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Friday’s News & Notes

Team Yesterday Today Probable Pitchers
Syracuse Lost, 3-1 @ Lehigh Valley,
7:05 p.m.		 Jordan (3-4, 2.71) vs.
Gonzalez (1-5, 4.84)
Harrisburg Lost, 6-2 vs. Bowie,
7:00 p.m.		 Pivetta (0-1, 9.00) vs.
Doyle (11-1, 2.08)
Potomac Lost, 3-1 vs. Frederick,
7:05 p.m.		 Valdez (3-2, 4.53) vs.
Taylor (0-0, 3.47)
Hagerstown Lost, 10-9 vs. Savannah,
7:05 p.m.		 Bach (3-1, 3.39) vs.
Gibbons (0-2, 3.75)
Auburn Won, 6-2 @ Lowell,
7:05 p.m.		 Crownover (0-4, 8.53) vs.
Cosart (1-2, 6.86)


Buffalo 3 Syracuse 1
• Cole (L, 1-5) 5IP, 3H, 3R, 3ER, 4BB, 3K
• Fornataro 2IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 3K
• Martinson 2-2, BB
• Johnson 2-4, R

Buffalo scored single runs in three of the first four innings as they took the series finale from Syracuse, 3-1. Starter and loser A.J. Cole gave up all three runs on three hits and four walks over five innings. He struck out three. Eric Fornataro and Rafael Martin shut down the Bisons with three combined scoreless innings, but the offense could only convert one run from seven hits and four walks. Jason Martinson led the attack with two singles and a walk.

Bowie 6 Harrisburg 2
• Spann (L, 2-2) 4⅔ IP, 9H, 6R, 6ER, 4BB, 4K
• Bates 3⅓ IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 1K, 1-0 IR-S
• Skole 1-4, 2B, RBI
• Corona 1-3, R, 2B

Bowie knifed Harrisburg twice for three runs in the first five innings and cruised to a 6-2 win. Matt Spann took the loss, giving up all six runs on nine hits and four walks over four and 2/3rds innings. Colin Bates stranded a runner in the 5th and turned in three more scoreless innings. A pair of errors in the 6th led to both Senators runs. Reegie Corona and Matt Skole both doubled in the inning, accounting for two of the four Harrisburg hits.

Frederick 3 Potomac 1
• Giolito 6IP, 5H, R, ER, 2BB, 6K, HR, WP
• M. Rodriguez (L, 1-2) ⅓ IP, 1H, 2R, 2ER, 3BB, 1K, WP
• Keller 2-4, 2B, RBI
• Norfork 1-3

Frederick rallied for two in the top of the 9th to break a 1-1 tie and Potomac had no answer the inning’s bottom half to fall, 3-1. Lucas Giolito allowed his first HR of 2015 — a solo shot with two out in the 1st — and five hits total over six innings. He walked two and struck out six. Manny Rodriguez retired just one of five batters faced in the 9th and was charged with aforementioned two runs after a wild pitch plated the go-ahead run and a bases-loaded bunt squeezed in the insurance run. The P-Nats mustered just four hits, with Alec Keller (2-for-4) the sole batter to reach base twice.

Savannah 10 Hagerstown 9
• Bach (L, 3-2) 3IP, 4H, 5R, 3ER, 6BB, 0K
• Marmolejos-Diaz 3-5, R, RBI
• Carey 2-3, R, 2BB
• Gardner 2-4, 2B, BB, 5RBI

Jeff Gardner’s bases-loaded double brought the Suns within one of the Gnats, but his decision to try for three cost them the chance to tie in a 10-9 loss. Hagerstown rallied for five in the bottom of the 9th, almost erasing a horrific nine-walk outing by three Suns pitchers. Connor Bach issued six free passes in three innings and took the loss as he let in five runs on four hits. “Orange” Marmolejos-Diaz led the hit column with a 3-for-5 night while Gardner totaled five RBI while going 2-for-4 with a walk.

Auburn 6 Vermont 2
• Fedde 3IP, 4H, 2R, 2ER, 3BB, 1K
• Boghosian (W, 2-0) 2IP, 0H, 0R, BB, K
• Robles 4-5, R, 3B, HR, 2RBI
• Lora 2-5, R, RBI

Auburn reversed the score from Wednesday night with a 6-2 win on Thursday night. Erick Fedde started but was ineffective as he was charged with two runs on four hits and three walks over three innings. Adam Boghosian, Tommy Peterson, and Ryan Brinley each turned in two scoreless with Boghosian earning a win and Peterson earning a save. Victor Robles went 4-for-5 with a triple and a homer to lead the Doubledays’ 12-hit, three-walk attack.
Roster move: OF Andrew Stevenson reassigned to the GCL Nationals.

23 Commments

  1. Stevenson was sent down to the GCL despite hitting .361??? Maybe they thought he needed a FLA vacation? I see that he did play in one game there. Very strange. Maybe they needed the roster spot at Auburn for Robles and Stevenson was a bit dinged and needed a rest. Who knows?

    Was that Giolito’s last start at Potomac? Not sure what he still has to prove there, or why he wasn’t moved up a few weeks ago. Perhaps the Nats are just trying to manage expectations and not rush him. You would think that the Nats will be looking to push Fedde on to Hagerstown soon as well. There are only about six weeks left in some of the seasons, so I’m not sure why the congo line hasn’t been moving more.

    1. Err, “conga” line. And yes, the word was that the Reds had scouts out to watch Fedde. I would think that it would be very hard to get a good read on him this early in his pro career, particularly coming off surgery.

  2. I suppose anyone could go 1-5 for this Syracuse team, but Cole does not seem to be having a good year. Giolito continues to push for a promotion. Fedde disappoints just as Ken Rosenthal throws him out as trade bait for Aroldis Chapman. Given that I am not sure I want that trade to happen, it is not such a big deal to me.

    1. Cole’s prospect status has to be dropping. No way he should still be rated above Turner and Ross as he is on MiLB.com.

  3. Stevenson has had a long year with LSU campaign
    So maybe low key GCL pace is good for him.
    Cole has had an interesting year feeling the swing
    Arm effect . He has been on that SYR shuttle too
    Much. Plus taylor2.
    Let’s see what Raffie / Mesa speed can burn for
    Potnats

  4. Stevenson has an injured ankle right now, told me himself last week. Robles is a potential 5 tool monster, I saw him last week in his Auburn debut and man he could be their 3rd best prospect right now. If the Nationals trade him, I feel it will be one of those trades you lose big down the line.

    1. Great intel. Robles also just turned 18 in May so is the same age as HS draftees from this year. The Auburn online info lists him at 185, so you would think he can fill out quite a bit more, as Difo did.

    2. Yeah I’m hoping they hold onto him over the trade deadline.

      Giolito
      Ross
      Robles
      Turner

      Are the guys I wouldn’t trade. I’m open but hesitant on Lopez depending on the return. Pedro Severino is probably not going anywhere cause he’s the only catcher in sight.

      1. Spot on–I’d rather see every one of the Nats other Top 30 go than see them lose any of these four.

  5. My assumption was that Stevenson got hurt since he exited his last NYPL game early and he’s just down in the GCL to rehab. Stevenson, Wiseman, Robles would be a great OF.

  6. They will not trade Robles. The system is bereft of power hitting — let alone five tool outfielders and having him in A- to start next year means he gets to DC when Werth rides off in the sunset and Boras-Harper hold the team hostage (Taylor being a wild card of course). There is no one even close (yet) to Robles as an og prospect in the system – until they make the trades they need to.

    I’m also not so sure Giolito is not untouchable in a monster deal (and I mean monster deal, not a deal for a rental player), and that is why they have not promoted him (and expose and risk his trade value). To me, the Strasburg experience demonstrates that any player with a history of arm surgery is just one injury away from losing tremendous value. The system is flush, flush with excellent starting prospects and will replace Strasburg, Zimmerman and Fister. Perhaps even with Chapman in the starting rotation – after all, that is why Rizzo wanted him in the first place. Austin Voth is underrated but he has really earned his kudos. Taylor Jordan is undervalued right now, as is Cole, but both very young and have both shown the ability to dominate. Look how Karns and Ray turned out with less results before being traded. As for Fedde, scouts see beyond the stat line.

    And at this point, I have graduated to regarding Turner as the best prospect in the system, including Giolito. He’s the best player on every team he has played, and three teams in the upper minors at his age is good enough for me. The pundits will catch up to this thinking soon enough, even as you all think I’m nuts. He is mentally way ahead of Giolito, and the mental game makes you a star.

    I’ve written on Difo before, and my thinking has not changed. He has major league makeup and important organizational pedigree and power-speed tools. That is a tremendously valuable prospect in today’s game, I don’t care where he is ranked on whose list. Such players are hard to come by and frankly, the power-speed-arm-bat-defense combo is EXACTLY why the Nats netted Turner and Ross for Souza. The Rays are happy — even with him at .210 BA! – the Padres got what they wanted (the erswhile “best” prospect). This is why I am belittling of the pundtry and how it obscures our common sense. A “best” prospect is truly one who is irreplaceable in the overall package — first within one’s own organization and next, within the overall game. The reason people have their jobs is best stated about a current GM, who was hired with the appreciation that, when working for a rival organization, he asked about players “not that others were writing about, but the ones we valued quietly among ourselves.” That list, in the Nats world, is different.

  7. My top 10, which would be outdated every few weeks, is:

    Trea Turner
    Luke Giolito
    Joe Ross
    Wilmer Difo
    Taylor Jordan
    Victor Robles
    Pedro Severino
    Austin Voth
    A.J. Cole
    Rey Lopez

    But the “who you trade” is a tricky question. Of that list, I would not trade Turner and Robles period. Absolute untouchables. I would only trade Difo if the organization thinks he has peaked in trade value – decisions that are delicate (see Billy Burns, Derrick Norris, Nathan Karns, and Steven Souza) but potentially prescient (see Brad Peacock, Zach Walters, and Tommy Milone). I would only trade Severino if the organization thinks Kieboom has a higher ceiling and will take off at Harrisburg next year. I would only trade Giolito in a ‘Kris Bryant talent’ type of deal but I would trade any of those pitchers because of the depth in the system. Somehow, my brain circles back to the Yankees as a partner time and again.

    No one is right or wrong. This is just my perspective on prospects and trading. I think we have learned from the Fister trade, and the Morse trade, and the Gio trade, and the trades never made (Dan Haren). I’d love to to see the Nats trade for Chapman and sign him to keep him here. But otherwise, I’m done with rentals and even the two year variety unless the plan is in place to trade and sign the talent as they did with Gio.

      1. OK, so if am not allowed to refer to Jordan as a prospect (though Dombrowski post-2013 regarded him as such, and was turned down), then I’ll replace Jordan at 5 with Drew Ward at 10.

      1. IDK. Not enough time to analyze. But they always have a lot of prospect depth (again, I don;t care what the pundits rank them), trade prospects for glitter, and are notorious under Cashman for trading players who become stars (like our own Clippard) elsewhere. The psychology of GMs and their teams-markets, like the Costner movie, is never to be underrated.

  8. Need a bottle of water after that soliloquy , GG! Lol!
    Yes a chapman deal to shit up even those reds fans
    Who whined about Kearns deal. Lol. How did the Reds
    Out manuever Nats for him anyway ? Oh yeah. Bud still the
    Commish !

  9. One thing that gives me confidence going into the deadline is that Rizzo doesn’t get “taken” when trading. Arguably, his worst deal to date was Burns for Blevins, and I’m not sold Burns’s chances for long term success due to his low walk rate.

    Rizzo seems to have a very good handle on the potential and limits of the players in his own system, which is why I believe Voth and Difo are tops on his trade list. Both are “sell high” prospects like Derek Norris, Alex Meyer and Nate Karns who he knew could become good players but were unlikely to become superstars. No GM wants to be remembered as the guy who traded Lou Brock, and Rizzo has a history of holding on to his high ceiling prospects.

  10. Burns for denDekker. Not bad in the long walk.
    Big G two hits for GCL today GG. Franco hitting
    Clean up with a double so far

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