AFL/Offseason Update: Oct. 10, 2023
The Scorpions got the tying and winning runs into scoring position with a two-out double steal but couldn’t get the clutch hit and fell short, 7-6, to lose their third straight game.
Four Nationals appeared in the game:
- Israel Pineda (pictured below) caught the game, batted 5th, and ended his hitless streak with two singles and two RBI in four trips to the plate. No word on why he chose to challenge the 1B coach to a thumb wrestling match 😉
- Robert Hassell moved down to 8th in the lineup but stayed in RF. He singled, walked, and drove in two.
- Trey Lipscomb was the No. 9 hitter and went 0-for-4 with a run scored. He had a putout and an assist while playing 3B.
- Jack Sinclair (pictured above) was roughed up for two runs in the 8th on two hits and two walks. He struck out two.
Scottsdale falls to 3-3-1 with the loss, which ESPN has learned is a .500 record. The Scorpions host the Saguaros tonight in Scottsdale.
The 2023 DSL Nationals
With all the turmoil and turnover in the front office, it’s a fool’s errand to make any extrapolations as to what the future holds. We correctly predicted in this space that most of the 2021 team would repeat in 2022 but did not venture to guess that the 2023 team would be so new.
There were just eight holdovers from the 2022 squad. After a DSL-worst 11-39 campaign in 2023, the question that must be begged: Did the Nats give up too soon on some of those guys? Not that there’s an acceptable answer to that question. All we have to go on are boxscores, which are only as good as the scorekeeper.
As the old saw goes, if the best thing you can say about a prospect is his age then he probably isn’t a prospect. To that end, this past summer’s D-Nats “bats” were the second-youngest in the league at 17.2 (vs. 17.7). Offensively, they were the worst (3.19 R/G vs. 5.45).
Conversely, the D-Nats arms were both slightly worse than the norm (5.88 vs. 5.45) and slightly older (18.7 vs. 18.6). As you might imagine with such a young group of position players, the defense was 4th worst in the league (.942 FA vs .956) though just like the ’22 backstops, the catchers were above-average at throwing out baserunners (31% vs. 28%) on an average number of steal attempts (124 vs. 119).
As always, we close out with the obligatory Top 5’s…
| TOP 5 BATS | TOP 5 ARMS |
| 1. 17-y.o. Carlos Batista, OF .256 GPA, 30SB, 26R |
1. 19-y.o. Angel Roman, RHRP 1-1, 2 SV; 3.20/3.44/1.04, 1.6 BB/9IP, 7.3 K/9IP in 27⅓ IP (15G) |
| 2. 17-y.o. Carlos Tavares, 1B .246 GPA, .986 FA |
2. 18-y.o. Angel Pena, RHRP 2-0, 0 SV; 3.07/3.50/1.04, 11.7 K/9IP in 14⅔ IP (9G) |
| 3. 17-y.o. Eikel Joaquin, 2B/3B .235 GPA, 20E in 44G |
3. 17-y.o. Leuris Portorreal, RHSP 1-3, 0 SV; 4.79/4.01/1.37, 2.5 BB/9IP, 7.3 K/9IP in 35⅔ IP (11GS) |
| 4. 17-y.o. Andy Acevedo, CF .197 GPA, 23SB, 22R in 47G |
4. 19-y.o. Ramon Cuevas, RHRP 3.44/4.10/1.24, 2.9 BB/9IP, 7.2 K/9IP in 34 IP (14G) |
| 5. 17-y.o. Jermaine Maricuto, DH/1B/C .194 GPA, 0 XBH |
5. 19-y.o. Reilin Ramirez, RHRP 3.26/4.51/1.58, 5.0 BB/9IP in 30⅓ IP (14G, 5GS) |
Obviously, there are no honorable mentions – if anything I prolly should drop this to a single list of five. It’s a little disturbing to see so many pitchers averaging less than a strikeout per inning in an era where that’s just average. Folks interested in seeing the full team’s statistics can find them here.
A pretty positive spin on a positively dreadful ’23 DSL Nats team.
Of the 16 batters (I’m ignoring Luis Arias and his 4 ABs), only one of them (Carlos Batista) was above league average. And just barely. He had a 104 wRC+ (100 is average). Then only two others were even in the realm of mediocrity (Taveras 95 wRC+ and Joaquin 86 wRC+). The rest (13) were genuinely atrocious, and no one had a wRC+ above 60. The team’s collective OPS was .555. The second worst team’s OPS was .069 higher (.624). The team batting average was .189! This was a historically awful team. But it doesn’t end there. They sucked at defence too. They committed the 4th most errors (103 in 52 games), so they weren’t some sleek, defensive-minded team.
It looks like even basic fundamentals were lacking. As we’re clearing house of basically all development and coaching staff, the DSL Nats (especially on the hitting and fielding side) shouldn’t be immune from the cull. In fact, the whole international set up is overdue for an overhaul.
Maybe Israel knows something about the Angels coach maybe coming over to the Nats since this winter will see much inbound
Player development folk migrating east ??
Sinclair sure has that reliever look down with the hair and the beard .
RIP , Wayne Comer
Lee Into the Lens. There is an old Yes album with a song Into the Lens . The album was named DRAMA.
You could say about yourself as the song lyric goes : I am a Camera
Jazzy Jeff just saying ….
Interesting nobody sang out about how Roessler is gone but not Darnell Coles .
Great group. I remember thinking that song was Queen. Had the dramatic Mercury sound.
Trevor Horn filled in for Jon Anderson as Geoff Downes filled in for Rick Wakeman from their one hit wonder group The Boogles ( ?)
Video Killed the Radio Star .
The great song on DRAMA was Tempus Fugit ( time flies )….
“Interesting nobody sang out about how Roessler is gone but not Darnell Coles”
if anybody can figure out what direction they’re going then they’re a lot smarter than me. if analytics is the goal, how is Hickey still there?
Analytics has never been the goal of Davey. And Hickey and Coles are his buddies, so it’s as simple as that. Martinez seems to have full authority to hire “his” staff, after purging the team of organizational guys since 2021.
Former Nats, Doolittle, Kintzler and Cishek, recently did a podcast together and talked about how data averse Hickey is (https://youtu.be/H0_waI5oazs?si=PWf_Ja8ufPrt84IR&t=180). Besides that, it’s an all around interesting listen with a lot of talk of the Nats.
Wow Will that’s great intel
Listen to the Doctor ( Doobie Bros ) and FredMD