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Wednesday’s News & Notes

Team Yesterday Today Probable Pitchers
Syracuse Lost, 8-0 vs. Lehigh Valley,
7:05 p.m.		 G. Ross (2-7, 6.61) vs.
Appel (5-4, 4.87)
Harrisburg Lost, 5-2 vs. Akron,
6:00 p.m.		 Hill (3-1, 5.54) vs.
Esparza (5-0, 1.82)
Potomac Won, 7-5 vs. Frederick,
7:05 p.m.		 Reyes (5-8, 4.63) vs.
Peralta (1-7, 6.67)
Hagerstown Won, 5-1 vs. Greensboro,
7:05 p.m.		 Watson (5-2, 3.36) vs.
Mahoney (2-1, 4.21)
Auburn Lost, 3-2 vs. Batavia,
7:05 p.m.		 Y. Ramirez (1-1, 5.00) vs.
E. Cabrera (0-0, 5.23)
GCL Nationals Lost, 3-2 @ GCL Astros,
7:00 p.m.		  

Lehigh Valley 8 Syracuse 0
• Stevenson 1-5 (5G hit streak)

Akron 5 Harrisburg 2
• McGowin (L, 0-4) 5IP, 7H, 5R, 5ER, 2BB, 6K, 2HR
• Valdez 3IP, 2H, 0R, 0BB, 5K
• Norfork 2-3, BB, RBI
• Abreu 2-4, R

The ‘Ducks scored five times in the first four innings and cruised to a 5-2 win over the Sens. Kyle McGowin lived up to the “B” in the latest GBI as he coughed up all five runs on seven hits and two walks over five innings for his fourth loss in four AA starts and 10th in 13 overall. Phillips Valdez tossed three scoreless and Andrew Robinson one to keep it close, but the Harrisburg bats were limited to seven hits and two walks. Khayyan Norfork led the charge with a walk, two singles, and the only Harrisburg RBI. Roster moves: RHP Wirkin Estevez placed on the 7-Day DL; IF Corban Joseph activated from the 7-day DL.

Potomac 7 Frederick 5
• Guilbeau 6IP, 6H, 3R, 3ER, 0BB, 3K, 2HR
• Schepel (W, 2-3) ⅓ IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 0K
• Robles 3-5, 2-2B, 2RBI
• Gamache 2-5, R, HR, 2RBI
• Masters 1-1, 2R, HR, 2BB, 2RBI

Dan Gamache’s two-run walkoff HR papered over another bullpen malfunction as Potomac took the opener from Frederick, 7-5. Taylor Guilbeau got the start and delivered a quality start of three runs on six hits (two HR) over six innings. He walked none and struck out three. Dakota Bacus couldn’t get the last four outs to earn the save, getting two instead and letting in the tying runs in the 8th and 9th innings for his first blown save. The win went to Kyle Schepel, who got the last out of the 9th. Victor Robles drove in two while going 3-for-5 while Gamache and David Masters, who also homered, also had two RBI.

Hagerstown 5 Greensboro 1
• Bourque (W, 4-3) 6IP, 7H, R, ER, 0BB, 6K
• Bogucki (S, 1) 3IP, 2H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• Banks 2-4, R, 2B, RBI
• Corredor 1-3, R, BB
• Agustin 1-3, R, 2B, RBI, E(5)

The Suns got two in the 4th and two more in the 8th as they picked up their 10th win of the 2nd half with a 5-1 triumph over Greensboro. James Bourque pitched six innings of one-run ball on seven hits without a walk and struck out six for the win. A.J. Bogucki finished with three scoreless to earn the save, his first of the season. Nick Banks singled, doubled, scored a run, and drove in a run to lead the Hagerstown offense.

Batavia 3 Auburn 2
• Raquet 3IP, 3H, 0R, BB, 3K
• Smith (L, 0-1) 3IP, 0H, 2R, 1ER, 3BB, 2K
• Ortiz 2-3, 2B, BB, RBI
• Meregildo 2-4

Make that eight straight losses for Auburn as Batavia overcame an early 1-0 deficit and held off a late charge for a 3-2 win. Nick Raquet got the start and threw three scoreless innings, giving up three hits and a walk while striking out three. The loss went to David Smith with two runs charged (one earned) on no hits and three walks. Oliver Ortiz singled, doubled, walked and drove in a run to pace the Doubledays offense. Roster moves: Released LHP Jonny Reid, RHP Joseph Baltrip; SS Ryan Merrill assigned from Washington; C Luis Vilorio reassigned from Syracuse.

GCL Cardinals 3 GCL Nationals 2
• Luzardo 4⅔ IP, 6H, 0R, 0BB, 5K, BK
• Pena (BS, 1; L, 0-1) 3IP, 5H, 3R, 3ER, BB, K, HR
• Cabello 2-4, RBI
• R. Mendez 1-4, R, HR, RBI

The G-Cards posted a picket fence in the 6th through 8th innings to turn a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 win. Jesus Luzardo struck out five and fell one out shy of five innings in his second GCL start, scattering six hits and issuing no walks over four and 2/3rds scoreless innings. The loss went to Malvin Pena, who gave up all three G-Cards runs on five hits and a walk over three innings. Jose Cabello singled twice and drove in a run to lead the G-Nat hit column of eight.

12 Commments

  1. Don’t know what more Robles and Johnson can do to get a promotion…

    Also a bit surprised to see Jonny Reid get released. Was it at his request? Because his numbers (solid number in Auburn last year) and age (turned 22 last week) would suggest it wasn’t performance based.

    1. Depth chart bump. My eyes on Lewis and Clark alum .
      Can we change Wirkens nickname to wirken to the DL??? Lol

  2. Not sure I understand the point of promoting Robles. He is already young for the Carolina League; there is no chance that he is going to advance to the MLB level this year.

    If Robles can finish out the 2017 season without injury (and if he is not dealt), he will start the 2018 in AA, and we have seen the Nats promote players straight out of AA to the Majors or promote players from AA to AAA in the same season with idea of calling up that player up to the majors that year (Trea Turner, Wilmer Difo, Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez and Michael Taylor have all played in AA and for the Nats in the same season). Also, while Robles has been good this year at Potomac, he hasn’t played so well that he is basically not challenged at that level. Just don’t see the benefit of promoting Robles right now. Let him excel for a full season at Potomac.

    Johnson has played well in Low A, and would think that he will move up to Potomac if a spot opens up for him. That said, Johnson was drafted just one year ago; so, playing a full year in Low A is pretty much on schedule for a first year college player out of the draft.

    A few weeks ago, some thought Orange Marmolejos should be bumped up to AAA after a hot start in May. Since then, he hit .243 in June, and is now hitting .152 with 0 HRs in his last 10 games. It’s just part of the ups and downs of a baseball season. Except in the rare instances when a player is just dominating at a level or getting dominated at a level, it’s best to let players experience the ups and downs at the same level all year.

    1. Top prospects shouldn’t be aiming to match the league age average, or what is typical of other draftees. Every prospect is/should be far younger than average, because guys like JD Martin (34) in GCL, or Mario Lisson (33) in AA, or Dan Gamache (26) in A+ artificially inflate the averages.

      Players should be judged based on their performance at the level, independently from age or date of drafting. Otherwise, Robles should never have been promoted in the first place. Harper should still be in the minors.

      But if we look at performance, Robles has mastered A+. He’s now played 108 games there, for well over a full calendar year now (he was promoted to Potomac last June). His .302/.388/.524 this year is the best offensive output he’s put up aside from 20 games in the GCL in 2015, and his last-to-develop tool, power, has finally arrived. He’s hitting for more power than ever before in his career. The only risk now is stagnation. Let’s see what he can do against AA pitching. If he succeeds, then we’re looking at potentially contributing in the big leagues by this time next season. With Werth hitting FA this winter, and Harper the following season, our OF depth won’t be so deep. Some greater certainty about Robles’ potential will make some very difficult decisions for Rizzo a little easier.

      It also helps that a promotion for Robles would spell a promotion for Johnson, who’s been the SALLY league’s best batter, and usually the best batters get promoted. It’s also worth noting Johnson’s been remarkably consistent all season. This isn’t a hot streak:
      April: .296/.360/.580
      May: .302/.351/.523
      June: .330/.407/.600
      July: .385/.385/.462 (only 3 games)

      The only thing left to prove is what he can do against better pitching.

      1. By keeping Victor Robles in the Carolina League, they are not looking to “match Carolina League average age”. Not even close. The Nats have been aggressive in promoting Robles. He is 2.6 years younger than Carolina League average right now. FWIW, Daniel Johnson is younger than SALLY League average too.

        Huge reach to suggest that either of these players is stagnating if they play the last two months of the season in their current leagues when they are both below league average age now. Just don’t see the major benefit of moving Robles to AA for a month and half when everyone knows he will be starting next season in AA. Johnson may well get promoted if a spot opens up, but I don’t see an issue if the Nats decide to keep in Hagerstown for the rest of July and August.

        1. If the Nats FO didn’t see any benefit in moving Robles for a month and a half, he’d still be playing the entirety of this season in Hagerstown, but they didn’t and here we are talking about his promotion to Harrisburg instead. Those mid-season promotions cut off at least a year of development time with no discernible effect on his performance.

          Ultimately, Robles has been playing in Potomac for over an entire season now, despite playing the best baseball of his young career. That doesn’t make sense.

      2. I have no inside knowledge on this, but I’ll throw out a couple of other factors that come to mind. With Robles, Luke mentioned within the last month or so that he had been benched in a game for not running out a pop up, so perhaps there are still some “maturity issue” concerns. The other obvious point is that the Senators suck, and they may not want to expose the top prospect to the culture of losing. The P-Nats aren’t great but at least are generally competitive.

        With Johnson, when he was drafted, the word was that he was extremely raw. Even though he’s hitting everything in sight, he may still be working on basic base-running fundamentals, routes to balls in the OF, etc. He could keep working on those things at Potomac, of course (as Robles has done), but it’s more a part of the regular schedule the lower the level.

        All in all, the Nats have been curiously slow with a number of promotions this season, so I wonder if there’s been some change in overall philosophy, or at least some reconsideration.

        1. KW. The culture of losing can change with a new April Opener and squad of Potnats bumped up .
          Interesting how Nats place stock in so many R/R OFs in GCL and DSL while draft nets many lefty swingers even if grinders .
          Curious to hear who knows the 411 on the July 2 deadline INTL
          Signees especially the OFs. Several SS and a 3b. Brandon Pena LHP

    1. MLB Draft Tracker has Freeman as signed, for only $50K under slot. I thought they would/should get more of a discount on him. I’m more concerned that Timmy Richards, who hit two CWS homers for Fullerton, is still listed as unsigned. He was a senior, so he doesn’t have a lot of leverage/options.

        1. Who here thinks some June draftees land in hags for second half playoff run??!

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