Good, Bad, Interesting… 2017 Season Final
Our final look at the leaders, trailers, and outliers in the Washington Nationals minor leagues. Repeats from 2016 are in italics.
PLEASE NOTE: This format discriminates against multi-level players and guys who were injured (hence, no Carter Kieboom or Juan Soto). Age relative to the level is a key factor, especially in the short-season leagues, and I do factor in usage. I also exclude players who were traded away.
I’m quite well aware there are more “(none)” than usual, but I’m not in the habit of handing out 10th-place ribbons, iykwim. Finally, it’s also worth noting that one year’s “good” can be next year’s “bad” (e.g. Austin Voth) and vice-versa (e.g. Chance Shepard).
SYRACUSE CHIEFS
54-87, 6th place International League North, 32 games behind – worst record in AAA
| Good | Bat: Brandon Snyder .263/.356/.490, 23 HR, 77RBI in 121G Arm: Wander Suero 3-1, 10SV, 1.70/2.79/1.11 in 36G |
| Bad | Bat: Emmanuel Burriss .557 OPS, 7E in 42G Arm: Taylor Hill 3-5, 7.25/6.24/1.61, 12HR, 4.35 K/9IP in 49⅔ IP |
| Interesting | Bat: Spencer Kieboom .723 OPS in 47G (1st +.700 mark since 2014) Arm: (none) |
HARRISBURG SENATORS
60-80, 6th place Eastern League Western Division, 14 games behind
| Good | Bat: Jose “Orange” Marmolejos .288/.361/.458, 14HR, 66RBI in 107G Arm: John Simms 5-6, 3.54/3.71/1.11 in 112IP |
| Bad | Bat: Drew Ward 131K, 10HR in 121G Arm: Austin Voth 3-4, 5.13/4.35/1.40 in 54⅓ IP after demotion from AAA |
| Interesting | Bat: Raudy Read .265/.312/.455, 17HR, 61 RBI (10E, 14PB) Arm: (none) |
POTOMAC NATIONALS
30-40 in 2nd half, 4th place Carolina League Northern Division, 17 games behind
33-37 in 1st half, 4th place, 7½ games behind
63-77 overall
| Good | Bat: Victor Robles .289/.377/.495, 16SB in 77G Arm: Matthew Crownover 3-1, 1.94/2.86/1.06 in 46⅓ IP |
| Bad | Bat: Bryan Mejia .234/.270/.319, 19BB, 22E in 115G Arm: Joan Baez 4-8, 3.87/5.06/1.65, 7.52 BB/9IP |
| Interesting | Bat: None Arm: Grant Borne 4-4, 2.50/3.01/1.10 in 72IP |
HAGERSTOWN SUNS
35-32 in 2nd half, 4th place South Atlantic League Northern Division, 2½ games behind
38-31 in 1st half, 3rd place, 1½ games behind
73-63 overall
| Good | Bat: Daniel Johnson .300/.361/.529, 17HR, 12SB in 88G Arm: None (McKenzie Mills, Tyler Watson traded) |
| Bad | Bat: Angelo La Bruna .531 OPS in 77G Arm: Yonathan Ramirez 1-2, 5.29/5.90/1.57, 4.34 K/9IP |
| Interesting | Bat: Tres Barrera .278/.354/.464 in 67G Arm: Phil Morse 13.5K/9IP, 2.61 FIP in 20⅔ IP |
AUBURN DOUBLEDAYS
30-45, T5th Place Pinckney Division of New York-Penn League, 15 games behind
| Good | Bat: Chance Shepard .249/.372/.459, 7HR in 54G Arm: Seth Romero 5.40/1.13/1.25, 32K, 0HR, 6BB in 20IP |
| Bad | Bat: Nic Perkins .494 OPS in 32G Arm: Jared Brasher 1-2, 4.50/5.32/1.50, 6.23BB/9IP in 26IP |
| Interesting | Bat: 20-y.o. (on Aug. 18) Omar Meregildo, 8HR, 19E in 55G Arm: Gabe Klobosits 0-0, 5SV, 1.66/2.74/1.15 in 21⅔ IP |
GCL NATIONALS
34-22, 1st place Gulf Coast League East Division, 1½ games ahead – lost in GCL Finals, 2-1
| Good | Bat: 18-y.o. Justin Connell .323/.407/.365 in 30G Arm: 19-y.o. Tomas Alastre 3-1, 2.55/3.38/1.02 in 42⅓ IP (9G, 6GS) |
| Bad | Bat: 20-y.o. (on Aug. 27) Edwin Ventura .441 OPS, 3E in 35G Arm: 20-y.o. Jose De Los Santos 3-1, 5.75/5.74/1.67, 4.87 BB/9IP in 20⅓ IP |
| Interesting | Bat: 17-y.o. Yasel Antuna .301/.382/.399, 23BB, 26E in 48G Arm: 21-y.o. Jackson Stoeckinger 4.72/2.49/1.31, 31K in 26⅔ IP |
DSL NATIONALS
28-43, 8th place, South Division, 21 games behind
| Good | Bat: 19-y.o. Wilmer Perez .313/.382/.464 in 61G Arm: 17-y.o. Alfonso Hernandez, 1-1, 2.10/2.53/1.17, 61K in 55⅔ IP (12GS) |
| Bad | Bat: 18-y.o. Elvis Alvarado .427 OPS, 5E in 45G Arm: 18-y.o. Alejandro Vallejo 0-6, 8.90/4.96/1.95, 11HBP, 40K in 31⅓ IP |
| Interesting | Bat: 19-y.o. Caldioli Sanfler 37BB in 61G Arm: 17-y.o. (on Jul. 16) Pedro Gonzalez 1-3, 5.30/3.51/1.63 in 52⅔ IP |
Nathan Esthay auburn interesting
Numerous Latin arms interesting
On Auburn and GCL!
Nick Choruby. (Aggie alumni in Nats farm) 10-11 SBin short lead off role ahead of Guifoil and Pryor and Esthay and Shepard …
Kameron Esthay. Jet lag
Sanfler hits left handed as a bonus as table setter
Drew Ward is still young
I would add Dan Gamache and Sanford @ Burg as interesting because Dan enabled Ward to play 3b and Orange LF while Sanford stole some bags as spare OF. Good scouting there
Luke I would hold off on the use of the term “kids” considering the Alleve I have taken all week. Wink
Drew Ward is still young
So was Billy Rowell… until he wasn’t.
The Orioles should’ve gone for pitching that year.
You couldn’t make this sort of stuff up…. Rowell was sandwiched at 9th overall pick between Andrew Miller (#6), Clayton Kershaw (#7), Drew Stubbs (#8), Rowell, Tim Lincecum (#10), Max Scherzer (#11).
Sometimes I wonder if I could be a better GM than some real GMs. Like how successful would you be if you just drafted directly according to BP’s or BA’s draft rankings? Surely, it would be better than the Orioles!
With that said, we can’t really cast the first stone, because in 2006 we took Chris Marrero and Colton Willems.
It struck me that Antuna and fellow 17-year-old Luis Garcia had batting stats that were almost identical, save for Antuna’s already finely honed plate discipline (resulting in 14 more walks in 12 fewer ABs and thus a much higher OPS). They both look to have very high ceilings, but for Antuna the sky may well be the limit.
Luke, thanks for another great season. Like many, your site, along with Todd’s, are my go-to sites first thing in the morning.
Everything else comes afterwards.
There is still a lot to talk about but on this day I give thanks for all your hard work!
Robles gets on base for the very first time in the majors on HBP . . . and then very nearly got picked off. He then hit a rocket for his first MLB hit and RBI . . . and overslid the bag at third. All the good, the bad, and the interesting on display in one game.
Interesting arm Syracuse: Austin Adams first half 7.3BB/9, 13.3K/9, second half 3.1BB/9, 14.9K/9