Friday’s News & Notes

24 Commments

1. Almost exactly two years from when he had his second TJ, Andrew Lee pitched 5.1 hitless innings. It’s got to be a huge triumph for him making it all the way back. He was on a fairly fast track after he was drafted in 2015, but it’s hard to say what his pro baseball future is now. For one night, though, all the effort he put into the comeback was worth it.

   1. The main thing the Nats need to know is whether he’ll be worth protecting this offseason by being placed on the 40-man roster. Last night would seem to indicate in the affirmative.

      1. While I’ve been a fan of Lee since he was drafted, I can’t see him being added to the 40-man unless he has a miraculous second half of this season. He’s 24, hasn’t made it to A+ yet, and is on his third elbow. I don’t see much risk of losing him in Rule 5. His 2015 classmates like Brinley, Crownover, and Borne would be ahead of him in the pecking order, but I don’t see any of them being added, either, as they currently stand. If Rhett Wiseman gets promoted to Harrisburg and finishes the season with 20+ HRs, the discussion on adding him might be interesting.

         1. If the scouts come to the conclusion that Lee has the stuff to (say) be a big league reliever, the Nats would be foolish not to add him to the 40-man because someone else will almost certainly scoop him up. Why do you think the likes of J Rodriguez made it onto that roster despite a very thin resume? They knew he had the raw talent to make it in the bigs fairly soon and likely would have lost him in this past years R5 draft.

         2. Indeed on Wiseman

            1. Welcome to Hagerstown Omar Meregildo

2. Carter Kieboom really seems to have found his groove at Potomac. It will be interesting to see how aggressive the organization is with him.

   1. Compared to Soto, clearly not nearly as aggressive. Since May 4 and across 101 AB, Kieboom is batting .416/.487/.663.

   2. My bet: He’ll go to Harrisburg after the Carolina League ASB. With potentially two starting infielders to replace in the next two years, the Nats would no doubt be thrilled if he were ready to be a key cog i the lineup by 2020.

      1. I do think Kieboom will get some AA and AFL time this year. They need a read on how MLB-close he is before the big free agent market this coming winter, and before they get seriously engaged in extension talks with Rendon. I think they thought Kieboom could take over at 2B in 2020 with Kendrick as the bridge next season, but now Kendrick may be out for a long time. They could be looking at Kieboom for either 2B or 3B by 2020, and I guess hoping that Garcia or Antuna is progressing toward filling the other slot. (Garcia certainly has the leg up thus far this year.)

3. Romero may have given up the dinger, but he also had Ks for 6 of the 8 outs he recorded. I see he also hit a batter, which would seem to indicate that at least he was challenging the hitters.

   It’s kind of ironic that as we witness what will likely be Harper’s last season as a Nat, we’re now watching the progression of a phenom is exactly the kind of self-destructive lightning rod a lot of baseball writers claimed Harper was going to be.

4. Well, knucklehead wasn’t sent home after his first 24 hours back. There’s that.

5. For Romero to show as he did, in first competition, and Lee to show as he did, with over 70% strikes, and in the same game, is downright exciting! This Lee’s first statement since 2014. Its been a looooong time. Hopefully, both of these players are found money.

   1. Lee could be “found money.” Romero is like trying to recover it after an armored car has overturned on the freeway and spilled its contents across the highway.

   2. Just to clarify — 70% of Lee’s pitchers were for strikes. Romero was just 59%.

      1. Thanks Luke.

      2. Luke. MRI on SS soon. Fedde @ Cuse backburner. Anybody know the Joe Ross timetable. ?? No wonder Rizzo isn’t sweating ??

   3. The news of Ohtani level 2 sprain
      Causes me to cheerlead the Rizzo/ Kline/Boone brass strategy of adding arms like used cars with some depreciation on them versus the big bonus blunders like Ohtani could turn out to be. I remember sitting in Alameda Stadium to watch the Texas
      Second coming of Nolan Ryan. Todd Van Poppel.
      Guys we have division titles. All we need is Ted Lerner to place the $$ in Bryce to extend the One Goal theme for another 4-6 years. If Ted really wants to best his former boss’s run in ATL.
      Let’s see how some of these arms especially post TJ guys roll off the Nats assembly line. Don’t be so picky
      Like the guys in junior high dances who stand on the sideline and nit pick about the looks of the young girls. Lol!

      1. Ohtani a big bonus blunder?!?

         He’s making league minimum. He cost less than Romero did, ignoring the posting fee.

         Even with the $20m posting fee, he has already this year earned back that value for the Angels. Ohtani could never play another game and that deal would have been a net positive for the Angels already.

6. Thank you.

7. I was speaking of Lee at 70%. Into his fifth inning, he was at nearly 80% strikes.

   Romero is found money because there are many here who would bury him already. Talk of his demise is premature by virtue of his first showing. He’s on the Nats, I’ll root for him, you can root against him, to each his own.

8. As for the Armored car, I would submit that after seeing Fedde and Giolito take years to get on track because of recovery, I have the patience to wait twelve months for Romero.

9. Until he proves otherwise, I am willing to give Seth Romero the benefit of the doubt.

   Yes, he’s now on a *really* short leash, but as long he as keeps his nose clean I can forgive all his past transgressions. And, it helps that he’s a lefty who can throw some heat. (And if he can help them land JT Realmuto, I’d have no qualms with that, either!)

   PS – this is my first post of 2018. With the Caps having now having accomplished their mission, I can turn my focus to ridiculously following the minutiae of the Nats prospects and what is needed for the club to join the Caps as champions!

10. Glad to see Romero return and continue to rack up Ks. Then again I have always been pretty high on the guy.

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