NationalsProspects.com

From the Archives: June 8

Still not much new to report on the MLB-MLBPA impasse. But if you got questions, WaPo’s Dave Sheinin has answers.

Louisville 8 Syracuse 2 – 2012
• Roark (L, 3-8) 5IP, 7H, 4R, 4ER, 2BB, 5K
• Severino 1IP, 0H, 0R, BB, 2K
• Bynum 2-3, R, BB
• Komatsu 1-3, BB, CS

Louisville built a 4-0 lead off losing pitcher Tanner Roark and cruised to an 8-2 win over Syracuse. Roark gave up seven hits and walked two while striking out five, but suffered his team-leading 8th loss. Seth Bynum led the Chiefs attack with singling twice and walking in four plate appearances. Former Nats farmhand “Dolla” Bill Rhinehart homered in the 9th inning. In the midst of the darkest days of the Nats franchise (2008), a 23-y.o. vaulted from Low-A to AA in the space of 15 days. Though Bill Rhinehart put up a .990 OPS in that year’s fall league, the .719 mark he had with Harrisburg (vs. .834 with Hagerstown and 1.010 with Potomac) was more indicative that he had indeed been rushed. He struggled to a .681 mark in 2009 with the Senators and by 2010 he was demoted to High-A, where he found his footing and was an integral part of Potomac’s 2010 championship team. Alas, Rhinehart would be traded to Cincinnati in 2011 and rise to AAA in 2012, but he would be released in August after batting .228/.303/.365 in 92G.

Harrisburg 8 Akron 0 – 2014
• Cole (W, 5-2) 5IP, 2H, 0R, BB, 7K
• Espino (H, 1) 3IP, 3H, 0R, 0BB, 3K
• Ramsey 3-3, R, BB, 2RBI
• Hague 2-4, 3R, 2B
• Taylor 2-4, R, 2RBI

Three Harrisburg pitchers combined on a five-hit shutout while the offense pounded out 11 hits in an 8-0 shutout of Akron. Thanks to the long stretches watching his teammates duck up the opposing pitchers, Cole was limited to five innings, with just two hits and a walk allowed while striking out seven, but earned his 5th win. Caleb Ramsey reached base four times in four plate appearances and drove in two to lead the Senators attack, followed by Ricky Hague and Michael Taylor, who both went 2-for-4. In 2012, Taylor struggled to a .680 OPS that gave many people pause as to his status as a top prospect, even if he was only 21. He repeated the level in 2013, batting .263/.340/.426, and then 2014… he took off: a .935 OPS in 98G at AA then, after about a week at AAA, he made his MLB debut. While he’s since been supplanted by Victor Robles, Taylor has been a valuable reserve and one of the more exciting OFs that I personally witnessed.

Salem 6 Potomac 5 – 2015
• Giolito (L, 1-4) 6IP, 11H, 6R, 5ER, 0BB, 8K, WP
• Mapes 2IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• Wooten 2-3, 2-2B, BB, 2RBI
• Martinez 2-4, R, RBI
• Bostick 3-5, 2R, RBI, SB

Potomac rallied from a 4-1 deficit to take a 5-4 lead but had no answer for single runs in the 5th and 6th innings to drop the series finale, 6-5. Lucas Giolito gave up all six runs on 11 hits over six innings. He walked none and struck out eight while losing for the fourth time in six starts. John Wooten continues to swing a hot bat, connecting for two doubles, driving in two, and drawing a walk to reach base three times, as did Christopher Bostick, who went 3-for-5 with two runs scored. Like a lot of players—Dominican or American—High-A is where the dream dies. For both John Wooten and Estarlin Martinez, 2015 would be his final season as a pro at ages 24 and 23 respectively.

Hagerstown 5 Delmarva 1 – 2019
• Irvin (W, 4-3) 5⅓ IP, 2H, 0R, 2BB, 3K
• Howell 1⅔ IP, 1H, 0R, BB, 2K, 1-0 IR-S
• Pineda 2-3, R, 2BB, RBI, PB(11)
• Jo. Sanchez 2-3, R, BB, RBI
• Rhinesmith 2-5, 2RBI

Hagerstown ended its four-game losing streak with a 5-1 win against Delmarva. Jake Irvin returned from his phantom injury to pitch into the 6th with nary a run and just four baserunners (two hits, two walks) and win his fourth game. Jacob Howell kept the shutout going by retiring five of the next seven batters but Chandler Day lost it while giving up a HR in the 8th while finishing the game. “Raudy” Pineda and Jose Sanchez both went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored to lead the Suns offense. Jacob Howell was among the three-dozen-plus sent packing last week by the Nats, as was Trey Vickers, who was the Hagerstown catcher this day in 2019. Odds are pretty good there will be one or two more from the 12 in this day’s boxscore, and even better that none of these players will play another game in Hagerstown.

10 Commments

  1. Lest we forget the term, ‘to be Rhineharted’. He was such a likable guy and gave it his all. He was a 5′ 11″ powerhitting 1st baseman so the odds were not with him.

    Luke talking about High A is where dreams die, I remember working with a guy who made it to High A with the Mets. He said he knew he was in trouble when the pitchers there could paint the black with their fastballs.

  2. So many names, so many memories. Rick Hague hit 15 homers and 20 doubles as a junior at Rice before being drafted in 2010 in the 3d round. He continued to hit that summer, ending up with 3 HRs, 12 doubles, and 5 triples in 39 games at Hagerstown. The Nats pushed him on to Potomac for 2011, but in the fourth game, he tore the labrum in his right (throwing) arm on a headfirst slide and missed the rest of the season. He was never quite the same player when he returned. Was it because of the injury? Because the Nats pushed him up the chain too quickly on top of missing a year? Strikeouts definitely started catching up with him, but his power also remained somewhat diminished from what he had shown in 2010, particularly in homers. And what looked like a promising start at the beginning gave way to a competent but unremarkable pro career.

  3. Chris Bostick — a lot of folks seemed upset when he and Abel de los Santos were all the Nats got in exchange for Detwiler. Then they were upset when the Nats DFA’d Bostick, although they did end up getting Gushue in return from the Pirates, which was about an equal swap I guess.

    1. Wouldn’t call it an equal swap, when the Pirates got better production out of Bostick in the majors than the Nats got out of Gushue in the minors.

      In an admittedly small sample size across two seasons, Bostick hit .276/.382/.345 for the Pirates. Across three seasons and several levels (most notably buoyed by his ’19 in the hitter friendly PCL), Gushue hit .249/.321/.428 for the Nationals minor leagues.

      Bostick played 2B and LF, and could have contributed to a Nationals 2017 team that gave a ton of ABs to Wilmer Difo and Adrian Sanchez at 2B, and got about -2.0 WAR combined from Raburn, Stevenson, De Aza, Heisey and Werth in LF.

      But this is a hill I’ve already chosen to die on.

  4. The Nats got themselves in a pickle with Bostick by adding him to the 40-man before the Rule 5 draft when he was no threat to be picked. They DFA’d him late in the season to add someone to the roster, but I’ve forgotten who, probably some reliever. It’s an interesting dance because folks will jump up and down in December that guys like this have to be added to the 40-man so we won’t lose them in Rule 5, then they get upset the next summer when they have to be DFA’d and it becomes much more likely that they will actually be lost.

    Bostick has appeared in only 35 MLB games, a very SSS from which to draw any conclusions. As much as I’ve lamented the Nats not developing better utility INF options than Difo and Sanchez, Bostick actually wouldn’t have been one of them because he isn’t SS-capable. At least that SS-capable dance that has kept Difo and Sanchez as “major-leaguers” should be over now whenever the Nats finally do take the field, with Kieboom, Castro, and Cabrera all able to fill in at SS and with Garcia getting closer to ready.

  5. Luke I always think about Eric Komatsu when I see earth movers with that brand name Komatsu

  6. Luke, will you be making a post about the draft tonight?

    If not, I’ll be posting my predictions here. All accounts suggest the Nats will take one of the college arms available (no surprise). Lacy, Meyer and Hancock look like consensus top 10 picks. I’d also guess Crochet, Detmers and Cavalli get taken before the Nats get to pick at 22. But if any fall, I’d expect them to jump all over any of them.

    That leaves a more likely pool of Wilcox, Jarvis, Cecconi or Miller (probably in that order).

    My guess is that the Nats go back to Wilcox, who they drafted two years ago. But if Crochet, for example, falls they might need to reconsider.

  7. Eric Komatsu did get 58 AB’s in 2012 with Toronto, so at least he had his cup of coffee.
    How many people get say he was a major leaguer.

    Love these trips down memory lane.

  8. I don’t really feel strongly one way or the other about Cade Cavalli as the Nats’ top draftee this year. But he is the guy Rizzo wanted, and he’s generally considered at least a half-step up from the guy the Nats were expected to draft, Cole Wilcox.

Comments are closed.