Wednesday’s News & Notes

29 Commments

1. Luke I take it you don’t care for Tom .
   You know fans weirder things have happened
   If the Blackhawks can win Conner Bedard with an 11.5 pct lottery chance
   The Pirates can change their mind .
   Luke you mind giving the Webster’s dictionary explanation for
   Over slot vs under slot ??

   1. MLB assigns slot values to each individual pick. Unlike other sports, you are not locked to that value. There is a cap that is the combined value of all of a team’s picks through round 10. Some teams will go overslot with their first pick and go under on later picks to balance it out. Pittsburgh apparently will go underslot with their first pick and spend more on later picks. The thinking being that the total draft class is better even if Skenes < Crews individually.

      There is more to it, but that is the basics of it.

      The Nats tend to go top heavy in both the draft and with IFAs Brady House was overslot for example.

      1. Thanks John

   2. Let’s see what type of a lefty Erik Tolman will be for FRED
      Bubba Hall should bring some
      Hum, baby ( or bubba ) to FRED pen .
      Nice move on the complex experimenting with CV hitting leaf off and the other big prospect number two .

2. For those who don’t subscribe to The Athletic, Keith Law wrote about 2 prospects in Wilmington.

   Brady House is the real deal, he hits the ball so hard that good things happen a lot and even has some home runs at the notorious home park.

   Andry Lara seems to only have a ceiling of High A and did not impress Law at all.

   1. It would not shock me if House is one of the top prospects in baseball by the end of 2024. What people (including Law who was surprised House missed Sunday) do not seem to get is he is not fully healthy. He only plays about 2/3 of the games. He is doing what is doing at barely 20 and not at full strength. I could see him blowing up next year.

   2. watch House’s walk rate, while not terrible at low A he needs to improve this or better pitchers could expose him

3. I thought Cate would be the first Sen reliever heading north but Pegeuro was closing games on City Isle so maybe Tim moves into that role.

   Rutledge needs to trust his stuff and challenge the hitters. he’ll be reuniting with Millas so that will help in the transition.

   1. Cate has only thrown 17⅔ IP and was AWOL for a month+ (5/20-6/23). The Nats are not keen on soft-tossers except as starters, so this doesn’t surprise me at all.

      1. Cate has been stuck in Harrisburg for 3 seasons now and pitched in almost 50 games there. He’s at the step up or shut up phase of his career now. Though it is June and he is in AA where it’s possible to jump straight to the majors.

         1. true but this year is his first as a reliever.

      2. But Cate is also almost 26, he’s thrown 171 IP at AA and 419 in the minors after 210 in college.

         Surely a guy with Cate’s experience should be as ready for AAA as he’s ever gonna get, especially if he’s been throwing well this year.

         Granted, he’s only had 2 1-inning appearances since returning from injury, but once he gets a couple more appearances, he should be on the escalator to AAA.

         1. If they need innings eaten, sure. But the cold, hard truth is Cate hasn’t mastered AA and has been given plenty of chances to do so.

4. Maybe the Nats need some new eyes scouting globally .
   I wouldn’t mind if Skenes fell to two and Nats still took Sprout .

   1. If they can fix Sprout he would be a steal at 40. 4 pitch mix and can touch 100. Control/command is the only issue. Might be another Scherzer if he can figure it out.

5. I’m generally leery of 4-year college players, as there’s usually a reason they go back to school and into the draft one last time. And that reason is rarely because they’re so good.

   But Sprout had a great season and he is obviously physically ready. I’d prefer a lefty, but if he’s the best player on the board at 40, by all means, grab him.

   Cool to see Rutledge move up and I am also surprised Cate wasn’t with him.

   1. Sproat went back to school because of money. The Mets definitely wanted him. Look at the guys skills first, do not just assume he is not good because he is a senior.

6. Particularly if Crews “falls” to them at #2, I think they’ll be hot and heavy for a college pitcher in the second round. There are some good options ranked in that range, as well as some interesting college infielders.

   I thought House was the highest-ceiling hitter in the 2021 draft. There were some contact questions, but not nearly as many as there seemed to be about Green. House would be in AA already if not for all the injuries, but there’s no rush. And as Mark noted, he still needs to work on plate discipline.

   1. Many hitters never should stop learning patience and discernment along with fabs at the concessions stands lol

   2. I disagree on the plate discipline. SSS at Wilmington. Overall his discipline has been very good. I am more concerned with K rate than BB rate which will come as he starts playing more and teams try to pitch around him as he keeps crushing balls.

      1. John I was trying to poke fun at fans who have lousy plate discipline at the concession stand over a long season ..

   3. Actually, the sweet spot for college pitchers is 3rd round. There will be some taken higher because they will sign under slot, but the Nats will likely be going overslot on Crews. Sproat would be at/underslot. They may go slightly over slot in later rounds perhaps for a prep SS like Antonio Anderson.

7. Two other pitchers to watch are Dylan Crews’s teammates Ty Floyd as an underslot sign at 40 (had an amazing CWS game) and Grant Taylor who is recovering from TJS.

   Jaxon Wiggins from Arkansas is another pitcher who had TJS that fits the Rizzo mold.

   Will Sanders from South Carolina could be an underslot sign at 40. Another Rizzo type had a bad season. He was originally rated as a high 1st round pick. I could see him as someone they think they could fix.

   1. John , something else about Wiggens. He’s from Oklahoma .

      1. LOL. You mean “from” as in born there. When I read that I thought wow, I was way off saying Arkansas. Do the Nats have OK connections beyond the Sooners? If so, I hope that would help getting Ethan Holliday in 2025 (assuming they are #1 pick bad next year).

         1. Yes Wiggens from Roland OK

   2. Will, I’d be thrilled if the Nats burned a third rounder on Ty Floyd. He’s probably not a starter in the Bigs but he has good stuff and looks like he could be a great set-up man.

      And I agree that Rizzo burning a 4th rounder or so on a guy recovering from TJ who otherwise would have gone much higher is very likely.

8. The escalator is having a busy day.

   To the FCL Nats: Miguel Gomez (from Fredericksburg), Darren Baker (AAA rehab)

   To Fredericksburg: Matt Merrill (from Wilmington), Erick Tolman (from FCL), Bubba Hall (FCL)

   To Wilmington: Holden Powell (Fredericksburg), Jordy Barley (Rochester), Nick Pogue (yesterday to 7-day DL).

   To Rochester: Jeter Downs (activated from rehab)

   Jackson Rutledge listed on Rochester’s site as starting tonight.

9. Luke
   Lara read your morning write up ?
   Sshhhhhh! 4 IP 3 Ks bs tough Yanx affiliate

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