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Friday’s News & Notes

Team Yesterday Today Probable Pitchers
Syracuse Lost, 3-2 @ Indianapolis,
7:15 p.m.		 Cole (4-2, 4.85) vs.
Kuhl (5-1, 1.75)
Harrisburg Lost, 6-0 vs. Akron,
7:00 p.m.		 Giolito (4-2, 2.98) vs.
Brown (3-1, 3.08)
Potomac Lost, 6-3 vs. Frederick,
7:05 p.m.		 TBD vs. TBD
Hagerstown Won, 2-1 vs. Lexington,
7:05 p.m.		 Rodriguez (5-2, 2.67) vs.
Pinto (1-2, 9.43)


Louisville 3 Syracuse 2
• Espino (L, 3-5) 6IP, 7H, 3R, 3ER, BB, 2K, HR; 0-2, RBI
• De Los Santos 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• Ramsey 2-3, 2B, BB
• Severino 2-4, RBI

The Chiefs fell to .500 with a 3-2 loss to the Bats. Paolo Espino made one mistake— a three-run HR to Brandon Allen—in six innings, which proved to be one too many as he gave up seven hits and a walk total over six innings. He struck out two while losing his fifth game. Abel De Los Santos, Bryan Harper, and Nick Masset each turened in a scoreless inning in a relief. Caleb Ramsey singled and doubled, Pedro Severino singled twice, Matt den Dekker singled once to account for the five (5) Syracuse hits.

Hartford 6 Harrisburg 0
• Mapes (L, 5-4) 6IP, 5H, 2R, 2ER, 3BB, 5K, HR; 1-1, SAC
• Brady 1IP, 0H, 0R, BB, 2K
• Pleffner 2-4
• Keyes 0-2, 2BB

Hartford scored twice in the 1st and never looked backed in a 6-0 shutout of Harrisburg. Tyler Mapes lost his second straight start despite six innings of two-run ball on five hits and three walks while fanning five. The bullpen faltered again but it was a moot point as the Senators offense was held to five hits (two by Shawn Pleffner) and two walks (both by Kevin Keyes). Roster move: RHP Phillips Valdez promoted from Potomac.

Frederick 6 Potomac 3
• Crownover (L, 0-2) 5⅓ IP, 4H, 4R, 4ER, 4BB, 4K, HR
• Thomas 1⅔ IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 0K, 2-1 IR-S
• Ward 2-5, R, HR, 2RBI
• Vettleson 2-4, 2B

The P-Nats dropped their sixth straight and now lead third-place Frederick by just a game after a 6-3 loss to the Keys. Starter Matt Crownover dropped his second decision with four runs allowed on four hits and four walks over five and a 1/3rd innings while striking out four. Drew Ward surpassed his 2015 HR total with his 10th big fly of 2016, a two-run shot in the 4th, and went 2-for-5 overall. Potomac collected 10 hits total but was just 1-for-10 with RISP and left on 11 baserunners. Roster moves: RHP Austen Williams demoted from Harrisburg; SS Osvaldo Abreu activated from the the 3-Day TIL.

Hagerstown 2 Lexington 1
• Avila (W, 5-3) 5IP, 5H, R, ER, 2BB, 2K, HR
• Lambert (H, 4) 2IP, 2H, 0R, 0BB, 0K
• Walby (H, 2) 1IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 2K
• VanVossen (SV, 5) 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 2K
• Gutierrez 2-4, R, SB
• Robles 1-3, 2BB, SB, CS, OF assist (#11) at 3B

Like Potomac, Hagerstown struggled to get runners in (1-for-14 RISP, 12 LOB) but managed to eke past Lexington for a 2-1 win. Pedro Avila got his fifth “W” with one run let in on a HR and five hits total over five innings. He walked two and struck out two. Trey Lambert, Philip Walby, and Mick VanVossen combined for four innings of shutout relief to seal the deal. Victor Robles reached base three times with a single and two walks while Kelvin Gutierrez led the hit column with a 2-for-4 night.

Nationals Draft Picks
Longtime readers know that the draft is just not something I have the time or patience for – I’d rather worry about who we have than fret about about who we might get. Nevertheless, I know folks are talking about it, so here’s your link from MLB.com to aid in the discussion.

20 Commments

  1. Drew Ward homers again on the same night that the Nats draft another 21-year-old 3B from his native state. Hmm. Anyway, 10 HRs thus far this season from Ward is some of the best news across the whole organization. He’s finally showing the power that the Nats hoped he would develop. Let’s hope it translates to Harrisburg, where other bigger bats have gone to die recently.

    Speaking of promotions, congrats to Valdez. The Austen Williams demotion has seemed inevitable for some time. Let’s hope he can pull things together in Woodbridge.

    Another strong start for Avila, although not many Ks.

    And Drew Vettleson checks in with two hits! He lives! Perhaps he can restart his career at Potomac as well.

  2. Congrats to Valdez on the promotion. Speaking of DSL products deserving of promotions, Avila and Robles continue to excel. That’s 11 outfield assists for Robles. You’d think runners would have learned to stop trying to beat him by now. That’s got to be up there with the most in the minors, right?

    Also, I’m not sure what more Ward can do to get a promotion. He’s now played 161 games in Potomac, has improved in literally every relevant metric (including being “spectacular defensively” this season). I’m glad he’ll get to play in the ASG, but does he really have to wait another 2 weeks before his promotion to Harrisburg?

    1. I would guess that the Robles promotion is awaiting the Stevenson promotion the Harrisburg, which is probably awaiting the all-star game as well. I hope to find time to make it out to Woodbridge to see Robles when he gets there.

      1. I agree. I hope after everyone gets their ASG experience, there will be a massive organizational-wide musical chairs.

        Marmolejos (1B), Ward (3B), Stevenson (CF), and Brinley (RP) are all deserving of promotions in Potomac.

        Robles (CF), Schrock (SS/2B), Davidson (2B/3B), Page (1B/OF), Avila (SP), and J. Rodriguez (SP) are deserving of promotions from Hagerstown.

        Fortunately, the aforementioned players largely can replace each other. Page replaces Marmolejos, Ward with Davidson, Stevenson with Robles, then shifting Estevez to relief to make space for Avila and/or JRod.

        Then there’s still a number of guys stuck in limbo in XST, and there will very soon be an influx of draftees, especially if we go heavy on 4th year college seniors again. Some tough decisions will need to be made on a bunch of players’ futures, even when they may not be struggling- guys like Page, Davidson, Sagdal, who are 23-24 and still in Hagerstown will either need to make the jump up or get surpassed.

    2. I was curious so I looked it up. Baseball Reference actually says that was Robles’ 12 assist. Some guy on Greenville named Tate Matheny (apparently Mike’s son) has 11 outfield assists, then no one else in the Sally League has more than 6 (most have far fewer than that). That’s very impressive.

      Completely unrelated, I also noticed Greenville have two twins playing on their team- Luis Alejandro Basabe and Luis Alexander Basabe. Sounds like Mom didn’t realize she was pregnant with twins until they came out, and she didn’t have any back up names!

      1. That is impressive for Robles, but I wonder how much it pertains to other teams initially challenging an 18-year old’s arm to see what he has. I remember the year Soriano played in DC–he got 20 outfield assists that year, but around 18 or so of them came before the All Star break. Because of Soriano’s poor defensive reputation, other teams didn’t respect his arm in the OF until he proved he could gun them down on the basepaths.

        Anyway, what it says to me is that a very young Robles was challenged and he proved his mettle. Good for him.

        1. With Soriano, teams were testing him because he’d never played OF before, and so his arm strength was a relatively unknown quantity. With Robles, he’s has always been known to have a strong arm.

          Maybe it’s just that teams in the Sally League don’t bother scouting their opponents, especially something as relatively insignificant as the CF’s arm. But with 12 assists so far, the other teams won’t need to scout him, they’ll have seen it first hand.

  3. On the first day of the draft the Nats’ strategy seemed to be, save money on bonuses in the first round and use some of the cash they were allotted for having two first round picks farther down. Going by mlb.com’s Top 200 list, they essentially drafted three mid-second rounders. I’m guessing they are following a high school prospect or three who was expected to go to college who they think they can entice with a decent offer. We’ll see.

    2. Counting Luzardo, who clocked in a #77 on mlb.com’s Top 200 list (the last projected pick of round 2), that makes four players drafted that the official site of MLB rated as 2nd rounders. Interesting.

  4. Aaaand they draft ANOTHER post-TJ project, Jesus Lozardo.

    Rizzo sure does have a type.

      1. Time to promote to uncork the
        Clogged pipeline moving JMD up
        Page up Kiernen up.
        Jeffries and Dulin should see hags

    2. This might be the guy for which they were “saving” the first round bonus cash.

      1. I’m not sure if Lozardo has as much leverage as most other HSers, since he’s already down one TJ. If he injures his arm in the next two years at Miami, he’s basically out of a career, and this is his chance (if limited) to get paid.

        1. Sure he’d be taking a risk by keeping his college commitment, but I’ll bet he signs for above slot value. Maybe not substantially, but still a bit above. Landing him and another above slot high schooler or two will be the windfall gained by not going after the sexier college arms that were still available in Round 1.

  5. Lizardo was actually listed as 45th in ba’s top 100 list. 70 something by mlb.

  6. Really interesting that 6 of the first 8 selections are batters.

    In each of the previous 3 drafts, 5 of the top 8 were pitchers. Looks like the Nats might be drafting on need this time.
    Or it’s just a batter heavy year….

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