Last Night in Fredericksburg

Luke Johnson cruised through six innings on just 66 pitches, so it’s hard to fault Billy McMillon for sending him out to pitch the 7th – especially with the workload the FredNats bullpen has been shouldering during this series.

On the other hand, Johnson was coming off a pounding in his last outing (six runs on nine hits over four and 2/3rds), and had already gone a career-high of six full innings.

A two-run HR snapped a 1-1 tie, but Johnson finished the inning for what would still be his best outing of his pro career: seven full innings, three runs allowed on five hits and one walk with six strikeouts. A quality start in a 4-2 Fredericksburg loss to Fayetteville.

The real culprit? What made McMillion’s decision (which I agreed with) one to ponder for the sake of story peg? The lack of offense—even with the addition of Washington’s #1 prospect—that has plagued the team this season. Fredericksburg is 10th in the 12-team Carolina League despite having the oldest batters by a full year (21.4 vs. 20.4), or perhaps because it also has the oldest pitchers (22.6 vs. 21.7).

The FredNats managed just six singles and one double, and had but one hit in seven RISP chances. You will not be shocked to learn that hit was the doing of the Eli Willits, who went 1-for-4 but had every at-bat go at least three pitches. The worst you could say is that he was late on some swings, but almost always seemed to make contact. (Sorry, kids, I can’t comment on Willits’s defense or his arm because no balls were hit to him.)

Thanks in part to Carolina splitting its twinbill with Salem, Fredericksburg remains in first place for the second half despite the loss. They’ll shoot for the series win tonight with a rematch of Game One’s starters – Bryan Polanco (6-8, 4.33) facing off against vs. Raimy Rodriguez (3-7, 4.96) Cody Bolton on a MiLB rehab start.