Wednesday’s News & Notes
| Team | Yesterday | Today | Pitching Matchup |
| Syracuse | Lost, 5-4 | @ Buffalo, 6:05 p.m. |
TBD* vs. Borucki (3-4, 3.40) |
| Harrisburg | Won, 2-0 | vs. Erie, 6:30 p.m. |
Reyes (3-4, 4.78) vs. Burrows (5-2, 2.21) |
| Potomac | Lost, 7-4 | vs. Wilmington, 7:05 p.m. |
Baez (2-2, 5.52) vs. Gomez (1-3, 4.80) |
| Hagerstown | Postponed | @ Lakewood, 11:05 a.m. |
DeRosier (1-1, 5.79) vs. Rosso (1-0, 0.93) |
* Officially, Erick Fedde
Buffalo 5 Syracuse 4
• Milone (L, 2-4) 8IP, 6H, 5R, 5ER, 0BB, 9K, 2HR
• Reynolds 1-2, R, 2B, 2BB
• Wilson 2-4, R, 2B, 2RBI
• Gonzalez 2-4, R
Tommy Milone went the distance but the knockout punches came in the 2nd as Buffalo delivered a pair of two-run HRs to take a 4-1 lead and held on for a 5-4 win, Syracuse’s fifth straight loss. Milone gave up all five Bisons runs on six hits and no walks over eight innings and struck out a season-best nine. Matt Reynolds doubled and walked twice while Jacob Wilson and Bengie Gonzalez both went 2-for-4 to the lead the Syracuse offense. Roster moves: OF Moises Sierra outrighted from Washington; OF Jaff Decker assigned from Washington.
Harrisburg 2 Erie 0
• McGowin (W, 1-0) 7IP, 2H, 0R, BB, 10K
• Fleck (H, 2) 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• Harper (SV, 2) 1IP, 1H, 0R, BB, 0K
• Collier 2-4, R, 3B
• Gamache 2-4
Three Sens pitchers combined on a three-hit, 2-0 shutout of the Seawolves. Kyle McGowin struck out a career-high 10 batters while allowing just two hits and a walk over seven innings. Kaleb Fleck retired the side in order in the 8th for the hold while Bryan Harper worked around a hit and a walk in the 9th to preserve the win and earn the save. Zach Collier and Dan Gamache both went 2-for-4 with Collier scoring after a triple and .211-hitting Austin Davidson’s groundout RBI in the 2nd and Taylor Gushue hitting a sac fly in the 3rd.
Wilmington 7 Potomac 4
• Crowe 5IP, 4H, 2R, 2ER, 2BB, 3K, HR
• Bourque (BS, 2; L, 2-2) 1IP, 3H, 4R, 4ER, 2BB, 2K
• Kieboom 2-4, 2B, RBI, 2K
• Wiseman 1-3, BB
Wilmington rallied for four in the 9th and Potomac had no answer for a 7-4 loss. Wil Crowe labored a little (81 pitches) as he gave up a two-run HR and four hits total over five innings. He walked two and struck out three in the no-decision. James Bourque took the loss as the Blue Rocks dinged him for the aforementioned four runs on three hits and two walks for his second blown save and second loss. Carter Kieboom remains red-hot in the month of May (.413/.513/.603) as he connected for a single and a double and drove in a run while Rhett Wiseman, who’s also had a strong second month at the plate (.327/.400/.714, 6HR) singled and walked to pace the P-Nats attack. Roster moves: 1B Ian Sagdal placed on the 7-Day DL; 2B Branden Boggetto promoted from Hagerstown.
The Suns were rained out for the seventh time last night. They’ll shoot to make it up tomorrow night—it’s a Thirsty Thursday!—rather than play two today. Roster move: SS Paul Panaccione assigned from XST.
How long until Carter Kieboom moves to AA?
For those that have watched Kieboom in person at Potomac, does it look like he will stay at SS or does he lack the defensive chops to be a middle infielder at the MLB level? When he was drafted, some scouting reports projected Kieboom as a corner infielder as he ages, but was hoping he would disprove those assessments.
That still may be the case but I’m not seeing a Drew-Ward-obvious hope that he’ll grow into the position. In other words, he looks like your prototypical SS for the level.
Can’t be long. For one, Osvaldo Abreu has been miserable in Harrisburg. Two, Kieboom is now batting a silly .413/.513/.603 in 16 games in May (plus a 12:8 BB:K ratio). That was good enough for Soto, so not sure what is left for Kieboom, but maybe after that really slow April, brass are more reluctant to move him as aggressively as Soto.
By the way, there was a good article on FanGraphs about Soto two days ago: https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/juan-soto-is-the-fastest-to-majors-since-a-rod/
It partly addresses the comments earlier about their rather inaccurate scouting report on Soto from the beginning of the season. It’s been updated to:
Present value/Future value
Hit 40/55 Raw Power 60/65 Game Power 40/60 Run 55/50 Fielding 40/50 Throw 50/50
To Soto’s credit, the hit value feels far too low for a player with a career K:BB ratio of basically 1:1, but now that Soto’s taking 3 BB games in the majors, bickering over 55 vs 65 scouting ratings feels petty.
I liked how he pointed out that Soto could be vulnerable to good chase pitches despite his pitch-recognition skills. Of course, that’s a common flaw, but it is something to watch for. A 50 arm is generous IMO and while here’s been a lot of one handed typing about his speed, it’s not enough to overcome his poor base running instincts. It was exposed by High-A defenders so, like Robles, I think we should expect a few TOOTBLANS.
Also, for the record, I did not lend Fangraphs the services of my copy editors.
The Nats knew what they had three years ago when they signed him, and definitely when he starred in GCL.
The pundits catch up to the crumbs. Those of us like Luke and Jeff who watch the minor teams intensely, and folks like Ryan Sullivan, will tell you all that matters. I’d rather Soto prove his stature than worry about his ranking or grade. The pundits then shave it to make themselves less wrong. Too late!