AFL Update: Oct. 19, 2017
The Solar Sox took an early 2-0 lead and scored three in the 8th, but in between it was all the Rafters, who paddled them for a 6-5 loss.
Just two Nationals got into yesterday’s game:
• Taylor Gushue (pictured above) got the start as the designated hitter but went 0-for-4 without a strikeout.
• Dakota Bacus gave up two runs on three hits in his lone inning of work and was charged with the loss.
Mesa visits Surprise today and then hosts the Saguaros tomorrow to finish out the week. Saturday is the annual Hitting Challenge, which will be held in Mesa this year.
Here’s a mitigating word on Gushue’s AFL struggles. This is from Eric Longenhagen during his chat at FanGraphs earlier this week, in reference to a catcher from another organization: “Fall League catchers are particularly tough to evaluate because they’re here after a long season and catching an entirely new staff of pitchers. You take it with a grain of salt because catchers really get beat up during the year and the position requires a lot of energy to do competently, let alone well.”
Here’s another mitigating word on Gushue’s AFL struggles.
Since May 17 (67 games), Gushue batted .201/.286/.293.
His 2016 stats: .226/.282/.357
And 2015: .231/.288/.342
Unfortunately, I don’t think there’s much to evaluate there…. We were just seduced by a career month in which he hit almost as many HR as he had previously in his 3 year career.
While I don’t disagree with the overall point, it’s worth noting that once Reetz was brought up from Hagerstown, Gushue was basically a half-time player, which did neither any favors.
Will, I pretty much agree. Gushue looked like the find of the century . . . but the league figured him out quickly, or something.