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Tuesday’s News & Notes

Team Yesterday Today Pitching Probables
Rochester OFF DAY vs. Buffalo, 6:05 p.m. TBD vs. TBD
Harrisburg OFF DAY OFF DAY N/A
Wilmington OFF DAY @ Bowling Green, 7:35 p.m. TBD vs. TBD
Fredericksburg OFF DAY vs. Lynchburg, 7:05 p.m. TBD vs. TBD
FCL Nationals Won, 3-2 OFF DAY
DSL Nationals Won, 3-1;
Lost, 7-6		 vs. DSL Rockies, 10:30 a.m.

Rochester Red Wings (44-66, 5th, 23½ GB, Northeast Div. AAA East)
The Red Wings return home this week for six – now that tomorrow’s doubleheader has been changed to a single game at 5:05 p.m. – against the Bisons. Despite a winless streak of 13 that ended on Sunday, Rochester is still a ½ game up on Syracuse, which just might be the “race” to watch as AAA plays out the string (maybe). Roster moves: RHP Steven Fuentes activated from 60-Day I.L.; LHP Seth Romero placed on 3-Day T.I.L.; C Blake Swihart, IF Derek Dietrich released.

Harrisburg Senators (41-73, 6th, 29½ GB, Southwest Div. AA Northeast)
Nobody broke into the Delta Dental stadium and turned on the sprinklers overnight – New Hampshire had its ninth straight game canceled due to a COVID outbreak. The first game canceled came after hosting the Portland Sea Dogs, an affiliate of the Boston Red Sox.

Wilmington Blue Rocks (51-61, 4th, 16GB, North Division High-A East)
Like the Senators, the Bue Rocks hit the road for the final time this week with six against the Hot Rods after a short drive of just 770 miles or so (roughly from DC to Quebec City to the north, or Gainesville, FL to the south). Wilmington has an outside chance against catching Jersey Shore to tie or take 3rd place for the 2021 campaign.

Fredericksburg Nationals (40-74, 4th, 29GB, North Division, Low-A East
Fredericksburg finishes up 2021 at home for six against Lynchburg, needing to win just twice to ensure that it will finish ahead of Kannapolis, which has had an even worse season at 35-79 and a run differential of 288 (vs. 243). Roster moves: RHP Niomar Gomez assigned from the FCL for MiLB Rehab.

FCL Nationals 3 FCL Astros 2 – COMP.
• Otanez 3IP, 0H, 1R, 0ER, 2BB, 4K
• Marquez (BS, 1) ⅔ IP, 1H, 1R, 1ER, 1BB, 1K
• P. González (W, 2-2) ⅓ IP, 0H, 0R, 2BB, 0K, 1-0 IR-S
• Quintana 1-3, R, HR, RBI
• Klein 1-3, R, RBI

It turned out that they decided just to finish up last week’s game yesterday in West Palm Beach. The FCL Nats edged the FCL Astros, 3-2. Pedro González picked up the win after walking two of three batters faced and getting one (1) out in the top of the 7th. An error followed by two singles ended it quickly in the bottom of the 7th. No word on why seven innings instead of nine, as per usual for the complex leagues in 2021 despite the MLB takeover. Roster moves: C Jarrett Gonzales activated from 7-Day I.L.

DSL Nationals 3 DSL Rockies 1 – GM. 1
• Cedeno 4IP, 5H, R, ER, 2BB, 6K, HR, WP
• Montero (W, 1-2) 2⅓ IP, 0H, 0R, 2BB, 2K
• M. Diaz (SV, 1) ⅔ IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• Colmenares 3-4, 2-2B, 3RBI,
• Cruz 1-3, 2R, SAC

DSL Rockies 7 DSL Nationals 6 – GM. 2
• Agostini (L, 3-2) 3IP, 6H, 3R, 2ER, BB, 5K
• Abreu 2IP, 0H, 0R, 2BB, 4K, WP
• Bustamante 2-4
• Tejeda 1-2, 2R, HR, 2RBI
• Garcia 1-2, R, 2B, BB, RBI

Roster moves: LHP Josue Carmona assigned from Washington.

18 Commments

  1. Can they just have the special Seth Romero MIA list? He hasn’t pitched in two and a half weeks, so what’s three more days? He got the social promotion to Rochester and pitched once, on August 27.

    Since he was drafted, Romero has pitched a total of 85.2 innings (including 2.2 in the majors after an ill-advised promotion last year). I would say that’s a dubious record, but Mason Denaburg says “hold my beer”. . .

    1. Supposedly Jesse Dougherty and Steve Mears both reported yesterday that Romero recently had a baby and this is paternity leave. Of course, as you note, he hasn’t pitched in half a month, which is still weird.

      2. Well, congrats to Romero, but that still doesn’t explain the previous two weeks when he was kept on the active list.

        1. To be clear, I want Romero to succeed. I want Denaburg to succeed. It is to the great detriment of the organization to have two 1st round picks struggling so much, for various reasons. I mean, all one has to do is look at the AAAA rotation the club is fielding now to see how desperate they are for a couple of quality starters, or relievers. They’re going to have to pay a pretty penny in free agency to fill those slots, with Romero and Denaburg not ready and not available.

  2. Good luck to Blake Swihart and Derek Dietrich, two guys with significant MLB time who have reached a fork in the road in their lives/careers.

    1. Speaking of Crash Davis breaking into the stadium to turn on the sprinklers … Dietrich and Swihart ..
      Q goes yard …
      Did the Nats just sign young lefty Carmona??

      1. Justin Connell finishing so strong that the skipper has no choice but to hit him behind steady Mendez .
        So which individual holds the sterling attributes of Bob Boone to name the Bob Boone Award after .
        Way to go , Bob !!!
        Qalou2alu

  3. In their preseason prospect notes, the FanGraphs guys said that Quintana had bulked up to 205 lbs. He’s still officially listed at 175, though. If any of you have watched his few FCL appearances online (five games total), do you have a guess at which weight is closer to the truth? That’s a significant difference. For frame of visual reference, White is listed at 210 and Lile at 195.

    1. I have not seen him, but I would trust Fangraphs. They are getting info from sources on or very close to the club. Milb is far more likely to ignore an update than Fangraphs, Law, ect are to give false info.

  4. Sage to say Nats faced a future MLB guy yesterday in Cuban Yanquiel Fernandez . Some talent on that DSL Rox club plus that S/R catcher Hernandez

  5. Of the releases Swihart is the worth talking about. He was a top prospect for the Red Sox, one of the best in all of baseball. He never came close to the projections. He had 696 AB’s in the show, so the chances were there. Good luck to him.

    Was looking at the FCL Nats roster and they have 5 shortstops on the roster. That’s crazy.

    1. Keep every infielder at shortstop, every outfielder in center, anyone who has ever squatted at catcher, and every pitcher starting. The Nats certainly cling to that old adage, particularly with shortstop and starting pitching. Of course youth teams have been putting their best athletes at shortstop forever. Zim, Michael Taylor, Souza, and many others were shortstops in high school.

      You have to switch them at some point, though. I mean, Antuna has been done a disservice with the continuing insistence that he stay at short. House, at just barely 18, looks like he’s outgrown shortstop, . . . but as the #11 overall draft pick, he’s THE shortstop for FCL Nats until told otherwise. That’s why Infante immediately got bumped over to 2B.

      1. Antuna has really turned around his season at the plate. Imagine how much better he’ll be when he’s not having to deal with constant failure in the field.
        House has a lot more growing to do; I remember when Juan Soto grew 2″ in the off-season.

  6. House can already hit the ball a mile and looks like he has more filling out he could do. Guys like Harper and Elijah Green who had/have clearly started weight training were/are closer to their physical upside. I am curious to see if he tries to stay slender for SS. He looks like he could wear 240 pretty easily and may still be getting taller as well. Time will tell but he could be pretty special.

    1. Are you expecting to get that report from Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, or the Easter Bunny? It’s pretty crazy how little information they share about these guys, particularly the high-profile high draft picks.

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