Thursday’s News & Notes
| Team | Yesterday | Today | Pitching Matchup |
| Syracuse | Won, 4-2 (10 inn.) |
OFF DAY | N/A |
| Harrisburg | Won, 4-2 | OFF DAY | N/A |
| Potomac | Won, 6-2 | @ Wilmington, 6:35 p.m. |
Crownover (1-1, 3.09) Hernandez (1-0, 1.80) |
| Hagerstown | Lost, 5-0; Lost, 3-2 (8 inn.) |
vs. Lakewood, 6:05 p.m. |
Stoeckinger (0-1, 10.50) vs. Howard (1-1, 2.77) |
Syracuse 4 Indianapolis 2 (10 inn.)
• Fedde 5IP, 4H, 2R, 2ER, 2BB, 3K, 80-47 PIT-K
• Goforth (W, 2-1) 2IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 2K, WP
• Jones 3-4, 2R, 2B
• Falu 2-4, BB, 4RBI
• E. Jackson 1-1, 2B
Irving Falu came through twice on two-run singles, once to tie in the 8th and again in the 10th to give the Chiefs a 4-2 victory and prevent a three-game sweep by the Indians. David Goforth got the win with two scoreless innings of relief, capping off five total from the Syracuse bullpen. Erick Fedde started and labored through five innings, allowing both Indianapolis runs on four hits and two walks while striking out three. Falu also walked to reach base three times, as did Hunter Jones, who doubled, scored and singled twice to lead the Chiefs offense.
Harrisburg 4 Trenton 2
• Reyes (W, 1-2) 6IP, 3H, 2R, 2ER, 3BB, 3K, HR
• Valdez (H, 2) 2IP, 2H, 0R, BB, K, WP
• Harper (SV, 1) 1IP, 2H, 0R, BB, 3K
• Gushue 2-4, R, 2B, RBI
• Davidson 3-4, R, HR, 2RBI
Six strong innings and six key hits were the difference as Harrisburg stopped its losing streak at five with a 4-2 win over Trenton in the series finale. Luis Reyes gave up both Thunder runs on three hits (one HR) and three walks over six innings for the win. He struck out three. Phillips Valdez turned in two scoreless for the hold while Bryan Harper cordero’d his way through 9th, loading the bases with no out on a walk and two single then striking out the side. The 4-5-6 hitters powered the Senators offense as they combined for all six hits, including a double by Taylor Gushue and a HR by Austin Davidson.
Potomac 6 Wilmington 2
• Crowe (W, 3-0) 6IP, 6H, 2R, 1ER, BB, 5K
• Pena (H, 2) 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 2K
• Soto 2-5, 2R, HR, 2RBI
• Reetz 2-4, BB, RBI
• Perkins 0-2, R, 2BB, SB(8)
The P-Nats tripled up the Blue Rocks to take their second straight decision, 6-2. Wil Crowe let in both Wilmington runs on six hits and a walk while striking out five for his third win in four starts. Ronald Pena, Hayden Howard, and Gabe Klobosits each put up a goose egg to close out the game. Juan Soto hit his first High-A HR, a solo shot in the 7th and went 2-for-5 with two RBI while Jakson Reetz singled twice and drew his 8th walk in 12 games to pace the P-Nats offense.
Lakewood 5 Hagerstown 0 – GAME ONE
• Tetreault (L, 0-2) 6IP, 6H, 5R, 4ER, 2BB, 3K
• Brasher 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 0K
• Antuna 1-3
• Garcia 1-3
Hagerstown was blanked on three hits in the opener while Jackson Tetrault was hit hard (again) for a 5-0 loss to Lakewood. Tetrault pitched a season-high six innings while giving up all five runs (four earned) on six hits and two walks while striking out three. Cole Freeman, Luis Garcia, and Yasel Antuna each had a single while the Suns drew just two walks.
Lakewood 3 Hagerstown 2 – GAME TWO
• Alastre 6IP, 6H, 2R, 2ER, 2BB, 2K, HBP
• Held (L, 1-1) 2IP, 1H, 1R, 0ER, 0BB, 2K
• Boggetto 3-3, R, HR, RBI
• Freeman 1-3, R, HR, RBI
The Suns got home runs from Cole Freeman and Branden Boggetto but fell in the 8th, 3-2 to drop the doubleheader. Tomas Alastre turned in a quality start of two runs on six hits and two walks while fanning two for the no-decision. The loss went to Sam Held as he let in the runner placed on 2nd to start the 8th inning. Hagerstown managed just six hits total, no walks, and struck out 11 times.
This is very likely the best Potomac team in a long time. Hope you’re enjoying the show, Luke!
Easily overlooked in Soto’s promotion was Austin Davidson’s, which was looooong overdue. I’m glad to see he hasn’t skipped a beat in Harrisburg, batting a silly .583/.583/.917 in his first 3 games. It will be interesting to see how he’s used going forward. Largely a 3B in his first couple professional seasons, he played mostly at 2B last year. But this year, brass seems intent on using him as a 1B (a position he never played before). I wonder why they’re not giving him more reps at 2B, given that Kayyan Norfork is the incumbent there. How was he defensively at 2B and 3B? Any insight?
Yes, it’s good to see Davidson’s strong AA start. Their treatment of him over the last few seasons has been curious, considering how well he as hit.
On the flip side at Harrisburg, Gutierrez is really struggling: .200/.257/.231.
KW – I think you’ve been on the Davidson wagon for a while now, so you must be enjoying it. Crowe has had a nice start, which is good to see.
What’s the latest word on Romero? Do we know if he has been allowed back yet?
I’m not the only one. Carson Cistulli at Fangraphs has written about Davidson two or three times, often comparing his bat to Schrock’s. The times I saw Davidson at Potomac — not nearly as often as Luke, I will add — he was always “barreling up” the ball, as they say, making good contact. Whenever I’ve mentioned Davidson here, Luke has generally countered by noting how mediocre he has been in the field at all positions. But goodness, Ward and Read certainly made it to AA with hands of stone.
We’ll see. It’s good to see Davidson’s perseverance rewarded. His bat has always seemed a cut above that of an “org guy,” even though they’ve often seemed to treat him like one.
Davidson is a streak hitter – look up how many times he’s had a good month followed by another good month. To his credit, he’s managed to bounce back and not have back-to-back bad months (just once or twice) but I just have not been convinced that his success is anything but his experience relative to the league.
Below average.
Jacob Wilson, not Kayyan Norfolk, was the 2nd baseman at HBG. Wilson is now in Syracuse and Davidson has been playing 2nd, not Norfolk.
I want to take a moment to cheer on Andrew Stevenson, yesterday going 4-5 with 2 doubles and 4 RBI’s with the big boys.
Warms my heart.
Special shout out to Telmito Agustin for taking his first walk of the season last night.
If he could improve his plate discipline, he’d be a remarkable prospect, but he’s only got 46 BB in 684 ABs since the start of 2016.
Juan who?
Another good start by Wil Crowe. After 22 IP, he has a nice 21/4 K/BB ratio, WHIP of 1.09, average against of .238. Is it possible the Nats actually have a good second-round pick? Considering the lack of quality starting pitching in the middle of the system, perhaps they look at moving him up after 10 starts or so if he stays at this level.
It would figure if they finally got a decent 2nd round pick the same year they totally blow the first rounder. The longer it goes with no word on Romero, the more ominous it is–especially since there were rumors the Nats might try to fast track him as a reliever last year. I just wish the team would be straight with us and say what is going on with him.
I don’t think that Nats even know what’s going on with Romero.
If they could reliably say that he will be activated to pitch on or about May 15, they would, but with him, everything is day to day. This way, if he has another relapse/incident, it’s not public (at least, not immediately public). Think that they have to play it that way until they are confident he is ready to pitch in organized baseball games.
I think the Nats know what’s going with Romero; they just don’t want anyone else to.
Near the end of spring training, the word at West Palm was that Romero was finished with baseball as far as the Nationals were concerned.
Crowe is 23 and will turn 24 in September. Unusual for a college baseball prospect, Crowe red-shirted his junior year in college after TJ surgery. So, Crowe was in his 4th year of college when drafted in 2017. As a result, think the Nats will be more aggressive with his promotion schedule as long as he is effective. Once pitchers are in their 20s, MLB teams are aware that they need to take advantage of the periods when they are healthy and productive. Put another way, pitchers are like running backs, most have a short shelf-life, get use out of them before their arm blows out (again).
I think age was part of the reason they pushed him on to start the season at Potomac. He’s basically only got a couple of seasons to prove himself in the minors or no longer be considered a “prospect.” All of this to say that it’s great that he’s gotten off to such a good start.
The knucklehead Wally mentioned above is a year and a half younger than Crowe, so he’ll be given a longer time to make it, whether he deserves it or not.
If Crowe keeps performing, I’d expect he may make it all the way to Syracuse and be a rotation candidate in 2019. On the other hand, they may be lucky to get Romero into a dugout without a bong in his hand.