Wednesday’s News & Notes
| Team | Yesterday | Today | Pitching Matchup (’19 Stats at the Level) |
| Rochester | Lost, 6-5 (11 inn.) | @ Lehigh Valley, 7:05 p.m. | Fuentes (5-4, 2.69 @ AA) vs. Howard (1-0, 2.35 @ AA) |
| Harrisburg | Lost, 6-0 | @ Somserset, 7:05 p.m. | M. Sanchez (10-5, 2.85) vs. TBD |
| Wilmington | Lost, 10-1 | vs. Aberdeen, 7:05 p.m. | Cavalli (pro debut) vs. TBD |
| Fredericksburg | Lost, 16-3 | @ Lynchburg, 6:30 p.m. | Seijas (3-1, 2.76 @ GCL) vs. Espino (0-2, 6.30 @ SS-A) |
Lehigh Valley 6 Rochester 5 (11 inn.)
• Nolin 4⅓ IP, 6H, 3R, 3ER, BB, 4K
• Miller 2IP, 0H, 1R, 0ER, BB, 4K
• Bonnell (BS, 1; L, 0-1) ⅔ IP, 2H, 2R, ER, 0BB, 1K
• García 2-5, 2R, HR, RBI
• Noll 2-5, 2RBI
• Kieboom 0-5, R, 4K
A two-out infield single and a two-out triple in the 11th turned a 5-4 win into a 6-5 walk-off loss for the RedWings. Veteran Sean Nolin was knocked from the box in the 5th as he let in the first three IronPig runs on six hits and a walk over four and 2/3rds. Like an arraignment of the 1/6 insurrectionists, it was a parade of zeroes until extras with five Rochester relievers keeping Lehigh Valley off the board until the 10th. Gerardo Parra plated the first go-ahead run with a two-single in the 10th while Jake Noll singled in the last run in the 11th. The blown-save-loss went to Bryan Bonnell. Roster moves: RHP Kyle McGowin optioned from Washington.
Somerset 6 Harrisburg 0
• Cate (L, 0-1) 4IP, 5H, 6R, 5ER, 3BB, 3K, 2HR, 2WP
• A. Lee 3IP, 0H, 0R, 2BB, 3K
• Banks 1-4, 2K
• Mendoza 1-4, 2K
Somserset jumped on Harrisburg starter Tim Cate for five of its six runs in the 1st and cruised to a 6-0 shutout. Cate allowed all six runs on five hits (two HR) and three walks while striking out three in his AA debut. It was a mild night—77 degrees—but the Senators batters kept the Patriots infield cool with the breeze from 15 strikeouts. No Harrisburg batter reached base twice, as K.J. Harrison, Nick Banks, and Drew Mendoza each collected one hit. The Senators left on nine total and went 0-for-4 with RISP.
Aberdeen 10 Wilmington 1
• Rutledge (L, 0-1) 4⅔ IP, 3H, 2R, 2ER, 3BB, 4K, 2WP
• Schaller 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, K, 2-0 IR-S
• Connell 2-3
• Upshaw 1-3, BB, CS
Jackson Rutledge’s High-A debut was only marginally better as the IronBirds strafed the BlueRocks, 10-1. Rutledge gave up the first two Aberdeen runs on three hits and three walks over four and 2/3rds to take the loss. Francys Peguero and Chris “Chevy” Vann gave up the final eight runs over three-plus innings before Reid Schaller came on with two on and no outs to retire the last three batters. Wilmington batters mustered just three hits and two walks while fanning 13 times. Justin Connell and Armond Upshaw both reached base twice.
Lynchburg 16 Fredricksburg 3
• Strom (L, 0-1) 2IP, 5H, 8R, 7ER, 4BB, 1K, 2HR, HBP
• Hernández 3IP, 5H, R, ER, BB, 3K
• Vega 2-4
• Randa 0-1, 3BB
Perhaps it wasn’t necessary to go for two twice, but the Hillcats took no chances as Lynchburg pounded Fredericksburg, 16-3 in the opener. Leif Strom took the brunt of it, giving up eight runs (seven earned) on five hits (two homers) and four walks. Onix Vega led the F-Nats hit column with two of their seven hits while Jake Randa drew three of the team’s four walks. José Sánchez and Kevin Strohschein each had two errors while Geraldi Diaz had one… plus a passed ball.
Harrisburg rotation: Cate, Mario Sanchez, Carson Teel, Sterling Sharp, Luis Reyes
Interesting factoid about Harrisburg: there isn’t a single player there on the 40 man roster.
Not sure how one would prove this, but I would bet this is the first time since the Expos moved to DC that this has happened.
This is a product of the fact that callups this year to the big club can only come from AAA.
Covid rules.
Oh I didn’t realize that. That explains it. So if the Nats lose 2 SPs, and Sterling Sharp and Carson Teel are dominating in AA, how long would they have to be on the AAA roster before getting promoted to DC?
Yikes… could we possibly have had a worse Opening Day? Comprehensively terrible performances in all aspects. Our pitchers allowed 38 (!!) runs in 38 IP, and our bats scored 9 runs in 38 innings while striking out 49 (!!) times, and our fielders committed 9 errors.
The only positive I see here is L. Garcia’s performance: 2 for 5 with a HR.
Think we could be in for a long minor league season across all 4 levels.
You ARE aware that it’s a 120 game season, aren’t you?
This is also the least talented farm system in the game.
I’m not expecting them to lose every game, but I also don’t expect any of them to finish much better than .500. But let’s see.
Well, there’s only one direction to go from here!
Rutledge was actually fine through four and then hit a wall in the fifth. Not ideal, but better than him getting smacked around from the word “go”. Conversely, Cate got shellacked in his first inning but then recovered to pitch three more that were basically OK. Room for improvement there, obviously.
I have seen literally nothing over the past year-plus to dissuade me from the notion that García is both a better player now and has a higher ceiling than Kieboom. Hopefully Kieboom figures it out sooner rather than later, if only because this team is gonna need trade chips if it’s contending in late July and it doesn’t really *have* any right now that aren’t firmly bolted down.
The F-Nats roster might be the worst we’ve had on a minor league affiliate in years, and after some woeful Hagerstown Suns, Auburn Doubledays, and Fresno Grizzlies teams we’ve endured, that’s really saying something. I think Martina (who apparently got hurt after taking one at-bat last night) and Seijas are the only guys on that team it’s worth paying even a little bit of attention to, and they’re still probably #31-40 type prospects within the organization.
One other positive: my guy Andrew Lee, with three strong innings at Harrisburg.
Pretty much agree with Sao that the hand the F-Nats have been dealt is not good. I do have some interest in Alfonso Hernandez, who was decent on Tuesday.
The Wilmington lineup may be as challenged as the one in Fredericksburg, though.
Also I have no idea who Sean Nolin is. He wasn’t even in the big-league spring camp. Yet he’s the AAA starter for an organization (over)committed to pitching depth. Wow.
Also, if we’re going to highlight Kieboom’s struggles, do the same with Antuna: 0-4, 3K, 5 LOB. They put him on the 40-man yet didn’t even think he’s ready for AA? As with all of them, I sure hope he finds his grove, but the handling of him, and the hype, are a little weird.
Yeah, I’m still perplexed by all the pre-season hype. I imagined it was because he showed up to the Instructionals mashing the cover off the ball in “the best shape of his life”, but FanGraphs’ report on him dispels that idea. Really strange to me. But I hope his bat finally comes around, because all the evidence we have of it ever being even decent is literally one month (August) from FOUR years ago.