Monday’s News & Notes
| Team | Yesterday | Today | Pitching Probables |
| Rochester | Won, 9-5 11 inn.) |
vs. Columbus, 4:05pm | Solesky (1-4, 4.83) vs. Velasquez (1-0, 3.86) |
| Harrisburg | Lost, 6-3 | OFF DAY | N/A |
| Wilmington | Lost, 8-5 | OFF DAY | N/A |
| Fredericksburg | Lost, 9-1 | OFF DAY | N/A |
| FCL Nationals | OFF DAY | vs. FCL Marlins, 12pm |
Rochester 9 Syracuse 5 (11 inn.)
• Sampson 6IP, 4H, 3R, 3ER, 3BB, 1K
• Salazar (BS, 2; W, 1-1) 1IP, 0H, 1R, 0ER, 0BB, 0K
• House 3-5, 3R, HR, 2RBI, 2K
• Chapparro 3-5, RBI
• Baker 2-5, R, 3B, 2RBI
Brady House’s two-out solo HR tied the game at 3-3 to help send the game into extras where Rochester broke out for five runs in the 11th and held off Syracuse to take the game, 9-5 and the series, 4-2. Adrian Sampson turned in another quality start, allowing the first three Mets runs on four hits and three walks over six innings. Eduardo Salazar let in the free runner in the 10th for a blown save but got the “W” thanks to the five-run 11th. House and Andrés Chapparro both went 3-for-5 to lead the Red Wings hit column, followed by Darren Baker’s 2-for-5 effort with a two-run triple.
Chesapeake 6 Harrisburg 3
• Luckham 7IP, 8H, 2R, 2ER, 0BB, 4K, HBP
• L. Young (L, 0-2) ⅓ IP, 1H, 2R, 2ER, 2BB, 0K
• Stehly 3-4, R
• Naranjo 2-4, 2B, RBI
The Senators bullpen wasted another strong outing by Kyle Luckham, giving up four runs in a 6-3 loss to the BaySox. The Nats minors’ IP leader went seven full for the third time, scattering eight hits, walking none, and striking out four. Luke Young took the loss, putting on three baserunners in the space of four batters with two of them coming around to score “thanks” to Chance Huff. Murphy Stehly singled three times while Joe Naranjo singled and doubled and Max Romero rounded out the Harrisburg six-hit tally with his seventh double.
Aberdeen 8 Wilmington 5
• Sykora 4IP, 1H, 0R, 1BB, 9K, PO @ 1B
• Simpson (L, 0-1) ⅔ IP, 4H, 5R, 5ER, 2BB, 0K, 0HR
• Dugas 2-4, 2B, RBI
• Ross 2-5, R, HR, RBI
• Lomavita 2-5, 2B, RBI
Travis Sykora toyed with the IronBirds for four scoreless innings, allowing one hit and one walk and fanning nine. Alas, the Wilmington bullpen was not up to the task of holding a 4-0 lead and gave it all back in the 5th en route to an 8-5 loss. Jared Simpson allowed five runs on four hits and two walks while retiring two batters to suffer the loss. Branden Boisserie was the beer man in the Blue Rocks’ 12-hit afternoon with four batters collecting multiple hits, led by Jackson Ross with his first HR at High-A and T.J. White getting off the interstate with a single and a double.
Carolina 9 Fredericksburg 1
• Polanco 5IP, 2H, 1R, 1ER, 1BB, 6K, HR
• Minckler (L, 1-2) ⅓ IP, 0H, 4R, 4ER, 4BB, 1K
• Dowdell ⅔ IP, 1H, 3R, 2ER, 2BB, 0K, WP, 3-3 IR-S
• Mota 2-2, 3BB, SB(10)
• Gallardo 2-3, R
The FredNats bullpen couldn’t find the strike zone in the 6th as things fell apart Sunday Afternoon in Fredericksburg.
FCL Nationals, 8-8, 2nd place FCL East, 3GB
The FCL Nationals moved up a spot in the FCL East but fell two games off the pace with a 2-3 week. This week, the Nats play five with two games outside of West Palm Beach (Thursday and Saturday) and an off day on Wednesday.
I’m running out of superlatives for Sykora, so it let the stats do the work:
14 consecutive scoreless innings
35 consecutive innings without allowing an extra base hit
7 consecutive starts allowing 1 hit or fewer
5 total hits allowed in his previous 25 IP.
5 BB allowed in his previous 25 IP.
A 0.40 WHIP in that same 25 IP span
A 0.36 ERA in the same period.
147 of the previous 307 batters faced have struck out (48%!!!)
This is like top 5 prospect in baseball performance levels.
Even in Skenes’ speed run to the majors, he posted pedestrian numbers, like a 1.85 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, 14.56 K/9. Really amateur stuff.
I wonder how long it’ll take for someone to develop an opposition scouting report for Sykora, because he doesn’t look to have any weaknesses to exploit at this point! And it doesn’t seem like High A hitters are any more capable of hitting Sykora than the low A guys.
Easily overlooked, Murphy Stehly is current batting .409/.480/.636 in Harrisburg. I really don’t know what to make of Stehly, and it seems like neither does the Nats org with the way they’re jerking him around between levels. In ’23, he played at 4 levels. In ’24, he played at 3 levels, and this season already 2. His performance has also been all over the place.
In ’23, he posted a very good .804 OPS, accentuated by very strong performances in Fburg and Wilmington. ’24 was just a disaster all around, with a combined .627 OPS, never making it above High A. This season has been excellent, with a .911 OPS (including his 1.116 OPS in Harrisburg at the moment).
I have no hopes he’ll be a great player, but if we can get Jake Noll/Steve Lombarbozzi production out of him, that would be a wonderful success! If he can keep it up, I hope he can get a cup of coffee in September, especially after we’ve traded/released the veterans on 1 year deals.
Good points , Will .
Sykora should join Delino , Sr soon .
I was intrigued by Stehly when the Nats drafted him. He posted some eye-popping numbers in his last season at U of Texas (19 HR, 23 doubles).
Two things about him: he was already “old” when drafted and will turn 27 this September, so the clock is ticking fast on him. Also, he has a history of wild swings from level to level. This year he was hitting .182 at A+ when promoted (with a brutal .211 BABIP) but is currently surfing a .571 BABIP at AA to his .409 BA. I suspect that the “real” Stehly is somewhere around his pro career numbers: .267/.361/.373/.734, with K% running in the upper 20s. It’s worth noting, though, that he’s spent a lot of time at the Wilmington Batted Ball Morgue, so it will be interesting to see if his numbers stay boosted at Harrisburg. (It’s impossible that they will stay boosted at a .571 BABIP, though.)
Weird that Memorial Day Monday in the minors only sees a AAA tilt scheduled .
not really, with the minor leagues Tuesday thru Sunday schedules. AAA plays more games than the rest of the minor leagues
Kudos to all our vets reading here today
Thank you, Sir.
Jeff, you correctly flagged Jake Bennett’s re-induction to the witness protection program, after just having emerged from 18 months there…
On May 11, he started, and hasn’t been seen since. On May 20, they activated him from the IL (seemingly a procedural move??) only to place him back on the IL on May 23. Any reports on what he’s come down with this time? A case of dreaded “dead arm”
Speaking of bumpy returns from TJ. Never mind Cavalli’s never-ending rehab/disappearance routine, Mason Thompson is also now around month 15 since his TJ surgery and seemingly not close to returning (though if anyone has some inside info, let me know).
Seems like the 12 month recovery rule of thumb isn’t any longer accurate.
There are only three AAA games today, Rochester, Durham and Indy. Not an extra game though because they have tomorrow off. I think Rochester Mgt asks for this game as it is one of the biggest crowds of the year, close to a sell out.