Friday’s News & Notes
| Team | Yesterday | Today | Pitching Matchup |
| Rochester | Lost, 3-1 | @ Buffalo, 7:00 p.m. | Nolin (0-0, 6.23) vs. Waguespack (0-1, 11.25) |
| Harrisburg | Lost, 2-0 | vs. Richmond, 7:00 p.m. | Reyes (0-1, 1.93) vs. Garabito (0-0, 0.00) |
| Wilmington | Won, 5-0 | vs. Jersey Shore, 7:05 p.m. | E. Lee (0-1, 16.20) vs. J. Perkins (0-0, 16.20) |
| Fredericksburg | Lost, 7-3 | vs. Delmarva, 7:05 p.m. | Theophile (0-0, 0.00) vs. Denoyer (0-0, 0.00) |
Buffalo 3 Rochester 1
• Armenteros 3IP, 3H, R, ER, 2BB, 3K
• J. Rodriguez 3IP, 0H, 0R, 2BB, 1K, WP, BK
• McFarland (L, 0-1) 1IP, 3H, 2R, 2ER, 0BB, 0K
• García 1-3, BB
• Read 1-2, 2B
Rochester’s bats remained near-silent, mustering just four hits in a 3-1 loss to Buffalo. Red Wings starter Rogelio Armenteros gave up the first run on three hits and two walks while striking out three. He was followed by Jefry Rodriguez, who tossed three scoreless and hitless innings while issuing only two walks. The loss went to T.J. McFarland with the final two Bisons runs on three hits in the 7th inning. Luis García was the sole Rochester batter to reach base twice, walking in the 3rd and singling in the 5th. Raudy Read collected the only Red Wings extra-base hit with a double in the 2nd. Roster moves: RHP Paolo Espino optioned from Washginton.
Richmond 2 Harrisburg 0
• Sharp (L, 0-2) 6IP, 1H, 2R, ER, 2BB, 4K, HR,
• Baldonado 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• Cluff 0-2, BB, HBP
The Sens’ bats were silent as four Flying Squirrels combined on a no-hitter to shut out Harrisburg, 2-0. Sterling Sharp lived up to his surname with both Richmond runs (one unearned) allowed on one hit (HR) and two walks. He struck out four. Three relievers each turned in a goose egg to keep things close. Jackson Cluff broke up the perfect game with a walk to lead off the 7th and took second on a groundout. He would reach base again in the 9th on a Victor Robles but went no further.
Wilmington 5 Jersey Shore 0
• Henry (W, 1-1) 6IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 10K
• Peguero (H, 1) 2IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• Marinconz 2-5, R, SB, 3K
• Meregildo 1-3, BB, HBP
• Upshaw 1-3, 2RBI, SAC
Wilmington not only got back-to-back wins but back-to-back shutouts with a 5-0 triumph over the Jersey Shore. Cole Henry led the way with one hit and no walks allowed while striking out ten. Francys Peguero, who’s still not impressed, added two more zeroes to the board for the hold while Matt Cronin struck out the side in the 9th to push the team total to 14 K’s with nary a BB. Kyle Marinconz singed twice and scored once while Armond Upshaw drove in two to highlight the Blue Rocks’ four-run 8th.
Delmarva 7 Fredericksburg 3
• Parker (L, 0-1) 3⅔ IP, 6H, 3R, 3ER, 4BB, 8K
• Knowles 2⅓ IP, 2H, R, ER, BB, 4K, 2-2 IR-S
• Martina 2-4, RBI
• Boone 2-4, 2R
The F-Nats pitchers struck out 19 but when the Shorebirds did make contact they made ’em pay in a 7-3 loss, the ninth straight to open the season. Mitchell Parker fanned eight through the first three innings but saw a 2-1 lead vanish as Lucas Knowles let in both inherited runners to saddle the 2020 pick with his first loss. Junior Martina, Jake Boone, Jake Arruda, and Allan Berríos each singled twice while Landon Dietrich doubled to comprise the Fredericksburg hit column. Kannapolis (0-9, Low-A East Central Div.) and Binghamton (0-8, AA Northeast 2) also lost to keep pace with the race for the last team to put up a “W” in 2021.
The Wilmington pitching staff is the only thing that’s going to get us through this god-awful season, isn’t it?
Or maybe it’ll be the Harrisburg pitching staff, since it looks like quite a few of these players won’t be long in Delaware.
Despite the overall dreadful start to the season (7-29 and counting), it’s good to have minor-league baseball again, and MUCH appreciated to have Luke’s daily chronicle of it. Luke, thanks for your long-running dedication to this enterprise.
Nice to see Armenteros, J-Rod, and Sharp looking like the potential MLB depth that they’re supposed to be after awful earlier outings. Also nice to see Henry looking like the significant prospect that he’s supposed to be. Cronin doesn’t seem to have much left to prove at the A+ level.
Mitchell Parker got hit a little last night, but he’s also struck out 15 in 7.2 IP, so his stuff seems to be really good. Just needs more time learning how to pitch. He’s probably the (potentially) highest-ceiling guy on the Fred Nats.
Meanwhile, Antuna has now been to the plate 39 times, with no hits to report yet. He’s taking a few more walks, though.
Cole Henry with 10 K’s and NO walks is very impressive.
As usual, Matt Cronin had zero resistance at High A.
Hbg pitchers looked good last night. Another positive note is the games are only taking 2 and a half hours to play since a miniscule number of runs are being scored by either team.
It’s been very hard to not trot out the “favorites of abused women and children because there’s no hitting” but here’s the breakdown:
Only the Red Wings (T17th of 20) and the Blue Rocks (11th of 12) aren’t dead last in their leagues.
Crooked Snake eyes numbers
11 LOB for just Starlin Castro
33 LOB wow satanic snake numbers
Max truly getting in a groove
Big Tuna big fly GW for WBC
Bring on the humid weather for the bats to warm up and opposing pitchers to get tired
Any word on why Leandro Emiliani and Viandel Pena are still MIA? After their fantastic 2019 seasons in the GCL, it would make no sense to repeat them there two whole years later. And yet, neither has been seen this season. Emiliani, at least, is listed on the FNats on his player page, but doesn’t appear on their roster. While Pena is not assigned anywhere, but fortunately is at least “active”. These were the two batters I was most excited to see this year, but I’m baffled that they’re both still not playing. What’s the deal?
Where the hell is Kieboom?
Hey Todd, I answered that yesterday.
According to the Athletic’s Maria Torres, it’s “quadriceps tightness.”
It’s curious that nearly every prospect listing considers Kieboom and Garcia as “graduated.” Neither has. Even when Kieboom spent the offseason as the presumptive 3B, he was still in the position of most “prospects,” without a roster spot really guaranteed. As things stand right now, there are no significant signs that either is close to becoming a major-league regular. Garcia is hitting only .219 at the moment, although he has flashed a little power (2 HRs). Kieboom is currently injured (severity unknown, not on IL) and still is showing no extra-base power yet.
It is significant to note that Garcia, who turns 21 on Sunday, is one of the youngest players at AAA. Kieboom is in his age-23 season so also is still young for the level. They’ve got time. But neither has graduated by any stretch of the imagination.
Sorry, but the standard for position players is unambiguous – 130PA. Kieboom is at 167, Garcia is at 147.
Fair enough, but they’re still in some sort of weird limbo, as barring injury, they’re not close right now to being carried on a major-league roster. And among position players, they’re certainly far and away the best “hope” for something, whether they can be called a “prospect” or not. Among “prospects” mentioned on most lists, we have Antuna (.000), Mendoza (.160), Pineda (.065), and Cluff (.100). The big club also is fond of Cody Wilson (.040). Obviously we hope that all of these guys turn things around, but goodness, no wonder the run totals are so low when nearly all of the supposed best hitters in the organization are really struggling.
I think we should be rooting for Castro and Harrison to overperform and become trade bait at the deadline so that Kieboom or Garcia can be brought up to stay. Unfortunately, between the NHL-style playoff format and the impending CBA lockout, Rizzo might not be allowed to be a seller (I have to wonder if this will freeze a lot of teams, not just the Nats). Conversely, the return these two would get is not nearly what it might have been last summer and definitely not in 2019.