Tuesday’s News & Notes
| Team | Yesterday | Today | Pitching Probables |
| Rochester | OFF DAY | vs. Jacksonville, 6:45pm | Shuman (1-3, 6.93) vs. Simpson (3-0, 3.95) |
| Harrisburg | OFF DAY | @ Chesapeake, 6:35pm | Choi (2-1, 3.45) vs. Wells (0-3, 3.25) |
| Wilmington | OFF DAY | @ Hub City, 6:35pm | Kent (4-5, 5.26) vs. Lopez (2-4, 2.34) |
| Fredericksburg | OFF DAY | @ Fayetteville, 6:05pm | Y. Tejeda (2-1, 3.21) vs. Tredwell (2-0, 3.38) |
| FCL Nationals | Won, 8-7 (10 inn.) |
OFF DAY | |
| DSL Nationals | Won, 9-0 | vs. DSL Rangers Red, 11am |
Rochester Red Wings, 22-39, 10th place I.L. East, 20GB
The Red Wings reverted hard to the mean with six-game sweep by the (ugh) Woo Sox. When does the second half start? Not soon enough. This week Rochester returns home to host Jacksonville for the first of two series between the two teams. Roster moves: SS Nasim Nuñez optioned by Washington.
Harrisburg Senators, 28-29, 3rd place E.L. Southwest, 10GB
Harrisburg took four of six from Reading and is now just a game under .500. This week the Senators rematch against the fourth-place BaySox for five night games and a day game on Sunday.
Wilmington Blue Rocks, 24-33, 4th place Sally Lg. North, 15GB
The Blue Rocks make their lone trip to South Carolina to face the Spartanburgers for the second of two series between the two teams. Last week, Wilmington split its series with Brooklyn to hold serve in the Sally League’s North Division.
Fredericksburg Nationals, 25-31, 4th Place C.L. North, 10½ GB
Fredericksburg took its first series since April with four wins in six games against Delmarva. This week, it’s a trip to Fayetteville. In other news, the Silber family has cashed out and sold to Diamond Baseball Holdings. DBH, which also owns the Harrisburg Senators, has bought 44 MiLB teams since the 2021 coup d’état and is quickly approaching its limit of 56 teams (14 per level).
While there are no plans to move the team—with a stadium built in 2020 that seems unlikely—it would appear that in the short-term, with every team that DBH acquires it gains more leverage. Given that there is no track record as to what will happen when the PDLs expire, there is ample reason to be suspicious in the long term. meanwhile, the changes are likely to be minimal. Ticket prices will still rise steadily, just as they did in Woodbridge. Likewise for concessions, for which DBH will undoubtedly leverage its economies of scale to both cut costs and increase the profit margins. Roster moves: IF Jorgelys Mota placed on the 7-Day I.L.
FCL Nationals 8 FCL Astros 7 (10 inn.)
• J. Feliz 4⅔ IP, 8H, 4R, 3ER, 0BB, 2K, HR
• Kane (W, 5-0) 1IP, 3H, 3R, 2ER, 0BB, 2K
• Jones 2-4, 2R, BB, E
• Arias 2-5, 2R, 2RBI
• Soto 1-3, 3R, 2BB, HR, RBI
The FCL Astros posted a picket fence from the 2nd to the 5th to take a 4-1 lead halfway only to see the ‘pen cough up three to the FCL Nationals to tie it at 4-4. In the 10th, the F-Astros took a 7-4 lead only to give it away in the bottom of the 10th and lose to the F-Nats, 8-7. Jose Feliz was blasted for the aforementioned four runs (three earned) on eight hits (one HR) over four and 2/3rds. He walked none and struck out two. Jamison Jones singled to lead off the 10th for his second safety as did Luis Arias. The two combined to go 4-for-9 with four runs scored, two RBI (Arias), and a walk (Jones) to lead the FCL Nationals offense.
DSL Nationals 9 DSL Mets Orange 0
• Reyes (W, 1-0) 6IP, 2H, 0R, 1BB, 6K
• A. Pena 1IP, 2H, 0R, 0BB, 0K
• Hurtado 2-3, 2R, BB, 2SB
• D. Hernandez 1-3, R, 2B, SB, PB
• German 1-4, 2B, 3RBI
Two D-Nats pitchers combined to shut out the D-Mets Orange, 9-0 on four hits. 20-y.o. Juan Reyes went the first six with two hits and a walk allowed over six to pick up the win. Angel Pena cordero’d around two hits in the 7th to preserve the shutout. Victor Hurtado singled twice, scored twice, and stole two bases to lead the six-hit offense that masked a 1-for-13 RISP mark (inflated by eight walks) with seven stolen bases and two errors by the opposition.
Tommy Kane finally coughed up his first run in his short Nats career. He’d had a 11.1 scoreless inning streak (with 18 Ks to boot).
I’m not really sure what the Nats’ plans are with Kane. He’s 23 years old (a College Park grad), and was picked up after struggling in A+ with the Giants. So he’s definitely playing below his level in the FCL. He’s now been with the FCL Nats for 2 months, whereas most rehab/old guys (Petersen, Banks, Sykora, Stuart) have breezed through. Luke Johnson is in a similar spot, though he went to UMBC not UMD, been stuck in the FCL despite having dominant stats there. Will be interesting to see when both get promoted. Either way, there’s already less than a month left in the FCL’s stupidly organized season, so something will eventually give.
the season goes to 7/24 though your point is still correct.
on a recent Nats broadcast Eddie Longosz was asked to pick an under the radar pitcher and named Yoel Tejeda. he goes tonight and could get two starts against one of the better hitting teams in the Carolina League.
Interesting. He caught my attention at the draft last season, as a sophomore signing for a modest bonus in the 14th round. His numbers at Florida State (and before at Florida) were very bad, which made his selection noteworthy. He’s an absolute giant (6’8″) which suggests some projectability, and as a sophomore pick, he’s on the young side (will turn 22 in a few weeks).
But to date, his performance hasn’t tripped any alarms. He’s doing fine in Fredericksburg, (46 K in 47.1 IP, 1.175 WHIP, 3.21 ERA), but he’s right around league average age (21.9 for Carolina League among arms), so you’d kind of hope he’d stand out a bit more to date.
Did Longosz substantiate that point further?
he did not and even had to think about it before answering. it did cause me to go back and watch his last start. there is definitely something there, four pitches that he’s not afraid to throw in any count. Delmarva not the strongest club in the league though they have been better as of late. hopefully he gets two this week vs Fayetteville.
Interesting. Thanks, will keep a closer eye on his starts.
I would be interested in Luke’s assessment of the Silber legacy since that was the team he followed the closest. At Potomac, it sure seemed like they pinched every penny and spent years trying to goad the county into giving them a new stadium. I understand that no one wants to lose money on the business, but they didn’t exactly do much to win friends and influence people.
Except the Silbers were by no means losing money. My sources — which include high-level employees with intimate knowledge of the cash flow — indicated that their profits exceeded seven figures in good years. And that’s okay; it’s a business. But much of that was made possible by public subsidies. We can argue how much but at the end of the day, it’s the City of Fredericksburg that’s on the hook if the team leaves and that’s what all sports owners like to exploit.
Well then, perhaps they should have reinvested a bit to improve one of the worst stadiums in the minors? Most D1 stadiums are better than the Pfitz (as you well know). I truly felt bad for the players having to play there.
I don’t blame the Silbers for the Pfitz – it was owned and (very poorly) maintained by Prince William County. Cozying up to a racist board of supervisors is another matter, but in this current political climate that doesn’t seem to matter.
And then there was a 180-degree political shift in the composition of the board of supervisors . . .
I wonder what’s keeping Hurtado in the Dominican. I mean, they promoted Elian Soto when he had never seen the north side of the Mendoza Line. You would have to think that there’s some kind of maturity issues with Hurtado, or his English isn’t good enough yet, or something.
A little patience. Hurtado is 18. After a struggling first season in the Domincan League at 17, Hurtado has gotten off to a good start this year at the same level, but he has played only FIVE games and has SIXTEEN at bats. He has no extra base hits.
Can understand why the Nats may want a little more sustained success before promoting him. Also, these days getting the necessary paperwork for non-US citizens to get visas to travel and work here is not that easy.
Oh, I’m not in a rush to promote him based on the very SSS. I just think it’s concerning that they didn’t think that one of their biggest Latin investments wasn’t ready to move up to the complex. The Dominican league really isn’t much more than U.S. high school baseball.
As a Sens fan I guess I should be happy that they are close to .500. It doesn’t bode well that all the remaining Nats teams are well below .500.
That depends on what you are rooting for. As a fan of the minor league team I can see viewing a sub-.500 record as ominous. I’m a fan of the big league team, and I only care that the minor league system graduate a handful of players each year that help the big league club. W/L records don’t really figure much into how I follow/view a minor league system.
This pm, the Nats added RHP reliever Ryan Loutos to the 40 man. The Dodgers had just DFA’d him this week. The Nats sent Loutos Rochester. He has put up good numbers AAA, and has limited MLB experience (5 games with the Dodgers and Cards). He played D3 baseball at Washington U, and was a Cards UFA in 2021.
His numbers: https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=loutos000rya