Thursday’s News & Notes
| Team | Yesterday | Today | Pitching Probables |
| Rochester | Winning, 1-0 | vs. Toledo, 4:05 p.m. | Watkins (1-0, 2.89) and Herz (0-0, 6.14) vs. TBD and Manning (1-0, 1.80) |
| Harrisburg | Won, 5-4 (11 inn.) |
vs. Richmond, 6:30 p.m. | Alvarez (0-1, 2.57) vs. Murphy (0-1, 2.57) |
| Wilmington | Lost, 7-5 | vs. Greenville, 6:35 p.m. | Caceres (0-0, 0.00) vs. Perales (0-1, 9.00) |
| Fredericksburg | Won, 16-7 | vs. Fayetteville, 7:05 p.m. | Atencio (1-0, 2.35) vs. Treadwell (0-1, 15.43) |
Rochester 1 Toledo 0 – SUSP.
• Rutledge 2IP, 1H, 0R, 1BB, 1K
• Wood 1-1, R
• Yepez 1-1, 2B, RBI
Play was suspended in the bottom of the 2nd with Rochester leading Toledo, 1-0. They’ll shoot to finish this one this afternoon for a nine-inning game, then play a seven-inning game afterwards.
Harrisburg 5 Richmond 4 (11 inn.)
• Cuevas 6IP, 7H, 4R, 4ER, 1BB, 2K, HBP
• S. Reyes 2IP, 1H, 0R, 1BB, 4K
• N. Walters (W, 1-0) 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 0K
• Arruda 2-4, 2R, SB
• Barley 1-4, R, 2B, BB, SB
• Garrett 1-2, R, 2BB, RBI
The Senators took advantage of a botched sacrifce in the 11th as Cody Wilson drove in the gamewinner with a two-out single to secure a 5-4 win. Michael Cuevas went the first six frames and let in four runs on seven hits, a walk, and a Robles. He struck out two. The win went to Nash Walters with a 1-2-3 top of the 11th. J.T. Arruda singled twice, scored twice, and stole a base while Action News anchorman Stone Garrett reached base three times on a single and two walks to lead the Harrisburg offense.
Greenville 7 Wilmington 5
• Lara (L, 1-2) 2⅔ IP, 4H, 3R, 0ER, 0BB, 7K
• Arias 2IP, 0H, 0R, 1BB, 4K
• V. Peña 2-2, 2R, 2BB, 2RBI
• Made 1-3, R, 2BB
Wilmington dug itself a 7-1 hole halfway through and made it within two through seven. Alas, the Blue Rocks went in order in the 8th and 9th innings to fall, 7-5. Andry Lara was knocked from the box in the 3rd, having let in three unearned runs “thanks” to errors by Sammy Infante and Kevin Made to lose for the second time in three starts. Viandel Peña reached base four times on two singles and two walks, scored twice, and… wait for it… drove in two while Made walked twice and singled once to lead the four-hit, eight-walk offense.
Fredericksburg 16 Fayetteville 7
• B. Sanchez 2⅓ IP, 0H, 3R, 1ER, 2BB, 3K, HBP, 53-31 PIT-K
• Polanco (W, 2-0) 4IP, 3H, 3R, 3ER, 5BB, 2K, HR
• Glasser 4-6, 4R, 2-2B, 4RBI, 3SB
• Cox 4-6, 3R, 3B, HR, 2RBI, E
• Dugas 2-4, 2R, 2-2B, 2BB, RBI, SB
• Cooper 2-3, 2R, 2BB, RBI
Fredericksburg scored season highs in runs and base hits runs as they schooled Fayetteville, 16-7 on Education Day. Bryan Sanchez got the start but was lifted after two and 1/3rd innings and 53 pitches. Bryan Polanco was credited with the win despite giving up three runs on three hits and five walks over four innings. Tyler Baca was the beer man in the FredNats’ 17-hit parade, led by Brenner Cox and Phillip Glasser, who both went 4-for-6 and combined fpr seven runs and six RBI.
As Glasser and Dugas continue to put up Ted Williams-esque offensive numbers, the urgency of unsticking this small traffic jam in middle infield. The average batter age in the Carolina league is 20.7, while Glasser is 24.4 and Dugas is 23.9. All that to say, they’re far too old to be playing at the level they are, and the results to date prove it.
The problem becomes: where do they fit in Wilmington? Fortunately, both players are rather positionally flexible. Glasser has already played 2B and 3B this season, while being traditionally a SS. Dugas has primarily been a 2B, but at LSU played all over the place, but mostly at LF (or DH) when not at second.
In Wilmington, the offense has sputtered out of the gates, with a team slash of .210/.326/.303 (funnily enough, both Glasser and Dugas’s SLG alone is higher than Wilmington’s collective OPS!). At 2B, it’s been split between Marcus Brown (another ’23 draftee) and Viandel Pena, though interestingly Pena has recently moved to CF, a new positional development for him, to replace Nunez during his injury, as it seems the team isn’t confident in using Lile, McKenzie or J. Thomas there… Brown, however, has been mired in an awful start, hitting only .050/.174/.100 so far. That’s a pretty obvious swap solution. But where does the other position come from?
Well, Johnathon Thomas would be another relatively obvious candidate. Hitting only .136/.269/.136, Thomas isn’t good enough defensively to play CF (the majority of his games have come in LF), and with his Billy Hamilton/Nyjer Morgan-esque bat/speed profile, that doesn’t really work at a corner position, unfortunately.
Another spot would be at DH. The primary DH is Branden Boissiere, who’s currently slugging .250 and across a 230 game MILB career has a SLG of .335…
I’ll be curious to see when the shoe drops here. The catcher carousel already began, partly out of necessity. But how long will Glasser and Dugas need to hit above .400 before they get the nod?
How many have thought this about the Fred Nats red hats with powder blue tops resembling more of a Phillies affiliate than a Nats one
I wonder how much more they need of see of Pena, he has to be at 2nd and hasn’t shown much at the plate other than the ability to take a walk. Infante is right behind him in my mind as well. McHenry?
Given that neither Dugas nor Glasser seem to be best suited to play 3B (Glasser never played there, college included, until a week ago, and Dugas only 4 games and doesn’t have the best defensive reputation at 2B, as it is), I don’t mind Infante getting a longer look there, but Pena shouldn’t be any impediment at 2B. He has a collective line of .219/.336/.294 in his third season in Wilmington. His window should have shut last year, but the new wrinkle of Pena-as-a-CF is a surprise, and since there’s seemingly no one else capable of playing there (Lile included), I’m not opposed to let him eat innings there. McHenry, no offense to him, but he’s a career .211 hitter and an UDFA. He should come behind 6th and 10th round draft picks, in terms of priority.
Atencio!!!
Small ball works in the Grand Canyon
RIP Whitey Herzog
He’d like the concept in Wilmington
White and spray hitters and rabbits
An update on our R5 minor league picks. They’ve been surprisingly good so far!
Samuel Vazquez (A, RP): 3.86 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, 4:1 K:BB
Wander Arias (A+, RP): 0.00 ERA, 0.88 WHIP, 7:3 K:BB
Daison Acosta (AA, RP): 0.00 ERA, 0.79 WHIP, 7:1 K:BB
Moises Gallardo: hasn’t appeared yet, will presumably begin the season in the FCL
Interestingly, all 4 guys are repeating the level they spent all or the majority of last season at, so perhaps the good results are a bit diminished due to that. But a positive start! Especially after the Nats being inexplicably one of 3 teams to not draft anyone in the R5 minor league draft last season.
V Peña I recall Peña playing OF before
Last season or prior .
What pitch was working for Lara to rack up the 7 Ks?
Lara got swings and misses on his fastball, slider and change. after all the worry about his low K rate, he seems to have changed his approach early on this year. now if he can find the proper balance and go a little deeper into the games he could be on to something.