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Wednesday’s News & Notes

Team Yesterday Today Pitching Probables
Rochester Won, 9-4 @ Lehigh Valley, 7:05 p.m. Stuart (AAA debut) vs. Tyler (5-2, 2.95)
Harrisburg Lost, 9-2 @ Akron, 6:35 p.m. Lara (8-5, 3.94) vs. Denholm (1-1, 7.20)
Wilmington Lost, 10-0 @ Hudson Valley, 6:35 p.m. Cornelio (6-10, 5.90) vs. Grosz (2-1, 3.07)
Fredericksburg Won, 6-4 @ Columbia, 7:05 p.m. Clemmey (1-5, 4.81) vs. Veliz (1-3, 7.01)
DSL Nationals Lost, 6-5 END OF SEASON

Rochester 9 Lehigh Valley 4
• Ward (W, 7-4) 5IP, 3H, 2R, 2ER, 4BB, 6K, HR, WP
• Willingham 2IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 3K
• Garrett 2-2, R, 3BB
• Millas 2-4, 2R, 2B, HR, BB, 2RBI
• Kieboom 2-4, 2R, BB, RBI

The Red Wings scored eight runs on three longballs in a 9-4 rout of the IronPigs. Thad Ward turned in five innings of two-run ball on three hits (one HR) and four walks while striking out six to win his seventh game. Dylan Crews extended his on-base streak to 13 games with his 8th HR while Darren Baker singled to extend his hit streak to 11. Drew Millas and Joey Meneses also went deep as Rochester marched to an 11-hit parade.

Akron 9 Harrisburg 2
• Saenz (L, 0-3) 2⅓ IP, 6H, 4R, 4ER, 4BB, 3K
• Peterson 1⅔ IP, 0H, 0R, 2BB, 2K, 3-1 IR-S
• Lile 2-4, 2B
• Hassell 2-5, CS

A five-run 7th put this one away for Akron in a 9-2 win over Harrisburg. Dustin Saenz didn’t make it to the 4th inning for the fourth straight start as he dug a 4-1 hole instead on six hits and four walks over two and a 1/3rd. He struck out three while lowering ERA to 19.89. The Senators racked up nine hits, led by Daylen Lile with a single and a double and Robert Hassell with two safeties, but went 2-for-12 with RISP and left on 10 baserunners.

Hudson Valley 10 Wilmington 0
• Susan (L, 3-1) 2⅔ IP, 5H, 7R, 6ER, 4BB, 5K
• Huff 2⅓ IP, 1H, 0R, 3BB, 2K, 2-2 IR-S
• Thomas 1-3, SB

The Blue Rocks barely avoided being no-hit again and instead settled for a one-hitter as the Renegades shut them out for the 14th time this season, 10-0. Jarlin Susana took the loss, giving up seven runs (six earned) on five hits and four walks over two and 2/3rds innings. He struck out five. Branden Boisserie was hit by a pitch in the 2nd to break up the perfect game while Johnathan Thomas bunted his way on to break up the no-hitter in the 8th.



Fredericksburg 6 Columbia 4
• Sykora (W, 4-3) 5IP, 3H, 3R, 1ER, 0BB, 10K
• Bollenbacher (SV, 2) 2IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 2K
• Cox 2-3, 2R, 2SB
• King 2-3, R, SF, RBI
• Green 1-4, R, HR, 3RBI, 2K

Elijah Green snapped a 3-3 tie with an Earl Weaver special in the 5th while Travis Sykora struck out ten again to lead Fredericksburg to a 6-4 win over Columbia. Sykora gave up three runs (one earned) on three hits and no walks over five innings and picked up his fourth win. Brenner Cox singled twice, stole two bases, and scored twice while Seaver King drove in Cox with sacrifice fly and had two safeties to power the FredNats attack.

DSL Pirates Gold 6 DSL Nationals 5
• Lunar 2IP, 4H, 4R, 3ER, 0BB, 1K
• Gimenez (L, 0-1) 2IP, 3H, 1R, 1ER, 0BB, 0K
• Tejeda 2-2, R, 2SB(46), E(2)
• Rojas 3-3, 3R, OF assist @ 3B
• Santos 2-3, R, 3B, RBI

The D-Nats finished the 2024 season with a 6-5 loss to the D-Pirates Gold. Darrel Lunar was knocked from the box after two innings with four runs let in on four hits. He walked none and struck out one. Greyson Gimenez couldn’t preserve a 4-4 tie and let in the go-ahead run on three hits to wear the “L.” Eyeksson Rojas had singled three times and scored three times while Dashyll Tejeda singled twice and stole two bases to win the DSL stolen-base crown (cleats?) with 46.

20 Commments

  1. Not sure what Sykora needs to do get a promotion. A couple weeks back I saw he was leading the minors (perhaps among starters?) in swinging strikes. He’s since followed that up with his no hitter and a couple other double digit strikeout performances. It’s one thing to build up a guys confidence, it’s another to let him toy with clearly inferior opposition. Not sure what the Nats think they’re gaining from these starts any more, except logging unnecessary innings on Sykora’s arm.

    Absent from yesterday’s transaction update was Randal Diaz, a college infielder (a SS or a 1B, who knows) and 5th round pick. His college numbers didn’t scream anything special, yet he still signed for a tidy $420k, meaning the Nats saw something special. I wonder if we’ll see him or Sam Petersen, Jackson Ross, or Teo Banks (the other Nats college draft picks) at all this season? I’m really surprised to see a fee pitchers report to Fburg before them.

    1. Diaz seems like a player Haas would always eye when in Arizona
      Someone who doesn’t get too much chat here : Pimental
      Will we see him next summer in Wilmington ?
      Call him steady lineup presence with all the kids .
      Just 100 F in the shade in Texas today

    2. Sykora turned 20 in April. Unlike many/most top HS pitching prospects, he has thrived in his first season of professional baseball.

      There is a bigger risk in promoting players too quickly than taking a gradual approach. Not sure what is to be gained by getting Sykora a few starts at Wilmington versus F’burg to end his first pro season.

      If he continues to dominate, Sykora will be in the bigs around the time he turns 22 and less than three years after drafting him. For a HS pitcher, that is accelerated development.

  2. Eyekkssoooonn Rojas had a nice week to end DSL season
    What’s inpressive about Andry Lara is that he has 8-5 slate at AA after his season start at the Grand Canyon. Imagine if the Sensabustin offense would have given him more run support ? Could he be , Will ( Tom Numbers character) , easily 13-5???
    Shall we see Beeker from my alma mater BSU Cards get the ball for a start before the playoffs ?
    Some applause for Elijah ! Hes had such a character building season as Zig Ziegler might say that 13 HRs and his RBI total isn’t too shabby . Plus Seaver Kings presence helps anyone get a good pitch .
    Nats affiliates always have had trouble
    Vs Yanx affiliates even any reincarnation
    Lineup Hudson Valley rolls out . They always have a few typical lefty swinging
    Heavy 1 b or outfield types .

  3. Wake up Will , Fred MD , Todd ,
    KW
    Natter Bob
    Time to lend your fifty cents worth
    On the blog

    1. as requested Captain!

      I guess they view Amaral as more of a prospect then Arguelles as the latter has posted better stats. maybe it’s the former’s ability to pitch multiple innings

      one thing they’ve done more of lately is giving Green the occasional day off. slows things down a bit. when he hits Wilmington in ’25 I would not be surprised to see improvement. the question is how many of the other struggling youngsters go with him.

      as I noted on the previous post in answer to you comment on Saenz , as a pitch to contact guy he may have hit his ceiling.

      with Sykora ditching his windup and not likely to pitch a whole lot more I’m fine with him staying in familiar surroundings. next year if he excels and get a mid year promotion he’ll be 21 in AA. right on track

      2. It’s certainly possible that the 70 innings of decent but unspectacular AA pitching that Saenz threw last year (mid 4s by ERA and FIP) were his ceiling, but I don’t think you can fairly describe his disastrous few starts after a long injury rehab in that way.

        Did AA hitters improve so much in the past year that the same pitch-to-contact mediocrity now earns him a FIP over 7 and an ERA around 20? Or is it more likely that he’s not yet pitching at his best? (And of course, maybe he never will again. Recovery isn’t always an option. But even then, this failure wouldn’t be about his stuff not being good enough but rather injury derailing his development.)

  4. Good for Green to hit another HR and get his AVG finally over the Medoza Line. No small feat since his truly dreadful start. He’s hitting a tidy .259/.366/.464 since July 1 (30 G), but I fear this a bit of a mirage, much like his short 2022 season. Over this same period, arguably the best of his career, he’s struck out 40.5% of the time, and benefitted from an extremely fortunate .455 BABIP.

    It’s definitely not a bad thing, but it doesn’t seem that Green has yet been able to address his fundamental problem yet, which is making decent contact.

    2. I fully agree with this take. It’s all well and good for Green to be producing better, and if he had an identical league-adjusted statline at AAA, maybe I could see him making the final step to become a Gallo-style major league player.

      But even during this hot streak, he’s whiffing 40% of the against low-A pitching. Better pitchers will destroy him, no matter how fast and how strong he is.

      Development isn’t linear, and I won’t say never, but he’s now spent almost two years at low-A. In his first two months of 2023, his K% was 41.6%. Since July 1st, it’s been 40.7%. There just hasn’t been any meaningful improvement in the most important direction. My hopes for him are quite dim.

  5. Hate how the Nats have treated Drew Millas. He is clearly superior to Riley Adams in every facet (hitter, base-runner and miles ahead defensively), and don’t get me started with Keibert “the King of Soft Contact” Ruiz; who has been a defensive disaster.

    So rare to find a catcher who can run, play above-average defense and can hit like Millas. The last time the Nats promoted him to DC, Davey pledged to give him regular starts. Did not happen.

    Fully expect a savvy organization to snap up Millas and for Drew to have a solid MLB tour.

    2. they have bent over backwards to develop and promote Ruiz as the #1 catcher. I cannot say whether this is right or wrong at this point. this has lead to limited opportunities for the backup so maybe they decided that playing full time in AAA would better advance Millas’ hitting skills. certainly Riley has done nothing to justify his place as the #2.

      next year will be the make or break in this tale as I see it. I always views Millas as a #2 but his hitting improvements have surprised me.

      1. Think its fair to view Millas as a top-end #2 or a #1 that shares time at the MLB level. He’s not Buster Posey, but he is an all around solid catcher with a decent hit tool, which is rare these days.

        The Nats reportedly have beefed-up their analytics department, but their must be a computer virus evaluating catcher’s defense. Ruiz has been at the bottom of MLB during his time in DC, and Riley Adams simply can’t play defense at the MLB level. He had another passed ball last night. Even though his starts are rare, he has cost the Nats a couple of games with bad defense. Agree with generally deferring to the Nats front office in personnel evaluations, but feel like Millas has been misused and ignored.

  6. Nats shaking up their scouting department.

    From Andrew Golden’s twitter:

    The Nationals have informed 5 members of their amateur scouting department that their contracts will not be renewed, per 3 sources familiar. The list: Alex Morales, James Goodwin, Kevin Ham, John Malzone and Bobby Myrick.

    My understanding is these roles will be filled, not cut.

    1. Good to hear. Their scouting was pathetic during the Kline era and the new director is finally cleaning house.

    2. since these fellas were linked to a few of the ’24 draftees let’s hope this is philosophical differences rather than incompetence

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