Monday’s News & Notes

Buffalo vs. Rochester – PPD
The series finale between the Bison and the Red Wings was rained out, giving Rochester a 3-2 series win. They’ll make it up on September 15th or thereabouts as that will be the next time the two teams meet at Frontier Field.
Roster moves: RHP Andres Machado recalled to Washington.

Harrisburg 6 Reading 3
• Reyes (W, 6-5) 6IP, 5H, 3R, 3ER, 0BB, 6K, 2HR
• Bartow (SV, 10) 1IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 2K
• Banks 2-3, 2R, BB, HR, 2RBI
• Harrison 1-4, R, HR, RBI
• Lara 1-4, 2B, 2RBI

Harrisburg overcame a 3-1 deficit with three in the 7th and two in the 8th to double up Reading, 6-3, and stop a three-game slide. Luis Reyes got the benefit of the former to win his sixth win and tenth decision in 11 starts. He allowed all three Fightin runs on two HRs and five hits total over six innings. Bryan Dobzanski, Matt Cronin, and Frankie Bartow each pitched a scoreless inning to lock it down. K.J. Harrison and Nick Banks both went deep while Jake ALu and Gilbert Lara both doubled as the Sens collected 10 hits total.

Wilmington 5 Jersey Shore 0
• Adon 2+ IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 4K
• Brzykcy (W, 3-2) 3IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 2K, 2-0 IR-S
• Dunn 2-3, 2R, HR, BB, 3RBI
• Antuna 2-5, 2B, RBI
• Rhinesmith 1-4, 2B, RBI

Five Blue Rocks pitchers combined on a three-hit shutout of the BlueClaws, 3-0 to salvage a 3-4 mark in the seven-game series. Joan Adon left with an injury after putting on the first two batters in the 3rd but did not appear to have significantly lost command or velocity. Zach Brzykcy cleaned up the mess and went three innings with one hit and two whiffs to earn the “W,” his third. Jack Dunn’s three-run HR highlighted a four-run 2nd while Yasel Antuna added two more hits to extend his hit streak to six games and push his July triple-slash to .300/.364/.425 (after .222/.281/.370 in June and .060/.179/.209 in May).

Kannapolis 6 Fredericksburg 3
• S. Romero 4IP, 4H, 0R, 0BB, 3K, PO @ 1B
• Parker (L, 3-7) 2IP, 4H, 4R, 3ER, 1BB, 1K, HR
• Méndez 2-4, 2B, 2RBI
• Sanchez 1-3, R, BB, HR, RBI

Parker Lewis can’t lose, but Mitchell Parker can as the 21-y.o. southpaw dropped his fifth straight decision in Fredericksburg’s 6-3 loss to Kannapolis. Seth Romero got the start and tossed four scoreless innings, allowing four hits, no walks, and striking out three. Parker came in on the 5th and was lit up for four runs over two innings on four hits (one HR) and a walk. He struck out one. Ricardo Méndez extended his hit streak to ten games with a single and a double while driving in two while José Sánchez launched his first HR to lead the F-Nats offense.

FCL Nationals (5-4, 2nd FCL East, ½ GB)
Thanks to the odd scheduling and a rainout, the FCL Nats split the four games they played last week. This week it’s six games in five days – all on the road.

DSL Update
This season, the DSL Nats are in the eight-team DSL South, which will feature entries from Angels, Cardinals, Mets, Phillies, Rockies, Twins, and Yankees. Washington, Los Angeles (AL), Colorado, and Minnesota will be fielding just one team whereas the other teams are fielding two. This is not unusual, as MLB hasn’t imposed its will on foreign leagues with quite the iron fist as it has domestically, so for now, teams that want to try to get quality out of quantity can still do so. For those wondering, the Nats have not done this since 2008, i.e. since before the Rizzo regime began.

Like many things in the minors, it remains to be seen how the new world order will affect how teams approach the DSL. One would think that with only two short-season leagues, repeating the DSL may become more common. The elephant in the room continues to be the imposition of an international draft which has been bandied about as recently as 2019 but is subject to negotiation with the next CBA, which expires after this season. Historically, the MLBPA has thrown the minor-leaguers under the bus, though the consensus is that they’re finally starting to realize that this has been counterproductive. Nevertheless, it is conceivable that an international draft could be accepted in exchange for more substantial concessions like higher minimum salaries or the closing of service-time loopholes.