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Friday’s News & Notes

Team Yesterday Today Pitching Matchup
Fresno Lost, 8-4 @ Tacoma, 10:05 p.m. Braymer (0-5, 9.23) vs. Misiewicz (6-6, 6.21)
Harrisburg Won, 12-1 @ Richmond, 7:05 p.m. M. Sanchez (8-4, 2.93) Baragar (3-5, 3.70)
Potomac Lost, 11-2 @ Winston-Salem, 7:05 p.m. M. Peña (5-8, 6.22) vs. Stiever (5-3, 2.38)
Hagerstown Won, 6-3 @ West Virginia, 7:05 p.m. Stoeckinger (1-2, 3.60) vs. De Los Santos (4-6, 4.67)
Auburn Lost, 3-2 vs. Williamsport, 7:00 p.m. Peterson (1-1, 2.92) vs. Vargas (1-0, 6.00)
GCL Nationals Lost, 7-6 OFF DAY

Tacoma 8 Fresno 4
• Ondrusek 6IP, 6H, 3R, 3ER, BB, 4K, 2HR, 2HBP
• Blazek (L, 2-1) ⅓ IP, 1H, 2R, 2ER, 2BB, 1K
• Snyder 2-2, R, 2B, BB, HR, 2RBI
• C. Kieboom 2-4

Fresno went deep three times, but like Fortnite devotees, the action was all solo as Tacoma took the opener, 8-4. Logan Ondrusek posted his third straight quality start—and third straight no-decision—with three runs on two home runs and six hits total over six innings. He walked one and struck out four. Michael Blazek retired one of four batters faced in the 7th and the two runs charged to him snapped a 3-3 tie and gave him the loss. Brandon Snyder, Drew Ward, and Yadiel Hernandez each homered while Snyder and Carter Kieboom both had multiple hits to lead the Grizzlies eight-hit, one-walk (Snyder) offense.
Roster moves: RHP Dakota Bacus placed on 7-Day I.L.; SS Matt Reynolds activated from 7-Day I.L.

Harrisburg 12 Altoona 1
• Mapes (W, 6-6) 6IP, 4H, R, ER, BB, 7K; 2-3, 2R, 2RBI
• Istler 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• Stevenson 5-5, 2R, 2B, BB
• Masters 3-4, 2R, 2-2B, BB, 2RBI
• Banks 2-3, 2R, 2BB, RBI

The Senators sent nine men up to the plate in both the 2nd and 3rd innings and eleven of them came in to score in a 12-1 flattening of the Curve. Tyler Mapes also got in on the fun as he went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and two RBI. He also gave up the Altoona run on four hits and a walk while striking out seven to win his 6th game. Austen Williams, Jhonatan German, and Andrew Istler each threw a scoreless inning to close it out. Andrew Stevenson reached base six times with a walk, a double, and four singles to lead the 19-hit parade that did not feature a homer but did include five doubles and six walks.

Myrtle Beach 11 Potomac 2
• Cate (L, 4-4) 6IP, 6H, 3R, 3ER, 2BB, 4K, HR
• Howell ⅔ IP, 6H, 7R, 7ER, 2BB, 1K, HR
• Harrison 2-4
• Corredor 1-3, 2B, BB

The rains came but didn’t fall hard enough to stop the game in the 6th, though about half of the few dozen people in attendance headed for the exits (the 2,000+ dressed as empty seats apparently stayed). More presumably left after Myrtle Beach went to town on the Potomac ‘pen for eight runs in the 7th in a 11-2 defenestration. Tim Cate got the start and the loss as he was charged with three runs on six hits and two walks while striking out four to fall to 4-4 at High-A. K.J. Harrison went 2-for-4 while Aldrem Corredor doubled and walked to lead the six-hit assault on the Pelicans.

Hagerstown 6 West Virginia 3
• Rutledge 4IP, 4H, 2R, 2ER, 2BB, 6K, HBP, 2WP
• Adon (BS, 1; W, 11-3) 4IP, 4H, R, ER, BB, 6K, HR, BK
• Perkins 2-5, 2B, RBI
• Cluff 1-3, 2R, 2BB, 2RBI
• Upshaw 1-2, R, BB, 2SB

The Suns took advantage of sloppy defense and wayward pitching to score three in the top of the 6th and short the Power, 6-3. Jackson Rutledge hit his pitch count after four innings, allowing the first two West Virginia runs on four hits and two walks while fanning six. After a scoreless 5th from Matt Cronin, Joan Adon came on in relief and finished the game, letting in the third Power tally for a blown save but also registering his 11th win, which leads the Nats minors and the Sally Lg. Nic Perkins singled, doubled, and drove in a run while Jackson Cluff drove in two and walked twice to pace the Hagerstown offense. FYI: Tomorrow’s starter is TBD.

Williamsport 3 Auburn 2
• R. Gomez (L, 1-5) 5IP, 8H, 3R, 3ER, BB, K
• McMahon 1⅔ IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 2K, 1-0 IR-S
• Mendez 1-3, R, 2B, BB, SB, CS
• Ydens 1-3, 2B

Williamsport got one in the 1st and two in the 4th and that would be enough to get past Auburn, 3-2. Rafael Gomez let in all three Crosscutter runs on eight hits and a walk while striking out one (1). Dylan Beasley, Hunter McMahon, and Bobby Milacki combined for three scoreless innings of relief to give the offense a chance to come back. Williamsport’s bullpen was equal to the task as they issued a walk and hit a batter over the last four “ups.” Ricardo Mendez was the sole batter to reach base twice (walk, double) as the Doubledays got four hits and two walks and struck out 13 times. It’s not clear why Jose Sanchez was lifted in what appears to in the middle of an at-bat; there is no mention on Auburn’s official Twitter feed or its website (yet).

GCL Marlins 7 GCL Nationals 6 – COMP.
• Hiraldo 4⅔ IP, 4H, 3R, 0ER, 5BB, 2K, WP
• A. Martinez (BS, 2; L, 1-2) 1IP, 2H, 2R, 2ER, BB, 0K
• Martina 3-4, 2R, 3B, HR, 3RBI
• Matos 2-3, 2B, SB
• Arias 2-4, 2R, 2B, BB, SB, Of assist at 3B

GC Nationals 1 GCL Marlins 0 – SUSP.
• P. Gonzalez 2⅔ IP, 4H, 0R, 0BB, 4K
When they resume play next week in Jupiter (20th), it’ll be the top of the 3rd with two out.

22 Commments

  1. While every player was getting hits for the Sens, Michael a Taylor went 0-4 with 3 strikeouts. He was replaced by Hunter Jones after the 3rd one.

    1. I saw the same thing , Luke , within the Auburn box score. Why was Sanchez pulled
      Stevenson was so so so due. Adjustment to the re- assignment from the beer league and 22 F degree temp drop and humidity from Fresno ( San Joaquin Valley )

      4. Cooler temps in Tacoma helps Braymer I the predominantly rarefied Air PCL. Great outing for PCL

    3. Wow. DSL Nats best the Twinkies kids 8-4 with 5 errors between the lads .
      Gomez is an interesting stat sheet. 5 HRs. 4 triples. Could any of those triples be near miss HRs???

  2. What on earth is Junior Martina still doing in the GCL? He’s the Ted Williams of that league.

    Cate and Rutledge were more OK than good. But OK is better than bad.

    Cronin remains wholly untouchable in Single-A ball.

    2. Cronin plus Howard to a lesser degree made brass confident in dealing Fletch to Mariners .

  3. The only thing I can figure with the great Junior Martina is that they don’t want to push more highly drafted players like Arruda out of the way at Auburn to promote him. Martina will turn 22 in December, so he’s certainly not a kid. He slashed a ridiculous .397/.516/.701 at a JUCO this season, with 12 HRs and 15 doubles in 52 games. He struck out only 29 times while walking 39.

  4. Okay guys, you made me look. Junior Martina was drafted in the 16th round and paid a $100,000 bonus. From Venezuela, he’s 21, turning 22 in December.
    He certainly shouldn’t be in the GCL with an OPS of .993. Great start for a 16th rounder, especially considering its supposed to take about 600 AB’s to get the aluminum out of your swing.

  5. Interesting, it looks like they skipped Denaburg’s turn through the GCL rotation. Gonzalez and Hiraldo have been “after” him all year.

    I’d like to point out this continues an incredibly concerning pro debut for Denaburg to this point. Current stats:
    – 7 games
    – 20 1/3 IP
    – 7.52 ERA, 1.82 whip
    – 19/14 K/BB
    – 23 hits allowed in those 20 innings

    And he’s on a ridiculous pitch limit. it looks like his per-game limit is 30 pitches. 30 pitches every 5 days?? He has yet to have a single “clean” or “Impressive” outing … even his 3 inning stints giving up zero runs he’s still giving up 4-5 hits per; has he had a single 1-2-3 inning yet?

    What the heck is going on? This is a 1st rounder, $3M overslot guy. Is this a massive bust of a pick?

    By way of comparison, the NEXT highest high school prep arm picked after Denaburg (who signed) is Shane McClanahan, picked 31st overall vs Denaburg’s 27th. You know where McClanahan is right now? He’s in frigging AA! They started him in low-A in 2019, he held his own, then dominated High-A and now is a 19yr old in AA.

    Gee, wish our frigging $3M high school 1st rounder was in AA right now.

    I’m sorry, that’s just not good for a 1st rounder.

    1. Todd — Thanks for documenting the concerns on Denaburg. I completely agree that we’ve reached the point where there are some serious questions. This is also an example of why it’s such a crapshoot to draft a high school arm. I’ll add that even though we think of Denaburg as young since he was a high school draftee, he turned 20 last week. He’s only four months younger than Rutledge, who played two years of college ball.

      Here’s another question about Denaburg — he supposedly dropped to the Nats last year because of arm-health issues. The Nats dismissed them . . . but also shut him down for all of 2018. Now they’re really limiting him in 2019, which makes me concerned that they’re still worried about arm health. We’ll never know, of course.

    2. Todd start singing the old Stones song. About Denaburg: “ time time time is my side. He is young not even in college ..

    1. Good catch Jeff, I missed it. This was his 6th year with the Nats and he never did learn how to hit.
      The Nats gave him $900,00 at a very young age and in 2016 BA ranked him as the #10 prospect.

      1. Almost a million dollar baby Anderson Franco.
        Luke : WItness Protection for Jake Barnett ??
        The force , Luke…..

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