Tuesday’s News & Notes
| Team | Yesterday | Today | Pitching Probables |
| Rochester | OFF DAY | OFF DAY | N/A |
| Harrisburg | OFF DAY | OFF DAY | N/A |
| Wilmington | OFF DAY | OFF DAY | N/A |
| Fredericksburg | OFF DAY | OFF DAY | N/A |
| FCL Nationals | Lost, 12-1 | OFF DAY | |
| DSL Nationals | Lost, 6-2 | @ DSL Guardians Blue, 11 a.m. |
Rochester Red Wings, 34-39, 6th Place I.L. East, 13½ GB
The half system comes to AAA this season as MLB tries to interject false excitement for what most seamheads know is a glorified taxi squad. As noted in the comments, Amos Willingham becomes the latest late-round guy to get his ticket punched to The Show while Chad Kuhl was shown the door. With the big club dead last in the N.L. East and the Wild Card standings, odds are someone else will get the call that they might not have gotten otherwise if/when GM Mike Rizzo is able to get any takers for the non-pitchers at the trade deadline. Roster moves: RHP Amos Willingham added to 40-man roster, recalled by Washington; RHP Paolo Espino optioned from Washington.
Harrisburg Senators, 31-37, 5th Place E.L. Southwest, 6GB
Harrisburg had a brief window of opportunity to finsh in the top half of its division, but dropped four of six to eventual 1st-half champion Erie then five of six to Richmond to finish only a 1/2 game out of last place. There’s no mystery as to why: Like most of the affiliates, the Senators struggle on offense and while the pitching is good, it’s not good enough to make up for the lack of hitting.
Wilmington Blue Rocks, 1-2, T4th Place Sally Lg. North, 1GB – 30-37 overall
It’s almost precisely the same story for the Blue Rocks as the Senators, though the hitting is a little better. Though Wilmington has “lost” three of its top hitters, the second half will be about seeing the two 20-y.o.’s—Brady House and T.J. White—mature and develop while hoping that 20-y.o. Andry Lara can start to go 5-6 innings consistently without allowing more than 2-3 runs.
Fredericksburg Nationals, 0-3, 6th place, 2GB, C.L. North – 30-36 overall
Believe it or not, while the Fredericksburg offense may seem mighty, it’s actually a hair below league average (4.59 R/G vs. 4.60 R/G). The pitching, on the other hand, has been varying degrees of awful. Ten pitchers have made three starts or more. Just three of those have had FIPs under 4. Eight relievers have averaged a WHIP of 1.5 or worse, “led” by Mason Denaburg at 2.33. The FredNats may get some help from the FCL, though it could be offset by the likes of Daylen Lile getting promoted or Branden Boisserie backfilling Will Frizzell’s return to AA.
FCL Cardinals 12 FCL Nationals 1
• Agostini (L, 0-2) 5IP, 4H, 4R, 4ER, 2BB, 7K, HR, HBP
• Dyson ⅓ IP, 1H, 5R, 5ER, 3BB, 0K, HBP
• Geraldo 1-3, R, 2B
• Vaquero 1-4, RBI
The F-Cards dropped an eight-spot on the F-Nats in the 6th to turn a 4-1 game into a 12-1 laugher. Gabriel Agostini took the loss, allowing four runs on four hits (one HR) and two while striking out seven and hitting a batter. Angel Geraldo led off the 6th with a double and came around two score on Crithian Vaquero’s two-out single to break up the shutout.
DSL Royals Blue 6 DSL Nationals 2
• Farias (L, 0-2) 3IP, 7H, 4R, 4ER, 1BB, 3K
• C. Martina 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• Cabrera 1-2, R, BB, SB, CS
• Rosario 1-3, RBI, SB
The DSL Nationals reverted to form and lost for the 15th time in 16 games.
Bleak stuff from the DSL Nats. I haven’t been able to ascertain that any pitchers on this team are meant to be any good (a high signing bonus), but there are a few batters that have featured on various prospect lists:
Andy Acevedo, the crown jewel of the 2022 IFAs, OF: .130/.216/.130 (42% K%)
Dashyll Tejeda, OF: .140/.260/.163
Carlos Batista, OF: .353/.436/.529
Edwin Solano, SS: .111/.267/.139
Elian Soto, OF: .200/.260/.222 (46% K%)
That’s…. not encouraging. Among other batters, only Carlos Taveras, 1B is worth noting, hitting .310/.453/.333. Only one other hitter on the team has an OPS above .600.
The arms are no better. 17 players have pitched for the team. 3 have an ERA below 4.50. One of those 3, Gustavo Rivas, threw exactly one game, and then was transferred to the 60 day IL. The other two are:
Leuris Portorreal: 2.51 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 14.1 IP, 13 K, 2 BB
Henry Moreno: 2.70 ERA, 1.40 WHIP, 10 IP, 9 K, 6 BB
Tyler Dyson’s return from injury isn’t going well. He’s now featured in 6 games, sporting a 11.00 ERA and more walks (13) than innings (9) or strikeouts (11).
Meanwhile, where the heck did Everett Cooper come from? He was drafted in the 16th round out of HS. I don’t know how I completely missed this, but after a very slow start last year, he’s started the season extremely well. It’s only 19 ABs so far so caveats aplenty, but he’s hitting .421/.476/.474 so far. Impressive for a 19 year old playing 2B.
It’s a long rebuild with frustration calling for patience and much humor
I’m echoing somebody ejse recently
Trade JC Thomas and other chips
Go for the youth in Alu and others
Hood for the ping pong ball lottery number 1 to pop up for 2024
Hope not hood
Upon further review, the A’s and Royals were not in the lottery this year so they are lottery eligible in 2024.
I think the highest the Nats can draft in 2024 is #7. Teams that contribute revenue (or receive) in the revenue sharing program can’t be in the lottery two years in a row, and the lottery determines the top six picks. This would also exclude the A’s, Royals, Pirates, maybe the Reds too?
John B Schloop : 7 wouldn’t be bad slot for another tank year amidst the silly lottery system .
So if Rizzo has his cell blow up right before trade deadline
How many players could get moved
3 relievers or two ?
Thomas , JC , maybe Smith for
A case of beer and Spaulding baseballs ?
Congratulations to Amos Willingham, it’s always a good day when a 17th round pick makes it to the show.
Dylan Crews was really good last night for LSU.
Kid has wheels. He may not be Trea Turner fast, but he’s close. Definitely a legit CF, too. And, of course, he can rake. A .426 batting average, and .713 slugging.
I had pretty much assumed Crews was going to the Pirates so I have been making peace with the idea of the Nats selecting Paul Skenes, and I’d still love that. But if the Pirates switch things up and take Skenes, Crews would be a welcome addition to the Nats system.
Wyatt Langford, widely assumed to be the No. 3 pick, homered last night, too. He’s not as fast as Crews but he can hit. He’ll be a damn good pro.
I repeat what the booth said the other game
His eyes are off the chart when it comes to the LSU eyes program
An off day tidbit to chuckle at
Derek Hill wearing good ole number 34
Now my gut is telling me Crews at two and Sprout at number forty
Maybe the organic food chain can sponsor a kiddie corp
Sprout s sprouts
Luke you bring up a good point in your
Midway acessment
The support talent needs to elevate their game TJ White great example .
You never know core talent msy not awaken until next season when the new draft talent is shuffled into the deck .
Repeat I really like Sprout out of Florida even if the good MD Fred is as silent as a church mouse today .
Hello friend, out and about today and didn’t get to see a lot of CWS.
while the first half wasn’t kind to our teams I see reason for hope in the second half. I hope they jettison some of the MiLB free agents to clear space for real prospects