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Thursday’s News & Notes

Team Yesterday Today Pitching Probables
Rochester Won, 10-8;
Lost, 4-2		 @ Worcester, 6:45 p.m. Ureña (1-2, 6.09) vs. Lamet (0-0, 4.82)
Harrisburg Lost, 3-1 vs. Altoona, 6:30 p.m. Troop (3-7, 4.00) vs. Solometo (1-2, 3.04)
Wilmington Lost, 3-0 @ Brooklyn, 7 p.m. Lord (1-0, 0.00) vs. Ventura (0-0, 3.68)
Fredericksburg Lost, 10-5 vs. Myrtle Beach, 7:05 p.m. Tolman (0-1, 3.86) vs. Rujano (0-1, 3.00)
FCL Nationals OFF DAY @ FCL Astros, 12 p.m.
DSL Nationals Won, 4-3
(8 inn.)		 @ DSL Tigers 1, 10 a.m.

Rochester 10 Worcester 8
• Rutledge 4IP, 7H, 5R, 4ER, 2BB, 4K, HR, 2HBP, WP
• L. Reyes (W, 5-0) ⅔ IP, 3H, 2R, 2ER, 1BB, 1K, 1-1 IR-S
• Cessa (SV, 2) 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• Hill 3-4, 2R, 2B, SB
• Millas 2-3, 2R, BB, 2B, SB
• Dunn 2-4, R, 2RBI

The Red Wings put up three-spots in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th and withstood the answers of the (ugh) Woo Sox for a 10-8 win in the opener. Jackson Rutledge went the first four innings and was charged with five runs (four earned) on seven hits and two walks. He hit two batters and struck out four. Luis Reyes vultured the win despite giving up an inherited runner and two runs of his own as he retired two of six batters faced in the 5th. Derek Hill extended his hit streak to 12 games with two singles and a double while Drew Millas also reached base three times with a single, a walk, and a double to lead Rochester’s 10-hit parade.

Worcester 4 Rochester 2
• R. Muñoz 2IP, 0H, 1R, 1ER, 2BB, 3K, 2WP, PTV
• Mengden 2IP, 2H, 0R, 1BB, 3K
• Mejia 2-4, R, 2B, E
• Downs 1-3, 2B, CS

In the “aftercap,” Worcester broke open a 1-0 game with two in the bottom of the 5th and held off Rochester for a 4-2 win to split the doubleheader. Roddery Muñoz made his first start for the Red Wings and “worked on some things” for a run on two walks and two wild pitches. He would take the loss when his teammates waited until the 6th to score. Erick Mejia led the offense with a single and a double, followed by Jeter Downs with a double to raise his BA to a whopping .180. Roster moves: RHP Amos Willingham optioned from Washington; RHP Andrés Machado added to the 40-man, recalled to Washington (Victor Robles transferred to the 60-day I.L.).

Altoona 3 Harrisburg 1
• Saenz (L, 0-4) 5IP, 7H, 3R, 3ER, 1BB, 2K
• Ruotolo 2IP, 0H, 0R, 1BB, 4K
• Wood 2-4, 3B, RBI
• Arruda 2-4, SB

The Curve broke a 1-1 tie with two in the 5th and held off the Senators for a 3-1 win. Dustin Saenz took the loss, his fourth at AA, with all three Altoon runs let in on seven hits and a walk. He struck out two. James Wood, J.T. Arruda, and Brady Lindsly each went 2-for-4 with Wood delivering the lone Harrisburg run with an RBI that scored Jacob Young from 1st base in the bottom of the 1st. The Sens went 0-for-4 with RISP and left on eight.

Brooklyn 3 Wilmington 0
• Alvarez (L, 5-3) 5IP, 6H, 3R, 3ER, 0BB, 5K, HR, HBP
• Zinn 2IP, 0H, 0R, 1BB, 0K
• Stehly 1-2, 2BB
• McKenzie 1-2, BB

Wilmington was shut out for the eighth time this season with Brooklyn doing the blanking, 3-0 on three hits. Andrew Alvarez gave up all three runs and six hits (one HR) over five innings to take the loss, his third. Murphy Stehly, Jared McKenzie, and Israel Pineda each had single. McKenzie had the one hit in eight RISP chances as the Blue Rocks were unable to take advantage of the eight walks drawn and thus left on 11 baserunners.

Myrtle Beach 10 Fredericksburg 5
• Cornelio (L, 2-7) 4⅔ IP, 8H, 8R, 3ER, 4BB, 4K, HR
• Hall 2IP, 5H, 0R, 0BB, 4K
• Romero 3-4, 2R, BB, E(3)
• Lawson 2-4, BB, 2RBI, E(18)
• McHenry 2-4, R, BB

The Pelicans snapped a 2-2 tie with a six-run 4th as they doubled up the FredNats, 10-5. Riley Cornelio took the brunt of the beating, allowing eight runs on eight hits (one HR) and four walks over four and 2/3rds innings. Max Romero led the Fredericksburg attack with three singles and a walk, followed by Cortland Lawson with two safeties and a base-on-balls.



FCL Nationals – OFF DAY
As expected, the releases are beginning. Yesterday, IF Erick Tejeda was sent packing after four seasons in the short-season leagues – two in the DSL, two in the FCL.

DSL Nationals 4 DSL Rockies 3 (8 inn.)
• Roman 4IP, 3H, 1R, 1ER, 1BB, 1K
• C. Martina (BS, 2; W, 1-2) ⅔ IP, H, 0R, 1BB, 0K, 1-1 IR-S
• Obispo 2-4, R, 2B, RBI
• E. Soto 2-4, 2-2B

Picking up where they leff off last week, the D-Nats rallied for two to take a 3-2 lead in the 5th. The DSL Rockies tied it in the 8th but the DSL Nationals defied the odds and got the game-winner on a leadoff double by Juan Obispo and a one-out triple by Eikel Joaquin for a 4-3 lead. Lightning crashes and old mother dies struck to stop play in the 8th and the officials eventually called it to give the D-Nats the win.

13 Commments

  1. I have the district feeling that the Nats ( barring a trade , lightning striking or old mother Hubbard dying ) will be facing the likes of the Brooklyn Cyclone RHP Mets prospect in years ahead in Bigs
    You get the feeling Alvarez takes the mound feeling the need to be perfect since his mates rarely get him runs ??
    The trade of Lucas G ( and Rey Lopez ) agsin in their careers reminds me of a high schooler drafted number one with questions about his development plane .
    Enter the sandman or our big Tall Texan from Round Rock Travis Sykorska
    May he ascend faster than Lucas .
    Hmmm angel pitching prospect possibilities versus Marlin
    Work it , Mr Rizzo !

  2. good for Willingham getting a taste of the show, hopefully he finishes strong in AAA.

    Rutledge had a good fastball, decent breaking pitches and no change-up at all. left a couple of fastballs up in the fifth for two of the few hard hit balls and he was done. still adjusting to AAA, second game with modified delivery. not discouraged

    2. I find myself (and others) forgetting that Rutledge spent all of last season in low A, and struggling (4.90 ERA). It’s pretty remarkable that he’s now at AAA. He’s still got a ways to go to prove that he can be a starter in the majors, but he’s getting there.

      Yes, I’m sure that a lot of Nat fans chuckled at seeing Giolito and Lopez traded together. Giolito is a SoCal kid, so he and his family are probably excited. Lopez hasn’t quite lived up to expectations but remains the best Latin pitcher that the Nat system has produced. If only Fedde had been included in the Eaton trade instead of any of the other three . . .

  3. 2022’s pitching draft class isn’t having a good start to their professional careers.

    Jake Bennett had a fantastic start but hasn’t been seen in over a month now. His mini break is looking like a serious injury, otherwise it makes little sense to limit his innings so severely. He’s only thrown 42 so far, and with the reins completely off, at this point he’d struggle to get to 100.

    Riley Cornelio was supposed to be more polished, but has struggled in low A with a 4.88 ERA.

    Chance Huff, one of the few arms to appear last year has been awful in A+ with a 7.06 ERA.

    Luke Young has also struggled in low A (4.70 ERA) but coming from JC he’s a bit more age appropriate for the level.

    Marquis Grissom has battled injury but looked good since returning with a 2.66 ERA in low A. Also young (21).

    Kyle Luckham has also struggled to find consistency in A+ but flashed positive signs with a 4.57 ERA.

    Lastly Brad Lord wasn’t missing many bats in low A but just got a promotion to Wilmington. But I guess for an 18th rounder it’s as good as can be expected.

    On the batting side, we’d better hope Lipscomb keeps hitting, because there’s scant positives there too.

  4. Is Jake Alu injured? He didn’t appear yesterday in a doubleheader nor in the game before that. I was expecting that he’d been promoted again, but that’s not the case.

    If so, that would be the absolute worst timing for him to get injured.

  5. Still no appearances in West Palm for this year’s draftees. In other words, no actual rookies in the Rookie League. I thought the whole point of the quick draft singing deadline was to optimize the rookie season to get more of them playing time in the minors the year they were drafted.

    1. No, the point of the quick signing deadline was to get the picks signed quickly and not have negotiations drag for ~two months. In other words, to keep down the costs.

  6. I have been nerdily scouring the top prospects lists of potential Nats trade partners – no clue what Candelario, Thomas et al will get in return, but odds are very strong they’ll be top 10 prospects from the trade partners. Here’s hoping for a bountiful haul.

    1. Rankings within individual farm systems are quite relative. The Chisox supposedly got two of the more highly ranked prospects from the Angels’ system . . . but the Angels’ system is the worst in baseball.

      I’m not really expecting a great return for the Nats this year. They’ll do well to get someone around the quality of de la Rosa, who I consider very borderline to make the majors. If they do better than that, I’ll be impressed.

      1. A few of the trade sages/sites out there believe that the Marlins are in for Candy. If this is the case, they inter-division tax Rizzo would extract may be enough to get something like a Dax Fulton.

        Given this is looking like a seller’s market, one, maybe even two AAA pitchers with potential swingman/back of rotation potential isn’t out of the question.

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