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Tuesday’s News & Notes

Team Yesterday Today Pitching Matchup
Fresno Lost, 6-5 OFF DAY N/A
Harrisburg OFF DAY @ Richmond, 6:35 p.m. Mapes (3-2, 4.30) vs. Gutierrez (3-2, 4.10)
Potomac Won, 8-1 vs. Down East, 7:05 p.m. Lee (2-3, 3.35) vs. Bahr (5-1, 1.90)
Hagerstown Postponed vs. Lakewood, 5:05 p.m. Adon (4-4, 2.45) and TBD vs. McKay (2-3, 4.95) and TBD

Oklahoma City 6 Fresno 5
• Espino (L, 6-2) 4⅓ IP, 7H, 6R, 6ER, BB, 8K, 0HR, HBP
• Bourque 1⅔ IP, 0H, 0R, 2BB, 3K
• Gushue 1-2, 3BB
• Difo 2-4, 2R, 2B, BB, SB
• Noll 2-4, CS

Fresno couldn’t complete the sweep of Oklahoma City, as the Dodgers took the series finale from the Grizzlies, 6-5. Paolo Espino’s three-game win streak also ended as he got knocked from the box with one out in the 5th with all six Oklahoma City runs charged to him on seven hits and a walk. He struck eight and hit a batter. Three relievers combined for three and 2/3rds scoreless innings of relief with one inherited runner scoring, four walks, and six whiffs. José “Orange” Marmolejos gave Fresno a 3-0 lead with an Earl Weaver Special with two out in the top of the 5th before the wheels came off Espino. Marmolejos, Jake Noll, and Wilmer Difo each had multiple hits while Taylor Gushue drew three of the team’s eight walks

Harrisburg – OFF DAY
Since starting 21-4 in April, the Senators have played losing ball (17-20) but are just two wins, two RubberDuck losses, or a combination of both from clinching the first-half title. Tonight they begin the second leg of a six-game, seven-day road trip with the first of three against the Flying Squirrels – the first meeting of the two teams in 2019.

Potomac 8 Down East 1
• Raquet (W, 5-5) 6IP, 3H, R, ER, 3BB, 4K
• Fletcher 2IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 4K
• Banks 3-4, 2R, 2B, HR, 3RBI
• Reetz 1-3, 2R, HR, 2RBI
• Meregildo 1-3, 2R, HR, RBI

With four homers and six strong innings from Nick Raquet, Potomac made foie gras of the Wood Ducks for an 8-1 win in the series opener. Raquet got to .500 with his third straight win, though he worked deep into many counts (96 pitches to 22 batters) and issued three walks while throwing six innings of one-run ball against the Carolina League’s #1 offense. Aaron Fletcher (2IP) and Frankie Bartow (1IP) were both perfect while closing out the game. Telmito Agustin and Jakson Reetz both went deep in the 2nd, Omar Meregildo cleared the CF fence in the 5th, and Nick Banks launched his 7th big fly in the 7th as all eight runs scored on the longball.
Malvin Peña’s seven scoreless innings last Thursday earned him Carolina League Pitcher of the Week honors.

Hagerstown vs. Lakewood – PPD
The 13th game between the BlueClaws and the Suns will have to wait until tonight, when they’ll play two to make up last night’s rainout.

7 Commments

  1. OK Luke, we need to know: should we actually believe in the recent progress by Banks and Raquet? Also, what are your early impressions of Fletcher?

    On the flip side, what are we to make of the Agustin decline and the Canning struggles to adapt to A+?

    1. Agustin’s struggles are hard to understand given that he put up strong numbers (.302/.368/.822) in 233 PA’s last year in Potomac. Actually thought he did enough in A+ last year to get promoted to Harrisburg this season. Guess not. Hopefully, Agustin’s early season struggles are behind (he has performed better recently), and he will have a strong 2nd half.

    2. They always like to keep a starter a starter for as long as possible, but the good news here is that they may have found a potential successor for Matt Grace, who started 58 games in the minors.

    3. I felt like Raquet pitched well, but not as well as the numbers suggest. A lot of deep counts and it felt like every at-bat was a battle. Despite the “crowd” of 1200 — not sure where the 900 people not sitting in the stands were — I could hear him grunting and see him laboring between pitches, yet he was barely breaking 90.

      I’d like to see him repeat this success a little longer, and pitch deeper into games — 96 pitches should have gotten him through seven full innings with six baserunners and two DPs.

  2. Pitchers and hitters are different. With Raquet, it takes time for the light bulb to go on for some pitchers. The f.o. thought enough of him to keep throwing him out as a starter while moving Reyes to the pen.

    With Banks, don’t know, will wait and see if he can hit in AA.

    I also would like to hear Luke’s scouting take on Fletcher. He’s adjusting well after a couple of rough outings.

  3. Raquet was said to “touch 98” when he was drafted, part of the explanation of why he rated a 3d round pick despite basically washing out at a big program (UNC) and having underwhelming numbers at a smaller one. As with all of “our” players, I hope he pans out and reaches the maximum of his potential, but he’s always seemed like a reach to me, all the more since he’s not really anywhere close to “touching” 98.

    On the flipside, I thought Banks was a steal in the 4th round, a Team USA starter as a soph, projected mid-1st-round, who struggled as a junior due somewhat to an injury (and a lot of strikeouts). The Ks have continued as a pro, though, and the supposed power is still a work in progress. Maybe his lightbulb is also coming on.

    I’ve generally been an Agustin skeptic and have scratched my head at prospect lists that have had him reasonably high in the organization. He has made good contact in the past, but reports are that he’s probably position-limited to LF, leaving him a very narrow path to the big leagues. Guys position-limited to LF in the majors are mostly 25+ HR guys, and he’s just not going to be that.

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