Thursday’s News & Notes
| Team | Yesterday | Today | Pitching Probables |
| Rochester | Won, 5-0 | vs. Columbus, 6:45pm | Shuman (1-2, 4.88) vs. Davenport (0-0, 27.00) |
| Harrisburg | Lost, 4-1 | @ Richmond, 6:35pm | Choi (2-1, 3.44) vs. Bertrand (1-4, 3.56) |
| Wilmington | Lost, 7-1 | @ Hudson Valley, 6:05pm | Sthele (2-2, 4.81) vs. Hess (4-2, 3.28) |
| Fredericksburg | Lost, 5-0; Lost, 3-2 |
@ Lynchburg, 6:35pm | Roman (1-4, 9.55) vs. Zibin (0-2, 4.15) |
| FCL Nationals | OFF DAY | @ FCL Marlins, 12pm |
Rochester 5 Columbus 0
• Cavalli (W, 2-1) 5IP, 3H, 0R, 1BB, 10K
• Weigel 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 2K
• Arruda 1-3, R, HR, 2RBI
• Schnell 1-3, RBI
• Chapparro 1-4, R, HR, 2RBI
It only took 51 games and five pitchers, but Rochester finally shut out an opponent, 5-0 on three hits. Cade Cavalli went the first five, allowing all three Clippers hits and one walk while striking out a season-high of ten. Carlos Romero, Parker Dunshee, Patrick Weigel, and Marquis Grissom Jr. each put up a goose egg, with Romero and Dunshee getting credit for a hold. Andrés Chaparro (1st) and J.T. Arruda (7th) bookended the Red Wings scoring with each hitting a two-run HR to make the most of a five-hit, three-walk offense. Roster moves: 1B Andrés Chaparro optioned from Washington.
Richmond 4 Harrisburg 1
• Cornelio (L, 0-1) 4⅔ IP, 6H, 4R, 4ER, 2BB, 5K, HR, PO @ 1B
• Mejia 2IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 3K
• M. Romero 2-3, BB
• De La Cruz 2-4, BB, 2B, 3B, SB
The Senators had nearly twice the baserunners as the Flying Squirrels but Richmond delivered in the clutch while Harrisburg sputtered, 4-1. Riley Cornelio gave up all four Squirrels runs on six hits (one HR) and two walks over four and 2/3rds to take his first AA loss. Carlos De La Cruz walked, tripled, and doubled while Max Romero Jr. singled twice and walked once. Neither man scored as the Sens were 0-for-12 with RISP and left on 10 baserunners.
Hudson Valley 7 Wilmington 1
• Kent (L, 4-4) 5IP, 4H, 4R, 4ER, 2BB, 6K, 2HR
• Cruz 1-3, R, HR, RBI
• Suggs 0-1, 2BB
Wilmington trailed from start to finish in a 7-1 loss to Hudson Valley. Jackson Kent wore the “L” with four runs allowed on four hits (two HR). He walked two and struck out six. Armando Cruz homered to lead off the 6th and avoid the shutout. Elijah Nunez and Gavin Dugas each had a single while Matt Suggs drew both Blue Rocks walks.
Lynchburg 5 Fredericksburg 0 – GM. 1
• Meckley (L, 2-4) 4IP, 7H, 5R, 4ER, 2BB, 0K
• Aldonis 2IP, 0H, 0R, 1BB, 2K
• Dickerson 1-2, BB
• Quintana 1-3
The FredNats were blanked 5-0 by the Hillcats on two (2) hits in the opener. Alex Meckley was scratched for five runs, seven hits, and two walks, and struck out as many as you did last night. Roismar Quintana singled in the 1st while Luke Dickerson connected for a two-out single in the 5th. Dickerson also walked as did four other Frederickburg batters to account for the seven baserunners.
Lynchburg 3 Fredericksburg 2 – GM. 2
• Y. Tejeda 5IP, 4H, 2R, 2ER, 2BB, 5K, PO @ 1B
• Bollenbacher (L, 1-1) 1IP, 3H, 1R, 1ER, 1BB, 0K
• Quintana 2-3, R, 2B(5)
• Mota 1-3, 2B, RBI
In the nightcap, Fredericksburg got two more runs and one more hit but still fell to Lynchburg, 3-2 for the doubleheader sweep. Yoel Tejeda once again pitched well enough to win – two runs over five innings, four hits, two walks, five whiffs – but came away with his fourth no-decision. The loss went to Matt Bollenbacher, who gave up the go-ahead run in the 6th. Roismar Quintana singled, doubled, and scored a run while Jorgelys Mota had an RBI double to plate Luke Dickerson from first base. The FredNats left on three and were 0-for-3 with RISP.
Obviously the story of the day is Cavalli’s outing.
I expect they’ll stretch him out another game or two, but after that what do you guys think Rizzo does? Keep Cavalli in AAA for another month or two and allow things to sort themselves out around the trade deadline? Or promote Cavalli and demote someone from the rotation?
If it’s the latter, who would you remove? It’s an interesting conundrum without an obvious answer. On a results basis, Trevor Williams have been the worst performer with a 5.69 ERA, with Soroka shortly behind at 5.61, while Irvin and Gore have been the best (3.41 ERA and 3.49 ERA, respectively).. But if you try and remove luck, Irvin is surprisingly the worst SP so far 4.47 FIP, tied with Soroka.
I think many would advocate for Parker to get the short end of the stick, but while he’s been erratic, his stats on the whole are pretty steady.
It seems to me the worst performer is Soroka, but the problem with him is that the Nats, having not moved him to the pen yet, will want to continue to showcase him in case they can recoup more than a bag of balls for him at the deadline. But that means demoting someone more deserving and with an actual future with the team…
Maybe a short term solution is to move Williams to long relief for the next month or two until Soroka gets traded or released, then move him back there? But that would again force Rizzo to move his vet favorites out of the rotation and break his promise, which seems unlikely.
Unfortunately, it seems to me most likely that Parker gets booted to no fault of his own. But I’m not sure that does much for the Nats’ future plans, even if Parker’s future does lie in the bullpen (or as trade bait).
I hope he let’s Cavalli string together another 6-8 starts. he needs to build up his pitch count, better command his fastball and just get used to pitching again.
the big club is league average in terms of quality starts. let it ride for a while and things may all sort themselves out, as you hinted at.
I’d say 4 more successful starts and 80 pitches and then consider a callup. Barring injury to one of the Nats starters, I think that is what Rizzo would do.
Can’t say through “no fault of his own” for Parker. He’s been awful for a month: last 5 starts, 22 IP 7.94 ERA 1.67 WHIP 10 BBs. On any team, those numbers will get a young pitcher sent back to AAA. Soroka has been much better since returning from the IL: 4 BB 22 Ks.
Even so, the Nats may keep Parker in the rotation for a while as the Nats can delay Cavalli’s free agent season and arb eligibility if they don’t bring him up until July. Can see the Nats waiting.
For me, it’s inconceivable that any desire to give MLB innings to Mike Soroka or Trevor Williams could possibly override the same desire re Cavalli. Soroka and Williams are not part of the future and Cavalli could be. A good reason to keep Cavalli in AAA is that he needs work. I looked at video highlights of Cavalli’s start and most of the Ks came on breaking balls, so it’s certainly possible he could use more work on fastball command. Unless there are setbacks, 6-8 AAA starts seems like too many. I’d target some time in the second half of June (again, unless there are setbacks, and we shouldn’t be surprised if there are given Cavalli’s rehab experience). But, if his next two starts look like this one, I’d just go ahead and call him up.
As for who he replaces in the rotation, the only candidates (IMO) are Williams and Soroka because they are not part of the future. I’d push Williams to the bullpen on the grounds that Soroka could possibly fetch something at the deadline, and he should stay in the rotation to facilitate the fetching.
Soroka could be part of the future, he’s only 27. whether that turns out to be the case remains to be seen.
Agree. Soroka has stuff has returned, and he’s young. Also, his injuries were not arm-related by two achillies blow-outs which seemed random. Feel like Soroka has a big upside.
I’d happily have Soroka on the ’26 team for $0. If the price is driven up even to $1, I’d let somebody else pay it (I’m exaggerating, but not by much). In addition to Cavalli, by this time next year we should expect Gray to be throwing MLB innings and Herz should be gearing up to do so. Soroka’s history is what it is. It would take a FIP under 3.5 and K/9 > 9 for the rest of the year for me to think Soroka is worth spending money on next year. And if he does indeed do that, then there will be other clubs competing for his services and driving the price up to where it wouldn’t make sense for the Nats. Plus, we already have the “veteran starter who has bullpen experience” roster slot locked up next year with Williams. And this year’s experience with Williams–where he’s demonstrated clearly that he’s the same Trevor Williams he’s always been notwithstanding the great stretch of results last year–ought to make you preemptively curb your enthusiasm for any good results from Soroka. No thanks.
Yes, pitchers get injured, so any prediction about too-many-pitchers-not-enough-rotation-slots ought to be tempered. I’d solve that problem by ponying up to sign a quality veteran starting pitcher to a multi-year deal (and not by paying more money to Mike Soroka).
Derek good points
Ok I’m not being prudish it’s the Tito’s
Ruiz gets a new nickname
Sinbad
His earring looks like Chaka Khan gave it to him
lol
Watching FS1 Seattle feed
Is he not already up to a 80 pitch limit? He’s thrown 74, 71 and 70 in his last 3 starts, which seems more of a function of them not wanting to bring Cavalli out the next inning to only face 1 or 2 batters than a stamina thing.