Monday’s News & Notes
| Team | Yesterday | Today | Pitching Probables |
| Rochester | Lost, 5-4 | OFF DAY | N/A |
| Harrisburg | Lost, 6-3 | OFF DAY | N/A |
| Wilmington | Won, 5-3 | OFF DAY | N/A |
| Fredericksburg | Won, 4-3 (10 inn.) | OFF DAY | N/A |
| FCL Nationals | OFF DAY | vs. FCL Marlins, 12 p.m. | |
| DSL Nationals | OFF DAY | OFF DAY |
Scranton/Wilkes- Barre 5 Rochester 4
• Sharp 5IP, 8H, 4R, 4ER, 1BB, 5K, HR, BK
• Murphy (L, 2-1) 1IP, 1H, 1R, 1ER, 0BB, 3K, HR
• Vargas 2-4, 2B, RBI
• Stevenson 2-4, BB
• Freeman 2-5, 2R, SB(10)
• 3-17 RISP, 9 LOB
A solo HR with two out in the bottom of the 8th proved to be the difference as Scranton/Wilkes-Barre edged Rochester, 5-4, and took the series, 4-2. Sterling Sharp was knocked around for four runs in the 1st but go back on track with four scoreless from the 2nd through the 5th. He gave up eight hits (one HR) and one walk while sitting down three on strikes. Patrick Murphy struck out the side in the 8th but the solo shot pinned the loss on him, his first of the season. The Red Wings put on the first two runners in the top of the 9th but a foul popup on a bunt, a strikeout, and a flyball ended the threat.
Roster moves: UT Adrián Sanchez placed on 3-Day T.I.L.; IF Junior Martina reassigned from the FCL; RHP Danny Dopico reassigned from Harrisburg.
Richmond 6 Harrisburg 3
• Kilome (L, 1-3) 4IP, 6H, 6R, 6ER, 1BB, 4K, HR, HBP
• E. García 2IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• Alu 3-5, R, 2-2B
• Dunn 2-4, R, BB
The Flying Squirrels busted out for six runs in the 4th and held off a late Senators charge for a 6-3 win for the game, 4-2 for the series. Franklyn Kilome lost for the third time in five starts, with all six Richmond runs allowed on six hits (one HR) over four innings. He walked one and struck out four. Jack Dunn and Jake Alu combined for five hits, including two Alu doubles (nos. 17 & 18, good for 2nd place in the E.L.) and a walk (Dunn). The rest of the lineup went 3-for-26. The Sens were unable to take advantage of eight walks drawn as they went 1-for-16 with RISP and left on 14 baserunners.
Wilmington 5 Brooklyn 3
• Shuman (W, 2-1) 5IP, 4H, 3R, 3ER, 0BB, 5K, HR, 2HBP, WP
• Knowles (H, 2) 2IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 3K
• Ferrer (SV, 3) 1IP, 0H, 0R, 1BB, 1K
• Barley 2-4, 2B, CS
• Pineda 1-2, 2RBI
• Meregildo 1-4, R, HR, RBI
Wilmington overcame an early 3-0 deficit to score five unanswered runs to win the finale, 5-3, and split the eight-game series. Seth Shuman shook off a three-run HR in the 1st and put up four goose eggs to finish with three runs allowed on four hits and no walks. He struck out five and hit two batters. Lucas Knowles and Malvin Peña both earned their second hold while Jose Ferrer worked around a walk in the 9th for his third save. Israel Pineda’s two-run single capped a three-run 5th while Yasel Antuna and Kevin Strohschein both hit sac flies. The Blue Rocks finished with nine hits and went 2-for-7 with RISP while leaving seven men on base.
Fredericksburg 4 Myrtle Beach 3 (10 inn.)
• Denaburg 3IP, 3H, 2R, 1ER, 3BB, 2K
• Davis 3IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 0K
• Sinclair (W, 4-1) 2IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• V. Peña 3-5, 2R, 2K, 2SB
• De La Rosa 2-4, R, 2B, BB, SB(20)
After blowing a bases-loaded, nobody-out opportunity in the top of the 8th, then giving up the game-tying HR in the bottom of the 8th, the FredNats seemed destined to lose. But the worm turned as the Pelicans wild-pitched the free runner over in the 10th, enabling Fredericksburg to score without a hit and take the series finale, 4-3. Mason Denaburg reverted to the mean with two runs allowed on three hits and three walks over three innings. The FredNats struck out 18 times, including all three out in the 8th. Viandel Peña and Jeremy De La Rosa combined for five hits, three runs, and three stolen to lead the team when the ball was put in play.
FCL Nationals (5-4, T3rd, 1½ GB, FCL East)
The F-Nats will only have to leave West Palm Beach twice this week – Tuesday to Jupiter to face the F-Marlins, Thursday to Port St. Luice to face the F-Mets – after just one trip last week. While folks have complained about the half-dozen 23- and 24-year-old batters, the presumptive starting five thus far are all 20 or younger, and four of the six 2022 DSL Arms are pitching in Florida.
DSL Nationals (7-3, 2nd place, ½ GB, DSL South)
The D-Nats dropped two of three against D-Colorado to fall into second place. For some unknown reason, they’re off again today. It’s road games at D-Boston Blue and the D-Cardinals on Wednesday and Friday, home games against D-Colorado, the D-Angels, and the D-Giants Orange tomorrow, Thursday, and Saturday. Conversely, there are seven 17-y.o. batters making their debut in the DSL, with two of them – Misael Mojica and Crithian Vaquero – #1 and #2 in terms of PAs, a number that arguably means more than DOB. A .884 OPS for Mojica and .800 for Vaquero is not too shabby, either.
Today is the day to celebrate the success of Jackson Tetreault on Sunday. A 7th round pick in 2017, he signed for $300,000 and toiled in the system for 5 years now, making about $25 a month while doing so. He never had ‘star’ written about him but yesterday pitched 7 innings with no earned runs and didn’t let the bad defense rattle him. That is why we watch.
Junior Martina in AAA? Did I read that right?
Sanchez on 3 day IL @ Rochester
Sanchez on the TIL is really the paternity list.
Correct. Apparently, Adrian didn’t get the memo to make ’em before spring training 😉
So happy to see Tetreault hold his own yesterday. I don’t think anyone has any delusions that Tetreault will turn into a star, but if he can eat major league innings, and occasionally put in a start like he did yesterday, it’s all we can ask for! We will need a lot more players to be like Tetreault than Soto, if we want to turn the state of the franchise around. Don’t get me wrong, one or two more Sotos would be nice, but he’s a once in a generation (or two or three) talent, while positively average big leaguers come around all the time for most franchises (not the Nats). As I’ve mentioned many times before, the Nationals most valuable draft pick in the past decade is Erick Fedde, worth a grand total of 1.4 bWAR. I don’t even know who the next most valuable is any more, because it used to be Austin Voth, but he erased all of his positive WAR this season… but Erick Fedde is the only draft pick of the Nationals over the past 400 draft picks to deliver more than 1.0 WAR value, and Fedde has only managed that across six seasons. It’s an abysmal return on investment.
With our other great hope, Evan Lee, getting injured, Tetreault is the only other draft pick of the Nationals currently on the active roster. It actually hurts my brain to think how poor the club has been for so long at drafting.
Evan Lee is another case where they take a pitcher who was a starter in the minors and have him relieving in the majors. No wonder he hurt his arm. I just hope it’s not serious.
Why do the Nats suck right now? Epic failure in drafting/developing. It’s really pretty simple. Yes, they’re a little hamstrung right now because of some big contracts, but you offset big contracts by internal development of cheap, controlled talent.
To be clear, your assessment of the Nats’ draft picks refers only to the players’ production for the Nationals directly. They have had several draft picks in that time that were traded away in order to keep the team in contention over the past decade, including players like:
Lucas Giolito (11.1 fWAR, 10.4 bWAR)
Nick Pivetta (8.0 fWAR, 5.9 bWAR)
Dane Dunning (3.2 fWAR, 1.5 bWAR)
By defining it as “the last ten years” and confining itself to the draft, it also is able to ignore players like Anthony Rendon, Trea Turner, and Juan Soto.
Yes Luke the auditions for the 23-24 year OLDs should be waning as the draft is only 17 days away
August should be an interesting
scene on the Complec .
A shoutout to two of last years draftees, 11th round Marc Davis and 16th round Jack Sinclair. Both have been dominant at Low A and at 22 & 23 years old are ready for stiffer competition. At some point the f.o. must be noticing.
Those two pitching like Moore did last year
It should be pretty easy to find space for them in Wilmington. There’s a TON of roster spots in Harrisburg and Rochester being used by bad minor league free agents, like Danny Dopico, who at 28, just seemingly got promoted, despite walking 9 batters in only 6 innings in Harrisburg. But there’s also Dakody Clemmer and his 8.15 ERA and Alberto Guerrero and his 6.35 ERA.
Meanwhile, there’s a few more overdue promotions in Wilmington. Garvin Alston, Lucas Knowles, Malvin Pena, and Tyler Yankosky are all having good to great seasons and aren’t getting any younger at age 24.
Based on what I saw in HBG, I thought Dopico had a better chance of being released than being promoted.
rough outing for Denaburg, he was all over the place even when he tried to throw out a sac bunt attempt. seemed like he was in a hurry to get it over with. in the first I swear he started his windup while still adjusting his grip. no surprise he missed the zone by two feet. settled down a little as the game went on but never looked to be in control.
In case you missed it, Mason Denaburg is sporting a 3.06 ERA across 4 starts in the month of June! He still needs to improve him command (9 BB in 11.2 IP), but the “stuff” is there, 16 K and only 8 hits allowed.
two good outings, two not so good. still I agree that he has the stuff.
if he stays healthy, increases his innings per start and makes some progress in reducing the walks it will be a productive year.
Andrew Stevenson is now batting .328/.386/.578 in June. Not sure how he fits into the Nats future. Though Yadiel Hernandez has really faded after a good start, so maybe he could take some of his playing time. At least, he’d be more versatile defensively.
Stevenson’s name shows up almost every day in Luke’s wrap up. He went to AAA and Nats kept Dee Strange-Gordan, who they now released.
Andrew is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. how can you explain pinch hitting at a .300 clip but when starting, .220? do the pitchers have to challenge him because of base-runners? I’m sure a fair number of his PH appearances were leading off an inning so maybe that’s not it. does he lose focus over the course of a game? his splits don’t seem to indicate this.
he may have earned himself one more shot but he better make the most of it. he was exposed to waivers and went unclaimed with a reasonable salary.
Leaderboard (FCL/DSL not included)
This week, in tribute to regular contributor Alou2Alu, we’ll spotlight Jake Alu who sits just outside the OPS Top 10. Also Omar Meregildo with his 11 HR,
OPS (100+ AB)
1. Meneses ROC 884
2. Gushue HBG/ROC 862
3. Meregildo WIL 845
4. DeLaRosa FRE 840
5. Stevenson ROC 839
6. VPena FRE 823
7. Barrera ROC 810
8. Emiliani FRE 809
9. Palacios ROC 803
10. W. Garcia HBG 794
Special Mention: Banks ROC + WIL rehab 942 (96 AB), Alu HBG 792
ERA (38+ IP)
———————–
1. Theophile FRE/WIL 1.84
2. Parker WIL 1.96
3. Irvin WIL/HBG 2.62
4. Troop HBG 2.91
5. Alvarez FRE 3.63
6. Shuman WIL 3.70
7. Herrera HBG 4.31
8. Fuentes HBG 4.37
9. Cacares FRE 4.55
10. Cuevas WIL 4.72
Special Mention: Saenz FRE 3.41 (34.1 IP)
ERA (19-38 IP)
——————————
1. Sinclair FRE 1.21
2. Brzykcy WIL/HBG 1.24
3. Henry HBG/ROC 1.71 (last appeared 6/11)
4. Yankosky WIL 1.78
5. Ferrer FRE/WIL 2.17
6. Schaller HBG 2.57
7. Clippard ROC 2.63
8. Cronin HBG/ROC 2.63
9. Cate WIL 2.72 (36.1 IP)
10. MPena WIL 3.14
Special Mention: Schlabach WIL/HBG IL 1.02 (17.2 IP), Murphy ROC 2.08 (17.1 IP),