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Monday’s News & Notes

Team Yesterday Today Pitching Probables
Rochester Lost, 10-1 OFF DAY N/A
Harrisburg Won, 5-3 OFF DAY N/A
Wilmington Lost, 1-0 OFF DAY N/A
Fredericksburg Won, 16-8 OFF DAY N/A

Lehigh Valley 10 Rochester 1
• Cavalli 4+ IP, 3H, 4R, 4ER, 2BB, 1K, 2HBP, 77-44 PIT-K
• Garrett 1IP, 0H, 0R, 2BB, 1K, 2-2 IR-S
• Noll 2-4, 2B(10)
• A. Sánchez 0-1, 3BB

A missed start did nothing to improve Cade Cavalli’s command as the 23-y.o. maintained his 9.00 ERA in a 10-1 Rochester loss to Lehigh Valley in the series finale. Cavalli walked two, hit two batters, and was charged with four runs on three hits. He struck one and threw 77 pitches, 44 for strikes, and induced very little soft contact. The Red Wings offense was limited to four hits – three singles and Jake Noll’s 10th double – and six walks, three by Adrián Sánchez.

Harrisburg 5 Reading 3
• E. Lee 3⅔ IP, 2H, 0R, 3BB, 5K, 75-42 PIT-K
• Cronin (W, 1-0) 1⅓ IP, 0H, 0R, BB, 2K, 1-0 IR-S
• Brill (SV, 6) 1IP, 0H, 0R, 1BB, 1K
• Harrison 3-3, R, BB, RBI
• Martin 2-4, R, BB, SB
• Connell 1-4, R, HR, 3RBI

Justin Connell’s three-run HR and RBI singles from K.J. Harrison and Jake Alu were enough for the Senators to beat the Fightin Phils, 5-3, and take the series, 5-1. Evan Lee and the 5th inning remain estranged as the southpaw labored through three and 2/3rds scoreless innings on 75 pitches. He walked three and struck out five. Northpaw Andrew Lee was dinged for two homers and all three Reading runs in the 5th. Matt Cronin stranded a runner and got out of the inning. He was given the win, with Bryan Peña blanking the Fightins in the 7th and 8th, and Matt Brill working around a walk in the 9th for his sixth save. Harrison led the Harrisburg hit column with three singles, followed by veterans Wilson Rudy Martin, who both went 2-for-4.

Hickory 1 Wilmington 0
• Merrill (L, 0-1) 4⅔ IP, 1H, 1R, 1ER, 4BB, 4K, HBP
• M. Peña 1⅓ IP, 0H, 0R, BB, 2K, 1-0 IR-S
• Mendoza 1-4, 2B
• Barley 1-4, 2SB(6)

Wilmington outhit Hickory 4-3 but not when it counted as the Blue Rocks dropped the series finale, 1-0 to the Crawdads. Matt Merrill gave up the lone Hickory run on a sac fly in the third. He finished with one hit, four walks, and one hit batsman over four and a 1/3rd innings. Drew Mendoza racked up the only extra-base hit, a double to lead off the 2nd followed by an Onix Vega single to put runners on the corners. The Blue Rocks would be unable to plate Mendoza as they finished the game 0-for-7 with RISP and 1-for-8 overall, including two chances in the 8th inning.
Roster moves: LHP Garvin Alston activated from reserve list.

Fredericksburg 16 Kannapolis 8
• A. Lara 2⅔ IP, 2H, 5R, 5ER, 4BB, 4K, HR(GS)
• B. Peña (W, 1-0) 2IP, 3H, 0R, BB, 0K
• P. González (H, 1) 2IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 2K
• J. Young 3-5, 3R, BB, RBI, 4SB(7)
• House 2-6, R, HR, 4RBI
• Ge. Diaz 2-4, R, 2B, 3B,
• V. Peña 2-4, 3R, BB, HR, 3RBI, SB

Somehow, the FredNats managed to blow a 7-0 lead yet still double up the Cannon Ballers for a 16-8 decision – their fifth straight win. Andry Lara was knocked from the box in the 3rd, with five runs charged on a single, four walks, and a grand slam. He fanned four over two and 2/3rds. Bryan Peña and Pedro González both turned in two scoreless innings to earn the win and the hold respectively. Brady House, Viandel Peña, Sammy Infante, and Brenden Boisserie each homered as Fredericksburg pounded out 14 hits, drew six walks, and stole eight bases, led by Jacob Young with four.

16 Commments

  1. What the heck is going on with Justin Connell? He’s a totally different player this year. He went from your prototypical speedy leadoff guy with no power (10 HR in 1000 AB) and a good plate approach (nearly as many walks as strikeouts) to an indisciplined power hitter. He’s struck out 44% of the time (career around 15%), walks have plummeted (5.6% down from around 10%) and his power has skyrocketed (4 HR in 13 games).

    1. Will: on Justin Connell, I wonder if Harrisburg’s hitting coach this year, Micah Franklin, might be part of the answer. He’s from outside of the Nats system — he worked for the Mariners and Diamondbacks organizations as well as indie ball — so he’s coming in with different ideas than the system norm.

  2. This Fredericksburg team is A LOT of fun. The team is collectively hitting .270/.396/.467.

    Enough has already been said about House, de la Rosa, Emiliani, Pena and White’s hot starts, how about Geraldi Diaz’s? He’s got a .500 OBP through 10 games! And a .531 SLG! He’s shown an above average glove behind the plate, and always had an extremely good eye (career BB% of 13%) that if he can sustain half of this power, he could be someone to really watch in the future!

    1. That’s 2 catchers to keep an eye on in Fredericksburg with Diaz’s OPS of 1.031. Signed as a 16 year old 5 years ago, maybe he’s fully recovered from the pandemic layoff

  3. The only thing missing from Cavalli’s start is Davey and Rizzo saying how great he was. Has he been ‘Rhineharted’?

    Beezy the other day was saying that Brady House’s outer stats say he should stay in Fredericksburg a while longer. Not disagreeing but there is a real logjam on the infield.
    Viandel Pena (.973 OPS) and Yoander Rivero (.949 OPS) are alternating starts, which is bad. They both should be playing every day and are both young, 21 and 20.

    1. Cavalli’s continued lack of success at AAA tells me he won’t be ready for a Nats uni anytime soon. Maybe he should go back to AA to regain his form, and confidence. House should stay where he is for another 2-3 weeks, at least. If he continues to shine offensively, then it will be time to move him up. The idea is to build confidence before promoting him.

  4. Cavalli’s continued lack of success at AAA tells me he won’t be ready for a Nats uni anytime soon. Maybe he should go back to AA to regain his form, and confidence. House should stay where he is for another 2-3 weeks, at least. If he continues to shine offensively, then it will be time to move him up. The idea is to build confidence before promoting him.

  5. Any word on T. J. White? He seems to have left the game after one AB. Infante now has five homers but a .212 average and 20 K’s in 13 games. He’s apparently adopted the Connell approach that Will mentioned above. As I’ve noted before, the Nats have Jacob Young running a lot more than he did in college. At FLA, he stole 26 bases in 131 games. He has stolen 20 in 40 pro games, without being caught.

    1. No explanation given when Williams pinch-hit nor did White field anything in the 3rd.

  6. Cavalli needs to be in AA, period, end of story. That’s not meant as a criticism of him. He needs to be where he can succeed, and learn. AA is the learning level. The Nats’ hope that he could help their awful rotation by mid-season needs to be shelved, and they need to focus on doing what is best for Cavalli to get back on top of his game.

  7. House has struck out 17 times in 15 games, but the K rate of 22% is reasonable, particularly for a guy said to have “swing-and-miss tendencies.” When he has connected, the results have been unbelievable: a BABIP of .479. That’s going to come down, obviously. But thus far, 25 hits and 23 RBIs in 15 games is pretty amazing.

    1. 22% is a little higher than I’d like, but you’re right that it’s not egregious.

  8. What happened with T.J. White yesterday? Hopefully everything is okay.

    Poor day on the star pitching front, Cavalli continues to struggle, and Lara got roughed up yesterday.

    1. No explanation given when Williams pinch-hit nor did White field anything in the 3rd.

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