NationalsProspects.com

Friday’s News & Notes

Team Yesterday Today Pitching Probables
Rochester Won, 11-2 vs. Buffalo, 6:45 p.m. Rutledge (4-5, 6.82) vs. A. Sanchez (2-5, 10.55)
Harrisburg Lost, 1-0 vs. Altoona, 6 p.m. Theophile (0-1, 1.80) vs. Chen (2-7, 4.38)
Wilmington Lost, 15-3 @ Jersey Shore, 7:05 p.m. Shuman (0-0, 2.70) vs. Klassen (1-1, 3.46)
Fredericksburg Won, 7-2 @ Delmarva, 7:05 p.m. Sthele (2-6, 7.28) vs. Rojas (1-2, 6.38)
FCL Nationals Won, 2-1 vs. FCL Cardinals, 12 p.m.
DSL Nationals Lost, 18-2 @ DSL Blue Jays, 11 a.m.

Rochester 11 Buffalo 2
• Watkins (W, 6-3) 5IP, 4H, 2R, 2ER, 2BB, 7K, HR, WP
• LaSorsa 2IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 2K
• Lipscomb 3-4, 2R, BB, 2B, HR, 2RBI
• Garrett 2-3, 2BB, RBI
• Millas 2-4, 2R, BB
• Call 1-3, R, 2BB, HR(10), 3RBI

Rochester broke open a 6-2 game with a five-run 8th for an 11-2 sportswriter’s win. Spenser Watkins won for the sixth time with five innings of two-run ball on four hits and two walks while striking out seven. Trey Lipscomb was the proverbial triple shy of the cycle as he went 3-for-4 with a double and HR while Stone Garrett reached base four times with two singles and two walks to lead the Red Wings’ 11-hit, 11-walk outburst. Roster moves: DH Joey Meneses optioned from Washington.

Altoona 1 Harrisburg 0
• Lara (L, 4-3) 6IP, 5H, 1R, 1ER, 2BB, 3K
• Acosta 2IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 4K
• Harris 2-3, BB
• Lile 1-4

The Senators’ offensive futility continued as they were shut out Forrest Gump pause again, 1-0. Andry Lara turned in his seventh quality start at AA but came away with his third loss, allowing the Curve run on five hits and two walks over six innings. He struck out three. Daison Acosta added two perfect innings of relief with four whiffs, but that, along with $2, only gets him a coffee. Terone Harris was the sole Harrisburg batter to reach base more than once, as he collected two of the Sens’ five singles and one of the three walks drawn.

Jersey Shore 15 Wilmington 3
• L. Young (L, 2-9) 3IP, 10H, 8R, 7ER, 1BB, 1K, HR
• Collins 1⅔ IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 4K
• White 1-3, R, BB, 2B, RBI
• Naranjo 1-3, R, BB, 2B(5)

Jersey Shore pounded Wilmington for ten runs before the Blue Rocks finally answered with two in the 7th. The BlueClaws responded with a five-spot en route to a 15-3 demolition. Luke Young lost for the ninth time, boiled for eight runs (seven earned) on ten hits (one HR) and a walk. He struck out one. T.J. White extended his hit streak to seven games with his ninth double and a drew a walk to lead the Blue Rocks response. Roster moves: RHP Jarlin Susana promoted from Fredericksburg.



Fredericksburg 7 Delmarva 2
• Davis (W, 2-2) 5IP, 2H, 1R, 1ER, 1BB, 4K, E
• Baldo 1IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 2K
• McHenry 2-5, 2R, 2HR, 3RBI
• Ochoa 2-4, R, BB, 2SB, CS
• Pimentel 2-5, 2K

Make that seven straight win for the FredNats as they winged the Shoerbirds, 7-2. Justin McHenry started the fireworks show early with a solo HR in the first and a two-run HR in the 3rd. That gave Marc Davis enough run support to win with five innings pitched, one run allowed on two hits and a walk, and four strikeouts. Nate Ochoa got off the interstate with two singles and a walk while stealing two bases. McHenry was the only batter not to whiff as the rest of the lineup kept the Delmarva infielders cool 17 times.

FCL Nationals 2 FCL Cardinals 1
• Portorreal 5IP, 0H, 1R, 0ER, 1BB, 6K, HBP
• Dowdell (W, 1-0) 2IP, 0H, 0R, 3BB, 2K
• R. Ramirez (SV, 2) 2IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 2K, WP
• Rivero 1-3, R, BB, HR, RBI
• E. Ramirez 1-3, R, BB, 3B

The FCL Nationals flirted with a combined no-no for seven innings until the FCL Cardinals led off the bottom of the 8th with an infield single. Having taken the lead in the top of the 8th, the no-hitter wasn’t as important as holding the one-run lead. Reilin Ramirez did just that as he stranded that runner and retired the side in order in the 9th for his second save in a 2-1 win. That made a winner out of Kevin Dowdell, a 24-y.o. NDFA and MLFA who walked three over two innings but preserved the 1-1 tie. Starter Leuris Portorreal allowed the lone F-Cards run on a walk and an error in the third. He struck out six and hit a batter over five innings. Yoander Rivero walked and homered while Enmanuel Ramirez walked and tripled to power the the FCL Nationals offense.
Roster moves: C Ivan Murzi released; C Augustin Marcano reassigned from the DSL; UT Jake Alu assigned from Rochester for MiLB Rehab.

DSL Arizona Red 18 DSL Nationals 2
• Reynoso(L, 0-1) 3⅔ IP, 10H, 7R, 4ER, 1BB, 0K, HR, 2WP, BK
• Robles 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 0K
• Obispo 1-3, 2RBI
• A. Feliz 1-2, BB, CS, E(9)

The D-Nats cordero’d around two hits and a wild pitch for a goose egg in the 1st. After that, it was all downhill as the D-AZ Red squad scord in every inning en route to an 18-2 bitch-slapping. Franniel Reynoso took the brunt of the assault, allowing seven runs on 10 hits and one walk over three and a 1/3rd innings. Angel Feliz singled and walked while Juan Obispo drove in both DSL Nationals runs in the 6th to lead the three-hit assault.

32 Commments

  3. the folks on City Isle must be praying for the return of Hassell and Morales. add them to Lile, House and Pinkney in some order 1-5 and I think you would have something

    Pineda’s season a big disappointment

    1. Leodarlyn a real darling of a pitching prospect ?? Colon 6 Ks in 4 frames after the double ML rehabbers tossed , Fred MD

    1. Yes, it’s been announced he’s replacing Meneses.

      My tinfoil conspiracy is that when Yepez signed with us, he had an opt out clause around the All Star Break or Trade Deadline. Now quickly approaching that, the Nats have realized rather than lose him entirely, they’ve promoted him. No real damage, as Meneses has been bad for a very long time now.

      That’s the only way the preceding Millas-for-Adams move makes sense. Millas (.868 OPS) and Adams (.946 OPS) both have superior stats than Yepez (.795) in Rochester. An Adams/Ruiz/Winker platoon at 1B probably wouldn’t be much worse than Meneses defensively, while a significant net upgrade at catcher and to the offensive production.

      But curious to see how Yepez fares. He can’t be much worse than Meneses.

  6. The promotion carousel seems to be speeding up. Only a few players remaining who are really deserving of a promotion. Others have mentioned Sykora, who’s perhaps the last deserving starter after Susana’s promotion, but there’s a handful of relievers too, the most perplexing being Matt Cronin, playing two whole levels below last year’s, and simply dominating batters there. The guy looked primed to join the major league team in 2022 before injuries derailed that. I don’t understand at all why he’s playing in Wilmington of all places…

    Besides Cronin, in Fredericksburg there’s Anthony Arguelles (23 y.o., 0.00 ERA), Bubba Hall (24, 3.14 ERA), Matthew Bollenbacher (24, 3.34 ERA), Moises Diaz (23, 2.11 ERA)

    In Wilmington, there’s Miguel Gomez, who’s already been promoted once, but put up very good numbers (22, 2.91 ERA), and Brendan Collins (24, 3.48 ERA).

    In Harrisburg, there’s Daison Acosta (25, 2.73 ERA) and Jack Sinclair (25, 1.64 ERA).

  7. Would anyone be against trading Hassell, Susana and a recovering Seanz and or Rutledge for Vlad Jr?

    The production this team has gotten from 1st and 3rd Base for the past few years is beyond pathetic . At least we have House coming for 3rd although he’s having a difficult season too

    1. Yes, the Blue Jays front office and the nation of Canada would be against that trade. If/when Toronto trades Vlad Jr., they aren’t looking for middling prospects. It would take an offer of something like Crews, House and Jake Irvin for Vlad. Jr.

      1. Guerrero only has a year and a half of control left. We traded a much better player than Guerrero in Trea Turner with 1.5 years of control left, plus a half of a year of Scherzer for the equivalent of Crews+Irvin (Ruiz+Gray), so I’d expect just Vlad would cost a lot less than that.

        1. Plus, Guerrero has a wRC+ of around 120, which is good but not great.
          Everybody remembers how good he was in 2021 but that’s 3 years ago. No thanks.

      2. Agree , Pilchard
        Plus I still wince thinking of MLB ordering the trade of Big Unit
        The Bartelo Colon trade and even the Ken Singleton trade
        Lol!!

    2. Guerrero becomes a free agent after next season. So he’d only minimally help the Nats, when our window (maybe) opens next season.

      A smarter decision would just be to sign him as a free agent in Winter 2025/26, at no prospect cost.

        1. The problem(s) with Pete Alonso are that he’s about to turn 30, is a one dimensional player (hits dingerz!) who is a poor baserunner and defender and is showing some signs of decline already. He manages to have 18 HRs heading for 30+ and only be on a pace for 2-3 WAR (currently 1.0 bWAR/1.7 fWAR). I mean, if he’s cheap, sure. But he’s going to be looking for a big money/long term deal that will have serious albatross potential.

  8. I wouldn’t trade Hassell, Susana, Saenz, for Vlad. The first baseman has been somewhat inconsistent and would cost a fortune.
    I’d rather take my chances on Morales or hopefully Kurtz in the draft and keep a potential gem in Susana.
    And I am Canadian, although admittedly a Nats fan. I was an Expo fan originally, but imagine you might have guessed that already. LOL!

    2. Considering how often I was checking the Wake Forest website this past year
      Rizzo owes us a Demon Deacon drafting
      A lefty thumper would be nice but
      Yea on Trey

  9. That’s sort of the question I have, and it would be interesting to ponder with this group that knows the Nats’ system pretty well: do you believe that the Nats’ prospects are good enough as a group to get them back into contention, with only some minor free agent additions? Or will a big trade and/or signing or two still be necessary?

    Related, as discussed above, is which prospects would be valued enough by other teams to really move the needle. To me, Wood and Crews are untouchable; they’re the cornerstones. I would listen on anyone else, but I’m not sure how excited other teams would be about them. Some luster is off of House, more is off of Hassell, and you would be selling really low on Green and Vaquero right now. Stock is rising a good bit with Susana and Sykora and some with Lara and Lile. Morales has been hurt and hasn’t shown much yet. All of that to say is that to get anyone of note, it would be a Gio type of deal where they have to give up a lot of guys in return.

    Plus I thought that we’re signing Soto to play 1B . . .

    1. A comp package for the Gio deal from today’s players would be something like Parker and Herz (for Milone and Peacock), Sykora (for Cole), and Lile (for Norris).

    2. I can’t think of any club that was built entirely on the basis of just prospects. the key is the timing of the additions and/or jumping at the right opportunity. then get very lucky. chances are when the addition is made, none of us will have seen it coming.

      the Nats have a sufficient number of possibilities for MLB success in their system but the reality of it will be most don’t make it.

    3. @KW – I agree that’s an interesting question, and one that’s going to govern our deadline and our offseason.

      I think we have enough to pretty much fill out a competitive roster but still need to acquire 2-3 star players. I think there are some really compelling pieces available in FA this year (Soto, Walker, Burnes) and don’t think we should be trying to pull off blockbuster trades until we see how this offseason shakes out. As you mention, to get an actually good player with multiple years of control is extremely expensive. Especially if we rule Crews, House and anyone on the 40 off-limits. The other team would basically demand their choice of 4 or 5 of the remaining guys.

      In general you’re going to be paying a premium at the deadline and that looks especially true this year with fewer sellers than typical. Given our current budget, I’d rather start with signing FAs and see how the system continues to develop. If we’re worried about R5, maybe we can include some mid and low tier prospects with our rentals and get better returns. I count 10 plausible R5 additions, which is kind of wild. And we’ll have only one roster spot after accounting for Crews and 2 FAs. We have a some guys we can DFA, but there are going to be tough choices between, say, risking Alvarez or Ribalta or cutting Adon or Henry.

    4. We definitely need to add some key free agents. Whether that’s Soto-esque players, or “pieces” like Daniel Murphy-esque players, remains to be seen.

      It also remains to be seen where we need to add these free agents. Just like 4 months ago we were debating on this site which free agent pitchers we should be signing and whether or not that should have been this past winter or this upcoming one. Well, in retrospect, it looks like we dodged a bullet in Jordan Montgomery and Blake Snell, and with Irvin, Parker and Gore’s emergence, and Cavalli, Herz, Lord, Lara, plus wildcards in Gray and Henry all in the mix, the rotational depth is looking a lot deeper than it did in March. It’s always a good thing to have a genuine ace, like Corbin Burnes in the rotation, but it’s looking more like a “nice to have” thing than a “need”.

      On the other hand, catching looked like a massively deep position a season ago, and now we don’t seem to have a single major league capable catcher, for differing reasons.

      I’d still wait until next winter before making any big free agent decisions, as those will be the difference between this team being a wild card contender and a world series contender. By then, we may have very different needs to the ones we currently have.

      1. I don’t see them being buyers at the deadline, unless Rizzo can figure out how to insert himself where he’s not really necessary. A. J. Preller is still wondering who stole Trea Turner!

        I would vote that they still need to add two or three higher-quality pieces from the outside, and they’ve certainly got the payroll flexibility to do so, even for a Soto reunion.

        To me, House isn’t off the table. I would say that Crews is. I think they think that he’s going to be a more significant star than what they would get in return. Sometimes you’re right (when they wouldn’t trade a young Soto), sometimes you’re wrong (when they wouldn’t trade a young Robles).

Comments are closed.