NationalsProspects.com

Wednesday’s News & Notes

Team Yesterday Today Pitching Probables
Rochester Lost, 11-5 vs. Lehigh Valley, 7:05 p.m. Verrett (1-2, 5.94) vs. C. Sanchez (1-0, 9.00)
Harrisburg Lost, 6-2 @ Portland, 6 p.m. Henry (0-0, 0.92) vs. Groome (1-1, 4.26)
Wilmington Won, 12-7 vs. Jersey Shore, 6:35 p.m. Cuevas (0-4, 4.67) vs. McGarry (0-1, 3.97)
Fredericksburg Lost, 5-3 @ Delmarva, 7:05 p.m. Caceres (3-1, 4.50) vs. Grady (1-2, 7.71)

Lehigh Valley 11 Rochester 5
• Cavalli (L, 1-3) ⅔ IP, 4H, 5R, 5ER, 2BB, 2K
• Machado 2IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 3K
• Noll 2-4, R, 2B, 2RBI
• Meneses 1-4, R, 2B

A pitcher from Hertford, NC once noted that solar exposure could not be limited to a singular canine, which the Red Wings demonstrated with an 11-5 loss to the IronPigs to end a nine-game winning streak. Cade Cavalli didn’t make it out of the 1st as he was pounded for five runs on four hits while issuing two walks and striking out two. It was his third loss this season and 8th in 13 AAA starts. His 2021 ERA in six AAA starts was 7.30; in seven starts in 2022 it’s 7.62. Jake Noll singled, doubled, and drove in two to lead the Rochester offense, which made the most of eight hits, two walks, and a Victor Robles. Note: While Andrew Stevenson was hit by a pitch, he appeared on defense afterwards. Likewise, Luis García grounded out in the bottom of the 6th before he was replaced on defense in the top of the 7th.

Portland 6 Harrisburg 2
• Guasch (L, 2-5) 2+ IP, 1H, 4R, 4ER, 5BB, 6K, 2HBP
• A. Lee 3IP, 4H, 2R, 2ER, BB, 4K, HR, 2-2 IR-S
• W. Garcia 1-3, RBI, HBP
• Millas 1-3

Richard Guasch struck out the side twice in two-plus innings. He also walked five, hit two, and gave up four runs in a 6-2 Harrisburg loss. LaLoosh Guasch lost for the fifth time in seven starts. It was essentially a moot point as the Senators’ offense was in recess, with just three hits on the night – singles by Wilson Garcia, Drew Millas, and Jecksson Flores, all of which came in the 1st. The second Harrisburg run scored on an error in the 9th.
Roster moves: RHP Erik Manoah Jr. released; RHP Luis Reyes reinstated from the Development List and reassigned from Rochester.
.

Wilmington 12 Jersey Shore 7
• Merrill 2+ IP, 5H, 6R, 6ER, 2BB, 2K
• M. Peña (W, 1-1) 3IP, 1H, 1R, 1ER, 2BB, 1K, HR, 1-1 IR-S
• C. Romero 2IP, 0H, 0R, 3BB, 3K
• Mendoza 3-4, 2R, 2B, HR, 5RBI
• Pineda 2-4, 2R, BB, RBI, 2SB
• Jo. Sánchez 2-4, R
• Antuna 1-3, R, 2BB, HR, RBI

The Blue Rocks built an 8-0 lead after two and damn near blew it after giving up seven in the 3rd. But the Wilmington ‘pen delivered while the offense got two more runs in both the 5th and 6th innings to prevail, 12-7. Matt Merill got hit hard Forrest Gump pause again as he was tanned for six runs on five hits and two walks over two-plus innings to raise his ERA to 8.50 after six starts. Malvin Peña let in on inherited runner and one run of his own on a HR over three innings to pick up the win. Cage Canning will be the one to make the packy run as he was the beer man in the Blue Rocks’ 11-hit parade, led by Drew Mendoza, who homered for the first time in ’22 and finished with a 3-for-4, five-RBI night, followed by Israel Pineda, who singled twice, walked once, and stole two bases.

Delmarva 5 Fredericksburg 3
• Saenz 4⅔ IP, 1H, 1R, 1ER, 3BB, 4K, HBP, 2WP
• B. Peña (L, 1-1) 1⅓ IP, 3H, 2R, 2ER, 2BB, 1K, HR, 1-0 IR-S
• De La Rosa 2-4, 2R, 2B
• House 2-3, R, HR, RBI, HBP

Delmarva scored in each of its last four at-bats to turn a 2-0 deficit into a 5-3 win – the fourth loss in five games for Fredericksburg. Dustin Saenz left the game with an injured ankle after diving over the runner that scored on his second wild pitch. The not-so-nimble southpaw finished with one run allowed on one hit, three walks, a Victor Robles, and two wild pitches over four and 2/3rds. He struck out four. The loss went to Bryan Peña on a two-run HR allowed in his second inning of work. Jeremy De La Rosa singled and doubled while Brady House singled and homered to lead the FredNats offense, which went just 2-for-12 with RISP and left on seven baserunners.
Roster moves: C Allan Berrios reinstated from the Development List and reassigned from Harrisburg.

13 Commments

  1. Some of us are still loopy after Sunday’s blood moon
    My canine has been napping like
    Post lunch brigade at the Senior citizen home
    Churning through the arms
    Manoah Jr released

  2. Cavalli needed 37 pitches to retire 2 batters, or as Mike Rizzo and Davey say ‘he threw the ball really well’.

    Another strong night from De La Rosa; to say Gage Canning and his .215 OPS is not blocking him is an understatement.

  3. I guess they have to wait until our site leader (Luke) does one more trip to Fredericksburg before moving guys up from there 🙂

    De La Rosa is playing CF at FBG – at WIL they are now looking at Ricardo Mendez (age 22) in CF, who began his season on April 26 due to injury and has an 809 OPS in 32 at-bats. I think Canning has moved to the bench at this point.

    Looking at LH/RH splits for various folks – everyday players get about 4 times as many at-bats again RH. De La Rosa splits:
    vs RH: 106 AB 1006 OPS
    vs LH: 24 AB 708 OPS

    I think that is a reasonable OPS split (for BA it is .340 vs .250). It’s hard to build up sample size vs. LH pitchers.

    Anyway, I do expect to see De La Rosa moving ahead pretty soon – not bad for someone who was born 1/16/2002.

    BTW, Justin Connell has played some CF at Harrisburg, but more RF.

  4. I do like Luke’s “he didn’t get hurt” notes (as for the AAA game today).

    But I’m officially worried about Cade Cavalli.

    1. he’s a test case against promoting too rapidly. 5.4 BB per nine innings in AA hardly indicates the command needed at higher levels. I don’t care how many guys he struck out

  5. Greetings from Portland. I don’t have much more to add than what Luke noted. Gausch was wild and there no offense.
    I’m sure Lecroy just gave Stevenson and Garcia the rest of the night off.

    1. Any thoughts on Francys Peguero, possibly the most overlooked player in the Nats farm system? He’s 26 now, but sports a 3.06 ERA across 6 seasons. Did you notice what his velocity was? I’ve never heard any real scouting reports on him, but without much to lose at the major league level, he could find himself in the picture if a few injuries fell at the right time.

  6. With Berrios’ late posting, it’s just a reminder that the logjam in Fredericksburg isn’t exclusive only to those not getting regular starts, like Emiliani, Arias and Rivero, but it’s actively preventing players like Berrios from being named to the roster. As far as I can tell, the same is true with Will Frizzell, Jackson Coutts, Landon Dieterich, Jaden Fein, and Braian Fernandez (listed as injured, but consider me skeptical), who are still missing. Based on their age/experience, they’re each too advanced for the FCL, and lead me to believe they’re simply blocked by other players. Frizzell, Coutts and Dieterich are all 1Bs, and Fburg already has two very good ones (Emiliani and Boissiere), while Fein and Fernandez are OFs, blocked by de la Rosa, Young, White, Arias and Williams.

  7. Nice to see Antuna go deep. Unfortunately, it’s only his 6th XBH in 102 plate appearances. He’s now hitting a paltry .216/.382/.333, which if you squint might be intriguing for a defense-first SS, but for a LF it’s just not good enough.

    I wonder if the Nationals could swap him for another prospect, since Antuna seems to demonstrate value in some strange way to scouts/prospect-evaluators. I just don’t see it, and, frankly, never have.

    1. I agree on Antuna. He’s repeating a level and still hitting hitting only .216. He’s not yet “old for the level,” but his only decent season was five years ago. He is taking more walks this year, but that’s about the only nice thing that can be said about him. I’ve just never understood the excitement.

Comments are closed.