Thursday’s News & Notes
| Team | Yesterday | Today | Pitching Probables |
| Rochester | Lost, 2-1 | @ Worcester, 6:45 p.m. | Adon (0-1, 7.20) vs. Seabold (5-1, 2.83) |
| Harrisburg | Won, 7-4; Lost, 3-2 |
@ Altoona, 6 p.m. | Irvin (0-4, 4.71) vs. Melendez (1-0, 6.48) |
| Wilmington | Won, 4-2 | @ Jersey Shore, 7:05 p.m. | Saenz (2-3, 5.68) vs. Glogoski (0-4, 3.30) |
| Fredericksburg | Won, 3-1 | @ Lynchburg, 6:30 p.m. | A. Lara (2-7, 6.05) vs. Webb (0-0, 4.50) |
| FCL Nationals | OFF DAY | @ FCL Marlins, 12 p.m. | |
| DSL Nationals | Lost, 5-2 | @ DSL CLE Blue, 11 a.m. |
Worcester 2 Rochester 1
• Fedde 4IP, 3H, 0R, 1BB, 4K
• Garrett (L, 4-4) ⅔ IP, 1H, 1R, 0ER, 1BB, 1K
• Alu 1-3, R, BB, RBI
• Stevenson 0-3, R, 2SB (26)
The Red Wings were walked off by the (ugh) Woo Sox, 2-1. Erick Fedde made his first appearance since going on the MLB D.L. last month and turned in four scoreless innings, allowing three hits and a walk while fanning four. His outing was cut short by a 59-minute rain delay. Rochester took a 1-0 lead in the 1st as Andrew Stevenson got hit by a pitch, stole second and third, and came around to score on a Jake Alu groundout to first base. That would be the only hit in seven RISP chances as the Red Wings left on 10 baserunners. Worcester evened it at 1-1 in the 7th on four walks, three by Francisco Perez which earned him a blown save. The loss went to Reed Garrett on an error, walk, and two-out single in the 9th.
Roster moves: RHP Erick Fedde assigned from Washington for MLB Rehab.
Harrisburg 7 Altoona 4 – COMP. (11 inn.)
• Teel 2IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 2K
• Peguero (W, 2-5) 2IP, 0H, 0R, 2BB, 2K
• Baker 2-4, 2RBI, SAC
• Martin 1-4, 2R, 3B, 2BB
• Cluff 1-3, R, HR(5), RBI, 2BB
Harrisburg broke out for five runs in the top of the 11th and withstood Altoona’s two-run answer to take the completion, 7-4. Carson Teel and Francys Peguero both turned two scoreless when the game picked back up, with Peguero getting the win. Zach Brzykcy wobbled through the 11th, allowing two runs (one earned) on two hits. He walked none and struck out three. Darren Baker was the sole Senator to have multiple hits as he singled twice and drove in two.
Altoona 3 Harrisburg 2 – GM. 2
• Cate 6IP, 7H, 2R, 2ER, 1BB, 3K
• Fuentes 3IP, 4H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• Schaller (L, 4-6) 1BF, 1H, 1R, 0ER, 0BB, 0K
• Harris 1-3, R, HR, 2RBI
• Hassell 1-3, 2B
In the nightcap, the Curve outlasted the Sens to walk off in the 10th, 3-2, and split the de facto doubleheader. Tim Cate threw his second straight quality start, allowing two runs on seven hits and a walk while fanning three. Steven Fuentes followed with three scoreless, but the Harrisburg bats fell silent after Robert Hassell doubled with one out and Trey Harris homered with two out in the 1st to account for the two Sens runs. Reid Schaller gave up a double to the first and only batter he faced in the 10th for the loss, his sixth.
Wilmington 4 Jersey Shore 2
• Cuevas (W, 5-11) 5IP, 4H, 2R, 2ER, 2BB, 4K, HBP
• C. Romero (H, 3) 2IP, 1H, 0R, 1BB, 3K
• Ferrer (SV, 7) 1IP, 2H, 0R, 0BB, 3K
• Méndez 3-5, 2R
• De La Rosa 2-5, 3B, 2RBI
Wilmington doubled up Jersey Shore, 4-2 to even the series at 1-1. Michael Cuevas picked up his first win in more than a month with five innings of two-run ball on four hits and two walks while striking out four. Carlos Romero (2IP) and Gerardo Carrillo (1IP) built a bridge to the 9th where Jose Ferrer gave up two singles in the space of three batters before striking out the last two batters for his seventh save at High-A. Ricardo Méndez led the Blue Rocks hit parade with three singles and two runs scored while Jeremy De La Rosa singled, tripled, and drove in two to lead the Wilmington offense.
Fredericksburg 3 Lynchburg 1
• Rutledge (W, 6-6) 7IP, 3H, 0R, 2BB, 10K, WP
• Threadgill (SV, 6) 1IP, 1H, 1R, 1ER, 1BB, 0K
• Boisserie 2-3, BB, RBI
• J. Young 2-4, R
Jackson Rutledge struck out as career-high ten batters as he guided the FredNats to a 3-1 win. Rutledge went seven full innings for the third time while rocking up his sixth quality start and sixth win. He allowed three hits and two walks. Cody Greenhill tossed a 1-2-3 eighth for the save while Riggs Threadgill let in a run on a leadoff single but preserved the lead for his sixth save. Branden Boisserie reached base three times with two singles and a walk while Jacob Young had two safeties and scored a run to lead the Fredericksburg offense.
FCL Nationals – OFF DAY
The F-Nats’ magic number is five with four to play. It’s home-and-home today and tomorrow vs. the F-Marlins before matchups against the (as of now) second-place F-Mets on Saturday and Monday.
DSL TEX Red 5 DSL Nationals 2
• Fortunato (L, 0-4) 6IP, 7H, 4R, 0ER, 0BB, 2K
• Moreno 1IP, 0H, 0R, 2BB, 0K
• Mota 2-4, 3E
• Castro 1-3, RBI
• Estrada 1-3, RBI
Six D-Nats errors doomed them to a 5-2 loss against the D-TEX Red supplement squad. 18-y.o. Marcos Fortunato took the loss but went six full innings, allowing seven hits, no walks, and striking out two. Jorgelys Mota had two singled and three errors to lead both the “H” and “E” columns.
Roster moves: DSL Nationals activated RHP Genderson Zapata from the 60-day injured list.
The disappearance of Cole Henry has been resolved. He’s set to undergo Thoracic Outlet Surgery (yes, the same thing as Strasburg).
I hope this definitely ends the disastrous period of drafting devalued injury-prone players.
Speaking of which…. Rutledge has possibly the best start of his career last night. At 23, I think he needs a stiffer test.
Good grief – another one bites the dust.
Their broken arms approach to acquiring pitchers (either through trades or drafting ) has been nothing short of an utter disaster and whoever keeps suggesting this approach should be fired on the spot.
And you really got to question the team’s “vaunted” medical and strength and conditioning staff that Rizzo was gushing over when he revamped it a few years ago.
Ugh
Once again never enough
Pitching producers
Come on Luke Young next campaign along with a short list of guys brass expecting short term sudden success from .
The Latin kids become even more interesting to follow on the mound .
Nats karma is due for finding lighting in a retread like Daniel Ponce de Leon or somebody
Nice Abbott outing yesterday btw
I heard an interview with Henry, he sounds upbeat about the surgery figuring he is still young enough that recovery is more likely.
Rutledge was much sharper last night, 68 strikes on 93 pitches. he’s now pitched more innings this year than his two regular seasons combined. so while he was born 23 years ago, I think you have to weigh that in terms of his development.
nice start for Lipscomb making solid contact, he seems to be in total swing mode. a walk every now and then would be nice.
it’s a shame Cluff can’t hit a lick. he is a wonderful fielder no matter where they put him on the diamond. he’d be a valuable bench player but not hitting a buck two ninety-eight.
Cluff now hitting .208 in 788 at bats, none above AA.
Abrams and Garcia seem to be the SS and 2nd for the future, Ruiz as catcher. Who are the best prospects for 3B and 1B?
1B: Will Frizzell with a measly career OPS of 1.026. He’s pretty old for his level, still has a long way to rise and has hardly played (only 36 games), but he’s shown more power than any other prospect in the system.
1B/3B: Omar Meregildo. He’s never set the world on fire like Frizzell, but he’s been quietly effective. He’s hitting .253/.343/.483 (by the way, happy 25th birthday to him!), and seems to have found some power in the past couple years. He’s hit 36 HR in the past two years (187 games).
3B: Jake Alu. He’s hitting .276/.350/.464 this season across AA/AAA, and can also play 2B in a pinch.
3B: Sammy Infante. A big disappointment so far, but he’s flashed good power at times. Looks like his future is more of a 3B than a SS.
Sammy’s playing 3B already. Hasn’t played any SS this year.
Thanks Will.
Except for possibly Frizzell, not too keen on others for future MLB impact.
A couple wildcards: Nathaniel Leyva Ochoa (getting reps at 3B in FCL), Armando Cruz (his defence was meant to be his strongest skill, but it’s still a work in progress. More likely, he’d shift to 2B rather than 3B), Jhoan Contreras (1B in DSL)
Numerous wildcards @ DSL .
Not really. There’s a dearth of talented hitters in the DSL (as has been the case since 2005). League average OPS in the DSL is .708. The DSL Nats have five above average batters (out of 17. In fact only 7 out of 17 are hitting above .200!): Mota and Contreras (as mentioned), Vaquero (a CF), Winder Diaz (SS) and Misael Mojica (2B). I guess Diaz or Mojica should shift to corner IF. But there’s not much there to get excited about. Even Winder Diaz is a bit of bust. He’s the oldest hitter on the team (turns 20 in 2 weeks), while many of his peers are 17.
For 3B, House and Lipscomb come to mind. Possibly, Jose Sanchez.
The sleeper to watch is Jorgelys Mota. After a slow start he is destroying the DSL at barely 17. 395/439/632 in August. If he does well at instructs, I wonder if they challenge him with full season ball. One thing though is if they think he can learn SS, he should get a ton of time there to find out. 3B seems more likely at his size.
Bossierre is coming on at 1B, but I would love to see TJ White get some reps. There could be a serious OF log jam at the lower levels next year.
When I read last night that Henry was having TOS my first thought was “the end of his career”. Yesterday we were talking of all the Nats prospect who have had TJ surgery in the last few years. The statistics are that minor leaguers who have TJ are far less likely to come back than big leaguers. TOS is much worse than TJ surgery so we can check back with him in 18 months but the odds are long.
Today in the A’s @ Rangers game. Former Nats’ 2016 second round pick, Sheldon Nuese homered off former Nats 2016 first round pick, Dane Dunning. After a poor start to the season, Dunning is pitching well recently as the Rangers have won his last 4 starts (assuming they hang on to their lead today), and his post ASB ERA is under 3.