Wednesday’s News & Notes
| Team | Yesterday | Today | Pitching Probables |
| Rochester | Lost, 15-9 | @ St. Paul, 7:37 p.m. | Watkins (1-0, 5.40) vs. Gunkel (0-2, 6.39) |
| Harrisburg | Won, 4-3 | @ Erie, 1:05 p.m. | Alvarez (0-2, 4.63) vs. Madden (0-0, 3.55) |
| Wilmington | Lost, 5-0 | @ Brooklyn, 7 p.m. | Cáceres (0-0, 3.60) vs. Hall (0-2, 10.61) |
| Fredericksburg | Won, 6-0 | @ Delmava, 7:05 p.m. | B. Sanchez (0-0, 5.79) vs. Gibson (0-1, 4.63) |
St. Paul 15 Rochester 9
• Rutledge (L, 1-1) 2+ IP, 6H, 9R, 9ER, 5BB, 2K, HR
• Yepez 2-4, R, 2BB, 2B, 2RBI
• Lindsly 2-4, R, BB, RBI
• Cluff 2-5, RBI
Rochester is still not feeling Minnesota as they dropped their seventh straight to St. Paul on the road with a 15-9 count. Jackson Rutledge was crucified for nine runs on six hits (one HR) and five walks over two-plus innings. Three veteran relievers followed but none went unscathed. Every Red Wings batter had a hit, five had multiple hits, and five of the 15 hits were for extra bases but just five of those hits came in 20 RISP chances, which led to 14 runners left on base. Roster moves: RHP Jacob Barnes added to 40-man roster, recalled to Washington; UT Jake Alu designated for assignment; IF Jackson Cluff activated from the 7-day I.L.
Harrisburg 4 Erie 3
• Cuevas (W, 1-0) 5IP, 1H, 0R, 5BB, 2K
• Walters (SV, 1) 1IP, 0H, 0R, 1BB, 3K
• House 1-3, 2R, BB, HR, 3RBI
• Hassell 2-3, R
The Senators and Seawolves waited out a 43-minute rain delay to play to a 4-3 Harrisburg win in the series opener. Michael Cuevas walked five but gave up just one hit in five scoreless innings to get the win. Brady House extended the 1-0 lead to 4-0 with an Earl Weaver special in the 6th. After Ty Tice let Eries back in the game with three in the 8th, Nash Walters worked around a one-out walk by striking out the side to earn the save. Robert Hassell singled twice and scored a run while Keibert Ruiz singled to round out the four-hit barrage. Dylan Crews remains on the side of a milk carton with his fifth straight missed game. Roster moves: C Keibert Ruiz assigned from Washington for MLB Rehab.
Brooklyn 5 Wilmington 0
• Lara (L, 1-3) 5IP, 4H, 3R, 3ER, 3BB, 9K, WP, PO @ 1B
• Zinn 2IP, 1H, 1R, 0ER, 1BB, 2K
• Lile 2-4, SB, E
• Stehly 1-2
Wilmington’s four-game win streak came to an end with a 5-0 shutout loss to Brooklyn. Andry Lara tied his career high with nine strikeouts but lost for the third time in four starts with three runs allowed on four hits over five innings. Daylen Lile singled twice and stole a base to lead the five-hit, one-walk offense with six left on base. Roster moves: UT Paul Witt reassigned from Harrisburg..
Fredericksburg 6 Delmarva 0
• Polanco (W, 1-0) 5IP, 3H, 0R, 3BB, 6K
• M. Diaz (H, 1) 2IP, 1H, 0R, 1BB, 1K
• Cruz 3-5, 2R, 3SB
• Green 2-4, BB, 2B, RBI, 2SB
• Glasser 2-6, R, 2B, 2RBI, GIDP
Three FredNats pitchers combined to shut out the Shortbirds, 6-0, on four hits. Starter and winning pitcher Bryan Polanco went the first five and allowed three hits and three walks while striking out three. Moises Diaz and Thomas Schultz both put up two goose eggs with Diaz earning the hold. Armando Cruz led the Fredericksburg track meet (10 stolen bases) and the FredNats hit column with three singles and three swipes while Elijah Green doubled, singled, and walked, and stole two bases.
What the heck is this flu going around the clubhouse that has not only forced two players to go on the IL, but also required a rehab stint upon recovery from the bout with the flu!
Unfortunately, that flu has forced the club to DFA Alu to make space for Jacob Barnes. Alu hasn’t done himself any favors, but neither have the Nats, using him everywhere except his best defensive position (coincidentally the Nats’ weakest). But I’m hopeful he’ll pass through waivers.
I’ve also realized we have a really poorly constructed 40 man roster. There are currently 5 arms in Rochester on the 40 man roster, but four of them (Adon, Rutledge, Herz, and Ward) are SPs (as well as Henry in Harrisburg). Willingham is the only reliever, and for whatever reason he was passed over for Barnes. Our rotation has been remarkably healthy these past couple seasons, so this rotation depth isn’t doing the club much help. Meanwhile one injury to any arm in the bullpen will require another tough DFA decision, which would have to be Call. After that… it has to be one of the aforementioned starters or Lipscomb? Yikes. (Or better yet, be done with this failed Nunez experiment, but Rizzo seems loath to do that, as evidenced by DFA’ing Alu instead)
An easy solution would be to convert this starter depth into bullpen depth, and experiment with one of the guys in AAA (or Henry) in relief. Or, better yet, Corbin or Williams in the majors. But I know that’s not a popular opinion around here, but I don’t know what the solution is besides hoping no relievers get hurt/perform really poorly.
after a sloppy second inning Lara faced the minimum over the last three with 7Ks. very nice outing on another cold and windy night.
Rutledge needs a reset and quick.
the boys in Erie played all night in a 50 degree drizzle. glad no one was hurt and good to see Hassell turning on pitches, both hits to right.
Cruz looks like a different player at the plate, much better approach though not hitting for any power.
Nice photo milk Carton meme Luke
I’d bet a nickel that Alu ends up with the Red Sox . His talent fits their “ brand “.
being a BC boy won’t hurt either. still, I think he goes unclaimed
Bobby Dalbec has a chance of being the worst player in the MLB right now, so it’s a pretty good shout, actually. Even if Alu never turns into a great player, he can definitely out do Dalbec’s current line of .031/.114/.063 and 51 K%.
FredMD ty for the 411
Good showing for Lara on a cold night
Shall we just chalk up a very off night in St Paul ?? Burn some incense and sage in the visitors clubhouse ??
I was going to say the FNats are tearing up the base paths. They’re currently a remarkable 37 for 40 in SB attempts. But then I saw that’s only the 3rd most in the Carolina League. The Hillcats have actually already attempted to steal 59 bases this season! In general, SB attempts are way up from an average of 2.14/G last season to 2.55/G this season. That’s nearly double the rate of the International League, and both the Sally and Eastern Leagues are also well below 2 attempts per game. Were there changes to the rules in the Carolina League this year to cause such a big jump?
Occam’s Razor suggests that the trend of bat-first backstops is about to end.
Any word on JDL in XST?
I know it’s early, but If it wasn’t already obvious, we have zero quality pitching prospects – from top to bottom.
Can anybody name even one that we can pin our hopes on?
The few that might have shown some glimmer of hope (although flawed) have actually gone backwards.
Rutledge has been an utter disaster, Sussana for all his stuff, doesn’t dominate as he should and can barely make it past the 4th inning, Herz still with the walks, Henry is a complete longshot at this point, Lara is still an enigma…
Who’s left? Cavalli still working way back from TJ?
Very, very concerning….
And before anyone mentions Parker, let’s wait a little as i find it hard to believe he suddenly cured his walkitis disease.
I won’t even mention the big league staff as the way Gray is pitching it’s looking more and more like we got utterly hosed in the Turner/Sherzer
I suspect that you and I define “quality pitching prospects” differently
Outside of Cavalli, the Nats best pitching prospect is Travis Sykora, and just today, he was added to F’burg Nats roster. Will be fun to follow him.
Nope. Not officially at least.
Jordan Walker getting optioned back to AAA shows just how hard this game is, as if we didn’t know already
Walker and Wood have a lot of similarities.
Sullivan and Agostini go on full season injury list, Gomez up to A+, Bollenbacher assigned to Fred roster. I’ve seen a post that Sykora is also heading to Fred but no transaction listed yet
Evan Lee’s release is now a listed transaction. Sad to see that he and Tetreault got hurt shortly after they made their Nats debuts in 2022.
Lipscomb recalled to DC.
Curious to see these OF configurations. Will Gallo get moved back to the OF?
Yep. Gallo is playing RF tonight and Lipscomb is playing 1st base… Hmmm… Maybe it’s just me, but wouldn’t the lineup be better the James Wood in the OF?
BTW, the Nasim Nunez experiment has to end. Understand the Nats aren’t going to win the 2024 World Series, but when the Nats do contend, it’s not going to be Nasim Nunez playing middle-infield either. Just assinine to have a guy who would be overwhelmed at AAA, taking up a roster spot on an MLB team. The Marlins are cheap; if the Nats want him that badly offer up a cash transaction to keep the Fish from taking Nunez back.