Tuesday’s News & Notes
Team | Yesterday | Today | Probable Pitchers |
Syracuse | Won, 9-8 | @ Louisville, 7:05 p.m. |
Maya (5-7, 4.25) vs. Pino (3-5, 2.94) |
Harrisburg | OFF DAY | @ Trenton, 7:05 p.m. |
Gilliam (3-4, 3.98) vs. Greene (3-3, 3.03) |
Potomac | Won, 5-2 | @ Salem, 7:05 p.m. |
Demny (0-0, 0.00) vs. Cuevas (6-6, 5.85) |
Hagerstown | Lost, 5-4 | @ Lakewood, 7:05 p.m. |
Turnbull (5-2, 4.68) vs. Prosinski (0-0, 3.60) |
Auburn | Lost, 8-4 | @ Lowell, 7:05 p.m. |
Barrientos (1-3, 3.65) vs. Buttrey (3-1, 2.22) |
GCL Nationals | Won, 5-4 (12 inn.) | @ GCL Marlins, 12:00 p.m. |
Pivetta (0-0, 3.52) vs. Effertz (0-2, 6.48) |
DSL Nationals | Won, 8-5 | vs DSL Yankees1, 10:30 a.m. |
Yrizarri (3-2, 2.36) vs. De la Rosa (1-1, 4.30) |
Syracuse 9 Indianapolis 8
• Clay 6IP, 7H, 3R, 3ER, BB, 2K, HR
• Lowe (BS, 3; W, 2-0) 1⅓ IP, 2H, 0R, BB, 2K, 2-1 IR-S
• Moore 3-5, 2B, 2HR, 6RBI
• Brown 3-5, 2-2B
Syracuse blew a 7-0 lead but rallied in the 9th and held on for a 9-8 win, completing the four-game sweep of Indianapolis. Tyler Moore drove in six with a double and two home runs. Corey Brown also went 3-for-5, smacking a pair of doubles as the Chiefs piled up 15 hits. Caleb Clay turned in his sixth quality start with three runs allowed on seven hits and a walk. He struck out two but got the no-decision when Cole Kimball was tagged with four runs as he retired just two of seven batters faced. Mark Lowe, who let in the fourth Kimball run in the 7th, got the blown-save-win for pitching a scoreless 8th. Erik Davis gave up an unearned run in the 9th while earning his 11th save.
Harrisburg — OFF DAY
Harrisburg’s 11-day, 10-game roadtrip continues with a three-game set in Trenton. Thus far, the first-place Sens are 4-3 but second-place Erie’s five-game win streak has shrunk the gap between the E.L. West’s top two teams to just a ½ game.
Potomac 5 Salem 2
• Purke (W, 1-3) 5⅓ IP, 5H, 2R, 1ER, BB, 6K
• Martin (SV, 1) 2IP, 1H, 0R, BB, 0K
• Ramsey 3-4, 2R, 3B, 2RBI
• Dykstra 2-3, BB, RBI
Matt Purke won his first High-A start as Potomac won its fourth straight, 5-2 over Salem. Purke struck out six and walked one over five and a 1/3rd innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on five hits. Veteran relievers Cameron Selik and Rafael Martin closed out the game for the hold and save, respectively. Caleb Ramsey, who pinch-ran for Billy Burns after the CF was hit by a pitch in the first inning, paced the Potomac offense with a 3-for-4 game, scoring twice and driving in two. The HBP on Burns was the fourth this month by Salem pitchers, and the third time Burns was forced to leave the game. Perhaps not coincidentally, Burns has stolen six bases over that same timeframe.
Lakewood 5 Hagerstown 4
• Lee 6IP, 4H, 2R, 2ER, BB, 8K, HR
• Davis (L, 1-3) #8531; IP, 1H, R, ER, BB, 0K
• Pleffner 2-3, R, RBI
• Ramos 2-4, RBI
• Renda 1-2, R, RBI, 2BB, SB
Hagerstown couldn’t stop Lakewood from scoring in the final four innings, as the Blue Claws eclipsed the Suns with a 5-4 walkoff win. Starter Nick Lee gave up just a hit and a walk his first five innings but faltered in his final inning, giving up both runs in the 6th on a homer and back-to-back triples. He struck out the side to preserve the 3-2 lead, finishing with eight Ks. Bryan Harper, Derek Self, and Cody Davis were each charged with a run over the final three Lakewood turns at bat. Shawn Pleffner and “Help Me” Wander Ramos combined for four of Hagerstown’s eight hits and two of the three RBIs.
Jamestown 8 Auburn 4
• Johansen 5IP, 4H, 0R, BB, 6K, 2WP
• Hollins (BS, 3; L, 0-3) ⅔ IP, 5H, 7R, 0ER, 0BB, 1K, HBP
• Allen 2-4, 2RBI
• Zebrack 2-5, 2B
The Jammers spread seven of their eight runs in the 9th, doubling up the Doubledays for an 8-4 win. L.J. Hollins retired just two of nine batters faced, giving up seven unearned runs on five hits and a hit batsman for the blown-save-loss, his second in as many appearances. Starter Jake Johansen pitched five scoreless innings, letting up four hits, a walk, two wild pitches, and striking out six. Brenton Allen drove in two while going 2-for-4 to pace the Auburn offense.
GCL Nationals 5 GCL Marlins 4 (12 inn.)
• J. Rodriguez 5IP, 5H, 2R, 1ER, BB, 3K, HBP
• K. Rodriguez (W, 4-0) 3IP, 3H, 1R, 0ER, BB, 2K
• Bautista 4-6, 2R, RBI, SB
• Ward 2-4, R, RBI, SB
• Read 2-2, RBI
After losing a 3-0 lead after three, the G-Nats scored twice in extra innings for a 5-4 victory, opening up a double-digit lead of 10 games in the GCL East. Jefry Rodriguez got the start, giving up two runs (one earned) on five hits and a walk while striking out three. Kelvin Rodriguez got the win in relief, pitching all three extra frames to run his record to 4-0. Rafael Bautista led the 11-hit G-Nats attack with a 4-for-6 game, driving in a run and stealing a base. Roster move: RHP Matt Derosier reassigned from Auburn.
DSL Nationals 8 DSL Yankees1 5
• Reyes 5IP, 1H, 0R, 2BB, 6K
• Salazar (BS, 1; W, 4-0) 1⅓ IP, 2H, R, ER, 0BB, 0K, 1-1 IR-S
• Gutierrez 4-4, R, 2-2B, BB, RBI
• Florentino 3-6, 2R, 2-2B, 2RBI
The D-Nats led 3-0 after six but needed a three-run 9th to prevail over the D-Yankees1, 8-5. Luis Reyes one-hit el imperio del mal for five innings, walking two and fanning six but got the no-decision. Melvi Salazar got the blown-save-win by closing out the 8th after letting in the tying the run and pitching a scoreless 9th. Kelvin Gutierrez singled twice, doubled twice and walked to lead the 17-hit assault on D-Yankees1 pitchers.
The Spanish bits in the DSL recaps are cracking me up.
Burns also had a walkoff hit over Salem a week ago. Still, unless I’m missing something regarding his on filed actions, to hit this kid is the height of bush league.
sweep the leg Johnny
Luke, do you track how many times Burns has contributed to a walkoff win? Seems like a lot…
Gotta say, for a team that had to wait to the 68th pick to make a selction, it looks like the Nats made some great choices with Johanson and Ward. Time will tell how they will progress, but great numbers so far.
Johanson is walking a ton of guys so far, but that’s not entirely unexpected.
But you definitely like that he is striking out a ton too and not giving up too many hits.
I think Ward is a little more exciting not that the GCL is the toughest league, but definitely more advanced then what he’d seen in Oklahoma.
Don’t look now, but Danny is back to being Danny.
Past 10 games: .128/.209/.128 with a 34% K%.
Meanwhile, Corey ‘Streaky’ Brown is on another tear (which will assuredly be soon followed by an equally torrid slump) – .382/.421/.824 over his last 10. Moore also seems to have rediscovered his bat. Hopefully this will finally put an end to Tracy’s miserable season.
Consider the rest of the regular lineup at Syracuse. Perez leads off and plays almost every day while hitting .184 last 10 games with a .225 OBP. Kobernus hits second and plays most every day while hitting .219 with a .278 OBP last ten games. Maerro hits 4th most games while hitting .250 last ten games.
But Rahl sixth in league in hitting and hitting .300 with a .324 OBP in last ten games sits 2 out of 3 games and hits 7th or 8th when he is playing. Walters third in the league in Home Runs bats sixth.
Who makes up these lineups??
I think it is safe to say that generally, organizations push the prospects/players that they have money invested in first. If you follow the money you generally follow the path of a player upward in the organization. Organizations don’t like to be wrong on players and will play them until they quietly release them.
That’s why most organizations don’t win and seem to not produce many players.
Yep. Espy bats third almost every day.
Ugh not this again.
Look, we’re sorry your brother isn’t batting 3rd. But you seem to fundamentally misunderstand the purpose of minor league baseball. It’s a developmental league first and foremost. Winning is a secondary concern.
Even so, your discontent is misplaced. The Nationals have the 5th best organizational winning percentage this year across all domestic minor leagues. FIFTH BEST! You know who the other more successful teams are? You know, the ones that simply ooze wins, and breed a culture of winning at every level? They who will win at all costs, even giving less playing time to 23 year old outfielders in favor of 29 year olds just because they have batted better for the past 5 games. Where winning is so ingrained that players can’t help but win. Know who these winners are?
Most successful minor league organizations this year:
1. Houston Astros
2. New York Mets
3. Minnesota Twins
Now these are the teams we really need to start imitating!
I’m going to take a page out of the Brian Oliver playbook and close the comments here before things escalate.
I think Sensfan has made it clear he’s a relative of Chris Rahl, so his campaigning is natural, but he’s also made many astute observations about other players. He’s been following the minors for quite some time, so let’s let him vent and simultaneously take advantage of those observations.
This is not to say, Will, that I disagree with what you wrote here per se. I agree that development comes first, but I also believe you can do it while winning. Much like I believe that stats are overrated, but are not “meaningless” as some folks will point out (when a player puts up bad numbers, natch).
So let’s move on… trade deadline today, though I hope I’ll be writing about “the new guys” vs. putting up a pic with Spike looking out the window.