Tuesday’s News & Notes
| Team | Yesterday | Today | Pitching Matchup |
| Syracuse | Lost, 2-0 | @ Indianapolis, 11:05 a.m. |
Milone (1-0, 4.11) vs. Eppler (1-1, 2.84) |
| Harrisburg | Lost, 3-1 | @ Trenton, 7:00 p.m. |
Long (0-0, 2.25) vs. Keller (0-2, 7.84) |
| Potomac | OFF DAY | @ Wilmington, 6:35 p.m. |
Mapes (2-0, 2.25) vs. Bender (1-0, 5.56) |
| Hagerstown | Won, 9-1 | vs. Lakewood, 6:05 p.m. |
Tetreault (0-1, 7.98) vs. Rosso (0-0, 1.72) |
Indianapolis 2 Syracuse 0
• Voth 5IP, 5H, 0R, 0BB, 3K
• Collins (L, 0-1) 1IP, 2H, 2R, 2ER, 0BB, 0K, WP
• Bautista 2-5
• Gosewich 1-2, 2BB
The Chiefs were shut out for the first time this season, 2-0 by the Indians. The game was still 0-0 in the 8th when Indianapolis ripped a triple and a single off losing pitcher Tim Collins. A sacrifice, wild pitch, and a groundout plated the second run. Austin Voth spun another five scoreless innings with five hits let up and no walks while striking out three for the no-decision. Reigning I.L. Batter of the Week Rafael Bautista went 2-for-5 to lower his AAA batting average to .429 while Tuffy Gosewich reached base three times with a single and two walks. Syracuse was 0-for-10 with RISP and stranded 12 baserunners.
Trenton 3 Harrisburg 1
• Rodriguez (L, 1-2) 6IP, 4H, 3R, 3ER, 3BB, 8K, HBP
• Mendez 2IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 4K
• Davidson 3-4, 2B, CS
• Johnson 1-4, R, 3B
Jefry Rodriguez didn’t get the memo that giving up multiple runs early, a habit that many of his Potomac teammates fell into last summer, still loses ballgames at the next level. Trenton jumped on him and Harrisburg for three runs in the 1st and cruised to a 3-1 win. Rodriguez followed with five scoreless to notch a quality start, walking three and striking out eight in his second loss. Austin Davidson collected three hits in his AA debut. His teammates almost matched him, going 2-for-27 with 12 strikeouts. Daniel Johnson scored the lone Sens run after leading off the 4th with a triple and coming home on an groundout.
Potomac – OFF DAY
Juan Soto switched places with Jack Sundberg yesterday as the P-Nats hit the road today for a six-game swing through Delaware and Virginia to face the Blue Rocks and Hillcats.
Hagerstown 9 Lakewood 1
• Raquet (W, 1-2) 6IP, 4H, R, ER, 2BB, 3K
• McKinney 2IP, 2H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• Boggetto 4-4, 2R, 3B, 2RBI
• Franco 2-4, R, 2B, BB, RBI
• Flores 1-2, R, 2B, BB, RBI
Hagerstown went for two in the 2nd and converted for an 8-0 lead as they took the first of 25 games (yes, really) vs. Lakewood this season, 9-1. Nick Raquet earned his first Low-A win with six innings of one-run ball on four hits and two walks while striking out three. Jeremy McKinney (2IP) and Max Engelbrekt (1IP) combined for three scoreless to finish the game. Brandon Boggetto led the Suns 11-hit parade with a 4-for-4 night, scoring twice and driving in two, followed by Anderson Franco, who reached base three times with a walk, single, and a double.
In the midst of the other roster moves, we shouldn’t overlook former top prospect AJ Cole’s trade to the Yankees for cash considerations.
I’ve said it many times here, but what a complete waste. It still baffles me after 3 years, the Nationals never gave in and just tried to use him as a reliever. Instead, we wasted 4 years of control to see him fail both in the majors and minors as a starter. With his lack of a quality third pitch, he has reliever written all over him, and yet the brass never entertained this idea, until a couple weeks ago, they made a half-assed effort to switch him to relief for two games, then finally pulled the plug.
I think he still has some potential as a reliever, but unfortunately that opportunity will never come with the Nationals. And yet, here we are simultaneously signing RP cast-offs like Justin Miller and Carlos Torres to enhance our AAAA bullpen…
The Cole saga has been a weird one, all the way back to when they traded him then got him back. He looked good through 2015 but declined markedly in 2016. Perhaps they would have tried him as a reliever at that time if they hadn’t made the big Giolito-Lopez-Dunning trade and desperately needed starter depth, particularly when things started looking iffy for Ross. So they kept him as a starter in 2017, he struggled even more at AAA, but then some half-decent results in MLB games with his team up 15+ in the standings convinced them to insist that he be in the rotation to start 2018. I never understood that. Oh well. It will be interesting to see what the Yankees do with him. He’s someone who has been on the radar here since the 2010 draft.
Ken Rosenthal has reported that Yankees only want Cole as a short term long reliever and they will likely DFA soon (the Yankees recently did the same with IF Jace Peterson; they picked him up for week, and then DFA’d Peterson when the Yanks brought up Gleyber Torres). Could be wrong, but at best, AJ Cole is a long reliever/5th starter on a bad team.
I get the point that Cole was soooo bad as a starter, why not try him out of the bullpen, but dumping Cole is addition by subtraction.
Would be curious to hear from Voth about his resurgence. Was he injured last year? Did he tweak his mechanics? Is his velo up? Realize it’s early, but he looks like a totally different pitcher in 2018.
Finally, with Kelly going on the DL, these are the only non-DL pitchers left on the 40 man roster:
– Eric Fedde
– Jefrey Rodriguez
-Wander Suero
– Austin Voth
Hard to see any of them getting called up; so, guessing the Nats will make a cash deal for a AAAA reliever. FWIW, when Kelley goes to the DL, the Nats will have 10 players on the DL. Wow.
I’ve written my use-’em-or-trade-’em rant about how they sat on Cole, Taylor Jordan, Taylor Hill, and (perhaps) Voth too long so won’t repeat. Each had one very good season at AAA and could have been flipped for something, a la Karns. But the longer they went, the more of their flaws were revealed, and the less marketable they became. Like you, I’m not even sure Cole as he stands now could be an effective long man for a contender.
Interesting thoughts on the arms available. The scuttlebutt is that Sanchez and Bautista are both in SF, so maybe they’re replacing Kelley with and extra bench bat, although another move besides Kelley to DL would be required to activate both.
It’s too bad Tim Collins hasn’t been good and Suero has been injured. Both could have been looking at MLB opportunities.
Yep, Sanchez and Bautista are now on the active MLB roster. Kind of crazy given Bautista’s abysmal start at H’burg (which he turned around in Cuse). Reynolds goes back to Cuse. Kelley to the DL.
Austin Voth had taken a Cole-like path of drastic AAA decline, but something sure has clicked for him thus far this year. So far, Voth and Fedde have outpitched EJax and Milone.
Austin Davidson takes out the frustrations of a long-overdue promotion with three hits in his first AA game. He remains without a real position, and his defense is shaky, but his bat will keep him relevant. He has decent speed, so maybe he starts getting a little time in the OF in a super-utility role?
Another good start from Raquet, although again without a lot of Ks.
Sorry to see Sundberg demoted, but it makes sense based on his struggles. He had a nice run last season and even got a couple of ABs in games with the big club in the spring.
I think Cole and Voth just highlight how volatile the development of a prospect can be. While early risers like Robles and Soto grab the attention, I think it’s far more prevalent that guys go through swings and a team doesn’t know what it has for a long time. So they hold on past the expiration date because they want to make sure they given the guy all the chances they can to figure it out. It has to be pretty upsetting to see that happen for another team. And unfortunately, the Nats are developing a trend of pitchers figuring it out for other teams (Estrada, Lopez, Pivetta, Ray, Rivero, Treinen, and to a lesser extent,prospects like Avila and Hearn).
That’s something that Rizzo should think hard about trying to address as an organization.
On the positive side, I like what JRod is doing. Even Baez shows signs.
What Rizzo should think about is how little he has to show for dumping all of those guys. A big reason the Nats are struggling so badly this year is the resulting talent drain.
Wally, when I look at your list of traded guys who figured it out elsewhere (I notice you didn’t include Giolito and his 9.00 ERA!), something that strikes me is how many of these guys were traded to address the Nats’ on-on-on-going issues at the back end of the bullpen. Pivetta, Rivero, Treinen, and Hearn all left in trades for relievers, as did Luzado and Tyler Watson. Meanwhile, the Nats haven’t intentionally done much to develop relievers in-house. They (over-)drafted Storen as a reliever/closer, of course, and they intentionally drafted the fast-rising but oft-injured Glover as a reliever. There were some other relievers in that draft, including Brinley, who rose quickly but seems to have plateaued at AA, and Andrew Lee, who they made a starter before he hit his second TJ.
Let’s see, Rivero came in the Karns trade so wasn’t an original Nat product. They kept him, Solis, and Grace as starters as long as they could but finally converted all to relievers, as they did Purke . . . all the while still making a million mid-season trades for mediocre LOOGYs. Of that group, Rivero, Solis, and Purke all got converted in part because they couldn’t stay healthy as starters.
I guess the point I’m going a long way around to make is that the Nats haven’t done much in the way of intentionally drafting back-end relievers or making some of their big-armed Latin kids relievers when they’re young. I know they feel like they need more starters in their system, but ironically, they’ve depleted their minor-league starter pool over the years by continuing to have to trade for relievers.
I will say this though most of these pitchers besides Rivero and Ray have been below average since traded.
I will say this as the throw in, Dane Dunning whose now a top 100 prospect looks like the gem of Giolito, Lopez trade. I wonder if there was any way to get that deal done without him included.
Also I am still crying over Jesus Luzardo. Dude looks like an absolute stud. He’s dominating AA now. I like Madson and Doo a lot. But geez anybody but Luzardo, especially if we don’t win it all. I think Luzardo will be among the best pitching prospects in the game in a year.
Rizzo has always valued hitting prospects over pitching. Part of the reason the team has not moved Robles, Soto, Kieboom etc…not that I blame him.
The Ray trade gave the Nats a legit shot at a title in 2014. (Fister beat MadBum in SF; Boz still thinks that year was the Nats’ best chance to win it all.) The Tigers then gave up on Ray after just one year, and it took him a couple of years to figure it out at AZ. So he was no slam dunk.
The Rivero trade gave the Nats a legit shot in 2016. The Treinen/Luzardo trade gave the Nats a legit shot in 2017 (and 2018 if they get their act together). The length of control for both Doolittle and Madson undoubtedly was the reason they had to cough up a prospect as good as Luzardo. My guess is they thought they were “replacing” him in the ecosystem with the drafting of Seth Romero, though. Oops.
For Giolito/Lopez/Dunning, they got a guy coming off a 6 fWAR season who was controlled for five more years. Eaton has looked “worth” the trade price every time he has played. It just hasn’t been that often . . .
My point is that I understand why they made the trades in which the best of these guys departed. They were gambles, as all trades are. If Fister had led them to a title and/or remained good longer, we might not regret the Ray trade as much. But it’s perfectly fair to always regret that they talked the Tigers into taking Ray instead of Taylor Jordan!
I’m not criticizing the trades either. I might not have made each of them, but I understood why Rizzo felt the need to trade future value for current help.
But the point that’s interesting is that these guys largely are doing better elsewhere than when they were with the Nats, and that should be something within Rizzo’s control.
Always felt that in the game of chicken, the White Sox would’ve pulled the trigger if the Nats had held steadfast on keeping Dunning out of the Eaton deal. Giolito and Lopez were both top 100 prospects; Giolito was top 10. The White Sox weren’t going anywhere with Adam Eaton, and Giolito and Lopez were both the type of prospects which teams in the White Sox position crave:
– Highly rated
– On the verge of MLB ready
– Controllable
Everyone seemed to feel like the WS got the better of the Eaton deal when it was made, and it wasn’t because of Dane Dunning.
Wally, I’ll agree that there seems to be some developmental issues with the Nat with pitchers. Of course you’ve cast a wide net in the guys you’ve mentioned. Treinen and Rivero had both been in the majors for a while, for example. Some say the main issue with Rivero was Dusty’s overuse of him. (Davey M. already has some overuse questions of his own after just a few weeks.) With Treinen, he didn’t seem up to handling the pressures of closing for a contender, compounded by a lack of trust that Weiters could block his pitches in the dirt.
Lord only knows what was going on with Giolito. The Chisox still haven’t figured him out, either. (But he’s still only 23.) Dunning struggled some last season so wasn’t instantly “fixed.” Pivetta struggled a lot for several years with the Phils and only now seems to have found it. He probably got rushed to the majors too early. Luzardo already looked like the real deal before he was traded, so I don’t know that the A’s have done anything to improve him.
Of course there was someone somewhere in the Nats’ system who worked a miracle with Roark, so there’s also some credit due here and there. The Nats did develop Rivero and get him to the majors, and they made something out of Treinen.