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Monday’s News & Notes

Team Yesterday Today Pitching Probables
Rochester Won, 2-1 OFF DAY N/A
Harrisburg Won, 8-5 OFF DAY N/A
Wilmington Lost, 9-3 OFF DAY N/A
Fredericksburg Won, 7-6 OFF DAY N/A
FCL Nationals OFF DAY
DSL Nationals OFF DAY

Rochester 2 Syracuse 1
• Verrett (W, 4-5) 7IP, 2H, 1R, 1ER, 2BB, 6K
• Clippard (H, 1) 1IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• Weems (SV, 11) 1IP, 0H, 0R, 1BB, 0K
• Noll 2-3, R, 2B(20)
• Palacios 1-3, RBI, SB(15)

The Red Wings eked out a 2-1 win on a 4th-inning balk to split the six-game series with the Mets. Logan Verrett picked up his fourth win with seven innings of one-run ball on two hits and two walks while striking out six. Tyler Clippard worked around a hit in the 8th for the hold while Jordan Weems did the same with a walk in the 9th for his 11th save. Jake Noll singled, scored the game-winning run, and hit his 20th double while Josh Palacios singled and stole his 15th base to lead Rochester’s five-hit attack.

Harrisburg 8 Akron 5
• Troop (W, 5-1) 6IP, 5H, 0R, 0BB, 8K
• A. Lee (SV, 1) 1⅓ IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 2K, 2-0 IR-S
• A. Young 2-4, R, 2BB, 2-2B, 2RBI
• Perez 2-4, R, BB
• Nogowski 1-2, 2R, 3BB, 3RBI

Harrisburg played the spoiler for Akron as they raced to an early 7-0 lead and held on, 8-5. The loss dropped the RubberDucks into a tie with the Flying Squirrels. which won the first-half title for the E.L. Southwest on the tiebreaker. Alex Troop won for the second time in six starts with his first quality start of six scoreless innings on five hits, no walks, and eight K’s. Andrew Lee stranded two in the 8th and worked around a hiot in the 9th for the save, his first. Andrew Young doubled twice, walked twice, and drove in two while Wilmer Perez singled twice and scored a run to pace the Senators’ offense.

Aberdeen 9 Wilmington 3
• Knowles 4IP, 4H, 1R, 1ER, 0BB, 4K
• C. Romero (L, 3-4) 2+ IP, 3H, 4R, 4ER, 2BB, 3K, 2HR
• Pineda 2-4, R
• Jo. Sánchez 2-4, RBI

The Blue Rocks lost leads of 2-1 and 3-2 before coughing up seven in the 7th for a 9-3 loss in the series finale. Lucas Knowles stepped in for Rodney “He’s Not Hurt, Just Resting; The GM Would Never Lie” Theophile and let in one run on four hits without a walk and four whiffs. Carlos Romero suffered the loss with four runs allowed on three hits, including the game-tying HR in the 6th and a two-run shot in the 7th. Israel Pineda and José Sánchez both went 2-for-4 to lead the seven-hit Wilmington offense.

Fredericksburg 7 Salem 6
• Alvarez 5IP, 9H, 5R, 5ER, 2BB, 6K, WP
• M. Perez (W, 1-2) 2IP, 0H, 0R, 1BB, 2K
• Peterson (SV, 1) 1IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• V. Peña 3-4, 3B(5), 4RBI, SB
• Arias 2-2, 2R, 2BB, RBI, SB
• Infante 2-5, R, 2B, HR

Fredericksburg rallied from an early 4-0 deficit to edge Salem, 7-6, and split the six-game series. Andrew Alvarez stepped in for Andry Lara and had similar results as last Tuesday, manhandled for five runs on nine hits and two walks. Marlon Perez picked up the win in relifer with two scoreless innings while Todd Peterson worked around a hit in the 9th for his first save of ’22. Viandel Peña came up big three times in RISP situations, delivering two RBI singles and a two-run triple while Sammy Infante doubled for the 13th time and homered for the 13th time to power the FredNats comeback.

FCL Nationals (8-6, T2nd, ½ GB, FCL East)
Parity still reigns in the FCL East, as the top five teams are within a game and a half of first place. Thus far, the F-Nats have the fifth-best pitching staff in the FCL (4.21 vs 5.28 R/G lg. avg.) … and the fifth-worst hitters (4.71). This week, the F-Nats take on the two Astros teams for three games (Mon-Tue, Thu) and the Cardinals on Friday and Saturday.

DSL Nationals (8-7, 4th place, 3½ GB, DSL South)
The D-Nats won just once last to drop into 4th place in the nine-team DSL South. Like their counterparts in Florida, the pitching is quite strong — 3.73 R/G vs. 5.43 lg. avg. — but unlike the stateside crew, the DSL hitting is slightly better at 5.53 R/G. This week it’s road games against the Pit-Gold and the Twins on Tuesday and Thursday, and home games against Giants-Black, Blue Jays, and the Rockies on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday.

19 Commments

  1. Syracuse briefly tied the game in the 6th or 7th inning. A long fly ball down the LF line was originally ruled a HR and the batter circled the bases. LeCroy argued and the umpires overturned their call. The Syracuse manager then argued and was ejected. On the next pitch, the batter struck out, argued, and was ejected also.

    1. Thanks LM for the anecdote. That’s better umpiring than the big club got on Saturday.

      As minor league seamheads can we all celebrate what Jackson Tetreault is doing in the show. Never showed ‘star’ in his rise through the system and now he’s had 2 great starts in a row.

      T.J. White was 0 for 4 yesterday. What a bum! 🙂

      1. Always good to see the less heralded minor leaguers like Tetreault reach the big leagues and experience some success, even if only temporary!

  2. Luke HNRJR list not IR lol.
    Or he’s not heavy he’s my brother as the song lyric went ..
    Theo and Lara “ day in the golf cart in the bullpen “ rest .
    Maturation lag as in jet lag .
    Whatever brass what’s to call it .

  3. I woke up this morning dreaming of Troop to AAA, Cate to AA and Rutledge to A+.

    like I said, I was dreaming

    1. Dreams divinely do come true
      Like working with a guy with the last name Pounders who ended up saying yes to my question about being related to the hitter who toured KC and Angels .
      USC kid ?
      Baker and Peña should move up a peg

  4. White did walk and score a run. He also struck out only once, compared to five (5!) times for de la Rosa and four for Emiliani, accounting for more than half of the ugly team total of 17.

    Despite his big day yesterday, Infante is only slashing .192/.278/.333 in June. That was his first June homer after seven in April and five in May. His K rate is a frightening 30.8%. The overall power is promising, with 13 homers and 13 doubles (.481 SLG, .250 ISO), but obviously he’s got to find some consistency.

    1. Fortunately, even after losing the 2020 season, he still only turned 21 5 days ago, and can afford to slowly rise up the farm ladder.

      I’m more concerned about the likes of Branden Boissiere, a 3rd round pick, who’s batting a pathetic .216/.347/.284 while being a year older, and Andrew Young, a 7th rounder, who’s batting .233/.331/.304 and is almost exactly two years older. Not to mention the inexplicable absence of Will Frizzell, a full 2.5 years older than Infante.

      These guys need to start hitting. Fast. Because we can’t have 22-24 year olds struggling to hit against 20 year olds in the Carolina League, especially with their draft pedigrees.

      1. I scratched my head at the pick of Boissiere in the 3d round at the time of the draft. He played 1B only in his draft season and hit only five homers. He got Mark Grace comparisons, that his glove and bat-to-ball skills were going to be so good that we’d forget the lack of power. That’s good and all, but it sounds more like an 8th-round gamble to me than 3d round.

        That’s why I’m lobbying for guys like Luis Melendez, Sonny DiChiara, and Tim Elko this year. That’s why I loved the Frizzell pick last year, whether he pans out or not. At least start with some guys who have actually shown some big power. (Frizzell apparently is hurt, even though he’s been carried all season as “active” on the FCL roster.)

  5. Nice starts for lanky lefties Troop and Knowles. As Tetreault shows, it’s never too late to find something.

    Fred, I agree that Troop and Cate promotions would make sense. Rutledge would be more of a “social promotion,” but they did that with Adon last season (several levels), so who knows. Rutledge was at A+ last season already.

    In other news, not sure why Tyler Clippard hasn’t rated promotion.

  6. While the majority of Nationals’ top ten arms have been largely disappointing (Cavalli, Lara, Rutledge, Adon, Carrillo) and/or injury prone (Henry, also Rutledge, Carrillo and A. Hernandez), the unheralded, second tier of pitching prospects have really impressed this season.

    Alex Troop had yet another impressive outing. He’s dropped his ERA below 3.00, and has been equally impressive starting and in relief. But he’s just one of several arms that started the season as interesting, but have perhaps played themselves into legitimate prospect territory.

    Alex Troop – AA, 54.1 IP, 2.98 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, 67 K, 16 BB
    Jackson Tetreault – AAA, 58 IP, 4.19 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 52 K, 24 BB (even better, competent MLB performances!)
    Matt Cronin – AA/AAA, 24 IP, 2.63 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, 33 K, 10 BB
    Zack Brzykcy – A+/AA, 31 IP, 1.16 ERA, 0.87 WHIP, 54 K, 14 BB
    Evan Lee – AA, 30 IP, 3.60 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 37 K, 15 BB (plus, semi-competent MLB performances)
    Jake Irvin – A+/AA, 44.2 IP, 2.62 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, 44 K, 9 BB
    Tim Cate – A+, 43.1 IP, 2.28 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 50 K, 11 BB
    Tyler Yankosky – A+, 30.1 IP, 2.67 ERA, 0-06 WHIP, 29 K, 1(!) BB
    Mitchell Parker – A+, 50 IP, 1.80 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, 61 K, 36 BB
    Jose Ferrer – A/A+, 32 IP, 1.97 ERA, 0.88(!) WHIP, 37 K, 7 BB
    Rodney Theopile – A/A+, 63.2 IP, 1.84 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, 73 K, 18 BB
    Jack Sinclair – A/A+, 23.1 IP, 2.70 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 29 K, 7 BB
    Dustin Saenz – A, 38.1 IP, 3.05 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 42 K, 11 BB
    Marc Davis, A, 13.2 IP, 3.95 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 15 K, 7 BB

    All of these guys, only three (Cronin, Parker and Tetreault) featured in our Top 10 arms list for the 2022 season. In fact, of the 5 honorable mentions, only Cate featured in that list. But save for maybe Yankosky and Sinclair, all of them were on the Watchlist, and they’ve certainly made really strong cases for themselves to rise onto Nationals top prospects lists, especially as players like Rutledge, Adon, and Carrillo plummet.

    This is exactly what a good farm system is meant to deliver, and the importance of having a deeply stocked system. When Rutledge, for example, turns into a pumpkin, guys like Irvin, Troop and Theophile emerge, seemingly out of nowhere, to transform into legit prospects.

    Now here’s to hoping the Nats can learn how to draft and develop batters, because we’re still sorely lacking in this area, both in depth and quality.

    1. thanks for compiling the info.

      time will tell who on this list is a prospect vs a suspect. I’ll offer that you are being a little too harsh in your assessment of Rutledge. while his development to date has been disappointing, he still possesses the stuff unmatched by any other than Cavalli. his performances of late are very encouraging, I’ve watched them all. my desire for a promotion includes trying to make up for lost time but it occurs to me he may just learning who is is as a pitcher. think Derek Lowe vs Garrett Cole. the wildcard for me is he could be the former while still possessing the four seamer of the latter.

  7. But what about the BATS? Have to love what De La Rosa is doing, but it’s hard to find the young guys who are really putting up numbers. TJ White and Infante have had their hot streaks.

    1. Banks ROC + WIL rehab 871 OPS
    2. Meneses ROC 863
    3. De La Rosa FRE 859
    4. Stevenson ROC 854
    5. Gushue HBG/ROC 841
    6. Meregildo WIL 828
    7. Palacios ROC 825
    8. VPena FRE 816
    9. Barrera ROC 800
    10. Alu HBG 799
    11. W. Garcia HBG 793
    12. Infante FRE 782
    13. TJ White FRE 775
    14. Connell HBG 757
    15. Emiliani FRE 751
    16. A Young HBG 746
    17. Antuna WIL 744
    18. House FRE 731
    19. J. Sanchez WIL 730
    20. D. Baker WIL 703

  8. Nattering, I was having the same thought while reading Will’s list: what about the bats? As I’m sure you know, most of the hitters you listed aren’t actually prospects to be MLB regulars. Infante, Connell, and de la Rosa all had early power surges that have since fizzled, and the first two have K% north of 30. I do think de la Rosa has done enough to be considered an actual prospect, but he’s still not showing much power unless he can stick in CF. Infante still is a prospect as well. I wanted to believe in Connell, but I can’t get there yet.

    We’ve chronicled White’s rise, fall, and rebirth in June. He seems to have stamped himself as a legit prospect. House was looking good for the first six weeks or so until clobbered by injuries. Not much reason to drop him from exalted status just yet, though. Very early returns on Vaquero are good. Cruz and Quintana have been OK but not spectacular in the FCL.

    Above A ball, um, . . . Antuna is taking more walks? (And is still hitting .233 while repeating the level.) As noted, I really wanted to believe in the Connell surge, but he’s only had two homers since April.

    I don’t mean to discount all the other guys who are doing well. Several may still have chances at reserve roles in the majors, all the more if/when the big club makes some trades over the next month.

    1. Some of the bats that I’d have highlighted:

      Meregildo, V. Pena, Infante and White. And perhaps the most overlooked player in the Nats farm system: Jake Alu.

      Alu has been quietly trucking along, holding his own, and more, against what’s supposed to be the real test of batters: AA pitching. His slash of .265/.349/.450 won’t blow you away, but his peripherals are really solid. He’s almost doubled his career walk rate to 10.1% BB% this season. His strikeouts are a very manageable 18.7%. He’s good solid power (.186 ISO), and even decent speed (8 SBs so far this season in 9 attempts). If his defense is average… then that’s an extremely valuable player. Compare it to Eugenio Suarez, who’s hitting .235/.327/.438 with average 3B defense. He’ll be worth about 3.5-4.0 WAR this year. If Alu could be a budget version of that for the Nats, that would still be a huge boost in the upcoming few seasons, much like how Danny Espinosa and Wilson Ramos weren’t superstars, but helped turn the team around.

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