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Tuesday’s News & Notes

Team Yesterday Today Pitching Probables
Rochester OFF DAY @ Buffalo, 7:05 p.m. Knowles (AAA debut) vs. Bash (2-1, 3.00)
Harrisburg OFF DAY @ Richmond, 6:35 p.m. M. Cuevas (2-4, 4.80) vs. Bivens (1-3, 4.41)
Wilmington OFF DAY @ Aberdeen, 7:05 p.m. TBD vs. Bright (2-5, 4.72)
Fredericksburg OFF DAY vs. Augusta, 7:05 p.m. K. Rodriguez (3-1, 3.54)
Amaral (0-1, 8.10) vs. Vargas (1-1, 3.68)
FCL Nationals Lost, 7-6 vs. FCL Marlins, 12 p.m.
DSL Nationals Lost, 7-5;
Lost, 5-4		 vs. DSL Tigers1 10 a.m.
(Comp. DH)

Rochester Red Wings, 19-20, 8th place I.L. East, 5½ GB – 53-59 Overall
Another 2-4 week has dropped Rochester below .500 for the second half and two games further back in the standings. This week, it’s six against intra-state rival Buffalo with a matinee tomorrow afternoon.

Harrisburg Senators, 21-18, T2nd place E.L. Southwest, 1GB – 52-55 Overall
The Senators continue to roll in August as they took five of six last week and are now just a game off the pace in the 2nd half race. Harrisburg has now scored more runs than allowed, with a +31 differential in the second half and +10 overall.

Wilmington Blue Rocks, 14-28, 6th Place, 12GB, Sally Lg. North – 43-63 Overall
It was a brutal week for Wilmington with five losses, three by one run, as they’re now 12 games out of first and 20 games under .500 for the year. The one win—Saturday’s 2-1 triumph—netted the Blue Rocks and Andrew Alvarez a Pitcher of the Week Award for eight no-hit innings with 11 whiffs. This week the road trip continues closer to home, with six against Aberdeen.

Fredericksburg Nationals, 19-22, 4th Place, 7½ GB, C.L. North – 49-55 Overall
The FredNats have the second-best offense (5.1 R/G) in the Carolina League, but the worst pitching (5.45 R/G) Hence the current four-game losing streak despite the exploits of Player of the Week Dylan Crews, et al. Fredericksburg returns home this week for its penultimate homestand against Augusta.



FCL Astros 7 FCL Nationals 6
• Ward 2IP, 3H, 2R, 2ER, 1BB, 1K
• Edwards ⅔ IP, 3H, 3R, 3ER, 1BB, 0K
• Agostini 4IP, 2H, 2R, 2ER, 0BB, 5K, 2HBP, WP
• Vaquero 0-0, R, 4BB, CS
• Klassen 1-3, BB, 3RBI
• Cooper 1-2, R, BB, 2RBI

The FCL Nationals couldn’t hold a 5-2 lead as the rehabs “worked on some stuff” and the offense couldn’t exploit its 10 walks drawn, losing 7-6 to the FCL Astros. Thad Ward made his first appearance since July 1 and gave up two runs on three hits and a walk while striking out one. The loss went Gabriel Agostini, who pitched the last four innings and let in two runs in the 7th on two singles, a Robles, a wild pitch, and a sac fly. Crithian Vaquero led the walk column with four while Blake Klassen drove in three runs while going 1-for-3, and Everett Cooper drove in two while going 1-for-2. Roster moves: RHPs Thad Ward, Carl Edwards Jr. assigned from Washington for MLB Rehab.

DSL Cardinals 7 DSL Nationals 5 – COMP.
• H. Moreno (L, 0-4) 2+ IP, 1H, 3R, 2ER, 3BB, 3K, HBP, 2WP
• E. Rivero 3IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 2K
• Batista 1-3, 2BB, 2SB
• Marcano 2-4, R, 3B, E
• Maricuto 2-5, RBI

In the continuation, the D-Nats gave up runs in four straight innings before finally answering with two in the 6th and one in the 9th as they fell again, 7-5. Henry Moreno was the hard-luck loser as the runner who reached on an error before the play was stopped last week came around to score in the 3rd. Carlos Batista singled once, walked twice, and stole two bases while Agustin Marcano singled, tripled, and scored a run to pace the DSL Nationals offense.

DSL Cardinals 5 DSL Nationals 4 – GM. 2
• R. Cuevas 3IP, 4H, 0R, 0BB, 3K
• M. Moreno (L, 0-1) 2BF, 1H, 1R, 0ER, 1BB, 0K, WP
• Acevedo 1-3, HBP, 2RBI, CS(10)
• Batista 0-1, 2R, BB, 2SB(27)

The DSL Nationals somehow managed to score four times on one hit yet lose on five unearned runs in extra innings. Ramon Cuevas made the spot start and allowed four hits over three scoreless innings with no walks and three whiffs. The loss went to Miguel Moreno (no relation to Henry) who threw a wild pitch to move the free runner up to third base, issue a walk, then give up a hit to lose in the 8th. Andy Acevedo had an RBI single for the one (1) hit in the 5th and got the Homer Simpson RBI with a bases-loaded HBP in the 7th. The other two runs scored on a sacrifice fly in the 5th and a bases-loaded walk in the 7th.

13 Commments

  1. Lost in the bad year for Wilmington is the showing by Murphy Stehly. After mashing to a .975 OPS in Fredericksburg he was promoted to Wilmington and is hitting at a .846 OPS rate, this in a ballpark where nobody else can hit.
    A unheralded 10th round pick, he is yet another great 3rd baseman in the Nats system.

  2. I realize that Andy Acevedo is only 17, but the gurus who currently project him among the Nats’ top 30 prospects must have a vivid imagination.

    Maybe Crews, Pinckney, and Morales should try pitching for F’burg? They’ve got nothing left to prove at the plate.

    1. Basically since rebuilding their Caribbean operations after Smiley-gate, the Nats have preferred to splunk all their money on one big name signing each year. Cristhian Vaquero, Armando Cruz, Yasel Antuna, etc. all got a significant majority of the Nats’ IFA allotment. Interestingly in 2022, the Nats did away with this approach and spread their money across several medium-tier prospects. Acevedo got $1.3m, Edwin Solano also got $1.3m, Juan Obispo for $600k, Manuel Cabrera for $550k, Elian Soto for $425k, Hector Liriano for $400k, and a few more in the lower 6 figures.

      The Nats might want to re-think this strategy:
      Acevedo: .173/.297/.259
      Solano: .119/.281/.136
      Obispo: .181/.234/.306
      Cabrera: .165/.283/.230
      Soto: .176/.276/.220
      Liriano: .213/.275/.234

      The org would have been better off lighting that $5m on fire. What an abject disaster this DSL class is.

      1. Just when the Nats’ front office appears to have started to draft solidly; they throw up on themselves with their International signings.

  3. K Rodriguez taking the bump says bullpen outing for Fred Nats . Ouch .
    Maybe Watson could pull a couple ole pals away from the Dodgers to run the Intl theatre .

  4. Cristhian “Sonny” Vaquero went 2-for-3 with a walk, his first long bomb of the season and 2 stolen bases. Hope he gets a cup of coffee in F-Burg, this summer.

  6. Frednats going in hard on the ’23 class for ticket promos. I know they (Fredericksburg) don’t make the decisions but I’d be surprised to see Crews, Yoyo and Pinckney moved before Monday. Here’s the email from the Frednats:

    SL: Watch Dylan Crews and the Nationals’ Draft Class Shine

    Hey, FredNats Fans!

    There are only TWO homestands left this season!

    Be here this week to see several of the Nationals’ top 2023 draft picks. Get your tickets today at frednats.com/tickets.

    Don’t miss your chance to catch Dylan Crews, Yohandy Morales, Andrew Pinckney, Marcus Brown and more right here in Fredericksburg!

    The FredNats are welcoming the Augusta GreenJackets, the Carolina League affiliate of the Atlanta Braves, to the ‘Burg for the first time this season for a six-game series.

    This homestand features an appearance from the actress who played Meredith on “The Office,” a Hawaiian shirt giveaway, Friday night fireworks and more!

    Join us at the ballpark!

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