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Offseason Update: Oct. 7, 2017

They only got two hits. Neither was a home run. You tend to lose those games when that happens, no matter how well your pitcher pitched.

Back to our weekly minors update…

ARIZONA FALL LEAGUE
With the addition of Victor Robles to Washington’s NLDS roster, his replacement on the Mesa Solar Sox roster has not yet been named. Should Rizzo’s sports bar continue its anti-DUI practice–you’re done after one round–it’s still possible that he could play in the opening game on Tuesday.

BA TOP 20 PROSPECT LISTS
As usual, the Nats had no top 20 prospects in the New York Penn League Top 20. There was just one question in the NYPL Top 20 chat:

Sammy (DC): Where would you have placed Seth Romero on this list? Any word on whether or not his makeup had improved?

J.J. Cooper: The reviews were less complimentary than expected. The stuff was solid as he showed three average or better pitches, but the slider wasn’t as devastating as evaluators expected. Fellow 2017 Nats draftee Nick Raquet looks just as good or better with a plus fastball, some funk to his delivery and a quality breaking ball. Romero may have been rusty after a long layoff, but next season is a big one for him as he needs to show consistency both on the mound and being a professional off of it.

TRANSACTION STUFF
Just two re-signings: RHPs Wirkin Estevez and Greg Ross.

THE AUBURN DOUBLEDAYS
It’s been five straight seasons without a winner at Falcon Park (the home team, natch), which may lead some folks to wonder about the water in the region. Alas, it would appear to be more attributable to either drafting lower or better prospects skipping past the level.

Unlike a year ago, hitting was not the problem. The Doubledays were fourth in runs scored (4.33 R/G), which you’d expect from the oldest team in the league. Almost 60% of the PAs were made players older than 21 and almost 16% by players 23 or older excluding rehabs.

It was the pitching: 13th in the 14-team NYPL at 4.89 R/G (Lg. Avg. 4.05), surpassed only by the team they tied for last place in the Pinckney Division, Batavia, at 4.93. The relief pitching in particular was bad, with several relievers sporting ERAs of 5.00 or higher and FIPs above 4.00 (i.e. nearly a run higher than lg. avg).

As I typically do with cellar-dwelling teams, I’m combining the list into one. Like the GCL and DSL, I’m excluding age-inappropriate players. But this year, I’m not ranking them because it’ll just create pointless arguments in the comments. The sample sizes here are so small and there are some rather noticeable red flags in the stats, as “meaningless” as they may be.

Wil Crowe, RHSP 0-0, 0SV, 7GS, 2.61/4.45/1.02, 3HR in 20⅔ IP
Kameron Esthay, OF .273/.320/.411, 5HR, 30RBI in 52G
Gabe Klobosits, RHRP 0-0, 5SV, 15G, 1.66/2.74/1.15, promoted twice in 1st yr.
Nick Raquet, LHSP 3-2, 0SV, 11GS 2.45/3.55/1.23; 3.9 K/9
Seth Romero, LHSP 0-1, 0SV, 6GS 5.40/1.13/1.25; 14.4 K/9
Chance Shepard, 1B/DH .249/.372/.459, 7HR in 54G
Jackson Tetrault, RHSP 2-2, 0SV, 11G, 6GS, 2.58/3.15/1.25, 38⅓ IP

For those wondering about Oliver Ortiz and Andres Martinez, who are age-appropriate and had decent production: both were repeating the level and/or had been dropped down from Hagerstown. Full stats for the team can be found here.

10 Commments

  1. Surprised to see the less than stellar scouting report on Romero. I’ve read the exact opposite elsewhere.

    The thing that struck me about Romero was his underlying numbers. .404 Babip, just a 1.13 FIP thanks to his high K rate. 14.4 K/9. Now SSS of course, and we’d expect this next year in low-A (where I presume he’ll start with the hope that he earns a promotion to high-A mid-season)

  2. Luke nice opening response.
    The Kameron Krush Klub in
    Hags next season ??
    Great work all season , Luke!
    Great dog walking it’s master weather. Master is a strong term .

    1. PS. I recall when the Jamestown Expos won the NYPL in the 80s. None of the kids ceiled above A plus , Luke .

      1. Luke. Since you like lists with many boxes. Could you graph
        age appropriate for each level.
        You mean Phillips Valdez is a grey beard stubble for AAA? Jake Noll getting old for A plus needing to hit Harrisburg in 2018?? James Borque needs to escape A- and reach ( a reach?) Harrisburg in 2018?? Right ? Ty Luke

  3. Thanks, Luke. Very disturbing to not have even 1 in the top 20.
    After trading away such an enormous amount of starting pitching the last 2 years, it’s good we have some to still cheer for.
    Have my eyes on Crowe and Raquet right now.

  4. The Nats got decent production at the plate from a number of the 2017 senior draftees, but none stood out to the point of getting me excited that they’d stolen a future major-leaguer in the bunch. Perhaps the most disappointing to me was 2016 JUCO draftee Armond Upshaw, to whom they gave a pretty decent bonus. He’s shown very little in two half-seasons of pro ball.

    The Nats invested nine of their top ten 2017 picks on pitchers. Nearly all of those guys made stops at Auburn, some on their way to Hags by the end of the year. I was very pleased to get Crowe where they did in the draft, but he’s already 23, so he needs to make big strides next year. I wasn’t thrilled by the Raquet pick, but he’s looked decent thus far. Troop may turn out to be a find in the 9th round, a two-way player at Michigan State who was their Friday starter. The best story thus far is Klobosits, the man-mountain (6-7, 270) 36th-rounder out of Auburn (Univ.) who made it all the way to Hags with great numbers at every stop, including 11 Ks in his 5 IP at Hags.

    1. Upshaw needs a special tutor to accompany his bonus on draft week.
      Curious to see who replaces Doug Harris if he would bolt for Braves??

  5. Mets are buying the Syracuse AAA franchise. They will takeover in 2019. Nats need to find another AAA home.

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