Monday’s News & Notes
| Team | Yesterday | Today | Pitching Matchup |
| Fresno | OFF DAY | ALL-STAR BREAK | N/A |
| Harrisburg | Lost, 7-5 | ALL-STAR BREAK | N/A |
| Potomac | Won, 4-3 | vs. Fayetteville, 7:05 p.m. | Raquet (5-8, 4.97) vs. Dubin (2-4, 4.25) |
| Hagerstown | Won, 5-4 | OFF DAY | N/A |
| Auburn | Won, 8-7 | @ West Virginia, 7:05 p.m. | Strom (2-0, 3.45) vs. Ashcraft (0-4, 6.75) |
| GCL Nationals | OFF DAY | @ GCL Mets, 12:00 p.m. |
Fresno – OFF DAY
All eyes were on Carter Keiboom Kieboom, who went 1-for-2 while making a highlight-reel play at short last night at the Futures Game.
Bowie 7 Harrisburg 5
• Tetreault 3IP, 5H, 7R, 7ER, 5BB, 3K, 0HR, HBP
• R. Peña 2IP, 1H, 0R, 2BB, 1K
• H. Jones 2-4, 2R, 2HR, 2RBI, OF assist at 2B
• S. Kieboom 2-4, 2B, 2RBI
• Sagdal 2-4, 2R, HR, RBI
After beginning the month with back-to-back wins against the Flying Squirrels, the Senators haven’t won since as they dropped their fifth straight to the BaySox, 7-5. Jackson Tetreault was butchered for seven runs on five hits and five walks over three innings to lose for the 5th time at AA. Ronald Peña led a quintet of relievers with scoreless as the group locked down Bowie for five innings. The Harrisburg offense went deep three times (Hunter Jones twice, Ian Sagdal once) – all solo shots as they couldn’t get runners into scoring position with just five total RISP chances on the afternoon and one hit. That hit was a two-run double by Spencer Kieboom, who went 2-for-4 as did Sagdal and Jones.
Potomac 4 Fayetteville 3
• Johnston 6IP, 5H, 2R, 2ER, 2BB, 3K
• German (W, 1-1) 1IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 0K
• Abreu 2-3, 2B, BB, RBI
• Agustin 2-4, R, 2B
Nick Banks’s 9th HR sailed over the wall in left-center with one out in the 9th to give Potomac a 4-3 walk-off win (pictured above) over Fayetteville. Kyle Johnston was in line for his 9th win in 17 starts, allowing two runs on five hits and two walks over six innings. Kyle Barraclough made it a no-decision when he gave up the obligatory rehab-outing HR to tie it in the top of the 7th. Osvaldo Abreu and Telmito Agustin each had a single and a double as the P-Nats racked up seven hits and four walks on the night.
Roster move: RHP Kyle Barraclough reassigned from the GCL for MLB rehab.
Hagerstown 5 Delmarva 4
• Stoeckinger 4⅔ IP, 8H, 2R, 2ER, BB, 4K
• Howell (W, 1-1) 2IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 0K
• Caulfield 2-4, RBI
• Marinconz 2-5, 2R
• Mendoza 1-3, R, 2BB
• Connell two OF assists at HP
The Suns got single runs in both the 8th and 9th innings and two goose eggs from Jacob Howell as they prevented a sweep by the Shorebirds with a 5-4 win in the series finale. Hagerstown starter Jackson Stoeckinger was knocked out in the 5th with two out and two runs allowed on eight hits. He walked one and struck out four. Phil Caulfield’s second single and an error plated the tying run in the 8th while Drew Mendoza singled, took third on a Jacob Rhinesmith double, and scored on Israel Pineda causing the ball to go forward instead of backward in the 9th.
Auburn 8 West Virginia 7 (10 inn.)
• R. Gomez 5IP, 10H, 4R, 4ER, 2BB, 1K
• Yankosky (W, 1-0) 2⅓ IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 2K
• McMahon (SV, 1) 1IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 0K
• Vega 3-5, R
• Randa 1-4, R, HR, 3RBI
• L. Peña 1-1, R, HR, 2RBI
Auburn completed the “A”-team sweep with an 8-7 win in 10 innings, blowing a 3-0 lead but rallying from 7-3 down to tie it in the 9th. Rafael Gomez went the first five innings and was charged with four runs on ten hits and two walks. He fanned one (1). Tyle Yankosky picked up the win with two and a 1/3rd scoreless to close out regulation while Hunter McMahon worked around a leadoff single in the 10th to earn the save, his first. Onix Vega led the Doubledays hit column with three singles while Jake Randa hit his second HR for the aforementioned three-run lead and Landerson Peña tied the game with a two-run shot with one out in the 9th. Ricardo Mendez’s sac fly in the 10th was the game winner.
GCL Nationals – OFF DAY
With two weeks in the books, the G-Nats find themselves tied with the G-Marlins for 1st place in the GCL East with a mark of 7-4, one game ahead of the G-Mets. This week, they play four of six in West Palm Beach, including a doubleheader on Saturday.
I really like what Mendoza’s done so far. I haven’t been this excited about a draft pick bat since… Rendon?
Matt Cronin could see DC by later 2020??
Rough AA wake-up calls for Fuentes and Tetreault. It’s still very early in their AA careers. Overall, there’s much to like about their progress this season.
Looks like the “good” version of the up-and-down Kyle Johnston showed up yesterday. Even though he seems a little older having been drafted two years ago, he doesn’t turn 23 until next week. His FIP (3.56) is nearly a run better than his ERA (4.43), and his K/9 is a healthy 8.7. Also good to see a decent start for Stoeckinger as he stretches out as a starter.
I would love to see Mendoza succeed, as I’ve been jumping up and down for the last several years about the Nats not investing enough draft capital in hitters. It’s clear that the Nats already have him pegged as 1B-only, though, so he’s going to have to succeed at a high level at the plate to be an MLB regular at that position, particularly power-wise. That’s an expected 25+ HR position in the majors. The added complication within the organization is the potential desire/need to move Soto to 1B. We’ll see. For now, yes, it’s good that Mendoza is off to a good start as a pro, particularly at a “pushed” placement on a full-season team.
Yes, that was an ambitious placement for Mendoza, but it looks good so far. Only being able to play 1st base is a concern.
Agree with KW on Fuentes and Tetreault; it’s not a straight line but if they learn from these clunkers it will make them stronger in the end. Same with Braymer in Fresno.
Don’t think its accurate to say Mendoza can “only play 1st base”. He primarily played 3B at FSU, but think the Nats want him at 1st base for now; given the organizational outlook.
If the Nats fail to sign Rendon to a long-term deal, Mendoza will get some time at 3B next year (as will Kieboom).
Have you seen him play 3B. He is more suited to 1B.
There were many, many pre-draft scouting reports that questioned whether Mendoza could stay at 3B. He’s Drew Ward/Matt Skole when it comes to playing the field, at least according to the reports. Maybe he could stand in LF as well as Soto does, but who knows? The ideal, of course, is going to be to have Rendon at 3B for six more years or so.
Baseball Prospectus just published their mid-season prospect update. Carter Kieboom is the Nats one prospect to make the list: https://www.baseballprospectus.com/news/article/51383/2019-prospects-the-midseason-50/
Thought this quote was a little snarky: “There is a good chance (Kieboom) the next homegrown Nats superstar they fail to sign in six years”.
The decision to not re-sign Harper (and Desmond and Jordan Zimmerman) to expensive long-term deals all look like the right move in retrospect. If the Nats don’t re-sign Rendon, understand the rep, but not at this point.
Jesus Luzardo is rated as the #21 prospect.
Jacob Howell healthy and pitching well. Good sign
Having Kieboom become a “superstar” who they have to fret about giving $30M a year come 2026 would be a good “problem” to have. I hope he becomes that level of player. I’m not implying that he won’t be, but not that many do.
I don’t have a problem with letting players walk. (And goodness, the Ryan Zimmerman extension hasn’t worked out so great.) But to let players walk, you’ve GOT to have guys in the pipeline to back-fill. That’s why I scratch my head about how little investment they’ve made in recent years in using higher picks on hitters. Yes, sometimes you can trade a truckload of pitching prospects for hitters, but look how much pitching capital it cost them to get just one guy in Adam Eaton.