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Thursday’s News & Notes

Team Yesterday Today Pitching Probables
Rochester Lost, 4-3 @ Worcester, 6:35 p.m. Braymer (7-8, 5.81) vs. Crawford (2-4, 4.99)
DSL Nationals OFF DAY @ DSL Cardinals Blue, 10:30 a.m.

Worcester 4 Rochester 3
• Cavalli (L, 1-4) 4IP, 7H, 4R, 4ER, 0BB, 8K, 2HR, HBP
• Moreno 2IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 0K, PO @ 1B
• Casey 2-4, 2R, 2B
• Noll 2-5, 2B

Cade Cavalli’s struggles continue as the Nats top pitching prospect was chased after four runs in four innings as the Red Wings were unable to get him a no-decision in a 4-3 loss. Cavalli gave up two homers and seven hits total but did not issue a walk for the second time in 23 starts. He struck out eight while suffering his fourth AAA loss.

As per usual, the Rochester bullpen’s efforts – four scoreless innings, three hits allowed by three pitchers – was wasted as the Red Wings hitters went 0-for-7 with RISP and left on ten baserunners. Donovan Casey got his fifth and sixth hits of September, raising his monthly slash to .109/.167/.200 while Jake Noll burnished his career year with a single and his 27th double for a .862 OPS – more than 130 points higher than his 2019 campaign in the offensive-friendly Triple AAA West, nee the Pacific Coast League in 2019.

DSL Nationals – OFF DAY
The D-Nats resume play this morning against the DSL Cardinals Blue, riding a five-game win streak that has them just two games off the pace in the DSL South.

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ARIZONA FALL LEAGUE FINALLY ANNOUNCES SCHEDULE
With an entire two (2) weeks ahead of the start date, yesterday MLB announced the return of the Arizona Fall League for 2021. Rosters, of course, were not announced.

As they did in 2019, the Nationals will send seven players for rehab and Rule 5 evaluation to fill the roster of the Surprise Saguaros, as will the Rangers, Reds, Royals, and Yankees.

15 Commments

  1. Noll can flat out rake falling out of bed – period . Anytime , anyplace , anywhere . Great Rossington – Collins Band album .

    1. He can indeed rake anywhere… except in a major league stadium.

      Still, it would have been nice to give him a run out with the Nats. Kieboom is anything but a sure thing at 3B. Plus, Noll has a ton of positional flexibility. I hadn’t picked up on this before, but he’s played a lot of 2B this season in addition to LF and 1B. 3B and LF are both pretty weak spots on for the major league team, and it’s handy to have a utilityman who can actually hit (no offense, Adrian Sanchez and Wilmer Difo).

    1. I’m in 100% agreement with sending that set of pitchers. My hitters would be Antuna, Pineda, and Mendoza.

  3. No one can say at this point that Carter Kieboom is better than Jake Noll. They might even be the same hitter, it’s just when you’re a 1st round pick you get so many more chances.

    This was, I think, Carson Teel’s AAA debut and he faced 5 batters and only gave up 1 hit. Good for him.

  4. Teel’s AAA debut was Sunday afternoon. He pitched 1.1 innings, 0 hits. 1 BB and 1 K. So he’s had two nice outings in AAA.

  5. The most innings Cavalli pitched in a college season was 60.1. This year, he has gone 122.2, literally twice at much. Plus he has had to learn three new teams/coaching staffs/leagues. He has to be worn out. Let’s declare victory with the three-level rise and give the guy a much-needed rest. He made it to AAA a year after being drafted, which is pretty darn impressive for anyone.

  6. It hit me that Vaquero and Gutierrez have not actually signed, so they will likely not be there. I still hope they get challenged and start in the FCL next year.

    I hope we get some reports from instructs.

    1. Well, the big report from instrux last year was that Antuna was hitting bombs, was on his way to being a superstar, and HAD to be added to the 40-man. Umm . . . fake news?

      1. I say no. He has shown flashes of being a star. He had not played baseball for 2 and a half years. He got off to a slow start before taking off for awhile. It seemed like he tired out toward the end, but he showed a lot of promise all things considered.

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