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Thursday’s News & Notes

Team Yesterday Today Pitching Probables
Rochester Won, 10-5 @ Lehigh Valley, 6:45 p.m. Watkins (1-1, 5.06) vs. Pinto (0-1, 9.53)
Harrisburg Won, 6-5 vs. Akron, 6:30 p.m. Lara (1-0, 1.42) vs. Mace (5-1, 1.94)
Wilmington Lost, 3-2 @ Rome, 7 p.m. Atencio (0-0, 3.60) vs. Hackenberg (2-2, 3.34)
Fredericksburg Won, 10-6 vs. Lynchburg, 7:05 p.m. Sykora (0-1, 3.72) vs. Richardson (3-1, 3.74)
FCL Nationals Won, 4-3
(11 inn.)		 @ FCL Cardinals, 12 p.m.

Rochester 10 Lehigh Valley 5
• Adon 6IP, 2H, 2R, 2ER, 1BB, 2K, 2HR
• L. Reyes 1⅓ IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 0K
• Wood 3-4, 2R, BB, 2B, HR, 2RBI
• Kieboom 2-4, 2R, HR, 3RBI, HBP
• Yepez 1-2, 2R, 3BB, HR(5), RBI, E

With six strong innngs from the starter and three longballs, the Red Wings doubled up the IronPigs, 10-5. Joan Adon turned in his first quality start of the season, giving up two solo HRs and a walk over six innings. He struck out two. James Wood reached base four times with a double (13), single (37), walk (34), and a homer (13). Carter Kieboom also went deep as did Juan Yepez, who drew three walks.

Harrisburg 6 Akron 5
• Luckham 5IP, 5H, 0R, 1BB, 5K, HBP, 2WP
• S. Reyes 5BF, 3H, 4R, 4ER, 2BB, 0K
• Acosta (W, 2-0) 2IP, 1H, 1R, 1ER, 1BB, 2K, HR, 3-2 IR-S
• D. Garcia 3-4, 2R, HR(5), 2RBI
• Pinckney 2-4, 2R, 2B
• Thomas 1-2, BB, 2B

Harrisburg blew a 4-0 lead with a five-run meltdown in the top of the 8th but rallied for two in the bottom half of the frame to win their third straight, 6-5. Kyle Luckham went the first five and blanked the RubberDucks on five hits, one walk, and one Robles. He struck out five. The win went Daison Acosta, though he coughed up the go-ahead runs on two-run HR. Robert Hassell walked and scored the tying run as Andrew Pinckney, Dylan Crews, and Brady House hit back-to-back-to-back singles with Pinckney scoring the winning run on House’s safety. Dérmis Garcia led the way with a three-hit night, including his fifth HR. Roster move: SS Jordy Barley activated fromm the 7-day I.L.



Rome 3 Wilmington 2
• Cáceres 5IP, 3H, 1R, 1ER, 1BB, 3K, WP
• Collins (BS, 2; L, 1-2) ⅓ IP, 3H, 2R, 2ER, 0BB, 0K
• Harris 2-4
• Witt 1-3, R, 2B, BB

The Emperors rallied for two runs on three straight one-out hits to turn a 2-1 deficit into 3-2 win over the Blue Rocks. Brendan Collins was charged with the blown-save loss as he retired just one of four batters faced. That turned Bryan Cáceres’s best outing of the year – 5IP, 1R – into a no-decision. Wilmington racked up nine hits, with Terone Harris leading the way with two singles and Paul Witt connecting for the sole extra-base hit.

Fredericksburg 10 Lynchburg 6
• Polanco 3IP, 4H, 3R, 3ER, 2BB, 2K
• Denaburg (W, 4-0) 3IP, 1H, 1R, 0ER, 0BB, 2K
• Quintana 3-5, 2-2B, 4RBI, CS
• De La Rosa 2-3, 2R, BB, HR, 4RBI, SB, CS
• Dugas 2-4, 2R, 2B

Fredericksburg went back to the season script with an early hole dug by the starting pitcher, great bullpen work (mostly), and outslugging the opposing hitters for a 10-6 win. Bryan Polanco struggled again as a starter, allowing three runs and four hits and two walks over three innings. He walked two and struck out two. Mason Denaburg picked up his fourth win in relief, letting in an unearned run over the next three innings on one hit, no walks, and two whiffs. Roismar Quintana and Jeremy De La Rosa both drove in four runs, with Quintana doubling twice and De La Rosa hitting his second big fly in 13 games since coming off the I.L.

FCL Nationals 4 FCL Marlins 3 (11 inn.)
• Brzykcy 1IP, 1H, 1R, 1ER, 0BB, 2K
• Colon 5IP, 3H, 1R, 0ER, 2BB, 3K
• D. Perez 2IP, 0H, 1R, 0ER, 0BB, 2K, HBP
• Rombach 2-4, R, 2B, PB
• K. Diaz 1-3, 2R, BB, CS

The F-Nats scored in both extra innings to run their win streak to three games. Zach Brzykcy tested out the new elbow in the 1st inning, giving up a run but walking none and striking out two. The presumptive starter, Leodarlyn Colon, turned in five innings of one-run ball on three hits and two walks while striking out three. Winning pitcher Doimil Perez pitched in both extra frames, letting in the free runner in the 10th but retired the side in order in the 11th. Juan Garcia’s one-out single plated Elian Soto was the game-winner. Nate Rombach led the F-Nats hit column with a single and a double. Roster moves: RHP Zach Brzykcy assigned from Harrisburg for MiLB rehab; OF Elijah Nunez assigned from Wilmington for MiLB Rehab; RHP Anthony Arguelles reassigned from Fredericksburg; OF Elian Soto reassigned from the DSL.

17 Commments

  1. 5 by 5 o the farm with starters .
    $5 foot long
    Subway
    Quintana on a good roll ..

    1. I’m not worried about Crews
      Cause I can recall the patience extended on one Larry Walker at AAA. We know the rest of that story , Paul Harvey .

  2. Lots of new old faces returning at the same time! Cavalli and Shuman two days ago, Brzykcy and Nunez yesterday. Not to mention Lane Thomas.

    I had assumed Anthony Arguelles was another phantom injury. He’d thrown two good, scoreless outings (0.60 WHIP) early in the season in Fredericksburg, then didn’t appear since April 13, so a reassignment doesn’t make much sense. I still suspect he was dealing with an unreported injury, like many other players currently on the roster.

    Nice to see JDLR go deep again, but I wonder why he’s still in Fredericksburg. He’s clearly mastered the level at this point, and Wilmington’s OF is dire right now, with Lile the lone bright spot. Harris (.407 OPS) and Thomas (.547 OPS) have been the starters since Nunez and McKenzie got injured a month ago. And now with Nunez rehabbing, the OF could quickly get crowded again there, but I think Lile has already made a very solid case for his own promotion. The problem with that is that Harrisburg’s OF, with Crews, Hassell and Pinckney, has no extra space at all either. Curious to see how this will all shake out.

  3. Should also note that Kieboom finally got his first HR of the season. He’s very quietly put together a very solid two months, post-post-hype. He’s hitting a respectable .287/.388/.386. I wonder if he’s tweaked his swing to trade power for contact, because this is by some margin the least power he’s ever hit for, but the best batting average since 2019.

    I know it’s too soon to expect House to contribute to the Nats, but it would be great if after the failed Senzel experiment ends, Kieboom could prove to be a competent, sort of Ildemaro Vargas-like back up 3B option, to tide the team over for a year until House is ready.

    1. Kieboom’s efforts have indeed been flying mostly under the radar. hard to get a blip with what Wood has been doing. he’s gotten a couple looks at 1B, with the big club struggling to get anything from that position that may be his last best chance. three of his eight extra base hits coming with 2 outs, RISP. he’ll have to take it up another notch in the month ahead

  4. I had/have high expectations for Wood, but I’m still surprised at how well he’s doing. He seems to have really put in the work in the offseason to tweak everything that needed tweaking.The sky literally is the limit for this kid. Obviously the Nats have to wait until after whatever the Super Two date is in mid/later June to call him up, as a year on the back end of his team control may be worth $50M+, but his time will be coming in a month or so. Current slash: .358/.465/.600/1.065. Wow.

    1. Supertwo just allows the player to get an extra, early, arb year but does not change the length of team control. As Svrluga pointed out in an article, we’re past the date needed to get the extra year of control for Wood.

      1. I have never really understood how all of that now works in the new CBA. There’s no real rush to bring him up if they still think he needs some maturing, but otherwise he seems more than ready to start getting his feet wet against MLB pitching.

      2. This James Wood guy seems like a pretty good offensive player. Guess the MLB Nats bats are just so good there is no room for him.

      3. While it doesn’t have years of control implications, it does have significant financial implications as KW pointed out. Given the Lerner’s financial troubles with the collapse of the real estate market and subsequent failed attempts to sell, I wouldn’t be surprised if this move is now being guided by that. As a fan, it’s frustrating, but I understand it on some level. (It’s the holding onto bad players and making the sunk cost fallacy that is more annoying to me, but that’s a different story).

        MLB Trade Rumors (https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2022/02/the-value-of-the-mlbpas-super-two-proposal.html) did a few simulations that found that Super 2 status could cost well over $10m more compared to non-Super 2 status, even for a mediocre player like Josh Bell.

        But if the Nats still keep Wood down past that date, I’ll be complaining frequently.

    2. Supertwo just adds an extra, early year of arbritration eligibility, it does not change the length of team control. As Barry Svrluga wrote in the Post, Wood has already been down long enough to not trigger early free agency.
      So we’re not talking about $50M.

  5. Mason Denaburg made me look, as 4-0 with a 3.04 ERA looks good on the surface. Alas, the peripherals aren’t good: 1.73 WHIP, 4.88 FIP, 5.07 xFIP, 6.5 BB/9, 9.1 H/9. Kudos to him for still trying, though. He’s certainly had a long slog for someone who is still just 24.

  6. @Will. I am skeptical that the Lerners family has been crippled by the commercial RE market changes. If it had, they likely would’ve accepted the best deal that they could get on the team and run. Instead they walked away.

    I’m skeptical in general about fan/media assessments and assumptions concerning both the Lerners financial situation and intentions with the team. Not that I disagree with them, but I recognize that I don’t know and strongly suspect that those speculating don’t know either.

    1. Agree. The Lerners had at least one offer on the table of over $2 billion for the Nats (the Lerners bought the Nats for $500 million). So, they got a WS for Ted, and could have quadrupled their initial investment.

      FWIW, that offer is still on the table (the O’s sold for $1.75B). Not only did the Lerners not take the offer, they have said the team is no longer for sale. There is no longer a financial excuse for the Lerners. They elected to continue to own the team. If decisions are being made, not based upon putting the best team on the field, but possibly saving the team $10M in a couple of years, that is horrible.

      Generally, preach patience over promoting a prospect after a hot stretch, but Wood is playing above AAA, and the current retreads getting MLB at-bats are stiffs. Even if Wood struggles, would rather have him hitting .185 than Joey Gallo hitting .126 or Victor hitting .087. Keeping Wood in Rochester serves no one’s interests at this point.

    2. One big “tell” is that the Lerners have never sold the stadium naming rights, even after the COVID downturn. That’s tens of millions left on the table over the years. If you’re not maximizing the easy money, there can’t be much real desperation.

    3. I’m not saying the Lerners are “crippled”. Those are your words not mine. I’m just saying that business is clearly not good for shopping malls and commercial real estate at the moment, which is what Lerner Enterprises specializes in, and when business isn’t good, you shouldn’t expect the owners to shovel money into the team, as they were in the 2010s (the Lerners were very much not cheap in this period). However, one way to foolishly shovel money into the team would be to promote Wood tomorrow, when waiting another 3 weeks or so could save them $10m+ in the next 5 years while getting the exact same outcome.

      I don’t like it one bit as a fan, but I do understand the logic.

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