NationalsProspects.com

Wednesday’s News & Notes

Team Yesterday Today Pitching Probables
Rochester Won, 5-3 vs. Lehigh Valley, 1:05 p.m. Adon (1-2, 4.61) vs. TBD
Harrisburg Lost, 7-2 @ New Hampshire, 6:35 p.m. S. Romero (0-1, 3.72) vs Melean (0-4, 5.04)
Fredericksburg Won, 2-0 OFF DAY N/A

Rochester 5 Lehigh Valley 3
• Murphy 4⅔ IP, 5H, 1R, 1ER, 2BB, 5K
• Baldonado (W, 2-2) 1⅓ IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 2K
• Garrett (SV, 2) 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 2K
• Gushue 2-4, R, 2B, HR, RBI
• Stevenson 2-5, R, SB
• Nogowski 1-2, R, 2BB

Rochester dialed long distance twice in the 3rd, including a grand slam by Jake Alu, to score five times as the Red Wings smelted the IronPigs, 5-3 in the series opener. Patrick Murphy fell one out shy of qualifying for the win as he ran into trouble in the 5th. He gave up one run on five hits and two walks while striking out five. Alberto Baldonado bailed him out, stranding two while getting out of the 5th, and pitched around a leadoff double in the 6th to earn the win. Taylor Gushue homered and doubled while Andrew Stevenson singled twice, scored once, and stole a base to lead the Rochester offense.
Roster moves: UT Jack Dunn, C Onix Vega reassigned from Wilmington.

New Hampshire 7 Harrisburg 2
• Troop (L, 7-5) 5IP, 6H, 7R, 7ER, 2BB, 7K, 2HR, 100-65 PIT-K
• Alston 2IP, 1H, 0R, 1BB, 2K
• W. Garcia 2-4, R, HR, 2RBI
• Hassell 1-2, R, 2BB

Both the organizational leaders in home runs extended their leads in the Senators’ 7-2 loss to the Fisher Cats. Alex Troop gave up nos. 20 and 21 to account for five of seven runs he let in over five innings, with six hits, two walks, and seven whiffs. It was his fourth loss as a starter and fifth overall. Garvin Alston put up two goose eggs while Gerardo Carrillo added one to close out the game. Wilson Garcia hit no. 23 to break up the shutout bid, plating Robert Hassell, who got on ahead of him with his second walk. The two combined to go 3-for-6 with two runs. The rest of the lineup went 1-for-23 with three walks.
Roster moves: LHP Ike Schlabach activated from 7-Day I.L.

Fredericksburg 2 Lynchburg 0
• Rutledge (W, 1-0) 8IP, 3H, 0R, 1BB, 6K
• M. Perez (SV, 1) 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, K
• Infante 3-3, 2B, RBI, SB
• Ge. Diaz 1-3

With eight strong innings from Jackson Rutledge, three hits from Sammy Infante, and two inning-ending double plays, Fredericksburg outdueled Lynchburg, 2-0 to take Game One of the Carolina League Northern Division Series. Rutledge allowed just three hits and a walk while striking out three to get the “W” while Marlon Perez set the side down in order in the 9th for the save.

The defense turned out to be the difference in this one as the Hillcats committed three errors, including two in the FredNats’ 4th inning. Will Frizzell took second on a two-base error by Lynchburg’s Lexer Saduy to lead off the inning.

Frizzell scored four batters later as Saduy fired wide of second base for another error on an Infante double that plated Frizzell. The miscue enabled James Wood, who reached on the sole Fredericksburg walk, to score all the way from 1st.

Geraldi Diaz had the only other Fredericksburg hit, as the Lynchburg errors helped mask a poor offensive effort by Fredericksburg, including the top four FredNats batters going 0-for-15 with four strikeouts and Barnden Boisserie leaving on four with three K’s in three AB’s.

The two teams will rematch tomorrow night in Lynchburg, with RHP Jarlin Susana (0-0, 2.61) scheduled against RHP Reid Johnston (4-6, 3.94). If a Game Three is necessary, it will be at 2:30 p.m. on Friday.

16 Commments

  1. A real live pitchers duel last night. After all these frustrating years it’s good to see Jackson Rutledge put it all together. Sammy Infante had his star turn.

    Surprising the lack of additions to Harrisburg. At least Dunn and Vega get a taste of AAA for two weeks.

    Also, a heads up. Saturday will be a free viewing of the Senators game on both MLB.TV and MILB.com.

  2. Very good to see such a huge performance from Rutledge in a clutch situation. Pretty efficient of him, too, to make it eight innings on 98 pitches, helped by those two double plays.

    Also good to see a strong performance from Infante, who has had what has to be termed a disappointing season.

    Interesting that T. J. White didn’t get a start. Perhaps he will in a later game.

    1. The two double plays by JR induced low pitches highlighted his efficiency for sure
      The Roman chorus cheers!

  3. AsJR reaches a new zenith
    Let’s talk Troop as the bugs eat me alive as the Boston is on patrol by the fence line
    Rubber arm Troop
    112 IP in various Sens roles

  4. last night was my first visit to the new FredNats ballpark, it was a very enjoyable experience. pretty good crowd too.

    while the hitters didn’t live up to what they’ve been producing lately Rutledge sure did. still hitting 97-98 in the later innings. I know his progress has not met the expectations of everyone, and yes it’s low A ball but there is no way not to look at his season of good health, good progress and success as one of the most promising developments of 2022.

    Alex Troop pitching 112 innings with 130 K and 31 BB in AA should earn him a spot in the Red Wings rotation. he may still end up being a middle reliever but that low walk rate might get him a shot in the show. I’m always looking for the next Craig Stammen, I thought Voth could be that guy.

    Jake Alu finishing strong taking it to where Jake Noll just couldn’t quite get. I wouldn’t be shocked to see him on South Capital Street in April.

  5. Reading about the FredNats defense last night I was reminded of an interview a couple of weeks ago with Jack Lowery, the manager.
    He said it was extremely helpful to have a great defender in Brendan Boissiere at 1st base catching all the errant throws by the youngsters in the infield. Gave them confidence.

    1. Only problem: Boisserie ain’t that great a defender. He has his moments, but at least once every game I saw him this season he misplayed a ball that an average 1B would handle.

      1. Well, his calling card is not his offense, hovering around .700 OPS all year. A case of a manager talking up a player. Thanks Luke.

        1. At the time of the draft, the Nat brass compared Boisserie to Mark Grace, saying his superior defense and gap power would compensate for his lack of HR power. But his bat didn’t show up this season.

          It will be interesting to see what they do with 1B at A+ in particular. Frizzell has to be ahead of Boisserie in the pecking order. You would think they would want Frizzell working at a field position. He has also played some OF, but they’re so overstocked there that White didn’t even play last night. Frizzell could be a candidate for early promotion to AA, but with less than half a summer at the A level, it seems unlikely that they would send him there directly.

  6. I’ve long been a champion of Troop’s. I agree that he’s probably not a starter. I don’t know that he’s ever had the stuff the caliber of an MLB starter. But he probably could still be effective as a middle reliever.

    I like the mention of Stammen and have never understood why the Nats haven’t done more to develop more like him. They sure could use a few guys now who could go two or three innings to save the rest of the bullpen.

    1. in fairness, it’s not an easy position to succeed. players are creatures of habit, starters and late inning guys pretty much know they’ll be in action when they come to the park. this role is more spontaneous, maybe why the successful ones they’ve had (Guerra, Espino) are veterans.

  7. Kind of interesting to see Onix Vega moved up to Triple-A. He turned 24 last week and was one of the Blue Rocks’ best hitters this season. He might just be a benchwarmer for the Red Wings as they close out the season, but while I think the major candidates to be protected from the Rule 5 draft are (in order of likelihood) Jake Alu, Jackson Rutledge, Matt Cronin, and Jeremy De La Rosa, I could see Vega potentially drawing interest from catching-poor clubs. The Nats don’t really have a need to protect him, and they have enough candidates to consider as it is, but he is on the fringes of the R5 picture.

Comments are closed.