Monday’s News & Notes
| Team | Yesterday | Today | Pitching Probables |
| Rochester | Won, 6-4 | OFF DAY | N/A |
| Harrisburg | Won, 9-2 | OFF DAY | N/A |
| Wilmington | Won, 5-2 | OFF DAY | N/A |
| Frdericksburg | Lost, 5-2 | OFF DAY | N/A |
Rochester 6 Lehigh Valley 4
• Cornelio 4IP, 3H, 1R, 1ER, 2BB, 5K, HR
• Shuman (W, 1-0) 2IP, 0H, 0R, 1BB, 2K
• Sinclair (SV, 1) 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• Morales 3-4, 2RBI
• Ortiz 2-5, R, 2B, RBI, 2K
• Glasser 3-4, 2B
The Red Wings sent ten men to the plate in the 3rd and had five of them come around to score, taking a 6-0 lead. The ‘pen bent but did not break as Rochester took the game, 6-4, and the series, 4-2. Riley Cornelio went the first four with one run let in on a home run and three hits total. He waked two and struck out two. Seth Shuman put up two goose eggs to get the win. Jack Sinclair worked a 1-2-3 ninth to earn the save. Yoyo Morales and Phillip Glasser both went 3-for-4 to lead the Red Wings’ ten-hit parade.
Harrisburg 9 Akron 2
• Kent 3IP, 2H, 2R, 2ER, 2BB, 3K
• Van Scoyoc (W, 3-0) 3IP, 1H, 0R, 3BB, 4K
• Pineda 3-5, 2R, 2B, SB
• S. Brown 2-5, R, RBI, 2K
• Thomas 1-2, R, 2SB
Harrisburg got a four-spot in the 1st and never looked back as the Senators roasted the ‘Ducks, 9-2 to stop a two-game slide. Jackson Kent emerged from witness protection to make his first start but gave up both Akron runs on two hits and two walks over three innings. Connor Van Scoyoc won for the third time in relief, spinning three scoreless on one hit and three walks while striking out four. Leandro Pineda singled twice, scored twice and doubled while Sam Brown singled twince and drove in a run to lead the Harrisburg offense. Roster moves: LHP Jackson Kent activated from the 7-Day I.L.
Wilmington 5 Hudson Valley 2
• Randall 4IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 5K, HBP
• Huizi (W, 2-0) 1IP, 0H, 0R, 1BB, 0K
• Hill (SV, 1) 1⅓ IP, 0H, 0R, 1BB, 3K, HBP, 1-0 IR-S
• Fitz-Gerald 2-5, R, HR, RBI, 2SB
• M. Brown 2-4, 2B, RBI
• Vaquero 2-4, R
The Blue Rocks scored single runs in five of their first seven “ups” then held off the Renegades in the 8th to take the series finale, 5-2 and notch their second three-game win streak of ’26. Wilmington starter Josh Randall tossed four scoreless with one hit, one HBP, no walks, and five whiffs but the win went to Eiker Huizi for pitching the 5th without giving up the lead. Brady Hill stranded a runner while getting the last out in the 8th then cordero’d around a hit batsman and a walk to notch the save. Marcus Brown, Devin Fitz-Gerald, Elijah Green, and Cristhian Vaquero each had two hits with Fitz-Gerland going deep for the first time this season. Roster moves: C Kevin Bazzell placed on the 7-Day I.L.; C Nate Rombach activaed from the Development List.
Hill City 5 Fredericksburg 2
• Harmon 3IP, 2H, 0R, 1BB, 1K
• L. Johnson (L, 1-1) 2⅓ IP, 4H, 3R, 3ER, 3BB, 2K, HR
• Dickerson 1-4, R, HR, RBI
• Cabrera 1-4, 2B, RBI, 2K
Fredericksburg dropped its third straight game to Hill City, 5-2 and lost the series, 4-2. Landon Harmon spun three shutout frames with two hits and one walk in his second appearance. The force was not strong with Luke Johnson as the Howlers got to him for three runs on four hits (one HR) over two and a 1/3rd innings. Luke Dickerson homered in the 6th to break up the shutout and Yeremy Cabrera doubled in the 7th to drive in the second run. Alas, that was the one hit in 11 RISP chances as the FredNats left on nine and struck out 16 times.
It’s been a funny first two weeks to the season. Calling the Nats our AAAA affiliate has proven to be more accurate than expected, in large part them mirroring the genuine affiliates’ overpeformance to date, and surprisingly good offense.
Though unlike in DC, where the guys you’d hope to perform, Abrams and more recently Wood, are leading the way, it hasn’t been the bats you’d expect performing well, but unlike in previous seasons when castoffs like Joey Meneses or Travis Blankenhorn led the org in offense, it’s been an unlikely second tier of (pseudo) prospects stepping up this season.
This are the current leaders in wRC+ (Org prospect rating, according to MLB)
1. Petry, 199 (12)
2. Petersen, 189 (22)
3. Fitz-gerald, 178 (9)
4. Wallace, 172
5. Yeremy Cabrera, 147 (20)
6. Ronny Cruz, 146 (25)
7. Leandro Pineda, 144
8. Sam Brown, 142
9. Boissiere, 131
10. Abimilec Ortiz, 130 (24)
Only one top 10 prospect, another one in the 10-20 range, 4 in the 20s, and then 2 guys (Brown and Wallace) who are probably in the 30-39 range. Only Pineda is a org-cast off picked up from the Phillies, who could yet provide some help at the major league level, like Meneses and Blankenhorn, and Boissiere, who long ago lost his prospect status, but could also follow the Meneses late-bloomer path.
Conspicuously absent from this leaderboard are any of the blue chip prospects in our org. Willits (1) current has an awful 29 wRC+, Ford (3) is only a smidgen better at 38 wRC+. Gavin Fien (5) is somehow worse than both with a 12 wRC+, while Seaver King (7) and Dickerson (8) are having solid starts to their seasons so far with 128 and 124 wRC+, respectively.
It’s great that our new-found organizational depth is actually coming through. Because it wasn’t so long ago that when our top prospects scuffled, like Green and House, there wasn’t much else in the org in terms of talent to pick up the mantle.
The sample size is too small to draw much of conclusion, but after not showing strong selectivity until this season, King has drawn 12 BBs in 40 PAs this season.
In 537 PAs last year, King had 32 BBs.
FWIW, King’s OBP last season was .294. So far in 2026, it is .432.
While that OBP is not sustainable, it’s a good sign that Seaver has been getting on base at a much higher rate so far.