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Monday’s News & Notes

Team Yesterday Today Pitching Probables
Rochester Won, 6-3 (10 inn.) OFF DAY N/A
Harrisburg Won, 4-2 END OF SEASON N/A
Fredericksburg Won, 6-4 OFF DAY N/A

Rochester 6 Indianapolis 3 (10 inn.)
• Rutledge 7IP, 2H, 0R, 4BB, 8K, WP
• Weems (BS, 1; W, 2-0) 1IP, 2H, 3R, 1ER, 2BB, 1K
• Cate (SV, 3) 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 0K
• Lipscomb 4-5, 2R, 3RBI, CS(5)
• House 1-3, R, 2BB, E(5)

Rochester blew a 3-0 lead in the 9th but got ’em right back in the 10th to take the series finale, 6-3. Jackson Rutledge tossed a season-best seven shutout innings, with two hits, four walks, and eight whiffs. He was rewarded with a no-decision. Jordan Weems, with the “help” of Brady House’s fifth AAA error, gave up all three Indians runs on two hits and two walks (one intentional) in the 9th for his first blown save. That became Weems’s second win when Trey Lipscomb connected for his fourth single and third RBI followed by a Joey Meneses RBI double. Two drops on a strikeout produced the sixth Rochester run and the second Indianapolis error. Tim Cate set the side down in order in the 10th for his third save.

Harrisburg 4 Reading 2
• Williams 4⅓ IP, 5H, 2R, 2ER, 1BB, 4K
• Luckham (W, 5-8) 2IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• Sinclair (SV, 8) 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 0K
• Morales 2-4, R, RBI
• Harris 2-4, R

Cortland Lawson’s 15th double drove in three and capped off a four-run 8th as the Senators doubled up the Fightins, 4-2 to earn a series split. MLB Rehab Trevor Williams allowed both Reading runs on five hits and a walk over four and a 1/3rd innings. He struck out four. Three relievers combined for four and 2/3rds shutout ball, with the win going to Kyle Luckham and the save going to Jack Sinclair. Yoyo Morales and Terone Harris led Harrisburg’s ten-hit parade with two singles apiece. The Sens drew no walks and struck out six times.



Fredericksburg 6 Kannapolis 4
• B. Romero 4⅓ IP, 5H, 3R, 3ER, 1BB, 2K
• Cranz (W, 1-0) 2IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 2K
• Arguelles (SV, 2) 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 0K
• Bazzell 2-3, R, SF, RBI
• Lomavita 2-4, R, 2B, RBI
• King 2-5, 2RBI, CS

A trio of 2024 Draftees combined for six hits, two runs, and four RBI to power Fredericksburg’s 6-4 win over Kannapolis in Game 1 of the Mills Cup Championship. Brayan Romero was battered for three runs on five hits and a walk over four and a 1/3rd innings while striking out two. The win went to Robert Cranz, who was perfect over two, the save to Anthony Arguelles, who worked around a Kelvin Diaz error in the 9th for his second playoff save. Kevin Bazell singled twice, scored once, and hit a sac fly while Chad Lomavia single, doubled, and drove in a run to lead rhe FredNats attack.

12 Commments

  1. The less that’s said about Harrisburg’s bats, the better. But it’s been a remarkably successful season among the arms.

    A lot has been said about the starters. Andry Lara, still not yet 22, threw over 100 innings of extremely good ball, while Solesky, Theophile, Lord, Stuart and Alvarez also had very strong seasons, with the latter 3’s season still going in Rochester.

    But the bullpen also had a number of really strong performances. Jack Sinclair aptly shut the door to Harrisburg’s season with another flawless outing. A microscopic 0.96 WHIP and a similarly excellent 2.20 ERA with 65 K in 57.1 IP.

    Tyler Schoff – 3.66 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 33 K, 32 IP

    Matt Cronin – 2.70 ERA, 19 K, 16.2 IP, but a slightly worrying 1.50 WHIP

    You know what these three guys have in common in addition to really good seasons in Harrisburg? They played in Rochester last year. So why did they finish 2024 a level below where they did in 2023 despite having really good seasons? I haven’t the slightest idea. But full credit to them for persevering despite not getting recognition for their good performances.

    It’s also worth giving a shout out to Daison Acosta, who a couple days ago finally got his own promotion, but also had similarly good numbers. 2.89 ERA, 73 K, 53 IP

    Marquis Grissom another with excellent stats out of the bullpen. 2.87 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 30 K, 31 IP.

    Carlos Romero, who was promoted a while ago, but put up insanely good stats in Harrisburg: 0.47 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, 27 K, 19.1 IP.

    1. Cronin had back surgery last in late August 2023. He was having arm issues for the previous two seasons and they finally discovered the problem was a disk in his back. He got a late start after rehab this year and it’s been pretty much a rehab season. He was left in Wilmington for much of the season despite throwing very well. I think he may have lost something on his fastball but his promotion to Harrisburg this was well overdue.

  2. Great analysis of the Sens pitching this year. As noted, the hitting was another story. Especially in the 2nd half after all the promotions to Rochester.

    1. It’s a small miracle the Sens finished the season only 2 games under .500! Their team OPS was .626, dead last in the EL, .027 worse than the next worst team, and .063 below league average.

      On the other hand, the pitching staff was the 3rd best (3.58 ERA vs league average of 3.95). It’s part of a much wider trend in the farm system. You’d find almost identical figures for Wilmington and the FCL: good pitching, dreadful hitting.

      It’s something the org needs to seriously overhaul. If one team is downright bad at something, it’s an anomaly. If 3 of your 5 stateside affiliates are dead last in OPS in their respective league, it’s a symptom.

      1. Will, you think ?
        A George Carlin response to the OpS opinion
        Pitching comment . Way to go , JR , in Victory Field .
        Yo- yo finished well .

  3. Rutledge changed his delivery (as Luke would add) again, now stepping toward the plate slightly as opposed to back towards first. also first game with CJ Stubbs who seemed to do his best Crash Davis and get JR to just throw/don’t think. still a lot of non-competitive pitches that need to be eliminated.

    House showed some strong defense in this series. with over 500 PAs this year he’s apparently back to complete health. second half of ’25 a good target for him. get with the coaches and learn to wait for his pitch

    1. Any positive developments with Rutledge are most welcome. But he also threw 40 pitches for balls, which backs up your “non-competitive” comment. He’ll get one more start this season. Would be good to string a couple of positive outings together.

  4. I’m scratching my head about why Trevor Williams is making rehab starts. The big club only has 13 games left and isn’t contending. His contract is also up. The only thing I can think of is that he wanted pitch a little before the hot stove signing season to prove that he’s not damaged goods.

      1. Yep. That’s the reason. The Nats want to limit the innings for Herz, Parker, Irvin and Gore. All have pitched more innings this year (by a fair amount) as compared to any year in their careers. The Nats will go to a six man rotation over the last two weeks.

    2. On the flip side, are we ever gonna see Cavalli pitch again? Or will he forever be “ building up his arm strength” ?

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