Monday’s News & Notes
| Team | Yesterday | Today | Pitching Matchup |
| Fresno | Won, 5-3 | vs. Tacoma, 10:05 p.m. | Braymer (0-6, 7.76) vs. Misiewicz (7-6, 5.95) |
| Harrisburg | Won, 3-2 | @ Hartford, 7:05 p.m. | Mapes (6-6, 4.71) vs. Dennis (4-3, 3.84) |
| Potomac | Won, 4-0 | vs. Myrtle Beach, 7:05 p.m. | Cate (5-4, 3.54) vs. Marquez (3-0, 0.59) |
| Hagerstown | Won, 9-0 | @ Kannapolis, 7:00 p.m. | TBD vs. TBD |
| Auburn | Won, 4-2 | vs. Mahoning Valley, 7:00 p.m. | TBD vs. F. Perez (1st SS-A start of ’19) |
| GCL Nationals | Cancelled | OFF DAY |
Fresno 5 Albuquerque 3
• Copeland (W, 5-5) 7IP, 5H, 3R, 2ER, BB, 9K, HR
• Bourque (SV, 1) 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• Reynolds 2-3, R, 2BB, HR, RBI
• C. Kieboom 2-4, R, BB
• Gushue 2-5, R, HR, 2RBI
Fresno flipped the script and bounced back from blowing a 3-2 lead after seven with single runs in the 8th and 9th innings to win 5-3, and split the four-game series with Albuquerque. Scott Copeland pitched seven full innings for just the second this season, giving up all three Isotopes runs on five hits (one HR) and a walk while tying his season-high of nine K’s. His batterymate Taylor Gushue launched his 11th HR to lead off the Grizzlies’ 8th to give him the lead. Sam Freeman worked around a single in the 8th to preserve it for his fourth hold while James Bourque pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his first AAA save. Matt Reynolds hit his 14th HR while Yadiel Hernandez smacked his 30th, as the longball offset Fresno’s abysmal 1-for-11 mark with RISP.
Harrisburg 3 Erie 2
• McGowin 4⅔ IP, 3H, 2R, 2ER, 4BB, 5K, WP
• Condra-Bogan (W, 7-4) 2⅓ IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 2K, 2-0 IR-S
• Barrett (SV, 30) 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• M. Taylor 3-4, R, 2B, RBI, SB(10)
• Masters 2-3, 2B
The Sens got three in the 4th and gave up two in the 5th, but the ‘pen held the fort against the Seawolves to take the game, 3-2 and the series, 3-1. Kyle McGowin made his first appearance since last Monday and gave up both Erie runs on three hits and four walks while striking out five. Alas, he was one out short of qualifying for the win, which went to Jacob-Condra Bogan, who stranded two while getting the last out of the 5th then pitched two perfect innings. Andrew Istler added another for his second hold while Aaron Barrett did the same for save #30. Michael Taylor singled twice, doubled once, scored a run, and stole his 10th base to lead the Harrisburg offense.
Potomac 4 Winston-Salem 0
• Tetreault (W, 3-2) 6IP, 5H, 0R, 2BB, 7K
• Howard 2IP, 0H, 0R, BB, K
• Sundberg 1-2, R, BB
• Freeman 2-3, 2R, HBP, HR, 2RBI, SB
Potomac made it back-to-back shutouts (by the pitchers!) with a 4-0 win to take the series, 2-1. The Red Sox won to keep pace and drop its magic number to eight over the Blue Rocks, seven over the P-Nats. Jackson Tetreault tossed six scoreless and gave up five hits while walking two and fanning seven to earn his third Carolina League win. Jorge Pantoja added one goose egg for the hold while Hayden Howard closed it out with two zeroes to complete the whitewashing. Jack Sundberg singled, walked, and scored a run while Cole Freeman hit a two-run HR in the 5th and singled in the 7th. He stole second and came around to score on a botched pickoff play as Ryan Zimmerman (2-3, 2B, BB, RBI) was caught leaning but stayed in a rundown long enough for Freeman to scamper all the way home from second base on a close play at the plate that got the Dash Manager Justin Jirschele ejected for arguing the call. The official scorer couldn’t be bothered with any of that and called it a wild pitch.
Hagerstown 9 Delmarva 0
• Irvin (W, 7-8) 6IP, 3H, 0R, 2BB, 5K
• Vann 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 0K
• Caulfield 3-4, 2R, 3B, HR, 3RBI
• Rhinesmith 3-4, 2R, 2BB
• Daily 2-3, R, BB, RBI
Four Suns pitchers combined on a four-hit shutout of the Shorebirds for a 9-0 win in the series finale. Jake Irvin went the first six and allowed three hits and two walks while setting down five on strikes. Chris “Chevy” Vann, Chandler Day, and Pearson McMahan each turned in an inning in relief. Phil Caulfield was a double shy of the cycle while scoring twice and driving in three while Jacob Rhinesmith reached base five times to lead nine-hit, nine-walk Hagerstown assault.
Auburn 4 Mahoning Valley 2
• Dyson (W, 1-1) 6IP, 3H, 0R, 0BB, 3K
• Yankosky 2IP, 1H, 0R, BB, K
• Alu 2-3, 2B, BB, 2RBI
• Peña 2-4, 2B
The Doubledays jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the 1st and never looked back for a 4-2 win in the series opener. Tyler Dyson won his first game as a pro (well, at least since he left the Univ. of Florida) with six shutout innings, allowing just thee hits, no walks, and fanning three. Tyler Yankosky added two more goose eggs before Fausto Segura went Fernando Rodney in the 9th for a two-run HR. Jake Alu reached base three times and plated two while Landerson Peña went 2-for-4 with a double to lead the Auburn attack.
GCL Nationals vs. GCL Marlins – CNCLD
The G-Nats just lost two opportunities to catch the G-Marlins as yesterday’s games were cancelled due to wet grounds.
Nice bounceback outing from Tetreault. Strong late-season start from Irvin as well after a very up-and-down season. Did the Nats get a steal in Dyson, or is he just dominating guys at a level where he should dominate?
Yaddy joins Snyder in the 30-HR club. Yes, there will be the PCL asterisk, but I think they’re the first Nat farmhands to hit 30 since Tyler Moore hit 31 back to back in 2010 and 2011.
Dyson’s K rate is pretty low. I’d say wait ’till next year and see how he does then.
Yeah, it’s a really strange stat profile. His K rate is miniscule: 4.5 K/9, and he’s not a groundball machine, as you usually see from low K guys. But he’s been unhittable, only allowing 17 hits in 26 innings. He’s not getting swings and misses, but so far hitters aren’t able to make good contact. I wonder if he’s got some unique aspect to his approach, or if he’s just gotten lucky so far…
Let’s free Yadiel
Free Cate to Sens rotation and Frankie Goes To Harrisburg Bartow. Microscopic ERA @ Potnats
McGowin departed due to a blister on one of his fingers. He should have only given up 2 hits as Wiseman didn’t have any interest in trying to catch a ball that landed 2 feet in front of him.
Good scoop on McGowin. He’s got a week to heal before the MLB roster expands.
Heh–probably more than that unless the Nats need a BP pitcher. He’s classic AAAA, can’t get ’em out in the bigs.
Honestly, it’s a shame that Michael Taylor just can’t seem to cut down on the whiffs. Such a remarkable talent – power, speed, defense, athleticism, character…
No chance he is back next year – surprised no other team wanted to pick him up at the deadline.
He just won’t shorten that swing.
Agree. MAT is as toolsy as the come.
I guess the Nats were/are confident that they didn’t need to essentially give MAT away at the deadline to ensure that they stayed under the luxury tax threshold as, the Nats could/will use him as a PR and defensive replacement in September.
Would think that MAT would be a perfect fit for a team in tank/rebuild mode (Tigers, O’s, Mariners, Marlins) who can play him everyday and let him work through his struggles at the plate. Two years ago, he played a gold glove caliber CF and had an OPS of .806, and then drove in 8 runs in 5 games against the Cubs in the NLDS.
Speculating that MAT will be dealt for next to nothing between the end of the World Series and when 40 man roster will be finalized.
I doubt the Nats were offering Taylor up. Bad as he is at the plate, Parra in CF every day if Robles breaks his hand on an HBP would be worse. With the defensively limited Soto and Eaton in the corners, the Nats need a superior defensive CF out there every day.
Agree…but at this point i would take Stevenson….the dropoff in defense is not that big and his hitting tool is superior (except for the power).
Agree on Michael Taylor; when he was sent down he was still the best center fielder in all of baseball.
A tough one to swallow for this seamhead.
Wish him luck elsewhere next year.
Some excellent pitching performances (only 7 runs allowed in 5 games!), and an incredibly rare daily sweep!
I love that Harrisburg bullpen trio of Condra-Bogan, Istler and Barrett. It just might be better than the Nationals best three relievers, yet, they all remain stuck in AA…
Condra-Bogan started super hot (0.79 ERA in April), before his season turned into a pumpkin in May and June (ERA north of 6.00), but he’s now gone 11 straight games without allowing an earned run. 17.2 IP, 15 K, 2 BB, 0 ER. Great stuff.
Istler continues to dominate. In 8 games and 9IP in AA, he’s allowed 1 ER, struck out 9 and walked 2. His ERA for the season is 0.80 in 33.2 IP! Why again did it take until August for him to get promoted?!
Finally, Aaron Barrett continues to play out of his depth; he’s just too good for AA. In the second half, he’s pitched 17 G, 22.1 IP and a sterling 1.21 ERA to go with 0.94 WHIP, 28 K and 7 BB.
Each one of these players is better than Fernando Rodney or Matt Grace. Hope you Harrisburgers are enjoying the show, you get a major league bullpen for minor league prices.
We are enjoying the pitching in HBG. When Barrett runs in from the bullpen and warms up they play “iron man”.
The only person who ever reached Taylor as far as hitting was concerned was Dusty Baker. He got more out of Taylor and Goodwin than anyone else ever did. Yes, there’s no way the Nats will tender Taylor and pay him more than $3M again next season, so they’ll be looking to trade him in November. Whether there will be any takers will be problematic, though, as other teams have to know that he’ll be non-tendered. They could sign him for half (or less) as a free agent, and probably not to a major-league contract.
Of course even Dusty couldn’t help Danny the K . . .
You might want to have a look at how Goodwin has been playing this year… .284/.346/.502
Dyson had a K/9 of 10.9 as a frosh at UF, 9.1 as a soph, but crashed to 6.8 this spring as he fell hard from a projected upper first-round pick. As others have noted, his numbers at Auburn are somewhat weird. His ERA is 1.01, WHIP 0.90, avg against .187. BABIP (.205) and FIP (4.02) argue that he’s been extraordinarily “lucky,” though. We’ll see. His velo likely is down a bit now after a long college season. Also, some of the lineups he’s facing in the NY-Penn League probably aren’t as good as some he faced in the SEC.