Monday’s News & Notes
| Team | Yesterday | Today | Pitching Probables |
| Rochester | Lost, 5-3 (10 inn.) | OFF DAY | N/A |
| Harrisburg | Won, 14-10 | OFF DAY | N/A |
| Wilmington | Lost, 9-6 | OFF DAY | N/A |
| Fredericksburg | Won, 4-3 | OFF DAY | N/A |
| FCL Nationals | OFFSEASON | vs. FCL Cardinals, 12 p.m. | |
| DSL Nationals | OFFSEASON | vs. DSL Phillies White, 11 a.m. |
Syracuse 5 Rochester 3 (10 inn.)
• Ureña 6IP, 7H, 3R, 3ER, 0BB, 3K, 2HR
• Moreno 2IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 1K, HBP
• Ferrer (L, 2-3) 1IP, 0H, 2R, 0ER, IBB, 1K, HBP, WP
• Hill 2-3, 2R, 2BB, HR(5), RBI
• Alu 2-5, 2B, 2RBI, E
The Red Wings chipped away at an early 3-1 deficit to force extras but collapsed in the 10th on a series of miscues to lose the series finale, 5-3. An error and a wild pitch scored the go-ahead run. After a groundout put runners on 3rd, Rochester issued an intentional walk in hopes of getting a double play ball. Instead, a sac fly sent in the insurance run. The Red Wings got the tying run on a walk, but otherwise went quietly in the bottom of the 10th.
José Ureña turned in his first quality start on his sixth try, allowing three runs on seven hits (two HR) and no walks. He struck out three. The loss went to Jose Ferrer despite not giving up a hit, though he did hit a batter after the second run scored. Derek Hill singled, homered, and walked twice while Jake Alu singled, doubled, and drove in two to power the Rochester offense.
Harrisburg 14 Bowie 10
• Cuevas 3⅔ IP, 8H, 5R, 5ER, 3BB, 2K, PO @ 1B
• Alston (W, 2-2) 2⅓ IP, 1H, 0R, 1BB, 3K, 2-0 IR-S
• Schaller ⅓ IP, 5H, 5R, 5ER, 0BB, 0K
• Casey 3-4, 3R, BB, HR, 3RBI, OF assist @ 3B
• Wood 3-5, 3R, 2-2B, HR, RBI, E
• Rutherford 2-4, 2R, 2B, HR, 2RBI
• Tostado 2-5, 2R, HR, 3RBI
Harrisburg picked up where they left off on Saturday night and blasted Bowie for 14 runs on 13 hits, including five homers, to take the game 14-10 and the series, 4-2. Michael Cuevas weathered a four-run 1st and was knocked from the box with two out in the 4th with five runs allowed on eight hits and three walks. He struck out two. Garvin Alston stranded two while getting out of the 4th, then put up two goose eggs to earn his second win.
Alston got the benefit of the Sens’ five-run 5th, highlighted by a Brady Lindsly grand slam. Harrisburg added three more in the 6th to make it 11-5 but Reid Schaller nearly gave it all back with five runs on five hits as he retired just one of six batters faced to let the BaySox within one at 11-10. Blake Rutherford and Donovan Casey put a stop to that as the former smacked his seventh HR while the latter hit his second big fly to give the Senators some breathing room. Casey also singled twice and walked to reach base four times and drove in three, a mark matched by Frankie Tostado with his 8th HR.
Asheville 9 Wilmington 6
• Huff (L, 2-3) 3IP, 7H, 6R, 6ER, 4BB, 1K, 2HR
• Peterson 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• Rivero 3-4, R, 2B
• Frizzell 3-5, 2R, 2B
• Suggs 2-4, R, 2B
No such luck for the Blue Rocks as the Tourists pummeled the first two Wilmington pitchers for eight runs and held off a late charge for a 9-6 win that split the series. Chance Huff’s rough patch continued as he was stung for six runs on seven hits (two homers) over three innings for his third loss. Since May 13 his ERA has gone from 4.00 to 7.01. Yoander Rivero and Will Frizzell both singled twice and doubled once to lead the Blue Rocks offense, which left on eight and went 4-16 with RISP.
Fredericksburg 6 Delmarva 1
• Susana 4IP, 2H, 0R, 2BB, 2K
• Merrill (BS, 1) 1IP, 3H, 1R, 0ER, 0BB, 2K
• Lord (W, 1-0) 2IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 0K,
• Witt 2-4, R, 2-2B
• Stehly 2-2, BB, 2B, RBI, HBP, CS
Fredericksburg put four consecutive batters on base in the bottom of the 9th to walk off Delmarva, 4-3 and take the series, 6-1. Jarlin Susana turned in his usual four innings, allowing two and two walks while striking out… wait for it… two batters. The win went to Brad Lord for two scoreless innings in the 8th and 9th after the FredNats lost leads of 2-0 and 3-2. Paul Witt led off the bottom of the 9th with his second double and was lifted for a pinch-runner. (The law firm of) Murphy Stehly reached base for a fourth time the hard way by a hit by a pitch to set up the double play but Branden Boisserie worked a walk to load the bases. Armando Cruz delivered the FredNats’ 12th win since May 19 with a single to right field.
FCL Nationals
The F-Nats begin their 2023 tour of West Palm Beach, Port St. Lucie, and Jupiter with five games this week (off on Wednesday and Sunday) – two against the F-Marlins, two against the F-Astros, and one (today) against the F-Cards.
DSL Nationals
The D-Nats will venture to a few more towns than their counterparts in Florida, and they’ll do it with a bunch of new kids with just eight holdovers from 2022. Roster moves: IFs Eyeksson Rojas, Luis Arias, LHP Juan Reyes, and RHP Jose Feliz placed on the 7-Day I.L.
Glad to see Susana on the mound and having success, even if he’s not blowing everyone away.
Kudos again to Will Frizzell for taking the demotion in stride and absolutely raking: .365/.529/.558.
Murphy Stehly at .386/.476/.486 and definitely ready for more of a challenge at age 24.
I can’t think of much to get excited about with FCL other than Vaquero and perhaps some guys from witness protection (Ramirez?). With DSL, they spread their money around this year, so it will be interesting to see which no-names start to emerge.
Sweet !
Mondays will now have some game action
Bring on the franchise hopeful CV @ The Complex and M2!!
Tostado 17 HRs I bet this summer !
Yup Nick Peoples active for FCL to bookend with Vaquero young outfield quartet rotation with RH swinging OFs
Several young former everyday players now pitchers in DSL
Including Clarence Martina
I’d lump Paul Witt into the surprise non-prospects category with Stehly, hitting a very healthy .318/.398/.553. However, he’s even older than Stehly (25). Despite being jerked around in his short professional career, he’s hit pretty well. In a short spell in Wilmington last season, he posted a respectable .771 OPS. This is exactly the short of guy you let sink-or-swim with a few aggressive promotions, especially with his positional versatility. He’s played C, 2B, SS, 3B, LF, DH and even 2 games at pitcher.
Another one for the list: Blake Rutherford, who’s now hitting .500/.549/.804 over his past 10 games and .364/.413/.667 on the season. I’d have thought Barreto’s release paved the way for Rutherford’s promotion, but it seems luck isn’t on Rutherford’s side. Derek Hill’s unexpected resurgence and the return of Noll and arrival of Franmil Reyes saw him fall down the the depth charts.
Will
We better keep our Witt with a guy learning catching and hitting .318
Usually it’s keep our Witts about us lol
Is Nick Peoples truly out of action all season ?? Pure 60 day DL ?
Having trouble with the move to AA James Wood’s OPS has plummeted from .972 to .936. What a bum!
Are some of the XST guys going to do chorus line auditions on Complex squad ??
BOSSman I know is busy with life away from the Big Board to fill in the FCL gaps .
Maybe the lawn care Guys will grab a glove and put on spikes
Lol snarkle
It’s curious they didn’t let Susana go out for at least one more inning. He’s seemingly had a hard 70 pitch cap (throwing 70, 70 and 68 pitches in his previous 3 starts), but he only threw 47 yesterday. He might’ve made it deep into the 6th inning if they allowed him the usual 70 pitches.
An inning limit seems like a lot less sophisticated way to limit usage than pitches thrown. Hope the manager just lost track or something having gotten so used to Susana hitting 70 pitches in the 4th inning rather than Susana having something of a whichever comes first of 70 pitches/4IP cap.
What are they gonna do with the found money that is Blake Rutherford?
Clearly he can hit AA pitching. Clearly he is in great form.
He has shown the past 2 seasons he can hit AAA pitching. (.260 and a 24 HRs over 2 seasons at Charlotte).
Should the Nats move him to Syracuse? Call him to the show? He’s a big lefty who was a mid first-rounder for the Yankees a few years ago. He may finally be realizing his potential. It would be nice to find out if they have another Joey Meneses on their hands.
But to leave a guy with an OPS of 1.080 in AA seems like a waste.
And yes, I still think the Nats should have him learn 1B!
Yes, Rutherford spent the last two seasons at AAA, so it shouldn’t be surprising that he can hit at AA. I was surprised when he got assigned to Harrisburg in the first place.
Rutherford was a #18 overall draft pick who was once a consensus top-50 prospect. (Maybe he’s there in part to offer some guidance to Wood and Hassell?) He has two shortcomings: the lack of HR power to be a corner OF (only 50 homers across 622 pro games), and he won’t take a walk. Consequently, he has clobbered his OBP. He’s definitely got gap power, as he’s topped 25 doubles in four of his five full-season pro seasons. And he’s gotten his K% down this season to 15.6%. He’s just got to find a way to leverage that 205 lbs. to get more balls out of the park.
Third-rounder Holden Powell (2020) and fifth-rounder Tyler Dyson (2019) both emerge from witness protection on FCL roster on “rehab assignments.”
At draft time, the Nats had some excitement about 12th-round pick 6-5 OF Nick Peoples. Perfect Game called him a “long and strong switch-hitting outfielder with lots of tools and projection.” I’m also curious about 17th-round pick Blake Klassen. He was an Arizona recruit but only got two plate appearances in 2020. He ended up at UC-San Barbara, where he clocked 10 homers in 37 games last season, two go with 9 doubles. He didn’t walk much, but he made a lot of contact.
Complex kids
Errors
Suffer the young
Like the Latin kids on everyday lineup
Mota @ 3 b
M M @ 2 b