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Wednesday’s News & Notes

Team Yesterday Today Pitching Probables
Rochester Lost, 3-2 (10 inn.) @ Buffalo, 6:05 p.m. Gore (0-0, 0.00) vs. Lucchesi (0-0, 0.00)

Buffalo 3 Rochester 2 (10 inn.)
• Adon 5IP, 2H, 1R, 1ER, 3BB, 1K, PO @ 1B
• Minaya (L, 0-2) 1IP, 1H, 1R, 0ER, IBB, 0K
• Cronin 2BF, 1H, 0R, IBB, 0K, 2-1 IR-S
• Alu 2-4, 2B, RBI
• Banks 1-3, R, BB, HR(10), RBI

Nick Banks’s 10th HR put Rochester up 2-1 in the top of the 9th. Connor Sadzeck, who had pitched a scoreless 8th, coughed up a one-out solo shot in the 9th to let Buffalo back into the game. After giving up a single to the first batter he faced, Juan Minaya rolled a double play to force extras.

After the Red Wings had the free runner thrown out at home in the top of the 10th, (over)manager Matt LeCroy decided to intentionally walk Irish porn star switch-hitting Cullen Large and his .630 OPS against RHB to load the bases to start the bottom of the 10th. The Bisons sacrificed both runners over. LeCroy called on Matt Cronin to replace Minaya and ordered another intentional walk (both without a single pitch to the batter) to load the bases. Cronin fell behind 3-1 before giving up the game-winner to Addison Barger. The loss was charged to Minaya.

Joan Adon started and went the first five, allowing one run on two hits and three walks. Jake Alu singled, doubled, and drove in the first Red Wings run to extend his hit streak to eight games while Jack Dunn’s single rounded out the Rochester’s four-hit barrage. “Thanks” in part to six walks, the Red Wings went 1-for-10 with eight runners left on base.
Roster moves: RHPs Zach Brzykcy, Roland Herrera reassigned from Harrisburg.

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KEISTER TOSSED OUT ON HIS, WELL, YOU KNOW….

As noted in the comments, longtime manager Tripp Keister was fired this week. As WaPo’s Jess Dougherty noted in the article, this is part of a house-cleaning trend that began last fall with the firings of Mark Scialabba, Tommy Shields, Gary Thurman, Brian Rupp, and Pat Rice.

It’s worth noting that while Keister was at the helm for Harrisburg the past two years and finished last or next-to-last, the talent pool with which he had to work would barely get his feet wet. At Potomac, he won the Carolina League championship in his first season and took the team to the playoffs in 2016 and 2018.

While managing wins/losses are overrated, and the Nats’ drafting woes are well documented, ultimately someone has to take the fall. Given that DeJon Watson was brought in to revamp the minors, this was probably as inevitable as Mike Rizzo hiring someone with ties to the Arizona Diamondbacks.

CHARLESTON WINS 2022 MILLS CUP

It’s probably not the consolation that FredNats fans want to read, but Riverdogs swept the Hillcats two games to none to take the 2022 Mills Cup. In other words, there’s little reason to believe that Fredericksburg would have fared better, particularly as Charleston won 90 games total and was the top pitching team in the Carolina League.

13 Commments

  2. When I saw the callups there was some confusion. Zach Brzykcy certainly deserved a chance to at least see what’s going on in the next level.
    Roland Herrera is just an OG guy, however, who might be with the system next year but is no prospect.

    Jake ‘no respect’ Alu raked again, leaving all of us excited for his next year.

    All year Harrisburg sent out a lineup with at least 5, if not 6, batters with OPS’s of the 500’s. Hard to win with an offense like that.

    1. I wouldn’t read too much in Herrera’s promotion. He was a reliable innings eater, something the Nationals have been desperate to have, as so many others signed to do this. If I were Herrera, I’d stick around next year (probably no better place for a shot at the majors next year), but I wouldn’t be surprised if he leaves, or if the Nations try their hand with another revolving cast of cast offs.

      Where I am a bit confused by is the Nationals’ AFL squad. As I pointed out a few days ago, it’s very, very old. Last year the average hitter was 22.7 and the average pitcher 23.3. This year our hitters are 24.7 (Millas), 23.9 (Antuna), 23.6 (Frizzell), 23.6 (Baker), 21.2 (Hassell), 24.6 (Lindsly). Our hitters are 25.0 (Cate), 24.6 (Ribalta), 24.2 (Willingham), 24.5 (Knowles). Every single player except Hassell is a year or more above the average age. That’s very odd. Even last year our players were substantially younger, batters (25, 24, 23, and 21) and arms (24, 23, 22 and 21), despite being an overall much worse pool of players to choose. Plus strangely there was little emphasis placed on the usual profile (guys who missed significant time to injury, guys who “broke out” and deserved a showcase, high rated prospects, and Rule 5 eligible players). It seems this year Frizzell (missed a good chunk of time and “broke out”) and Hassell (high rated) are the two expected choices. but otherwise the key selection criteria was just R5 eligibility. Otherwise, I don’t understand at all Antuna, Millas and Lindsly’s selections. They’ve all had pretty awful 2022s. There isn’t a chance in hell any would be R5 candidates.

  3. Thanks to Luke for another great year of keeping us updated and giving us a forum to share some thoughts. As noted above, the Sens didn’t have much offense and the standings reflected that. Hopefully more talent will be on the island next year.

    1. Unfortunately, I don’t see relief coming soon to Harrisburg’s offense. Hassell will help, but I’d expect he and Baker won’t be long there. Then the talent at Wilmington is very underwhelming. JDLR will repeat there after really struggling with the jump up. Maybe we see more of good Viandel Pena, Omar Meregildo keeps flashing power, Justin Connell plays a bit better in his second try, or Onix Vega repeats his solid 2022? But I don’t see any of these guys making much of a difference.

      The real talent is going to be in Fredericksburg and Wilmington next season. They won’t reach AA until the 2nd half of the season at soonest, but likely later if they keep with the extremely slow promotion pace that they’ve implemented the past couple seasons.

  5. too bad for Tripp but when you change the guy at the top he’ll want his guys to follow. it was a little surprising to have it happen so quickly but I assume that’s better for him. I guess more will follow in the days to come. frankly, I have no idea how things operate with the pending ownership change.

    as for the AFL roster, it seems like the same comments every year. probably in 29 other cities too.

    Adon may get one more start, he seems to have righted the ship a bit, still loses it in short bursts. a work in progress

  6. The Nats f.o. just released this stat — In September Jake Alu’s OPS is 1.170!!!
    Talk about finishing strongly.

  7. Alas, Scialabba merely got reassigned, not fired, even though he seemed like one of the more incompetent ones. He used to go on and on about guys who just weren’t very good.

    As for Keister, I remember someone posting here a few years ago who had been a bat boy early in Keiter’s days at Potomac. He had a lot praise for Keiter’s patience, encouragement, and teaching. Frankly, that sounds a lot more like what the organization needs than the prehistoric methods of Matt LeCroy.

    Overall, though, I certainly agree with the need to shake up personnel/development. And yet, one of the very best the organization has ever had, Paul Menhart, was totally kicked to the curb. He’s spent this season with the West Virginia Power of the Atlantic League. That’s right, a pitching coach who had a lot to do with his team winning the World Series is riding buses in an independent league.

  8. I know he hasn’t played at an age-appropriate level yet (bringing to mind those six-foot-tall kids in Little League who were already shaving), but I’ve got my fingers crossed about Frizzell. It would be a boon for the organization if they can steal a true power hitter from out of nowhere.

  10. Diever Oliveros 6 foot 7 RHP signed for the DSL hopper
    A lefty and a righty named Angel Peña
    Way to go , Troop – aaaa

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