Friday’s News & Notes
| Team | Yesterday | Today | Pitching Matchup |
| Fresno | Lost, 10-9 | @ Albuquerque, 8:35 p.m. | Hoover (4-6, 8.56) vs. Hoffman (6-7, 8.03) |
| Harrisburg | Won, 3-2 | vs. Erie, 7:05 p.m. | McGowan (1-2, 5.14) vs. Skubal (2-1, 1.85) |
| Potomac | Postponed | vs. Winston-Salem, 7:05 p.m. | M. Peña (5-9, 6.42) vs. Pilkington (3-9, 5.54) |
| Hagerstown | Won, 2-0 | vs. Delmarva. 7:05 p.m. | Stoeckinger (2-2, 3.49) vs Gr. Rodriguez (9-3, 2.59) |
| Auburn | Won, 5-2 | vs. West Virginia, 5:00 p.m. | TBD and TBD vs. TBD and TBD |
| GCL Nationals | Won, 4-2 | @ GCL Cardinals, 12:00 p.m. |
Albuquerque 10 Fresno 9
• Crowe 2IP, 10H, 9R, 9ER, 2BB, 1K, HR
• Baez 2⅔ IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 3K, WP
• Snyder (L, 1-1) 1IP, 1H, R, ER, BB, 0K, 0HR
• Gushue 4-5, 2R, 2-2B
• Read 3-5, 2R, 2B, HR, 2RBI
• Y. Hernandez 2-5, 2R, HR, 2RBI
The Isotopes nuked Wil Crowe for nine runs in the first two innings but the Grizzlies clawed their way back to 9-9 on the strength of three homers and five combined scoreless innings from the ‘pen. With only a rusty Sam Freeman left, Brandon Snyder was asked to pitch after pinch-hitting for the pitcher in the top of the 8th. He issued a one-out walk, followed by a single and a sac fly in the bottom of the 8th to take the loss. Taylor Gushue caught and had two singles and two doubles. Raudy Read played 1B and was a triple shy of the cycle while going 3-for-5. Yadiel Hernandez (28) and Collin Cowgill (11) joined Read (19) in going deep. The loss formally eliminated Fresno from the playoffs, but got them within a game of Omaha and Salt Lake for the league’s worst record.
Harrisburg 3 Erie 2
• M. Sanchez (W, 9-4) 7IP, 5H, 2R, 2ER, 0BB, 4K, HR
• Istler (SV, 1) 2IP, 3H, 0R, BB, K
• M. Taylor 1-4, R, HR, 3RBI
• Banks 1-3, 2B
Michael Taylor dropped a three-run bomb in the bottom of the 1st and Mario Sanchez and Andrew Istler made that stand up for a 3-2 Harrisburg win in the series opener, which could be a possible playoff preview. Sanchez gave up two runs on five hits (one HR) over seven innings to win his team-leading 9th game. Andrew Istler cordero’d around two base runners in both the 8th and 9th innings to earn his first save of 2019. Aside from doubles by Nick Banks and Luis Garcia, the Senators were quiet after the first inning – just six hits total and no walks.
Roster moves: RHP Kyle McGowin, UT Adrián Sanchez optioned from Washington; C Jake Lowery taken out of cold storage activated from 7-Day I.L.
Frederick vs. Potomac – PPD
Rain shortened the Keys-Nationals series to two games and extended the final series next weekend to five games. Meanwhile, Potomac got some help from the team it would play in the playoffs as Wilmington beat Salem, 4-1 to narrow the gap between the 1st-place Red Sox and the 3rd-place P-Nats to 1½ games. The Blue Rocks, winners of the 1st half, are in second place, one game back.
Hagerstown 2 Greenville 0
• Rutledge (W, 2-0) 5IP, 1H, 0R, BB, 3K
• Cronin (H, 4) 2IP, 0H, 0R, 2BB, 5K
• Williamson (SV, 2) 2IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• Cluff 2-4, 2R, 3B, HR, RBI
• Mendoza 1-3, 2B, BB
Three Hagerstown pitchers combined on a one-hit, 2-0 shutout of Greenville. Jackson Rutledge gave up the one Drive hit as he breezed through his allotted five innings on 59 pitches (41 for strikes). He walked one and struck out three while winning his second game. Matt Cronin walked two and fanned five over the next two innings for his fourth hold while Ryan Williamson was perfect over the 8th and 9th innings to earn his second save. Jackson Cluff tripled and homered while scoring both Suns runs. Drew Mendoza doubled and walked. Justin Connell and Jacob Rhinesmith both singled to round out the Hagerstown hit column of five.
Auburn 5 West Virginia 2
• Yean (W, 1-0) 5IP, 4H, 2R, 1ER, 4BB, 3K
• Turner (SV, 1) 2IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 5K
• Senior 2-3, 2B, BB, RBI
• Vega 1-3, 2B, BB
• L. Peña 1-4, R, HR, 2RBI
The Doubledays got three in the 1st and that would turn out to be enough as they cruised to a 5-2 win against the Black Bears. Eddie Yean won his NYPL debut with five innings of two-run ball on four this and four walks while striking out three. Jordan Bock put up two goose eggs for the hold while “Nuke” Turner didn’t walk a batter and fanned five of seven batters faced for the save, his first of the season. Eric Senior reached base three times with a single, double, and a walk while Landerson Peña hit his second HR, a two-run shot in the 4th. Despite the win, Auburn saw its tragic number fall to one.
GCL Nationals 4 GCL Mets 2
• Hellickson 4IP, 2H, R, ER, BB, 6K, 2HBP
• P. Gonzalez (W, 1-2) 4IP, 8H, R, ER, 2BB, 1K, 2WP
• C. Wilson 2-3
• Hurtado 2-3, BB, CS
• Martina 0-3, R, BB, E(12)
Roster moves: .
Is Rutledge already the “top” pitching prospect in the organization? As someone noted yesterday, Denaburg and Romero probably won’t even be in our Top 10 Arms this year. Fuentes was making a strong case for top consideration until he got dinged.
I have no idea what to think about Crowe now, or Braymer, after both have suffered mightily in beer league softball after looking excellent at AA. I will say this about Crowe: two years after he was drafted, he’s in AAA and should be invited to the big-league camp next year. That’s excellent progress, but also what one should EXPECT from the top two or three picks each year. Cate and Rutledge appear to be on similar trajectories, and Mendoza, but several others are stalled, injured, or both.
Don’t know who of Rutledge or Cronin deserves more praise. Both are excellent and will feature highly on next year’s arms list.
I brought it up yesterday, but it’s got me thinking already of who would feature. I know the PCL is a hitter friendly league, but even with that in mind Crowe has been downright terrible there. His ERA is up to 7.07 and 12.94 in August. He must find a way to keep the ball in the park. That’s 7 HR allowed in 42 IP, but including Harrisburg it’s still bad at 15 allowed in 137 IP. All in all, a sour end to a bright start, but it has me thinking he’ll drop several spots (if not more) for next year. Same story with Braymer, who’s allowed a ridiculous 17 HR in only 51 IP(!!) with a 7.76 ERA, and Bourque a 6.21 ERA. It really makes me wonder if Fresno is actively harmful to player development. On a side note- is it possible for a team to just drop AAA altogether and field two AA teams? Because screw everything about Fresno.
My provisional list includes
From this year’s class: Rutledge and Cronin. New additions: Fuentes, Guillen, Peguero, Adon, Troop.
Previously listed/honorable mention: Cate, Teel, A. Hernandez, Ferrer, Sharp, Crowe.
Drop off: Denaburg, Bourque, Braymer, Romero, McGowin, Williams, Rainey, Tetreault.
Great news from the court ruling in favor of Nats in MASN dispute ( fiscal stone walking )
Maybe Lerner’s could use part of a potential 60-70 million to bridge to a new AAA affiliation in 2022 with an out of the box player assignment idea… how about honor Fresno handshake and link up with another AAA option closer to home. Wichita??
Hey big club – mimick GCL lads in Wrigley this afternoon!
Wow just 2 HRs in GCL. Matos and J DeLaRosa.
Might as well kick the tires in a guy accustomed to the Pacifico Cuervesa League. Jack Buck Buchanan . Can he eat 50 plus tacos in a contest ??
Holy Hoover , Batman. !!
Free Yadiel
A quick follow-up on some of the discussion yesterday that I missed. Re additions to the 40-man ahead of Rule 5: I think Braymer is an easy addition, despite his PCL struggles. Hard-throwing lefties are a big deal. Fuentes would have been a mortal lock to add as well until his suspension. I still think they will add him, but it’s not the total slam dunk that it was.
I have no idea about Istler. I thought he would be in the big-league camp in the spring and start the season at AAA, where he was when traded from the Dodgers. The reality has been nothing like that. He certainly has the background to be someone another team could think could stick on a 25-man all season, but he’s also turning 27 next month. My guess is that they leave him exposed.
I don’t see Peguero or Guillen added to the 40-man, or Reetz or Drew Ward either. It’s possible that the Nats feel like they need to hedge their bets by protecting Ward if Rendon leaves, but I doubt it. Reetz has certainly improved at the plate this year (except for a K% that has gone up from 16 to 24), but he’s still at A+ after six pro seasons. I can’t see tying up a 40-man slot with him.
The catcher more likely to be added would be Gushue. I think S. Kieboom and R. Read will be out of options for 2020, so the guess would be that Gushue and Barrera become the shuttle catchers.
Unfortunately Spencer Kieboom has played himself out of contention, so the club will need someone to replace him. That’ll be either Read or Gushue, but both have been fine in Fresno (insert usual PCL caveats). But Gushue has actually been very good. He’s the same age as Read and hasn’t burned any options, so I think he’ll get the nod.
Agreed that Reetz is still too raw.
Regarding Fuentes, I think his suspension could conceivably make him MORE attractive in the R5. He’ll miss the first month or so, and so wouldn’t need to occupy a spot on the 25 man roster. He’s also extremely versatile, pitching well in relief and as a starter, which could be seen to be very valuable for a terrible team like the Marlins or Orioles. I think they will need to protect him, just as they did with Bourque last year.
But would they be at much real risk to lose Gushue in Rule 5? Probably not. So they may still risk leaving him exposed.
Catchers are the most attractive position to take in the R5. It’s how we got Jesus Flores, and how the White Sox took Adrian Nieto from us.
And with Kieboom and Read currently on the 40 man, it’s not a problem to release either and replace them with Gushue, who’s been quietly fantastic this year (.317/.366/.525).
Good point Will on the R5 history reminder on Flores and Nieto.
The Nats do have a contract with Fresno. Hoping the Dodgers might want a north / south affiliation with Fresno via Alaska Airlines , Southwest or Mesa Air is like …well… hoping a 14 year old eliminating the word Whatever from their vocabulary …
Hear me out on this idea before tossing left over vegetables … so many relationships tight @ AAA especially Indy / PITT.. so the Fresno contract has to be honored .. so what if the Nats jumped into an unheard of co- op in New Orleans who are looking for a Southern League setting meanwhile honoring Fresno with just a squad made up of rehab , kick the tires projects ??
Ah yes, the great Adrian Nieto, who the Chisox plucked via Rule 5 out of A+ after a PED-infused career year, kept him on the MLB roster for all of 2014 . . . and hasn’t been back to the majors since.
Read will be out of options in 2020, so the Nats face the same deal with him that they did with Sevy: try to squeeze him through a DFA or trade him. So they’ll have new catchers on the shuttle next year.
Speaking of Nieto, this had me go check out his career post-Nats, but what struck me was his 2013 season in Potomac, and it looked familiar… guess which one was Nieto and which is Jakson Reetz this year:
Player A: 23 years old, .285/.373/.449, 11 HR, 53 RBI, 53 BB, 82 K, 4 SB
Player B: 23 years old, .257/.372/.446, 12 HR, 50 RBI, 42 BB, 85 K, 3 SB
Will — The thought had already crossed my mind that the Cronin might be the “top” pitching prospect in the organization right now, although folks go crazy if one votes for relievers at the top. We’ll see. Rutledge’s recent outings have been impressive, after a somewhat shaky pro start.
You Rule 5 logic about Fuentes being easier for another team to keep makes sense. I do think the Nats will add him to the 40-man.
Braymer was so good at AA. Yeah, the distance thing has gotten all the attention in the Fresno story, but the stats side might be an even bigger issue. I have no idea what to make of how “bad” some of their top pitching prospects have been, or how “good” some of the hitters have been. I still think Braymer, Crowe, and Bourque have “major-league” arms, but how can anyone really tell?
Don’t forget Sharp for Top 10 consideration.
Sharp hanging around in the weeds and shade
Let’s see how the hot bats play in Wrigley today. Wind blowing out or in?? Always the crucial factor there
Peguero is eight months older than Tetreault and just made A+. Tetreault succeeded at A+ but then struggled at AA. Who remains the better “prospect”? I have no idea, although I’d probably rate Tetreault ahead of Peguero. And is Adon a better “prospect” than both since he’s held his own in A-ball at age 20?
The top of the 2019 draft class kicking butt in Hagerstown last night. Rutledge and Cronin combine for 7 scoreless one-hit innings while Jackson Cluff homers and Drew Mendoza doubles. Pretty good day!
As for Will Crowe, putting aside the conditions favoring hitters in the PCL, he had the same late-season collapse after getting promoted from A to AA last year.
In 2018, Crowe started 11-0 2.69 ERA in Potomac and then crashed in burn after a 2nd half promotion to H’burg (0-5 6.15). This year, Crowe pitched well in H’burg and now has again imploded late in the season after a promotion to AAA (0-3 7.07). Seems like after TJ, he wears down over a long professional season.
Crowe exhibits the growing pains from the varied idiosyncrasies I climbing up each level in Nats affiliation chain
Don’t forget Mario Sanchez when you’re talking about players to protect from the Rule 5 draft. He’s a strong candidate for Minor League Pitcher of the Year with his 2.71 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 6.53 K/BB at Harrisburg. Even though he was a minor league free agent, he doesn’t turn 25 until this offseason, so he’s definitely still of prospect age.
São Paulo Magnificento: Spot in comment about Mario Sanchez. I recall he was progressing before that trade to the Phils to seal a deal.
Fonzi is fonzi cause he is small like Henry Winkler Lol!
Go Anibrl !! Pitch a Wrigley gem !
Any news on Seth Romero? Surprising there hasn’t been any news article / update on his post surgery progress.
By “normal” TJ recovery, Romero should have been ready for game action by the end of this summer, so it’s concerning that he’s still in the witness protection program. I’m tempted to insert the easy snarky remark about how his training regimen may not have been on point, but the truth is that I hope the injury was a wake-up call for him and that he’s taking his career more seriously now. We’ll see. Next year will be his age-24 season, and I would be surprised if he starts higher than Potomac (err, Fredericksburg).
Sao — I’ll admit to sleeping on Mario Sanchez, but there’s no doubt that his AA numbers this year have been excellent. He went off the radar for a couple of years, and it’s difficult to believe that he’s still only 24 after having been around so long.
Says everything you need to know about how the Nats elected to fill the Fresno roster that they used a position player to pitch in a tie game in the 8th inning. Doubt that has happened for any other MLB affiliated franchise this year. IIRC, this may be the second time the Nats have been forced to use Snyder with a game in the balance and when it was not in extra innings.
Maybe with the $100 million that MASN has to fork over, the Nats can use a fraction of that money to buy a AAA franchise in the Eastern time zone.
There was one game earlier this season when Randy Knorr just decided to give his bullpen the day off and used three or four position players to pitch a combined five or six innings. They won that game, amazingly.
I know the Nats are “committed” to Fresno through 2020. I have no idea how difficult it is to break such a “commitment,” or what other AAA options will be coming open this offseason or next.
Of course even the super-rich Dodgers have their AAA team in a ridiculous situation in OKC. Maybe we could trade them Fresno, Istler, and couple of broken bats for OKC.
The Giants have their AA team in . . . Richmond, which would be the perfect location for the Nats’ AAA team, except it would apparently take a couple of acts of Congress to make it happen. There’s very, very little logic to affiliates, their locations, and their levels unless a team has built their own situation, like the Braves did in Gwinnett, although it’s a million miles from much of the rest of the International League.