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Wednesday’s News & Notes

Team Yesterday Today Pitching Probables
Rochester Won, 4-1;
Lost, 16-3		 @ Lehigh Valley, 6:45 p.m. Adon (1-3, 6.75) vs. Buchanan (3-2, 4.37)
Harrisburg Won, 2-1 vs. Akron, 6:30 p.m. Luckham (2-2, 4.26) vs. Nikhazy (0-0, 0.00)
Wilmington Won, 5-4 @ Rome, 12 p.m. Atencio (0-0, 3.60) vs. Frey (0-0, 1.50)
Fredericksburg Lost, 6-4 vs. Lynchburg, 7:05 p.m. Polanco (4-0, 3.68) vs. Humphries (0-2, 5.17)
FCL Nationals OFF DAY vs. FCL Marlins, 12 p.m.

Rochester 4 Lehigh Valley 1 – GM. 1
• Ward (W, 2-2) 5IP, 4H, 1R, 1ER, 3BB, 1K, HR
• Willingham (H, 6) 1IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• R. Garcia (SV, 6) 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• Millas 2-2, R, BB, 2B, PB(4)
• Blankenhorn 1-4, 2RBI

In the opener, Rochester put up crooked numbers in the 3rd and the 6th innings as they downed Lehigh Valley, 4-1. Thad Ward gave up a run on a homer and four hits total over five innings to pick up the win. He walked three and struck out one. Amos Willingham put up a goose egg in the 6th for the hold while Rico Garcia retired the side in order in the 7th to get the save. Drew Millas singled, doubled, and walked while Travis Blankenhorn drove in two to power the Red Wings offense.

Lehigh Valley 16 Rochester 3 – GM. 2
• Gsellman (L, 0-2) 2⅓ IP, 8H, 8R, 8ER, 2BB, 3K
• Wood 1-3, R, HR, 2RBI
• Lindsly 2-3

In the “aftercap” the IronPigs went to town on all three Red Wings moundsmen for a 16-3 smelting. Robert Gsellman took the loss giving up eight runs on eight hits and two walks over two and a 1/3rd innings. James Wood broke up the shutout bid with his eighth HR, a two-run shot in the 4th while Brady Lindsly singled twice to pace the Rochester response.

Harrisburg 2 Akron 1
• Lord (W, 4-1) 6IP, 6H, 1R, 1ER, 2BB, 4K, HR, HBP
• Schoff (H, 3) 2IP, 2H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• Ribalta (SV, 5) 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 2K
• House 3-4, R, 2B, HR, 2RBI
• Crews 2-4, 3B
• Hassell 1-3, BB, OF assist @ HP

Make that four straight quality start wins for Brad Lord in a 2-1 Harrisburg win over Akron. Lord gave up one run on a home run and six hits total over six innings while walking two and striking out four. Tyle Schoff followeed with two scoreless for the hold while Orlando Ribalta struck out two in a 1-2-3 ninth for his fifth save. Brady House doubled, homered, and drove in both Sens runs while Dylan Crews tripled and walkd to lead the Harrisburg attack. Roster moves: OF Lane Thomas assigned from Washington for MLB Rehab; 1B-3B Yohandy Morales placed on the 7-Day I.L.



Wilmington 5 Rome 4
• Cornelio 4⅔ IP, 5H, 4R, 2ER, 3BB, 5K
• Arias (W, 1-0) 1⅓ IP, 0H, 0R, 1BB, 1K, 1-0 IR-S
• Grissom (SV, 3) 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 2K
• Lile 2-4, R, BB, 3B(5), 2RBI, SB
• Peña 2-5, 2R, 2K

Wilmington broke from the gates with a four-run 1st and held off Rome for 5-4 win. Riley Cornelio fell one out shy from getting the Jack Morris win, giving up all four Emperors runs on five hits and three walks over and four and 2/3rds innings. Wander Arias got the win by stranding the tying run in the 5th and pitching a scoreless 6th. Daylen Lile reached base three times with a triple, walk, and a single while Viandel Peña singled twice and scored twice to lead the Blue Rocks offense.

Lynchburg 6 Fredericksburg 4
• B. Sanchez (L, 0-1) 4IP, 3H, 2R, 2ER, 4BB, 1K
• Hall 2IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 3K
• Brown 2-4, R, HR, 3RBI
• Colmenares 2-4, 2B, RBI

The FredNats bullpen faltered in the late innings as the Hillcats scratched out a 6-4 win in the series opener. Bryan Sanchez tied his season high with four innings pitched but took the loss with two runs allowed on three hits and four walks. Four Fredericksburg batters had multiple hits, led by Marcus Brown with a homer and three RBI, followed by Jose Colmenares with an RBI single and a double.

22 Commments

  1. How long are the Nats going to tolerate sending out obviously awful retreads in Rochester (quadruple A is far too generous of a term here). Gsellman’s ERA sits at 8.89 in 27 innings. TJ Zeuch has now pitched in 7 games and allowed 3 or more runs in 4 of them. His ERA sits at 14.21! Stephen Nogosek’s ERA is 9.77.

    It’s not like this is a surprise. Gsellman, after spending ’23 in Japan, had a 6.21 ERA in AAA in 2022. Zeuch 5.06 in ’23 (6.70 ERA in ’22). Nogosek even worse: 7.00 ERA in ’23. These are not good players falling on tough times, nor are they players with upside. They are 30, 28 and 29, respectively.

    In past years, this wasn’t so much of a big deal, because we had next-to-no pitching talent in the upper levels of the minors. But this year, we actually do! And we’re allowing these three impede the development of actual, genuine prospects.

    Harrisburg currently has a really good pitching staff, especially it’s bullpen. Among some 76 relievers who’ve pitched at least 10 games in the Eastern League. Daison Acosta currently sports the 2nd best FIP, and Orlando Ribalta the 4th best FIP along with excellent other stats. If you prefer ERA, Nash Walters currently leads the EL with a perfect 0.00 ERA, and Jack Sinclair and Tyler Schoff aren’t far behind with a 1.86 ERA and 2.55 ERA, respectively. All five of these guys, with the exception of Walters, are legit prospects and watchlisters, and every single of one of them is repeating themselves at AA this season. In fact, Ribalta, Sinclair and Schoff actually finished 2023 in Rochester! Why are they not in Rochester right now?

    But what’s most frustrating is that it doesn’t just end here, as I pointed out last week. Ribalta/Schoff/Sinclair/Walters/Acosta’s presence in Harrisburg blocks the promotion of prospects in Wilmington which blocks the promotion of prospects in Fredericksburg.

    All that to say, we don’t need Gsellman, Zeuch and Nogosek anymore. We don’t need them to eat innings and fill time, because their reinforcements have already arrived. So what gives? Is management waiting for some silly arbitrary date to make the moves, like June 1? Is another week of >9.00 ERA from them going to help anyone?

      1. What is the short term plan with TJ White
        LF for the sake of the Wilmington
        Lineup then return to 1 b if he gets up to AA?

    2. Something to keep in mind , Will … if Luke Ferril was healthy he’s been the spot starter and long man in various situations instead of Gsellman . Agree with that , FredMD?

      1. I haven’t seen much of Farrell but I agree that the other three mentioned seem to be pitching themselves out of a job. Ferrer and Brzycky will need a spot before too long. Parker’s success in my mind allows them to move Ward to the bullpen, not sure he’s a starter. I think Ribalta is about to be moved up, not so sure on the others. it’s still May after all, repeating the level or not.

        1. Speaking of Brzykcy and Ferrer, has there been any recent news on them? I saw a report that Ferrer was starting to throw again in late April, but that’s a pretty long time ago for a rehab process, but nothing on Brzykcy. If I’m remembering correctly, Brzykcy had TJ right around the same time as Cavalli (and Shuman), and with Cavalli and Shuman returning, that should also meant Brzykcy’s return to rehab should be imminent too.

          However, seeing how Rainey has returned post-TJ, it’s a reminder that it’s not a fool-proof process, unfortunately.

    3. So what could Rizzo be thinking here? He usually seems like a sentient being. On a positive note, maybe these old timers will be released in a new wave of promotions that we are about to see any day.

  2. On another note, I really hope Morales’ injury isn’t too severe, and hope it’s just a broken finger or something, rather than a wrist injury which could derail his development for a whole year or more, like Hassell…

  3. FanGraphs, my preferred prospect watching site, released an updated top 100 list yesterday. Two Nats featured prominently in it: https://blogs.fangraphs.com/a-top-100-prospects-update/ (it’s free to read, so give them the click and ad revenue), but the salient points are here:

    James Wood, OF, Washington Nationals

    Wood, who entered the season as our fifth overall prospect, has cut his strikeout rate significantly early this year. Entering the season, it had been up around 30% since he was traded to Washington, but it’s a rock solid 19.1% so far in 2024, and Wood is getting to so much power that he has an OPS over 1.000 as of this writing. Wood’s wrists are remarkably quick and he has uncommon bat control for a hitter his size. For such a huge guy, the holes in his swing are relatively small, mostly up around his hands right now. It’s likely that big league velocity will sneak past him more often (the average Triple-A fastball is 91-92 mph so far in 2024), but the ceiling on Wood’s power is as big as anyone in the minors and he’s increasing collective confidence in his ability to get to it. His ranking on the preseason Top 100 was already very aggressive, but Wood’s grade has been boosted.

    Dylan Crews, CF, Washington Nationals

    Here we have another upper-echelon prospect whose pre-existing swing issues have been exposed and are going to force an adjustment. I wrote in Crews’ Top 100 blurb from the offseason that he’s often late against fastballs and really only able to pull softer stuff on the inner third with any kind of power. This has been an issue in the early portion of 2024, as he’s striking out nearly 30% of the time while getting to enough of his power to be productive anyway. He and the Nationals need to find a way for him to cover the inner half of the zone.

    Altogether, there’s nothing surprising here. We’ve all seen Wood looks like the real deal, while it looks like the scouting reports on Crews’ bat polish were a bit too rosy. Still, it’s very interesting to get better insight into the weaknesses of Crews’ swing.

    1. And in other news, former FG prospector, Kiley McDaniel released his updated top 50 today: https://www.espn.com/mlb/insider/story/_/id/40185182/top-50-2024-mlb-prospects-updated-paul-skenes-jackson-holliday

      There’s not really any substance regarding our 3 top 50 guys, but Wood comes in at #4, Crews #14, and House #28. It’s a pretty precipitous climb for House (formerly #52 to start the season), while Wood’ (formerly #11) and Crews (formerly #5) basically switched places.

      1. I’m not really worried about Crews, all the more with how he’s been doing in the last few weeks. Although he, Pinckney, and Morales had cups of coffee in brief stops at other levels last summer, they’re essentially starting their pro careers at AA. That’s a big ask/expectation for any player. If you don’t think AA is hard, just ask Hassell, who is spending time for a third summer in Harrisburg even though he’s a solid, legit prospect.

        There are a few interesting/curious things in Crews’s splits. He’s hit RHP well (.304/.349/.570) but struggled against LHP (.167/.333/.208). He’s hit much better on the road (.342/.413/.610) than at home (.226/.300/.403). He’s been excellent with RISP and 2 outs (.313/.353/.500), resulting in a team-leading 28 RBIs even though he’s played fewer games than most regulars.

        1. I’m not worried that Crews will eventually become a good major leaguer, but I have had to temper my expectations quite a bit. It looks like he’s more of a House-like prospect than a Wood-like prospect (or if you want to go further back, more of a Rendon-like prospect than a Harper-like prospect). That’s not a bad thing, in fact I think Rendon was more valuable than Harper was in his Nats career. But people were talking about Crews being the best hitter of his generation during his historic ’23 season with LSU (and incredible ’22), while it looks like he’s “merely” more an All Star than MVP type player.

          Wood, on the other hand, looks like he has the upside to be that MVP-caliber player, even if that’s still highly unlikely. (Remember, Wood is doing all this a year younger than Crews at one level higher with an additional .200 OPS points, to boot)

          1. Agree with this.

            Crews is a solid all-around talent. He will be a long-time MLB player, but he’s not a freak like James Wood or Skenes or Elly De La Cruz. He has no elite tool, except maybe his bat, but his contact rate remains a concern.

            Have to be careful because get defensive about any tempered praise of a touted prospect, but Crews does not have a super-star ceiling.

  4. Nice to see a lot of the higher-tier prospects shining: Wood, House, Crews, Hassell, Lile. Crews seems to have finally found his mojo over the last few weeks.

    1. I agree with the enthusiasm on all of them but am most pleased with House taking a big step up. increased walks, lower strikeouts and more home runs is a nice combination.

  5. House gets into a smooth groove with Delino forced to pencil in Hoyse and Garcia on the corners with Yo-yo on the shelf

  6. The thing that you have to remember about Rizzo is that he’s doing OK for being one of the 30 dumbest people on the planet. It’s clear that GM/POBO types for the 30 MLB teams are the dumbest people, because literally any of us could do a better job. 31-60 on the “dumbest” list are, or course, the 30 MLB managers.

    /s I don’t know the thinking behind Rizzo’s decisions, but I try to remember that just because I can’t think of a good reason for a particular decision doesn’t mean that there isn’t a good reason.

    To paraphase that great philosopher Rocky Bridges (former Washington Senator!): “one thing that the average person thinks that they can do better than anyone else is run a baseball team.”

    1. I think the two main issues are (1) most fans are incredibly impatient, even smart analytically minded fans who should know better and (2) there have been enough instances of bad faith from GMs and owners that one can plausibly blame almost any delay to a significant prospect on service time manipulation. Fans don’t even have to rely on GMs being dumb to be certain they know better, because the GMs aren’t even trying to win.

      Put those together and you’ll have these constant calls for everyone who has been hot for a month to be promoted, and of course you need to cut everyone who’s been cold for a month to make room.

  7. Word is Morales has a broken thumb. Also, Sens have been looking pretty good. Crews is figuring it out and House has been hitting well. Starters and relievers doing their jobs too.

  8. I’m answering my own question about TJ White
    Wilmington awaiting the activation of JDL and Nunez to give OF depth and return TJ to 1 b

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