From the Archives: June 22
Whatever deal may have been had between MLB and MLBPA may ultimately prove to be moot, thanks to a resurgence in the coronavirus in both Florida and Arizona. Not coincidentally, both states were among the last to shut down and the first to reopen, not to mention this and this. Sure, it’s still possible that MLB could arrange to have spring training elsewhere, maybe even play elsewhere, but it’s pretty clear that the owners would be fine with simply not paying playing in 2020.
Syracuse 1 Buffalo 0 (10 inn.) – 2015
• Jordan 7IP, 2H, 0R, 3BB, 2K
• Billings (W, 2-3) 1IP, 2H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• Hague 1-2, BB
• Gwynn 1-4, RBI
Tony Gwynn Jr.’s walkoff single in the 10th broke up the Star Trek convention on the NBT Bank scoreboard for a 1-0 Chiefs win, preventing a three-game sweep by the Bisons. Taylor Jordan ran his scoreless inning streak to 14 with another seven frames, letting up just two hits and walking three. The win went to Bruce Billings, who worked around a pair of two-out singles in the top of the 10th. Syracuse managed just five hits total, with Ricky Hague the sole batter to reach base twice with a single and a walk. ICYMI in the comments… Hague was a 3rd Rd. draft in 2010 who suffered an injury to his throwing arm in 2011 that more than likely altered his career arc. After slugging .522 in 39G at Low-A, Hague never broke .400 until his lone season in the Atlantic League in 2016. He parts of three seasons at AA and finished his Nats and made it to AAA in 2015, but was released at the end of spring training in 2016.
Harrisburg 2 New Hampshire 1 – 2017
• Estevez (W, 2-0) 6IP, 3H, R, ER, 0BB, 8K
• Brinley (SV, 5) 1IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 0K
• Sandford 2-4, R
• Keller 2-4
Wirkin “For the Weekend” Estevez got just enough offense and three scoreless innings from the ‘pen to take his second straight AA start, a 2-1 Harrisburg win over Richmond. Estevez struck out a season-high of eight with nary a base on balls as he pitched six innings of one-run ball on three hits. Brady Dragmire, Phillips Valdez, and Ryan Brinley each worked around a hit in a single inning of work to earn holds for Dargmire and Phillips and a save for Brinley. Darian Sandford and Alec Keller both singled twice while Jose “Orange” Marmlejos and Neftali Soto each drove in a run. Sandford labored in the independent leagues for five seasons after KC released him in 2011 before the Nats used him to plug a hole in the system in the summer of 2017. Despite playing just 50 games, he led the Sens in steals with 21 and was fifth in the organization. He returned to the Atlantic League in 2018 and stole 82 bases, then 74 last summer.
Potomac 5 Winston-Salem 4 (10 inn.) – 2012
• Ray 6IP, 8H, 4R, 3ER, 2BB, 2K, HR
• Carr 1⅔ IP, 0H, 0R, BB, 0K
• Holland (W, 4-1) 2⅓ IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 2K
• Kelso 2-3, R, 3B, 4RBI, SB
• King 2-5, 2B
It was wild walk-off win Last Night In Woodbridge.Holland would set a career high in wins with seven in 2012, which he matched in 2014. The southpaw from Kentucky would reach AAA for six games in 2014 but developed Nats elbow and missed all of 2015. He returned for a third and final season at Potomac before becoming a free agent. He ended his career with the Indians, peaking again at AAA for four appearances before he was released in July 2017.
Greensboro 4 Hagerstown 3 – 2018
• Tetreault 5IP, 7H, 3R, 3ER, 2BB, 6K, HR, WP
• Bogucki (L, 1-2) 3IP, 4H, R, ER, BB, 5K
• Garcia 2-3, R, BB, SB
• Baez 2-3, BB
Hagerstown dug out from a 3-0 hole with a run in the 5th and two in the 6th but had no answer for Greensboro’s tally in the 8th, and lost 4-3. Jackson Tetrault went the first five innings and was dinged from three runs on seven hits, including a HR. He walked two and struck out six. The loss went to A.J. Bogucki, who let in a run over three innings on four hits and a walk while fanning five. Luis Garcia and Jeyner Baez both went 2-for-3 with a walk as the Suns pounded out 10 hits on the night.
Baez was a longtime backup backstop, spending two seasons in both the DSL and GCL, one in the NYPL, and finishing his Nats career in 2018. He converted to pitching in 2019 and struck out 36 in 33⅓ IP for Milwaukee in the Arizona League last summer, and appeared to have been ticketed for the Pioneer League for 2020 before he was released last month.
Auburn 9 State College 0 – 2011
• Bates (W, 1-0) 5IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 4K
• Jenkins 2IP, 1H, 0R, 2BB, 1K
• M Rodriguez 2IP, 1H, 0R, BB, 3K
• Jimenez 3-4, 2R, BB, RBI, SB, CS
• Nieto 2-5, R, 2RBI
• Rowe 2-4, 3R, BB, RBI
The Doubledays made roadkill out the Spikes, pounding out 13 hits and scoring in six separate innings for a 9-0 victory. Colin Bates, Chad Jenkins, and Manny Rodriguez each gave up a hit while combining for the shutout. Rick Hughes was the sole batter to not reach base, as Hendry Jimenez led the offensive onslaught with a 3-for-4 effort, followed by Connor Rowe (2-for-4, two doubles) and Adrian Nieto (2-for-5, two RBI). The win was the third straight for Auburn, which leads the six-team Pinckney Division at 4-1. A 23rd Rd. pick in 2010, Bates would start for parts of two short seasons before converting to relief in 2012. He rose steadily from Low-A to AA from 2012 to 2014 and finished his career after a return to starting in 2015.
Luke, you nailed it with the links. Unfortunately all the teams have their spring training sites in two states, both of which have governors too stupid for the players to be safe there.
Who’s going to want their major leaguers to go to Arizona or Florida to play if the season does start.
Is Ryan Brinley still with the organization? He hasn’t pitched in a game since that 2017 season. The Nats had three relief arms who shot through the system after the 2015 draft: 8th rounder Koda Glover, 11th rounder Andrew Lee, and 27th rounder Brinley. All ended the season in Hagerstown. Glover and Brinley continued to rise rapidly in 2016 (Glover all the way to the majors), while the Nats kept Lee at Hags to stretch out as a starter. He was the first of the three to suffer catastrophic injury, his second TJ, from which he has fought a long battle to recover, but he pitched quite effectively in 2019. Glover and Brinley also both fell to significant injury, to the point that Glover has already retired and Brinley hasn’t pitched in three years.
That was far and away the most promising bullpen draft/class, but the this trio who flashed early has had a lot of pain and struggle since that time.
From milb.com, it appears Brinley is still part of the Nats’ organization. He was listed on the Injured List for Harrisburg for the entire 2018 and 2019 seasons, and Harrisburg activated Brinley off the IL at the end of last season. No other transactions (e.g., released, retired) are listed after Brinely was “activated”. Brinley’s twitter page, which is active, identifies Brinley as a “Pitcher in the Washington Nationals Organization.” Brinley last appeared in a game on August 12, 2017. So, he’s a little rusty.
Brinley is listed as having had TJ surgery in March 2019
FanGraphs and B-R also still list Brinley as with the Nats. It would be a heck of a story if he makes it back. There’s apparently a mutual interest between him and club of him continuing the quest. I guess an extra year to rest the arm can’t hurt, although he will be turning 28 next April.
Now that we have the numbers on Cavalli, he signed for $3.03 million, I guess it means he’s loaning the Nats $2.93 million, presumably interest free.
And we all know how the Nats are hurting for money, so that helps.
And how is that different than every other team in MLB with their 2020 draft picks?
Wow, so Brinley had a TJ a year and a half after trying to come back from whatever felled him the first time. He’s turned into another Aaron Barrett saga. The Nats must really like something about him to keep him on that $400 payroll. They cut ties this spring with another long-developing rehab guy in Ryan Williamson.
As I said, what awful injury fates for that trio of Brinley, Glover, and Lee, who all looked so promising in ’15-’16.
Lee is in the best shape of the three to still have an impact. He’ll turn 27 in December, but he had a healthy 2019, which he finished off with a strong AFL. It’s interesting that the Nats still kept trying him as a starter for much of 2019 (15 starts in 27 appearance at A+ and AA). His future would seem to be as a big, hard-throwing reliever. As with most of them, throwing strikes sometimes has been an issue. His H/9 has always been good, though, indicating that guys have a hard time squaring him up when he actually does throw strikes.