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Wednesday’s News & Notes

Team Yesterday Today Pitching Matchup
Syracuse Lost, 9-1 @ Rochester,
7:05 p.m.		 Milone (2-2, 5.09) vs.
Enns (1-4, 5.96)
Harrisburg Won, 8-2;
Tied, 4-4 (Susp., 6th) 		@ Bowie,
11:05 a.m.		 TBD and Reyes (2-4, 4.93) vs.
TBD and Akin (4-3, 2.75)
Potomac Postponed vs. Salem,
4:00 p.m.		 Baez (2-2, 5.52) and
Braymer (1-0, 2.45) vs.
Thompson (1-2, 5.14) and
Hernandez (2-1, 4.84)
Hagerstown Won, 10-7;
Won, 7-4		 OFF DAY N/A

Rochester 9 Syracuse 1
• Vargas (L, 0-3) 4⅓ IP, 8H, 4R, 4ER, 2BB, 2K
• Adams 1IP, 2H, 0R, BB, 2K
• Marmolejos 1-3, 2B, BB
• Hague 1-4, R, HR, RBI

The Chiefs fell behind 3-0 after the 1st and never recovered as the RedWings cruised to a 9-1 win in the opener. Cesar Vargas took the loss, giving up four runs on eight hits and two walks over four and a 1/3rd innings. Matt Hague broke up the shutout with a solo HR in the 4th. Syracuse was held to seven hits, with Jose “Orange” Marmolejos the sole batter to reach base twice. Roster move: RHP Cody Satterwhite reassigned to Auburn.

Harrisburg 8 Bowie 2 – COMP.
• Williams (W, 1-1) 4IP, 6H, R, ER, 0BB, 6K
• Ames 2IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 2K
• Soto 2-4, R, RBI
• Ward 2-5, 2R, HR, RBI
• Gutierrez 2-5, R, SB

Drew Ward and Taylor Gushue led off the 5th and 7th innings with a homer as Harrisburg cruised to an 8-2 win in the continuation from last night’s game. Austen Williams pitched four innings, allowing one run on six hits to pick up the win in relief. He walked none and struck out six. Juan Soto broke an 0-for-12 hitless span with singles in the 1st and 4th innings and was given a seat by manager Matt LeCroy after not running the way he did for the postgame spread out a ground ball in Soto’s final plate appearance.

Harrisburg 4 Bowie 4 – SUSP. (6th inn.)
• McGowin 5⅔ IP, 6H, 4R, 4ER, BB, 7K
• Harper ⅓ IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 0K, 1-0 IR-S
• Johnson 2-3, R
• Soto 2-3, RBI

SSDD, as Harrisburg and Bowie were suspended after six innings with the score tied at 4-4. They’ll pick it up this morning and finish last night’s game, then play a nine-inning game. Kyle McGowin gave up all four BaySox runs on six hits and a walk over five and 2/3rds for a no-decision in his first AA start of 2018. Bryan Harper stranded a runner while getting the final out of the 6th. Daniel Johnson and Juan Soto were both 2-for-3 when play stopped.

Potomac vs. Salem – PPD
Wet grounds and thunderstorms in the forecast were the reasons cited for pulling the plug on the P-Nats-Sox game on Tuesday night. They’ll shoot to make it up with a doubleheader today. Roster moves: LHP Matthew Crownover activated from 7-Day DL; RHP Gabe Klobosits placed on the 7-Day DL; RHP Jeremy McKinney reassigned from Hagerstown.

Hagerstown 10 Charleston 7 – GAME ONE
• DeRosier (W, 1-1) 5IP, 6H, 2R, 2ER, BB, 5K, HR
• Fuentes (SV, 1) 1IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• Banks 2-3, R, 2B, HR, BB, 3RBI
• Upshaw 2-3, 2R, 3B, 3RBI
• Garcia 2-4, 2R, 2B, 3B, 2RBI

Hagerstown thrashed Charleston pitchers for ten hits, including four doubles, two triples, and a homer. They needed to as Carlos Acevedo (9.86 ERA, 2.14 WHIP in 21IP) turned a 9-2 lead into a 9-7 edge before Steven Fuentes came on in the 7th to earn the save, his first at Low-A this season. Nick Banks drove in three, as did Armond Upshaw, while Luis Garcia plated two to lead the Suns attack.

Hagerstown 7 Charleston 4 – GAME TWO
• Stoeckinger (W, 2-3) 6IP, 5H, 4R, 4ER, BB, 2K, HR
• Bogucki (SV, 2) 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 0K
• Garcia 2-2, R, SF, RBI
• Banks 2-3, R, RBI
• Corredor 1-2, R, SF, HR, 4RBI

Hagerstown won back-to-back games for the first time this season with a 7-4 win in the second game that swept the doubleheader. Jackson Stoeckinger wobbled through the first three innings, in which he gave up all four Charleston runs, before throwing three scoreless frames to earn his second win. A.J. Bogucki pitched a 1-2-3 seventh to get the save, his second. The Suns offense was led by Luis Garcia, who singled twice and drove in a run with a sac fly, as did Aldrem Corredor, who also hit a three-run HR in the 1st. Roster move: RHP Phil Morse assigned from XST.

15 Commments

  1. LeCroy is becoming a meme with this “tough” manager approach, especially his selective application of it. Has he ever benched anyone who wasn’t a top prospect for not hustling? I surely don’t remember it, but Robles, Souza, Bautista and others have incited his wrath.

    But I think we already know your stance on him, Luke. 😉

    1. I don’t think so, and before anyone goes there, he pulled the same s@#$ with Zach Walters and Cutter Dykstra. You can argue whether or not they fit the bill of “top prospect.”

      1. Drew Ward was pulled for not running after he arrived in 2016. There does seem to be a pattern of pulling guys within the first two weeks after they are promoted to Harrisburg. I saw a lot of them happen and the guys were not running hard or never made it to first and turned toward the dugout.

  2. After slow starts, Yasel Antuna (.308 BA/.375 OBP last 10 games) and Luis Garcia (.351 BA/.400 OBP; last 10) starting to figure it out. FWIW, those two are the youngest two players in the SALLY League; both are 18 (Garcia turns 18 today).

    1. Antuna projects as a future right-handed impact bat and Garcia a speed guy who might be faster than Turner projects to a better glove. I suspect both might desperately be needed to succeed as it seems like the Nats could potentially lose all of their elite bats over the next 2 seasons.

  3. No need to draft over slot high schoolers when you have quality Latino scouting that can stock a GCL team with high school age international signees at a fraction of cost.

    Makes for a draft of more refined college products and saving money on the early rounds for overslot JUCOs and juniors that slip through, like Schrock, Watson, and Upshaw.

    2016 draft was a much better haul than other years, with Kieboom, Neuse, Luzardo, Johnson, etc. 2017 has some promise early on, if less, and all pitching, #2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 31, 36. Nats must upgrade the quality of power bats and OF, corner IF, LH in the system.

    1. The rules no longer allow the kind of ‘over slotting’ Rizzo used to acquire both AJ Cole and Robbie Ray. Limitations on International Signings seem less constrained perhaps due to the relative age and lack of experience of the signees …

      Some nice positional prospects but not much in the way of pitching as yet?

  4. Johnson is quietly starting to figure things out at AA — .270 avg, .350 OBP — albeit without last year’s power, yet (.383 SLG).

    Nick Banks is now at a healthy .283/.341/.460. He should be getting a look at Potomac at some point, perhaps when Wiseman steps up to AA. (Let’s hope Luke thinks better of Banks’s defense than he does Wiseman’s!)

  5. Soto 3 for 4, then in the 2nd game Soto hit his 2nd home run in Harrisburg with 2 RBI, raising his OPS back over .900 where it belongs. That’s 14 total home runs this season. .400 OBP, just shy of .300 batting average … 5th K versus 4 BB in AA oh nooooooooo … Soto might fail … he might have to go back to robbing stage coaches, banks, and trains.

    1. In 38 games across 3 levels, Juan Soto has 14 HRs, 27 extra base hits and 50 RBIs. Over 162 games that translates to 60 HRs, 115 extra base hits and 213 RBIs. Oh yeah, Soto is 19.

      1. I have seen Soto play in the games in Harrisburg and in Bowie. The one thing I noticed is his strength. There were a few balls that I didn’t think he hit that well coming off the bat, but ended up going for a home run or deep in the outfield. They sounded like routine fly balls.

        I also saw Vlad Jr. from New Hampshire play in Harrisburg. Every ball he hit rocketed off his bat. Even his outs were scorched.

  6. Peric – Every team signs overslot, it’s just that they are limited now to the assets they save from slot amounts designated for rounds 1-10.

    They wanted to sign Montes last year but did not have the resources or if they did, elected to spend them on Romero. – How a first round slot signing can have huge impact.

    1. And maybe wasted their money on yet another Bora$ client. Romero’s stuff was supposedly close to major league ready … where is it now? I thought they were limited by a range in how much they can spend in any given slot? I’m not sure I completely understand those rules so I defer … not sure I even understand the International pool and the rules surrounding it … noting the number of trades that contained additional money to be added to said pool as a part of the deal.

  7. It’s only mid-May, and the only thing yet to appear in Johnson’s game is his power. Not to worry; good on him for not giving up plate discipline to chase the long ball. He’s the real thing.

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