Sunday Afternoon in Woodbridge
Potomac sent nine men to the plate in the 5th and scored four times to break open a 2-0 game and cruised to a 7-1 win in the series finale.
Coming off his worst outing thus far—a seven runs in three-plus start in Lynchburg on Tuesday—thing did not start well for the 22-y.o. Texas in the 1st. A leadoff single past Anderson Franco and a between-the-numbers HBP to the second batter set up 1st and send with nobody out. He escaped the jam with a textbook 4-6-3 DP then retired nine straight before giving up a clean single to left that Jakson Reetz took care of with a throwout on a steal.
Meanwhile, Potomac drew first blood with a Franco single followed by a triple by Gage Canning to the right-center gap. After two sharp grounders that froze Canning at third, Cole Freeman delivered the first of his two RBIs with a two-out single to left for the aforementioned 2-0 lead.
Canning and Freeman were key cogs in the P-Nats four-run rally, with Canning singling to start the wheels in motion and Freeman showing off his wheels twice: first when he beat out a double play ball to short and again on Aldrem Corredor’s single to left-center as he scored all the way from 1st. Nick Banks capped it off with a double to left that plated Corredor.
The long inning “cost” Kyle Johnston a chance for a second quality start, as he tired in the 6th and fell one out short, but Hayden Howard and Andrew Lee locked down his “W” with three and a 1/3rd scoreless innings of relief.
The win earned the a series split and improved the P-Nats to 8-10, which is 3½ games off the pace in the C.L. North. After an off day tomorrow, they’ll take on the cellar-dwelling Salem Red Sox for three before heading out on the road on Friday.
Thanks, Luke. Sounds like fun.
Maybe Las Vegas should trade team names with Clinton. Aviators for Lumberkings ??
Buzzsaw week for Grizzlies .
Hopefully the Coors Literal Lite air aids the Nats in the next road series. Zimm11 heating up?
I might have tweaked some intercoastal reaching for the turkey drumstick Sunday , Max!! Lol!!
Luke — Any particular scouting report observations to share about the “last” crop of P-Nats? I haven’t particularly been a Freeman fan, but he seems to be finding his pro footing, finally. I guess Canning would probably be considered the most promising “prospect” among the field players. Agustin has appeared on a number of prospect lists, but he really seems to be struggling on his return tour of Woodbridge.
Among the arms, Johnston and his fellow draftee Raquet seem to be at a crossroad. They’ve still got a fair amount they need to show to take the next step. I’ve long been an Andrew Lee fan, and he does seem to be doing well, but the sands of time are moving faster for him at age 25. He’s a big dude, though.
Sorry, I know you’ve asked a couple of times, but I just haven’t had the time to do a first impressions post. So let’s a do a quick whirl:
Jakson Reetz – The defense has improved but the offense is still stuck in neutral.
Aldrem Corredor – Picked up where he left off and needs time to further develop.
Cole Freeman – He’s playing well but I can’t escape the feeling that he’s Steve Lombardozzi or Tony Renda with a touch more speed.
Anderson Franco – Defense needs some work but he appears to have shaken loose from the platoon with Meregildo. I like the power I’ve seen thus far.
Telmito Agustin – He’s taken a step back on both offense and defense. I expected more than I’ve seen thus far.
Nick Banks – He’s finally starting to hit, but his defense has been terrible. At best he’s a LF but they keep using him where his skills don’t match (fringe-average speed, arm at best).
Armond Upshaw – Faster than Freeman, but it’s hard to tell because he gets on base so seldom.
Gage Canning – SSS, but he’s toolsy: runs well, strongest arm since Taylor, has some power. I’m looking forward to seeing him some more.
Alex Dunlap – All-or-nothing hitter, serviceable on defense. Typical for a backup.
David Masters/Jack Sundberg – O.G.
Jackson Tetreault – Easily the best starter and the highest ceiling.
Nick Raquet – overmatched last summer, overmatched this spring. Leaves the ball up and just doesn’t throw hard enough to get away with it.
Malvin Peña – Haven’t seen enough to really make a judgement, but nothing jumps out.
Luis Reyes – It’s pretty clear they they’re trying desperately not to give up on him but he just hasn’t shown any improvement since he came up in 2016.
Kyle Johnston – He was good yesterday, but my gut says he should be relieving not starting.
Andrew Lee/Grant Borne – These guys should be starting somewhere but appear to be the odd men out.
Frankie Bartow/Steven Fuentes – They’ve been the two most effective relievers and their usage reflects it.
Hayden Howard/AJ Bogucki/Jeremy McKinney – All repeating the level, but the sample sizes have been really small.
Carson Teel – Saw him pitch once, and my only impressions were: He’s a college 6′ and he throws hard for someone his size.
Luke — Thanks for the great report. You should either move this forward or put it in a separate post, as I doubt too many folks will look back to see it. You confirmed a number of my thoughts/suspicions. I agree with not seeing much of an MLB ceiling for Freeman, although it’s good that he’s hitting a lot better than he was last year. Very encouraging first impressions on Canning. I don’t know how quickly he can move through the system, but I think Stevenson will be out of options next season, and I doubt the Nats will pay the arb bump for Taylor, so there would seem to be some retooling in the OF reserves. Glad to hear that Franco is at least showing some life. I keep reminding folks that he’s only 21.
Promising word on Tetreault, while pretty much what I had feared on Raquet. Not sure what has become of the alleged 98 mph heat he had in college. Among the relievers, I’m intrigued by Fuentes, who has consistently had good K/9 numbers through the minors. Bartow’s quick rise since the draft is impressive, although my concern with him all along has been that he’s a crafty college reliever who may not have the “stuff” to back up the craftiness at a higher level. We’ll see.