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Monday’s News & Notes

Team Yesterday Today Pitching Matchup
Fresno Won, 8-1 vs. Omaha, 10:05 p.m. Ross (1-0, 3.75) vs. TBD (“opener”)
Harrisburg Lost, 2-1 @ Altoona, 6:30 p.m. Braymer (3-4, 2.55) vs. Brady (2-6, 5.77)
Potomac Won, 15-4 ALL-STAR BREAK N/A
Hagerstown Lost, 6-1 ALL-STAR BREAK N/A
Auburn Losing, 6-5 vs. State College, 11:00 a.m. TBD and TBD vs.
TBD and H. Soto (9-7, 2.89 in ’18 @ DSL)

Fresno 8 Omaha 1
• Espino (W, 7-2) 6IP, 3H, R, ER, BB, 5K, HBP
• Bourque 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• Hernandez 3-5, R, 2B
• Kieboom 1-3, R, HR, 3RBI
• Noll 1-2, R, HR, RBI

Fresno smacked three homers and got six strong inning from its ace as the “Lowriders,” um, cruised to an 8-1 win to even the series at a 11- and stop a three-game slide. Paolo Espino won his seventh game while giving up the Omaha run on three hits and a walk while striking out five. James Bourque, Derek Self, and Michael Blazek each turned in a scoreless inning to close out the game. Carter Kieboom went yard as did his replacement (no injury indicated in the boxscore, but maybe this?) in the lineup, Jake Noll as well as Wilmer Difo in a 12-hit parade for Fresno.

Reading 2 Harrisburg 1
• Tetreault 5IP, 4H, R, ER, 0BB, 7K, HR
• Guilbeau 2IP, 2H, 0R, 0BB, 4K
• Condra-Bogan (L, 3-2) 2IP, 1H, R, ER, BB, 0K
• Garcia 1-4, SB
• Sagdal 1-1

Hunter Jones broke up the perfect game with a walk to lead off the 4th, Luis Garcia followed with a single to kiss the no-no bye-bye, and Austin Davidson hit a sac fly to end the shutout. Unfortunately, that was about it for the Senators as they fell to the Phils, 2-1 in the series finale. Jackson Tetreault walked none over five innings and struck out seven while giving up a solo HR and four hits total. The loss went to Jacob Condra-Bogan, who gave up a run on a walk and a double in the 8th.
Roster move: UT Adrián Sanchez recalled to Washington.

Potomac 15 Fayetteville 4
• A. Lee 5⅔ IP, 3H, 4R, 4ER, 2BB, 5K, 2HR
• Pantoja (BS, 1) ⅓ IP, 1H, 0R, BB, K, 2-2 IR-S
• Fletcher (W, 1-0) 2IP, 2H, 0R, 0BB, 2K
• Reetz 3-4, 2R, 2BB, RBI
• Mejia 3-6, R, 2-3B, 2RBI
• Banks 2-6, 2R, HR(GS), 5RBI
• Canning 1-3, 2R, 3BB, RBI

A nine-run 8th turned a 4-3 deficit into a 15-4 laugher as Potomac ended the first half with a bang, 15-4. Andrew Lee was charged with all four Woodpeckers runs on three hits and two walks while striking out five. He got a little “help” from Jorge Pantoja who let in both runners he inherited from Lee with a double to the first batter he faced before issuing a walk and then getting the third batter faced to whiff. Aaron Fletcher worked around two singles in the 7th and an error in the 8th to pick up his first High-A win. Nick Banks returned to action with single and a grand slam as he drove in five total while Jakson Reetz reached based five times with three singles and two walks to lead the P-Nats’ 14-hit, nine-walk assault.

West Virginia 6 Hagerstown 1
• Cate (L, 4-5) 3IP, 5H, 3R, 1ER, 0BB, 3K, 53-38 PIT-K
• Stoeckinger 3IP, 1H, 1R, 0ER, 0BB, 4K, HR
• Mendez 2-3
• Vickers 1-2, BB

The Power completed the four-game sweep of the Suns with a 6-1 win in the finale. Tim Cate turned in his shortest outing of the season with just three innings pitched, three runs allowed (one earned) on five hits, no walks, and three whiffs. He lost for the second time in three starts. Hagerstown was held to six hits and three walks with Kyle Marinconz scoring on a double play to break up the shutout in the 6th.
Roster moves: RHP Chandler Day activated from 7-day I.L.; RHP Jacob Howell placed on 3-day T.I.L.

State College 6 Auburn 5 – SUSP.
Rain struck again in the early going Auburn got five in the bottom of the 1st only to see State College get six in the top of the 2nd before the umpires ushered the players off the field with two outs. They’ll shoot for a complete doubleheader this morning, finishing the suspended game then playing another seven-inning game.
Roster moves: C Andrew Pratt (10th Rd.), SS J.T. Arruda (11th), OF Jake Randa (13th), SS Jack Dunn (20th) assigned from Washington.

30 Commments

  1. Another terrific start by Tetreault. Braymer is up next, should be must-see baseball.

    Istler is still in High A, still looking like he shoudn’t be there.

    1. So two switches. Cluff in and Sanchez down
      Cate to Potomac and Upshaw down. Armond we love your speed but Sundberg must be due back soon ??

      1. Mendez down. If I had more time after the house purchase to skate to Hags to see kids more I might have tipped you off on how Mendez and Sanchez might have been overmatched @ A minus
        Ross coming along with the stretching out.
        This Antuna TJ recovery might take a bit more ??

    2. A grades for F troop late late out west. Nice conga line out of the bullpen.
      Read heating up with bat like west coast spring weather to summer

  2. Good to see that Tetreault is back and apparently healthy, too. He’s been a little up and down, but that’s a terrific start. It’s been a while since the Nats had a set of young(ish) starters at AA the quality of Crowe, Sharp, Braymer, Tetreault, and Fuentes.

    Interesting that the lightbulb seems to have come on for Garcia at AA. Not a lot of power yet, but contact is a nice improvement.

    I’m gonna say the lightbulb is now on for Nick Banks as well, finally. Time to move him up the chain and see what we’ve got, and clear a spot for Rhinesmith at Potomac.

    After a rough outing to start his A+ experience, Aaron Fletcher has been lights out Potomac.

    Oh, and Free Yadiel. It’s futile to say, but goodness, the guy is on his way to a ridiculous season.

    2. Yes this is an interesting night for pitching pools. Braymer AA and which two arms take the bump for Auburn in the A slot (1-4-5 IP).

  3. Oops, shouldn’t slight Mario Sanchez, either, since he’s only 24, despite already leaving and returning.

    Good to see a busload of draft picks showing up at Auburn. I’m curious about Arruda in particular.

    1. Jack Dunn has a nice athletic build for a guy who might play another position ?
      When Pots mimic big boys it might just be the opposition hearing the tour bus warm up and the all star break imminent ??
      Phil Caufeld hit a HR. Wow
      Some of us awaiting promotions in play after All Star breaks , Elder Boone

    2. KW we all need a few Mario Sanchez or Steven Fuentes to fill staffs innings eating required

  4. The Senators would have tied the game late except for a leaping catch by the Reading right fielder. He reached over the wall and pulled it back.

    Yes, the starting pitchers are doing very well on the island.

  5. LM — Since you’ve been watching in person, what’s your take on Garcia and his progress this season? Does he seem more confident in what he’s doing now? Do you see “star quality” in him, or is it too early to tell?

    1. I think he is getting more confident. Offensively, he is hitting mostly singles and not much power. His biggest challenge is the change-up. He is just waving at those pitches. Defensively, he looks really good. On balls up the middle he kind of slides and scoops the ball and turns and fires to first.

      I don’t know if he will be great or not. He does a lot of good things for 19 years old. I have seen plenty of players struggle when they first get to HBG, but they turn it around and move up the ladder.

  6. Jesus Luzardo is on a rehab assignment in the California league. His numbers from Saturday night:
    4 IP 4 H 0BB 1 ER 9Ks.

    Combined stats in two outings:
    7IP 6H 0BB 1 ER 11Ks.

    He will be pitching in Oakland in the next few weeks. Realize that the Nats got value in Doolittle/Madson, but Luzardo is going to be a star. Next few years would have an entirely different outlook, if the Nats had Giolito and Luzardo right now.

    Also, after missing time to star the year, Daniel Johnson has an .892 OPS for Columbus in AAA.

  7. One of the impossible things to know with Giolito is whether he would be as good as he is now without a full season in the majors to be as truly awful as he was in 2018. He led the majors in earned runs allowed and had the highest FIP and xFIP among qualified starters. (Lopez was #2 in worst xFIP.) The Nats wouldn’t/couldn’t have allowed him to keep pitching at that awful level, and neither could any other (semi-)contending team.

    Good for Giolito. But also remember that it’s been seven years since he was drafted, which is a heck of a long time to wait for a return on a high-school-drafted pitcher. (Anyone even seen Mason Denaburg yet?)

    1. Think that the pining over Giolito is new found now that he is 10-1, and arguably the best pitcher in the AL .

      Felt like Giolito’s brief underwhelming stint with the Nats in 2016, followed by a dreadful year with CWS last year (6.13 ERA; 1.477 WHIP), caused most to think that Nats didn’t give up much value when they traded him.

      Agree that with the Nats’ thinking they were playing for a title in 2018; they wouldn’t have been patient enough to let him pitch through his struggles last year.

      Just hurts to see the Nats former #1 prospect killing it for another team, while also knowing he won’t be free agent eligible until 2024.

      1. It’s hurts especially when the guy we got in return has been worth a grand total of 1.9 bWAR total in three seasons. Meanwhile, Giolito has been worth 3.4 bWAR this half-season alone! Combined over the past three years, he’s been worth 3.9 WAR. Lopez, for as inconsistent as he too has been, has also been better than Eaton, notching 2.6 WAR in the same period.

        This trade, like the Treinen/Luzardo/Neuse for Doolittle/Madson, is going to extremely quickly age very poorly.

        It’s funny (and sad) that if we actually did nothing and just sat on our hands, we’d have a much stronger team (imagine a rotation with Scherzer, Strasburg, Giolito, Luzardo and Lopez!!!). Seems those Rizzo master trades have dried up in recent years.

        1. Add in the fact had they held on to all of those prospects; the Nats payroll would be considerably lower as Giolito, Lopez and Luzardo would all be minimum payroll guys while the Nats will pay Eaton, Corbin and Sanchez $34 million this year.

        2. This site loves the phrase high leverage situations. Perhaps the leverage is higher in the
          NL East battles compared to the AL Central where the Twins are surprisingly killing it
          Nice reminder KW about Dyson this past winter or spring , but we previously thought highly about arms like Bogucki, That Seminole reliever who hung up the cleats early and that prep arm out of Florida signed away from Gator swamp ….
          Five LH bats for Rocket now @ Auburn

      2. At the time of the trade, Eaton was considered an elite right fielder and a disruptive offensive threat.
        Now his defense is below average, even coming out for defensive replacements, and a league average hitter. Nothing more.

        Giolito would have spent the last few years in the minors while learning his craft. He has arrived.

        1. Kw. For anyone who loves left coast kids. Arruda could have possibly played @ Long Beach State earning a Dirt Dog moniker like Espinosa
          How does a Nats scout get a tip off to see a guy from Biola U? I had to google the school.
          Eaton was more a controllable contract than a player with an impressive bio.
          Modern baseball term : controllable pact …notice Rizzo response to buzz about Max discussed on trade talks

      3. Yes I don’t pine over the Methodist preachers daughter from high school anymore. Right , Gil??

    2. KW spot on
      I wonder if Rocket Wheeler after all his years in the Braves chain looks at kids and thinks : could he be a poor mans Pendleton or Oberkfell ??

  8. So some of the signing bonus figures have come out of our draft picks.

    Dyson surprisingly signed for $500k ($153k over slot). Meanwhile Cluff and Pratt signed for underslot ($66k and $134k under respectively). And McMahon signed for slot.

    Altogether, we are $46.9k under slot with 4 of the top 10 signed.

    1. We will stick with Jim Callis take on Jackson Rutledge !! Not the clowns elsewhere

  9. This time last year, Dyson was projected as a top 10 pick, possibly even top 5. That said, he had a bad 2019 and fell to where he deserved to fall . . . and deserved to be paid where he fell. I do think he has great value/ceiling/upside/other buzzwords for a 5th round pick, though.

  11. Nats sign Jackson Rutledge; he will play on the GCL Nats this Summer. It appears that the GCL Nats will feature both Denaburg and Rutledge.

  12. Box score doesn’t quite make sense – Raudy Read only has 2 AB’s, but Keller has 4 #8 guy, and Stevenson #1 guy has 5. Can you shed any light on this?

    1. Read was hit by pitches twice — out, walk, HBP, HBP = 4 plate appearances.

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