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Friday’s News & Notes

Team Yesterday Today Pitching Probables
Rochester Won, 13-6 vs. Syracuse, 6:05 p.m. Tetreault (0-1, 5.19) vs. Grey (0-0, 6.75)
Harrisburg Won, 6-1;
Lost, 5-4		 vs. Hartford, 7 p.m. Henry (0-0, 0.00) vs. Davis (0-1, 7.43)
Wilmington Won, 2-0 @ Hudson Valley, 7:05 p.m. Cate (1-0, 0.00) vs. Way (0-0, 4.82)
Fredericksburg Won, 6-1 vs. Charleston, 7:05 p.m. Collins (1-0, 4.70) vs. Peoples (0-1, 4.86)

Rochester 6 Syracuse 1
• Rodriguez 4⅓ IP, 3H, 3R, 3ER, 4BB, 9K, HR, BK, 83-43 PIT-K
• Garrett (W, 2-1) 1⅔ IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 2K, WP, 1-0 IR-S
• García 2-3, 2R, BB, HR(5), 2RBI
• Casey 2-4, 2R, BB
• Palacios 2-5, 3R, 2B, 2RBI
• Barrera 1-2, R, 2B, 2BB

Rochester battered Syracuse pitchers for 13 runs on 12 hits as the Red Wings outslugged the Mets, 13-6. Jefry Rodriguez struck out a season-high of nine and walked four over four and a 1/3rd innings, throwing 83 pitches but just 43 for strikes. Reed Garrett got out of the 5th and put up a goose egg in the 6th to earn his second win. Luis García singled and homered and was lifted after his walk, perhaps a sign that he had a flight to catch. Donovan Casey and Josh Palacious also had multiple hits while Tres Barrera reached three times with a double and two walks.
Roster moves: RHP Patrick Murphy outrighted from Washington.

Harrisburg 6 Hartford 1 – GAME ONE
• Guasch (W, 2-2) 6IP, 3H, R, ER, 4BB, 5K, WP
• Brill 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 0K
• Gushue 1-2, R, BB, HR, RBI
• Connell 1-3, R, HR(5), 2RBI, SB
• Lara 1-3, R, HR, 2RBI

The Senators went deep four times, accounting for every run in a 6-1 win over the Yard Goats. Starter Richard Guasch evened up his won-loss record at 2-2 and registered his first quality start, going six innings with the lone Hartford run allowed on three hits and four walks while striking out five. Taylor Gushue, Justin Connell, Gilbert Lara, and Mitch Longo all homered to lead the Harrisburg attack.

Hartford 5 Harrisburg 4 – GAME TWO
• Troop 4IP, 7H, 4R, 2ER, BB, 3K, HR
• A. Lee (L, 1-1) 3IP, 3H, R, ER, 0BB, 4K, HR
• W. Garcia 3-3, R
• Alu 2-4, R, 2RBI
• Connell 1-3, R, HR, 2RBI

In the nightcap, Harrisburg hit two more longballs to account for all four runs in a 5-4 loss to Hartford. Alex Troop, who was 1-4 with a 5.45 ERA as a starter last year vs. 7-1 with a 1.59, showed the same pattern as he allowed four runs (two earned) on seven hits (one HR) over four innings as the spot starter. The loss went to Andrew Lee on a 7th in solo shot in his third inning of work. Jake Alu hit his first HR of the season while Connell homered again.

Wilmington 2 Hudson Valley 0
• Irvin 4IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 4K
• Kirian (W, 1-0) 1⅔ IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 2K
• Brzykcy (SV, 2) 2IP, 1H, 0R, 2BB, 4K
• Meregildo 2-4, R, 2B
• Pineda 1-4, 2B, RBI

Four Blue Rocks pitchers survived four errors to combine on a three-hit, 2-0 shutout of the Renegades. Jake Irvin went the first four innings and allowed just one hit, no walks, and fanned four. The win went to Michael Kirian, with an assist (OK, fine: hold) by Troy Stainbrook while Zach Brzykcy worked out of bases-loaded, one-out jam in the 9th for his second save. Omar Meregildo led the Wilmington hit column with a single and a double while Kevin Strohschein and Israel Pineda drove in the two runs with a single and a double, respectively.

Fredericksburg 6 Charleston 1
• Theophile (W, 2-0) 6IP, 3H, 0R, 0BB, 9K
• Ferrer (H, 1) 2IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 2K
• Infante 2-4, R, HR, 4RBI
• V. Peña 1-2, R, BB, 2B, 2SB
• Millas 1-3, 2R, BB, 2SB

Fredericksburg snapped a 0-0 tie with three in 4th and cruised to a 6-1 win. Rodney Theophile struck out a career-best nine while he both won his second game and notched his second quality start. The 22-y.o. Nicaraguan neutered the RiverDogs for six innings, allowing just three hits and no walks. Jose Ferrer added two more zeroes to the top half of the scoreboard for the hold. Sammy Infante kept pace with Justin Connell for the organizational lead in HRs by hitting his 6th HR and driving in four total while going 2-for-4, followed by Drew Millas, who singled, walked, and stole two bases – including home plate for the first run of the game.

16 Commments

  1. Good to see Garcia back at SS. Bad that the big club went to the West Coast without him. Sure need to swap out Garcia and Barrera for Fox and Adams right now.

    1. Fox is a utility guy, subbing for the slumping Escobar. DSG is the guy Rizzo signed for that role, and he now is off he COVID list, so I expect him back very soon, with Fox going down. Martinez likely will play Escobar at SS in SF. If his slump continues, I expect to see DSG at SS. Garcia could be called up if he attains the goals the Nats have set for him at AAA.

      1. I thought it interesting that Strange-Gordon got a rehab start at SS, a position he hasn’t played regularly in the majors in a decade. They’re getting little from Escobar and nothing from Fox, so not sure what they’re going to do. Frankly, I think they would call up Garcia to play SS if they trusted his defense there. But apparently they don’t.

        1. Meanwhile, Fox has 2 errors in 57 innings played, and some of the worst advanced fielding metrics in the game (in an admittedly tiny sample size), and is dead last in baseball in batting among 361 players with 20 or more plate appearances.

  2. Theophile and Irvin look ready to move up the conga line. Even Theophile himself has to be in shock at his success after 5.56 ERA last year at the same level.

    1. I don’t think Theophile was ever fully healthy in 2021. Watching him for a bit yesterday, it’s not at all hard to see how he has success. I saw at least three distinct pitches from him (including the ever-elusive changeup) and a free and easy mid-90s heater he was able to command to both sides of the plate. I’m no scout, but he looks legit to me. So let’s see how he does against better hitters already.

      1. How are you São ?
        Interesting that BOSSman has A Cruz and all his press clippings parked in XST while Sammy Infante is flashing his wares @ Fred . See . Time plus some tragedy always ends up with some humorous developments .

  3. Any word on what happened to Cole Henry? He was slated to start, but Troop took the mound in his place.

    1. Can’t be that bad — he’s scheduled to pitch tonight. I’d be more concerned if they skipped his turn.

  4. Connell has now, in 16 games, matched his HR total from the entirety of last season (98 games). He only needs 4 more to double his career HR total…

    This HR surge is one of the most unexpected developments to come out of the Nats farm system since Juan Soto.

    1. Connell is still striking out at an astounding 42.2% clip, all the more astounding when you see that last year’s 17.3% was a career worst. Average down from .293 to .246 and OBP down from .356 to .328, but HR power way up. It will be interesting to see if he can adjust his new approach to include the contact that he used to have. He was never going to be a legit prospect at a corner OF slot without HR power, though, so it’s very interesting to see a player make what seem to be some radical adjustments to try to meet that standard.

  5. Nice OPS

    Garcia ROC 1078
    Guschue HAR 1034
    Barerra ROC 1032
    V. Pena FBG 1008
    Casey ROC 953
    House FBG 938
    G. Diaz FBG 932
    Connell HAR 924
    White FBG 923

    Question for the group: do the ROC, HAR, WIL or FBG stadiums strongly favor hitters or pitchers?

    1. According to BA’s 2021 park factors, Rochester’s field is skewed toward pitching — about 11% below the average for runs, 20% for HRs but most of the others are close to the lg. average, with the exception of Fredericksburg, which has 18% more HRs.

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