Friday’s News & Notes

36 Commments

1. Will Cole Henry throw more than 4 innings in a game for Rochester?

   1. Wilmington could use a healthy Fonzi now
      Heeeeeyyyy! How’s Fonzi ?
      Close the file on Theophile @ Fred
      Bullpens truly are shortening outings for most starters universally
      Marlon Perez more work out of Fred pen onward ?

      1. Add LS to that list
         Leif Strom called up by Yanx

         1. We have arms moving up on the pipeline many relievers
            Looks like Troop not Teel will start in a new role

   2. Quietly Jose Sanchez hitting .278 @ Wil

   3. Senators getting some more pen help
      Zach B bee lined up from Wilmington.

2. Ho hum, Rodney Theophile and Viandel Pena dominated again at Low A. Too bad no one in the front office noticed; must be because Fredericksburg is so far away.

   Time to look again at a couple of guys at High A. Tyler Yankoski has pitched 24.2 innings with NO walks and a 2.19 ERA.
   Zach Brzykcy now has a sterling 1.66 ERA.

   Tres Barrera at 111 AB’s has a .970 OPS. This is the best catching situation the Nats have had in a long time, if ever.

   1. Does Yankowski listen to Weird Al Yankovic ? Inquiring minds want to know
      Relievers have to be on their own planet
      Any whispers of other kids Nats trolling in the scouting trips ?

   2. How many managers will Harper play under in his career ?? Lol!

3. We’ve talked a lot here about the obvious and frustrating lack of proper player development in the organization. The latest exhibit I will introduce to the court in Luis Garcia. He is playing his sixth season in the organization. No one has taught this guy the proper Little League fundamentals to field and transition to throwing from the shortstop position. No one. It’s painful to watch and embarrassing to contemplate. SIX YEARS in the organization! No wonder Brady House already has 11 errors. No wonder Antuna could never learn to play the infield. Just hitting grounders to guys doesn’t fix anything without actual coaching.

   1. or maybe he just can’t do it under the pressure of a game. if you feel every failure is due to coaching we’ll just have to respectfully disagree

      1. No, I don’t feel that every failure is due to coaching. Even the best make mistakes, all the more under pressure. Clayton Kershaw is the greatest pitcher of his generation, but that ball Soto hit in Game 5 is still going. My point is that Garcia looks uncomfortable making nearly every play. That’s not just my take on it; Frandsen was breaking down nearly every play Garcia made last night, even what should have been the most routine ones, under little pressure. This is after Garcia has played more than 500 games of professional baseball.

         1. and my point is that I can guarantee you they have done more in that period of time than just hit him ground balls

         2. In the comments yesterday You mentioned Good to see Luis Garcia finally liberated from time-manipulation hell. Yet the Nats FO continued to stress Garcia’s defensive play was a concern. On this site players are judged on their stats without looking at their underlying skills (defense or pitcher vs thrower) which unless you see them in person over a long term it is difficult to ascertain. Last year I tried to build a case that Cavalli was rushed thru the farm system and needed to learn to pitch and AA was a good place for him to learn. In college he was a 2 way player so his concentration wasn’t strictly pitching so he wasn’t as polished as Henry when he was drafted.

            1. At the MLB level, Garcia has played 96 games at 2B vs. only 13 at SS. For part of that time, the Nats had an All-Star SS, so it was logical that Garcia wasn’t going to push Turner off of short. But then after they traded Trea, Garcia stayed at 2B, with Escobar getting most of the SS action. That was at least a yellow flag that the organization didn’t have a lot of confidence in Garcia at SS. But then they went out and signed a veteran starting 2B in Cesar Hernandez. They had Garcia for the most part back at SS in AAA this year, but he made 14 errors in only 35 games there.

               My (and that of many others) call for Garcia to be at the MLB level was based on the desire for him to be getting MLB experience during this obviously lost season. He has yet to show that he can hit consistently at the MLB level. They need to find out if he is in fact going to be a starter going forward.

               As for which level of the minors these guys need to be, my thought has always been that AA was the highest level where serious teaching was going on. AAA is more of a holding level, so yes, I’ve been confused in recent years by the push to get some of the top prospects to AAA so quickly. It seems evident that Kieboom could have used more time at a true learning level both in the field and at the plate. Same for Garcia, who probably was pushed to the majors too quickly in 2020 based on what they saw at the alt training site. They seem to have made several poor personnel judgments based on what they saw there, but that’s a whole other conversation.

               The bottom line is that I want these kids to succeed to the best of their abilities. When you see guys struggling to make basic plays, someone either failed them somewhere along the way, or they’re pretty hard-headed and haven’t learned. It’s also much easier to teach a kid how to properly field and throw than it is to hit a curve.

   2. On the major league side after every game when someone makes a bad error, does poor baserunning, throws to the wrong base, etc. Davey says the same thing. “We’ll talk to him tomorrow about it.” Shouldn’t they be talking to him between innings when it’s fresh in their minds?

   3. Seems like players of yesteryear came to the big leagues better prepared. They seemed to know how to run the bases, play positional defense and throw to the cutoff man. Is it Nats poor development, systemic deficiencies, players more interested in the “wow” factor rather than fundamentals or something else?

4. Pretty harsh to demote Carson Feel, with all the other age inappropriate pitching that is struggling. Teel isn’t much of a prospect, but he’s still “only” 26, sporting a 5.06 ERA and 22:6 K:BB and a 1.41 WHIP. He’s not dominating, but hasn’t really done anything to deserve a demotion…

   Meanwhile, Andres Machado, Jefry Rodriguez and Cory Abbott all sport worse stats and are older than Teel.

   1. I agree on Teel. Hoping he does well in HBG and returns to AAA.

      1. Maybe Teel plays into the plans tonight Friday ?

5. Anyone want to take bets on whether Omar Meregildo will have more or less than 15 HR when someone finally promotes him to AA?

6. OK experts, here’s a trivia test for you. Evan Lee was drafted in the 15th round. He became the 12th player to be drafted by the Nats later than the 10th round, sign with the Nats, and play for the Nats. Can you figure out the other 11? (I am not including people drafted by the Expos). Their initials are:

   JL
   CS
   CK
   BP
   TM
   SL
   NK
   JB
   BB
   GK
   CW

   1. The only one I can think of is Gabe Klobosits, a 36th rounder who the Nats foolishly DFA’d so they could add 38 year old Annibal Sanchez who was hurt sleeping and hasn’t pitched at all.

      1. Yup…GK is Gabe Klobosits.

      2. At least Millb didn’t select Cavilli to the prospect on the road to the show -Grayson Rodriguez got that honor then had a lat strain
         So Tg Cavilli or Henry we’re not on BA issue cover !

   2. To add to those not guessed:
      Cody Wilson
      Ben Braymer
      James Bourque
      Nate Karns

      1. Oh of course: Steve Lombardozzi.

         Blanking on CK though

7. Going way back, I recall John Lannan and Craig Stammen were mid-round draft picks. Is the BP Brad Peacock? And is the TM Tyler Moore? I seem to recall he was drafted a couple of times by the Nats, but can’t remember if he was still a post-10th round pick when he finally signed.

   1. Thanks everyone! I have seen all the answers but one – CK.

      JL – John Lannan
      CS – Craig Stammen
      CK – Cole Kimball
      BP – Brad Peacock
      TM – Tyler Moore
      SL – Steve Lombardozzi
      NK – Nathan Karns
      JB – James Borque
      BB – Ben Braymer
      GK – Gabe Klobosits
      CW – Cody Wilson

      1. Wow, Cole Kimball! I had to look him up; longtime Nats farmland, pitched for the big club in 2011, making 12 appearances with a 1.93 ERA.
         He must have been hurt because that was it for him.

8. watching Theophile last night what was most impressive to me was that when he fell behind (and he did on a few occasions) he was not afraid to challenge the hitter with a fastball for a strike. the one hit he did give up was on a 3-1 count but in the previous inning he went to 3-0 on a batter and after two fouls got him to pop up on three straight fastballs. it sure seems like to time to see how that plays at a higher level

   1. Yeah, my thought was how holding a guy back when he is clearly ready for the next level can be actively detrimental to his development. Against better competition, Theophile will need to get ahead of batters. At Low-A, it doesn’t really matter if he falls behind because 1) he can pound the zone when he needs to and 2) no one can square him up anyway. So he’s developed a habit he will need to break to have continued success, because he’s not being challenged at all at his current level.

      De Jon Watson has some pieces to work with, including some under-the-radar gems so far like Theophile, Peña, Yankosky, Brzykcy, Tetreault, etc. It will be a shame if he’s just the latest Nats farm director to demonstrate no feel for player development, e.g. moving players up when they’re ready for a new challenge; teaching fundamentals like how to make on-target throws from shortstop, third base, and the outfield; ensuring starters aren’t only relying on two pitches; etc.

      1. Good summation , São .
         It’s not like there is a lack of arms @ Fred to eat IPs between supposed starters and swing guys

9. Some of those guys on Nabob’s list are a good reminder of the importance of patience . . . and some coaching adjustments. Around this time of the season in 2010, Tyler Moore’s BA was on the interstate, and he seriously was afraid he was going to get released. He credited a coach at Potomac (I’m thinking it was Matty “No” Nokes, but don’t quote me on that) with really continuing to work with him on his swing. What followed was an epic tear, with T-Mo ending the season with 31 homers, 111 RBIs, and 43 doubles in only 129 games. He repeated the 31 homers at Harrisburg in 2011 of course was part of the unforgettable group that Davey Johnson took to the playoffs in 2012, where Moore drove in the first run in Nat playoff history.

   Speaking of that Davey, he was always still teaching. He spent a lot of time with Desi, Espy, and a very young Rendon teaching them the “Oriole way” footwork to turn a double play. I remember Desmond talking about how Davey showed him a trick with the wrists that Hank Aaron had shown him that led to Johnson’s 43 homers in 1973. Desi went from 8 homers in 2011 to 25 in 2012.

10. So the Senators are really short handed with Hubbard and Dunn lately grabbing outfield mitts
    Hello .. farm director ?? Hello hello ..

11. Does Lisson believe in the sacrifice bunt especially when Berrios was on 1 b and less than two outs ??
    Nice outing by Lara and Shuman
    Tonight

Comments are closed.