Thursday’s News & Notes
| Team | Yesterday | Today | Pitching Probables |
| Rochester | Lost, 6-3; Lost, 3- |
@ Buffalo, 6:05pm | Lara (0-1, 9.26) vs. Lauer (0-3, 5.68) |
| Harrisburg | Lost, 10-3 | vs. Erie, 6:30pm | TBD vs. Hamm (0-0, 4.26) |
| Wilmington | Won, 3-2 (10 inn.) |
vs. Aberdeen, 6:35pm | Kent (1-2, 1.32) vs. Weatherly (0-2, 15.75) |
| Fredericksburg | Lost, 6-2 | vs. Charleston, 6:35pm | Meckley (1-1, 5.56) vs. Harrison (1-1, 4.50) |
Buffalo 6 Rochester 3
• Shuman (L, 0-1) 4⅓ IP, 6H, 4R, 4ER, 2BB, 4K
• House 2-4, R, CS
• F. Cordero 1-3, R, HR, 2RBI
• Pinckney 1-2, R, BB, OF assist @ HP
In the opening game, Seth Shuman’s AAA debut was marred by crooked numbers in the 4th and 5th innnings as the Bisons doubled up the Red Wings, 6-3. Shuman gave up four runs on six hits and two walks over four and a 1/3rd and suffered the loss. Franchy Cordero hit a two-run HR while Brady House singled twice and scored a run to lead the Rochester offense.
Buffalo 3 Rochester 2
• Pilkington 3IP, 1H, 0R, 1BB, 6K
• C. Romero ⅓ IP, 1H, 2R, ER, 2BB, 1K
• Schoff (BS, 1; L, 0-1) 1⅔ IP, 2H, 1R, 1ER, 0BB, 0K, 2-1 IR-S
• Pinckney 1-2, R, 2BB
• Yepez 1-3, 2B
Buffalo survived four errors to complete the doubleheader sweep of Rochester, 3-2. Konnor Pilkington was the opener and struck six over three shutout innings, allowing one and one walk. Carlos Romero, the first man out of the Red Wings ‘pen, retired one of four batters faced – two of which came around to score as the second reliever, Tyler Schoff, couldn’t strand both inherited runners. Meanwhile, the Rochester batters managed just three hits and four walks, going a woeful 0-for-8 with RISP. Roster moves: RHP Hyun-Il Choi reassigned from Harrisburg.
Erie 10 Harisburg 3
• Susana 5IP, 4H, 3R, 3ER, 3BB, 3K, HBP
• Davila (L, 0-2) 1IP, 2H, 1R, 1ER, 0BB, 1K
• Lile 2-4, R, 2B, 2RBI
• Schnell 2-4
While the Senators were able to answer the SeaWolves’ three-run rally in the 3rd, that would be it for the boys on City Isle in a 10-3 loss. Jarlin Susana went more than four innings for the third straight start, giving up three runs on four hits and three walks over five innings. He struck out three. Garrett Davila let in the fourth run in his lone inning pitched, which would be enough to get the “L.” Daylen Lile singled, doubled, and drove in two. He then scored on a C.J. Abrams sac fly. Harrisburg had one (1) baseunner over the last four “ups” – the second single by Nick Schnell.
Wilmington 3 Aberdeen 2 (10 inn.)
• Cornelio 7IP, 5H, 1R, 1ER, 0BB, 5K,
• Simpson (BS, 1) 2IP, 1H, 1R, 0ER, 1BB, 3K, PO @ 1B
• Schultz (W, 1-0) 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 3K
• King 3-4, 2R, 2SB
• Green 1-4, RBI, SB, 3K
The Wilmington ‘pen couldn’t hold a 2-1 lead in regulation but did hold a 3-2 lead in the 10th as the Blue Rocks won back-to-back games for the first time this season. Riley Cornelio turned in seven innings of one-run ball on five hits, no walks, and five whiffs. He was rewarded with a no-decision. After walking the leadoff man in the 8th, Jared Simpson threw away a bunt to set up runners on the corners. He atoned for the error by picking off the runner at first, then struck out the next batter. The IronBirds caught Chad Lomavita lollygagging a throw back to the mound to steal home and tie it at 2-2. After lining into a double play in the 8th and fanning three times in the 9th, the Blue Rocks got the game-winner on a two-out single by Brenner Cox. Roster moves: RHP Mikey Tepper placed on the 60-day I.L.
Charleston 6 Fredericksburg 2
• Polanco 4IP, 2H, 1R, 1ER, 4BB, 2K, HBP
• Cranz (L, 1-2) 1IP, 2H, 2R, 2ER, 1BB, 1K, HR
• Vaquero 3-4, 3B, RBI
• Tavares 1-2, R, BB
A 2-2 stalemate was broken with two-run HR as the Riverdogs schooled the FredNats on Education Day, 6-2. Bryan Polanco went the first four, giving up a run on two hits and four walks over four innings. Robert Cranz gave up the aforementioned homer after walking the leadoff batter in the 7th. Christhian Vaquero singled twice and tripled once while Carlos Tavares reached base twice on a single and a walk to lead the Fredericksburg offense.
Another bleak day, so I’ll focus on the positives:
Has Seaver King fixed something? He now has a modest 5 game hit streak, where in that span he’s hitting .471/.550/.529. Best of all, he’s only struck out 3 times on those 20 plate appearances (having struck out 17 in his previous 38). He’s still not showing any power. Only one hit was for extra bases (a double), but that can come next.
Thomas Schultz is very quietly having a fantastic first month (a repeat of 2024). He’s sporting a 1.00 ERA with 14 K in 9 IP. He hasn’t allowed a hit in any of his 6 most recent outings (only 1 in total this season)! He is, though, rather old for A ball, turning 26 in August. Hope he’ll see an aggressive promotion schedule this season.
Daylen Lile is also not getting the attention he deserves either. He’s now batting .304/.333/.464 on the season, in the middle of a 9 game hit streak. Like King, he started off rockily, but has found some rhythm, only striking out 3 times in his 9 game hit streak (43 PA). He could stand to take more walks (4.2 BB% on the season), but you can ignore that if you’re hitting .300+.
Wait you mean that a 10 game sample size in early April wasn’t enough to declare Seaver King a failure?
You seem to be itching for a fight over an argument no one has made.
On Monday, the following question was asked:
Aside from–probably– House and maybe Luke Dickerson a few years hence (I guess he starts rookie ball soon?), who do the Nats have in their system who could move into the MLB IF (presumably INF) at some point without embarrassing the team and fans?
Will’s response:
House is our only hope. Wallace has started really poorly. Dickerson still has yet to.play a professional game and is a couple months shy of his 20th birthday. King is striking out nearly 50% of the time in A ball. And Morales has gone into witness protection. Everyone else listed is realistically a non-factor, unless you’re REALLY high on Phillip Glasser. I am, and even I think he’s a non-factor this year (and likely into the futute), but a nice story nonetheless.
House is not the Nat’s only hope of an infielder that “wouldn’t embarrass the team or its fans at some point”. Granted King had a slow start to the 2025 season, but the sample size is/was miniscule. King had a good week since then, and similarly that doesn’t mean that he’s an MLB lock, but it was crazy to dismiss King as an MLB prospect because of a slow start in Wilmington.
Baseball is a sport that lends itself to good and bad streaks, and ability (or lack thereof) can only be reasonably assessed over time. Not in a week. That is all.
both Schultz and Sullivan have been pretty un-hittable. I’m not sure how much more we have to see of Peterson and Powell.
I’d cut the Ps loose and promote the Ss
Cornelio had his best QS in the majors
You mean Simpson? I thought Sullivan had quietly returned from what was reported to be TJ early without noticing 🙂
But, yes, Simpson too has looked very good, after missing almost the entirety of 2024 (also TJ?). Interestingly, he went in the 8th round and Schultz in the 9th round of 2023, and Sullivan later in the 13th round.
Too bad Travis Sthele has had a poor start, or we’d be talking about half a bullpen of 2023 S’s to promote.
yes I did mean Simpson
Cade Cavalli starting tonight in Harrisburg.