Monday’s News & Notes
| Team | Yesterday | Today | Pitching Matchup |
| Syracuse | Postponed | vs. Indianapolis, 6:35 p.m. |
Vargas (0-0, 0.00) vs. Sadler (0-1, 10.38) |
| Harrisburg | Postponed | vs. Reading, 6:30 p.m. |
Estevez (0-0, 1.80) vs. Suarez (0-1, 9.00) |
| Potomac | Lost, 6-5 | @ Salem, 7:05 p.m. |
Sharp (1-1, 4.00) vs. Raudes (1-0, 1.93) |
| Hagerstown | Postponed | vs. Delmarva, 6:05 p.m. |
Troop (1-0, 0.00) vs. Lowther (1-0, 0.00) |
Syracuse vs. Norfolk – PPD
Freezing rain Saturday night and low expected crowd turnout forecast temperatures postponed the series finale between the Chiefs vs. Tide. It’ll be made up with a doubleheader on Tuesday, July 24. Thanks to rain and cold, tonight’s contest against Indianapolis seems likely to be pushed off, too.
Harrisburg vs. Bowie – PPD
The Senators were also kept inside by February weather in April for their second postponement in 11 days. They’ll shoot for a doubleheader on June 20 to make this up. With heavy rain forecast until noon today, tonight’s opener against the Fightins is also in doubt.
Frederick 6 Potomac 5
• Crownover 5⅔ IP, 5H, 2R, 2ER, BB, 5K, WP
• Pena (H, 1; L, 0-1) ⅓ IP, 1H, 2R, 2ER, 3BB, 0K, 2-1 IR-S
• Bourque (BS, 1) 2BF, 2H, 0R, 0ER, 0BB, 0K, 2-2 IR-S
• Perkins 2-4, R, RBI
• Reetz 2-5, R, HR, RBI
• Lora 2-4, R
Potomac’s 5-2 lead after seven and a half innings disappeared as the bullpen coughed up two in the 8th and two in the 9th to drop the series finale, 6-5 to Frederick. Matthew Crownover pitched into the 6th and gave up two runs on five hits and a walk while striking out five. The loss went to Ronald Pena, who retired just one of five batters faced, while James Bourque let in the tying and winning runs on back-to-back singles; he faced two batters. Jakson Reetz and Rhett Wiseman both homered while Blake Perkins and Edwin Lora both singled twice and scored once to lead the P-Nats attack.
Hagerstownvs. Greensboro – PPD
Hagerstown may be only a half hour or so from Frederick, but between the forecast for rain and Greensboro’s travels to NJ last night, they opted to get the players on the bus instead of the field. They’ll make it up May 26th when the Grasshoppers next come to town. Tonight Delmarva visits for the first of 20 games between the two division rivals.
Is it just me or if the Mets decide to spend money on the Buffalo. The Mets might just put the NL East in the rear view Morrow before May?
More time with mans best friend S?
I’ve never been able to completely wrap my brain around exactly where Perkins and Agustin fit in the “prospect” firmament, but both are off to good starts at Potomac, so I’ll give them a shout-out on this otherwise slow news day for the farm.
Perkins generally has gotten more notice as a second-round pick with a big bonus, but they profile pretty similarly. Both are 21, with birthdays a month apart at the end of the summer. One weighs 165, the other 160. Neither has shown much pop. Both K’d more than 100 times last season. Perkins worked an eye-catching 72 walks in 2017 versus only 19 for Agustin, but Agustin posted a solid .456 SLG at Hags against .378 for Perkins. Thus far in 2018, Perkins has sixteen hits, but only one has gone for an extra base. Perkins also turned some heads with 31 SBs in 2017. Agustin had 10 HRs in 2017 vs. 8 for Perkins, so they’re not completely powerless, but also not yet powerful enough to get really interesting.
I guess that’s my verdict as of now: both have done enough in their careers to remain interesting, but not enough yet to get really interesting. Stay tuned.
You could just as easily add Rhett Wiseman into this comparison. Besides the age, Wiseman is 23 going on 24, and being larger than the other two (200 lbs), Wiseman too has started the season promisingly, but K’d 97 times last season (104 the previous season), walked only 34 times, posted an unimpressive .391 SLG, and has shown glimpses of speed (19 SB in 2016, but strangely only 2 last year). Wiseman has hit 13 HR in each of the past two season, but not enough to be interesting.
Maybe it’s always been irrational, but since they were drafted in 2015, I’ve always had higher hopes for Wiseman than I have Stevenson and Perkins specifically because of Wiseman’s size and power potential. Yeah, 13 HRs per season the last two years don’t look like much, but those numbers put him in the top 10 across the power-starved system both seasons. If he could find the magic formula that would get his HRs up into the 20s and his Ks down into the 70s, he’d suddenly get more interesting, even as he “ages” quickly.
With Perkins the Nats turning him in to a switch hitter made for a slower development with the possible bigger payoff.
Again, possible.
Indeed, Perkins has made improvements by leaps and bounds from his first year as a pro. Also, unlike Stevenson he is a natural centerfielder. That last fact alone will get him to the majors if he’s even able to hit just a little bit.
Why do you NOT consider Stevenson to be a “natural centerfielder”? Thought his defense in center was always considered his best tool.
This is the Baseball America scouting report on Stevenson when he was drafted:
At times this season, Louisiana State would field a trio of outfielders who could play center field in pro ball, but there was little question who would be standing in center field for the Tigers. Stevenson is one of the best center fielders in college baseball and projects as an above-average center fielder in pro ball thanks to 70 speed, excellent routes and a knack for making the diving catch. His below-average arm is his only weakness defensively.
Unaware of anything that has arisen in his three seasons of pro ball that would project Stevenson as a corner OF. Always thought the main question for Stevenson was whether his bat (lack of power) played well enough to project him as anything more than a 4th OF.
Yeah, the knock on Stevenson’s arm is the only question I’ve seen with him defensively.
I’ve always thought the Perkins switch-hitting conversion was curious. Did they convert Difo once he was in the system? You just don’t hear of it happening that much these days. Some college programs used to do it. Berkman became a switch-hitter at Rice, and I think Jose Cruz Jr. did as well.