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Tuesday’s News & Notes

Team Yesterday Today Pitching Matchup
Syracuse OFF DAY @ Charlotte,
7:04* p.m.		 Vargas (1-5, 5.26) vs. TBD
Harrisburg OFF DAY vs. Binghamton,
6:30 p.m.		 Dragmire (5-2, 2.44) vs.
Jannis (4-1, 4.37)
Potomac OFF DAY vs. Frederick,
7:05 p.m.		 Mapes (3-1, 2.49) vs.
Peralta (1-5, 6.00)
Hagerstown OFF DAY vs. Lakewood,
7:05 p.m.		 TBD vs. Rosso (2-1, 1.44)

* Care to guess what the area code is for Charlotte? [Insert Ruben Studdard reference here]

DRAFT DAY ONE
As longtime readers know, the draft just ain’t my thing (too time consuming, too much risk of wheel spinning, extraneous debate, etc).
But there are folks in the Natmosphere with the time and talent, and don’t do relentless quoting and tweet reposting.

For the skinny on Mason Denaburg (1st Rd. pick) and Tim Cate (2nd Rd. pick), head on over to TalkNats.com. If you’re on the Twitters, follow Ryan Sullivan for Rounds 3-10 after 1 p.m. today. To read about some other potential picks, see BBlake Finney’s posts on District On Deck.

We now return you to our regular programming…

Syracuse – OFF DAY
After a 2-4 homestand, the Chiefs hit the road for Charlotte and Gwinnett for a pair of three-game series.

Harrisburg – OFF DAY
Harrisburg’s six-game homestand resumes with three against Binghamton, and statistically speaking, four to six strikeouts by Tim Tebow. Meanwhile, veteran Adam Walker became the third Senator to win an E.L. Player of the Week Award. Roster moves: RHP Jefry Rodriguez optioned from Washington.

Potomac – OFF DAY
The P-Nats won just one against the C.L. South-leading Astros on their brief three-game road trip and have seen their lead over the Hillcats dwindle to just ½ a game. They’re back in town for three against the fourth-place Keys, hoping to get back on track and perhaps get some long outings from their pitchers with three doubleheaders scheduled over the next eight days.

Hagerstown – OFF DAY
Like Potomac, Hagerstown is stopping in for just three games before heading back out on the road to… wait for it… Delmarva and Lakewood.

7 Commments

  1. Sound familiar?

    2nd Round pick Tim Cate from UCONN already had TJ surgery, and then, an elbow injury limited his innings (52) this Spring. That said, he was lights out in two long relief appearances (9.1 IP 3 H 3 BB 13 Ks) in the NCAA and the AAC (UCONN’s conference) tourney. Assuming he is healthy, Cate is likely the 2018 draftee to be placed highest in the Nats organization. Perhaps, Cate starts in Auburn and ends up in H’town or Potomac.

    The Nats first round pick, HS pitcher Mason Denaburg (also had some arm issues this Spring, but no TJ surgery) will throw limited innings for the GC Nats.

  2. Didn’t love either pick, all the more so with Kowar and Beer still on the board when they took Denaburg. The fix obviously was already in with him. I’m thinking they took Cate because he would be cheap and give them more bucks to buy Denaburg out of becoming a Gator. Denaburg is also very old for a senior, as he’ll be turning 19 in early August. By contrast, Giolito was still 17 when the Nats drafted him.

  3. Nats first 7 picks: 6 pitchers (at least 2 have had TJ surgery) and an OF from Arizona State. Same as last year, when 1 position player was taken in the first 10 picks.

    Really don’t like the singular focus on pitchers. The Nats strategy appears to be just ignore more than half of the draft eligible players (position players) among the top 200+ prospects in the draft. I get that the Nats systems is heavy with position player prospects (Robles, Soto, Kieboom, Johnson) and even accept that when it is a close call the Nats want to re-stock their arms as that is weakness of the system, but to just exclude such a large segment of the pool of available players, means that best available players will be left for other teams.

    2. Tyler Cropley another well-regarded catcher to go with the Dominican prospect catchers they have … so it’s pitchers and catchers with the emphasis on pitchers.

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