the big three position player prospects get traded, much as I would hate to see that happen. Their inexplicable refusal to at least shore up the middle relief via free agency this past offseason has really come back to bite them.
Sorry–I meant “nearly MLB ready pitching prospect.” Watson has also been pretty good thus far.
Herrera is nowhere near the class of Chapman and Miller.
Agree, but Robles and Carter Kieboom are less than what the Indians and Cubs gave up for those two.
No, Robles (consensus top 10 prospect) and Kieboom, a fringe top 100 prospect, are worth more than the Yankees’ haul for Miller (Frazier, a 30-40 prospect, and Sheffield, a fringe top 100). The other two players were org. filler.
While Gleybar Torres is comparable to Robles, the rest of the players in the Chapman deal are non-prospects, and it was a notorious overpay anyway and shouldn’t be considered the market rate (though I know the Cubs aren’t complaining).
Herrera is no where near as good as Chapman or Miller. For Robles and Kieboom we could expect Lorenzo Cain and maybe Soria tacked on too in addition to Herrera.
I don’t agree Pilchard. Robles and Kieboom are worth at least what the Cubs and Indians gave up. Only the future will tell.