AFL Update: Sept. 23, 2019
The Javelina pitchers walked seven but struck out 14 and nearly won this anyway. Instead, Surprise finally broke through with a one-out HR from Royals prospect Brewer Hicklen to edge Peoria, 2-1.
Luis Garcia returned to the lineup in his usual slot (No. 2) and in the field at his usual spot (shortstop). Garcia reached on an error in the 1st, walked to lead off the third, and doubled to lead off the 5th. He was thrown out trying to steal third and finished the night 1-for-4. Defensively, he had two assists, including the turn on 1-6-3 DP.
Jakson Reetz (pictured from Friday) was the only other National to appear in the game. He caught and batted cleanup, going 1-for-3 with a walk and a stolen base, one of six the Saguaros racked up on the night. He failed to throw out the lone runner who tried to steal but made 11 putouts, including a play at the plate on the delayed steal from third to home.
Today is the first of seven scheduled off days this AFL season. Peoria and Surprise will swap unis but stay in the same stadium as they rematch tomorrow night. While not officially listed, it would appear that Sterling Sharp will make his second start.
Really, really positive start from the Nats contingent. Garcia leads the AFL in hits and total bases, and is showing some gap power, which was noticeably absent from his season in Harrisburg. And the other hitters are acquitting themselves well too.
Lee and Raquet have been lights out too. So far the AFL looks a lot less hitter-friendly than in past years (average offensive slash of only .235/.317/.341 compared to .259/.351/.376 last year), which is in large part due to Nats arms not giving up a single run yet in 12 IP (conversely, non-Nats arms have given up 12 ER in 32 IP).
Hopefully some of these guys can contribute in the majors next season instead of these current crappy AAAA cast-offs, blowing lead after lead.
I also noticed the Mariners named Aaron Fletcher to their AFL roster, so far he’s started where he left off, with a 0.00 ERA and 5 Ks in 3.1 IP.
Thanks for the relevant info Will. Good to see.
I remember Luke saying that watching Juan Soto’s ascendance was like seeing “Sasquatch riding a Unicorn”. Only Mel Ott & Soto have done this ever.
I think that placed unnecessary pressure on Garcia, who is looking great for his age.
Could we see Fedde vs the Indians in one of those TBD outings ??
Garcia just got better and better as the season went on….great to see.
Indeed, but it was still a bit of a mixed season. It took Garcia until July 23rd to hit his first HR (93rd game of the year). On the bright side, he smacked 3 HR in August. But the 4 total was as many as he hit in a third of the number games last year in Potomac. His ISO dropped from .113 in Potomac in ’18 to .080 in Harrisburg, but again he hit an impressive .278/.288/.470. But that OBP might raise from red flags, especially coupled with his increasing strikeout rate. His BB% bottomed out at 3.1%, and his K% increased slightly to 15.6%. Unfortunately, this isn’t an area that improved as the season went on. Garcia walked 4, 4, 4, 3 and 2 times in each month from April-August, and his strikeout rate was similarly steady (19, 18, 14, 17, 18).
If he wants to become a useful major league player, he’s going to need to be a bit more discerning at the plate.
On the other hand, he’s still three years younger than our other MIF uber-prospect, Kieboom, so he’s got plenty of time for the tools to develop. It’s good to see signs things are continuing to click.
Luis Garcia was born May 16, 2000.
Sorry meant to say he hit an impressive .278/.288/.470 in August.
Can our Harrisburg friends shed any light on why the big club didn’t activate Greg Holland? His AA stats were excellent, and even his 2019 stats with the D-Backs, while not great, are way better than those of several of the stiffs the Nats still insist on trotting out to lose leads. A corresponding 40-man move would have been necessary, but Elias could be moved to the 60-day IL.
Luke did you hear that Holland’s velocity was down in the eyes of brass??
I hadn’t but let’s not forget that velocity isn’t everything. Seen many a Cole Kimball/Hector Nelo/Jhonatan German who can light up a gun but have either no command or no movement.
Really weird that the Nats didn’t activate Holland. With expanded rosters they are still using middling relievers like Suero and Rainey 3 days in a row. Rainey was warming up last night for what would’ve been appearances on 4 straight days. I know Barrett had a rough outing right after he was called up, but they should use him as well.
OTOH, Fedde has pitched 3 times in 5 weeks, after being reasonably effective before that. Management has completely bungled the pen.
Not sure why they didn’t activate Holland. You would have thought they would have wanted every available arm down the stretch. They didn’t activate McGowin who could have eaten some innings. I guess they didn’t because they had Fedde and weren’t even using him.