Wednesday’s News & Notes
| Team | Yesterday | Today | Pitching Matchup |
| Syracuse | Won, 4-1 | vs. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, 6:35 p.m. | Vargas (0-2, 2.25) vs. Adams (0-2, 4.70) |
| Harrisburg | Lost, 3-0 | @ Erie, 11:05 a.m. |
Rodriguez (1-3, 3.90) vs. Funkhouser (0-3, 4.88) |
| Potomac | Won, 3-1 | @ Wilmington, 6:35 p.m. |
Baez (1-2, 6.29) vs. Vines (1-4, 7.62) |
| Hagerstown | OFF DAY | vs. West Virginia, 7:05 p.m. |
TBD vs. Stratton (0-1, 9.39) |
Syracuse 4 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre 1
• Jackson (W, 1-1) 6IP, 6H, R, ER, 2BB, 8K
• Adams (SV, 4) 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 2K
• Wilson 2-3, 2B, RBI
• Falu 2-3, 2RBI, SB
Syracuse snapped its six-game losing streak with a 4-1 win over Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Edwin Jackson won for the first time in six starts with six innings of one-run ball on six hits and two walks while fanning eight. Matt Grace and Jimmy Cordero each added a goose egg while Austin Adams didn’t walk anyone while striking out two in the 9th for the save, his fourth. Jacob Wilson and Irving Falu both went 2-for-3 to lead the Chiefs offense. Roster move: LHP Matt Grace assigned from Washington for MLB rehab.
Erie 3 Harrisburg 0
• Dragmire (L, 2-2) 7IP, 8H, 3R, 1ER, BB, 3K
• Darnell 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 2K
• Ward 1-2, 2BB, K
• Gutierrez 1-3, BB
Three Seawolves shut out the Senators on four hits for 3-0 win to even the series at 1-1. Brady Dragmire gave up all three runs (one earned) on eight hits and a walk while striking out three for the loss. Logan Darnell struck out two while setting the side down in order in the 8th. Drew Ward (H, 2BB) and Kelvin Gutierrez (H, BB) were the only two batters to reach base more than once as Harrisburg left on all ten baserunners and struck out 11 times.
Potomac 3 Wilmington 1
• Sharp (W, 4-2) 5⅔ IP, 7H, R, ER, 2BB, 3K
• Mills (H, 3) 2⅓ IP, 2H, 0R, BB, 0K, 2-0 IR-S
• Bourque (SV, 1) 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 2K
• Agustin 2-4, R, HR, 2RBI
• Sagdal 2-3, R, 2B, RBI
Telmito Agustin’s two-run HR held up as the game-winning hit as Potomac beat Wilmington 3-1. The Carolina League’s batting leader went 2-for-4 to push his batting average to .395 while Ian Sagdal singled and doubled and drove in the insurance run. Sterling Sharp won for the fourth time with the lone Blue Rock run let in on seven hits and two walks as he struck out three. Jordan Mills stranded two while getting out of the 6th, then added two scoreless innings for his third hold. Jame Bourque pitched a 1-2-3 ninth with two whiffs for the save.
Hagerstown – OFF DAY
The Suns return from a 3-4 roadtrip that vaulted them into 6th place in the Sally North by one game over the Crawdads. They’re back home for seven games as they host the Power for three games, then the River Dogs for four.
What to make of Agustin’s hot start? Is he a legit MLB prospect or just another guy who on a random hot streak? Augustin has tools, but he is small (5′ 10″ 160) and his SB numbers have declined. How is his arm? Is he a plus defender?
Outside of Elrod Hendricks, the US VI does not typically produce baseball talent.
Me and Nats GM love this kid
Too bad Anderson doesn’t have B Hill to pitch tonight. Not Benny Hill’
Troop doing Ok ?
You know the luck is in your dugout when your .095 BA SS gets two clutch singles. Don’t stone Stephen yet!!
Don’t know what Agustin we should expect.
He burst onto the scene as a player with good plate discipline: low strikeouts and decent walk rates, good batting average >.300 AVG across 3 levels in 2014-15, very good speed (35 SB in about 100 G), and minor power (ISO around .160).
He then evolved into basically the opposite of that from 2016-17. His plate discipline cratered last year with a walk rate of 4% and a K rate of 23%. His speed dried up (only 12 SB in 110 G), he stopped hitting for average, but his power ticked up.
This year, he’s a bit of the best of both. His walks are still wayyy down, but his strikeouts have also dipped to 2015 levels (14%). His speed still hasn’t returned, but his average has. And his power is better than ever before. With the lack of walks, pitchers are going to come straight at him and overpower him at the higher levels, so I’m worried this won’t last for long. His BABIP is also absurdly high (.429) so his crazy average will also drop. But the power is the most interesting. If he can keep his ISO anywhere close to where it is now (.279), we might be able to overlook those other deficiencies.
But having written all that, he reminds me a lot of Daniel Johnson, whose below-average hit tool is showing strain against superior arms in AA. The big difference is Agustin doesn’t have the defensive chops that Johnson does. But let’s see how Agustin plays. He’s still very, very young.
And Johnson never hit the way he and Soto are in Advanced A. Neither for that matter did Bryce.
I would agree that Agustin doesn’t have Johnson’s skill in defense with the exception of the arm – I never really saw it from Johnson even though it was touted but I’ve already seen Agustin make some Taylor-esque (Michael, not Hill) throws in terms of raw strength.
Augustin is ranked in the MLB’s top 20 Nat’s prospects list. He is ONLY 21 so this could be considered a break out especially given the added power. 4 homers in a league in which Soto already likely leads in that category with 7 ( he just hit another Wednesday night)? You have to figure both he and Soto head out to Three Mile Island together to try to get radio active enough to become baseball super, uber prospects.