Monday’s News & Notes
| Team | Yesterday | Today | Pitching Matchup (’24 Stats at the Level) |
| Rochester | Postponed | OFF DAY | N/A |
Rochester vs. Buffalo – PPD
Rain spoiled the finale of the season-opening series between Buffalo and Rochester. They’ll make this one up with a doubleheader on Wednesday, April 23.
Watchlister, Brad Lord, had an inauspicious debut, failing to retire any of the 3 batters he faced, and doing his best to continue the big league bullpen’s public display of incompetence. Fortunately, Finnegan bailed him out, allowing only one to score.
The other watchlister to appear, Dylan Crews, now has struck out in 8 consecutive at bats. If Crews strikes out tomorrow in his first at bat, he’ll tie the MLB record of 9. He looks completely lost when facing offspeed stuff. Looks like the scouting report is out on him. Can he adjust?
IIRC, Crews had a streak this weekend where he struck out three straight times on three pitches that’s a poor hitting pitcher bad. Last season, across three levels, Crews struck out 118 times in 516 ABs. That’s a lot of Ks for a player that only hit 16 HRs. Don’t see Crews ever being a consistent power bat; so, he needs to up the contact rate to live up to expectations. It’s way early to be concerned, and Crews is a baller, but as stated when he was drafted, Crews has no elite tool; so, his ceiling is limited.
I’d advise pumping the breaks on calling Crews a failing prospect, but his struggles do seem to be yet another indictment of the contracted minors. The Nats started him for his first full pro season at AA, as they did Morales and Pinckney, presumably thinking that the A+ level wouldn’t challenge them enough (and/or concerned about the impact of the cavernous Wilmington stadium). All three of those guys have struggled to varying degrees.
For whatever reasons, the Nats are being much less aggressive with their collegiate draftee hitters this year, starting King and Lomavita at A+ and Bazzell and Diaz at A. High schooler Dickerson presumably will be in the FCL, not attempting to start off at full-season A like House and Green did.