Tuesday’s News & Notes
| Team | Yesterday | Today | Probable Pitchers |
| Syracuse | Postponed | vs. Louisville, 1:05 p.m. |
Fedde (1-1, 5.57) and Turner (0-2, 8.69) or Simms (AAA debut) vs. Stephens (6-5, 4.82) and TBD |
| Harrisburg | Lost, 5-4 | @ Richmond, 6:35 p.m. |
Crownover (0-4, 4.73) vs. Slania (1-1, 3.82) |
| Potomac | Won, 11-9 (11 inn.) |
@ Down East, 7:00 p.m. |
Sanburn (3-3, 4.56) vs. Martin (1-5, 5.40) |
| Hagerstown | Won, 7-6 | @ Augusta, 7:05 p.m. |
Watson (5-4, 4.34) vs. G. Williams (4-2, 2.21) ) |
| Auburn | Lost, 12-4 | @ Williamsport, 7:05 p.m. |
Braymer (1-0, 2.38) WIL: Brown, An (2-2, 2.88) |
| GCL Nationals | Won, 2-1 | @ GCL Astros, 12:00 p.m. |
Syracuse vs. Louisville – PPD
Roster moves: RHPs John Simms, Phillips Valdez promoted, OF Zach Collier reassigned from Harrisburg; RHPs Trevor Gott, Sean O’Sullivan placed on the 7-Day DL, retroactive to July 22, 23; SS Bengie Gonzalez released.
Richmond 5 Harrisburg 4
• G. Ross 6IP, 7H, 4R, 4R, BB, 1K, HBP
• Cordero (L, 2-4) 1IP, 1H, R, ER, 2BB, 0K
• Ward 1-2, R, 2BB
• Robles 1-4, R, 3B, 0HBP
Victor Robles tripled in his AA debut but Richmond took the game, 5-4 and 5th place in the E.L. West from Harrisburg. Greg Ross was not the boss with four runs allowed on seven hits and a walk and one whiff over six innings. Jimmy Cordero gave up the go-ahead run in the 7th for the “L,” his fourth. Drew Ward walked twice, singled once, and scored once as the Sens were heldto just six hits total. Roster moves: RHPs Dakota Bacus, Kyle Schepel promoted from Potomac; some other OF guy, too.
Potomac 11 Down East 9 (11 inn.)
• Reyes 5IP, 6H, 5R, 5ER, 3BB, 4K, HR
• J. Mills (BS, 1; W, 1-1) 3IP, 0H, 0R, 3K, 2-2 IR-S
• Johnson 3-6, R, HR, 2RBI
• Wiseman 3-5, 3R, 2B, HR, BB, 4RBI
• Lora 2-4, 3RBI
Rhett Wiseman’s bid for Carolina Player of the Week remained on point with seven total bases last night, including a two-run shot in the 11th that gave the P-Nats an 11-9 win. Luis Reyes started and was feathered for five runs on six hits and three walks over five innings by the Wood Ducks. Jordan Mills let in the tying and go-ahead runs in the 8th but drained the pond for three otherwise perfect innings to earn the blown-save-win. R.C. Orlan continued the streak with a 1-2-3 eleventh for the save. Daniel Johnson started in CF and made his Carolina League debut with a leadoff HR and three hits total, leading the 16-hit parade. Roster moves: OF Daniel Johnson promoted, LHP Jordan Mills reassigned from Hagerstown; RHP Tyler Skulina activated from the 7-Day DL.
Hagerstown 7 Augusta 6
• C. Pena 5⅓ IP, 8H, 5R, 5ER, 3BB, 6K, HR
• Fuentes (W, 3-3) 2⅓ IP, 3H, R, ER, BB, 4K, WP, 1-0 IR-S
• La Bruna 2-3, 2R, 3B, BB
• Perkins 2-4, 2R, 2B, 3B, 3RBI
• Agustin 2-5, R, 2-3B, RBI
Hagerstown’s four-run 7th was the difference in a 7-6 win over Augusta. Carlos Pena continued the trend of bad starting pitching with five runs let in on eight hits and three walks over five and a 1/3rd innings while fanning six. Steven Fuentes got the win in relief with one run allowed on three hits and a walk over two and a 1/3rd innings. Phil Morse stranded two in the 8th and pitched a scoreless 9th to earn the save. Telmito Agustin tripled twice, while Blake Perkins and Angelo LaBruna tripled once each to pace the Suns’ attack. No corresponding roster moves yet.
Williamsport 12 Auburn 4
• Ramirez (L, 2-2) 5IP, 10H, 6R, 6ER, 0BB, 3K, 2HR
• Barnett (BS, 1; W, 3-2) 2IP, 3H, R, ER, 0BB, 2K
• Pryor 3-4, RBI, SB, OF assist at 1B
• Choruby 1-3, R, 2B, BB
Yonathan Ramirez also threw some in-game BP, but the Doubledays bats couldn’t cover for him as the Crosscutters felled the Doubledays, 12-4. Ramirez gave up six runs on ten hits over five innings for his second NYPL loss. he walked none and struck out three. Jonathan Pryor went 3-for-4 with an RBI and stolen base while Nick Choruby walked and doubled to lead the Auburn offense. No corresponding roster moves yet.
GCL Nationals 2 GCL Cardinals 1
• German 3IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 3K
• Butler (W, 1-0) 2IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 0K
• Evangelista 2-4, R, HR, 2RBI
• Ventura 2-3
Juan Evangelista’s two-run shot in the 6th held up as the G-Nats folded the G-Cards, 2-1. Jhonatan German started and went the first three innings with one hit allowed, no walks, and three K’s. Dan Butler’s two scoreless innings earned him the win while Angel Guillen Cordero’d through the 9th with lone run on three hits run for the rulebook save. Evanglista also singled as did Edwin Ventura twice to account for four of the six G-Nat hits.
‘Some other guy’ had a good start in Harrisburg.
Okay, I have to ask Luke, what is the difference between being promoted and being reassigned upward?
I suspect reassigned is for players who’ve already played at that level before. Mills played most of June in Potomac. So when he was assigned to Potomac, it was a ‘promotion’ but since he was subsequently demoted and promoted again, it was simply a reassignment. For Collier, it’s the same thing, but over the course of 2 seasons. Last season, he spent a lot of the season in Syracuse, so his promotion to AAA isn’t exactly a promotion.
Congrats to Robles for doing his time (and more). Now that he’s in Harrisburg, he’s officially an option in Washington. I don’t think he’ll factor in this season, but next season he’ll shot in ST.
Imagine an OF of Harper-Robles-Eaton. That’s salivating.
Also, still no sighting of Seth Romero… I’d have thought he’d have been ready by now, especially with all that talk of him being a fast riser, and staying in shape in Boras’ training facility. Given his previous weight conditioning problems, I’d be realllly curious to see what sort of shape he’s in right now.
I thought Romero would pitch soon after he reported, like Crowe did. Since Romero has had significant conditioning issues in the past (suspended after gaining 40-50 pounds one college offseason), this isn’t a good sign.
Judgment–all moves are reassignments, but it’s specious to say that every upward move is a promotion. Likewise for downward moves, but occasionally it’s too obvious not to use the word “demoted.”
The Rhett Wiseman renaissance continues! Someone obviously fixed something there, or in sank in that his career was in jeopardy, or something. It brings to mind T-Mo’s 2010 season at Potomac, where he was hitting under .200 before he saw the light and just exploded, ending up with 31 HRs. Wiseman won’t get that many, but if he ends up over 20, that will be significant for a power-starved organization.
The guy with a shot at 31 HRs (over two levels) is Daniel Johnson. Wow. Not sure what it’s going to take to get himself labeled as a “true prospect,” but he’s doing the best he can to attract attention. Perhaps Luke can give us a scouting report or two when the P-Nats get home this weekend.
Let’s not lose the John Simms promotion in the midst of the others. He’s toiled at Harrisburg for parts of FOUR seasons, so good for him.
And good for Robles as well. He’s now one of only two 20-year-olds in the Eastern League.
Don’t get too excited about Wiseman. I think we had this same conversation in April, when he began the season .284/.337/.486, and the season before.
Even after a hot start, and a torrid past few weeks, he’s still hitting a really poor .226/.275/.396, due to May-June hitting around .160. He’s your typical streaky hitter.
It was the inverse last season. Began the year with an awful .169/.253/.260, got red hot in May hitting 312/.356/.516, had a solid June (.283/.356/.424), a worse July (.245/.342/.392) and a miserable August to end things (.196/.274/.348).
Wiseman actually violates most of the things that I watch as red flags: not enough walks, low OBP, too many Ks. I was excited when the Nats drafted him, though, as he was a guy with some power (15 HRs his last year at Vandy after 0 the year before) who might fall to where the Nats could get him in the second or third round. So he’s one I’ve watched pretty closely. The Nats just have so few guys with legit HR power in the organization. He’s got a low BABIP number this year, which indicates some bad luck, but his walk rate is also down, indicating that he needs to be more selective.
We’ll see. When he was drafted, the comp ceiling I put on him was Colby Rasmus, a guy who might hit 25 HRs but strike out too much while getting them.
KLaw had an odd comment on DJohnson, saying he was a 1b only guy. I was thinking that he had him mixed up with someone else. I’ll try to find it.
Glad to see some promotions finally.
Where, oh where, are kieboom and Soto? I know Soto tried a few games in the GCL but does anyone have any info?
There was a 1B-only Dan Johnson (https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/j/johnsda06.shtml).
Our Daniel Johnson is definitely not a 1B only guy. The only question is whether he sticks at CF, or is a plus-defense RF option.
Here’s what I read. It’s from a blurb about Phillies prospects
Daniel Johnson, among the Sally League’s leaders in various power categories, is similarly too old for the level and has raw power but a below-average hit tool. He is probably limited to first base.
Like I said, seems odd.
Our DJ did show a “below-average hit tool” at Auburn last year: .265/.313/.347. However, this season has been a totally different story. As far as I know, he’s always played OF, runs well (although not too smartly, with 9 CS in 21 attempts this year), and has a cannon arm. I remember seeing something that said they had clocked one of his throws from the OF at NM State at over 100 mph. So he’s never profiled as a 1B. Besides, when’s the last time you saw a 5-10 first baseman?
There is nothing accurate about that “scouting” evaluation except the “raw power” part.
There are no other Daniel Johnson’s in the Sally League. The Nats’ Daniel Johnson is a half-year younger than Sally League average, and is now a year younger than Carolina League average. He has never played 1B, and is primarily a center-fielder. DJ’s hit tool has demonstrated more than just raw power as he has .363 OBP and does not have an outrageous K rate (less than 20%). Johnson can also run a little bit (25 SBs in a 150 minor league games).
It’s as if they took the scouting report for the MLB journeyman 1st baseman Dan Johnson (who played for the A’s and Rays in the last 10 years), and just slapped it on the Nats’ Daniel Johnson because they were too lazy scout DJ independently.
I’m thousands of miles away, and can justifiably be accused of only scouting the stats, as opposed to seeing him in person, but even I know that the description of “our” DJ is a million miles away from what’s been produced.
He’s not old for the level – he turned 22 a couple of weeks ago;
He profiles at any of the outfield positions from what I’ve read – the question being whether he’s going to end up as a CF or RF;
He’s 5’10. Why would you want a 1B who is 5’10?
He’s got good speed, if a little erratic.
He’s got a good arm (9 assists in SS-A last year from all 3 outfield positions)
Now I know he’s got all number of developmental points too – K’s too much, needs to walk more, needs challenged at upper levels, yadda yadda yadda – but he’s put himself on the prospect radar this year.
Obviously not to someone, though!!
Any speculation about who will get bumped up from Auburn? It’s got to be Oliver Ortiz, right? He’s hit a rough patch recently, but he’s mashed since his demotion (.286/.350/.467). Doesn’t help that Choruby, Esthay, Pryor, Upshaw and Encarnacion have all been terrible.
I’m particularly disappointed in Upshaw, who got a good bonus after the 2016 draft to sign but has not progressed well thus far at all. I didn’t expect too much from the senior signees from the 2017 draft, but I think the organization had higher hopes for where Upshaw and Encarnacion would be by now.