Tuesday’s News & Notes
| Team | Yesterday | Today | Probable Pitcher |
| Syracuse | Lost, 3-2 | @ Pawtucket, 7:05 p.m. |
Brad Peacock (3-1, 3.55) vs. Alex Wilson (0-0, 4.50) |
| Harrisburg | Won, 4-1 | @ Portland | Danny Rosenbaum (2-0, 1.40) vs. Matt Rusch (0-1, 8.44) |
| Potomac | OFF DAY | vs. Wilmington, 7:00 p.m. |
Sammy Solis (4-2, 3.35) vs. Tyler Sample (7-11, 5.42) |
| Hagerstown | Lost, 3-1 | vs. Hickory, 7:05 p.m. |
Matt Grace (11-6, 4.45) vs. Luke Jackson (4-4, 5.20) |
| Auburn | Lost, 6-1 | @ Mahoning Valley, 7:05 p.m. |
Christian Meza (1-1, 6.82) vs. Trent Stevenson (0-2, 5.48) |
| GCL Nationals | Won, 6-5; Lost, 3-1 @/vs. GCL Cardinals |
vs. GCL Astros, 12:00 p.m. |
TBD vs. TBD |
Pawtucket 3 Syracuse 2
• Stammen (L, 9-7) 5IP, 5H, 3R, 3ER, BB, K
• Tatusko 2IP, 2H, 0R, 2BB, K
• Brown 1-2, R, HR, RBI
• Frazier 1-3, R, 2B
Pawtucket broke a 1-1 tie with two in the bottom of the 5th and held on for a 3-2 victory, eliminating Syracuse from the playoffs. Craig Stammen gave up the killshot, a two-run homer to Che-Hsuan Lin, to take the loss. The Chiefs were held to just six hits, none in their three (3) chances with RISP.
Harrisburg 4 Portland 1
• Roark 6⅔ IP, 4H, 1R, 1ER, BB, 5K
• VanAllen 1⅓ IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 2K
• Pahuta 2-3, R, HR, 3RBI
• Gilbert 2-4, 2B, SB
Harrisburg struck for a four-run 8th, highlighted by a three-run home run by Tim Pahuta, to break a 1-1 tie and sending Portland to a 4-1 defeat. Cory VanAllen got the win in relief while Rafael Martin struck out the side in the 9th for the save. The loss keeps pace with Bowie to maintain the Sens’ ½-game lead over the BaySox in the E.L. West.
Potomac Nationals — OFF DAY
The P-Nats finish their penultimate regular-season homestand with three against the Blue Rocks before heading up to Frederick for a three-game set over the weekend, then down to Lynchburg for four games next week. It’s quite possible that last-place Wilmington could be eliminated from all playoff contention, and third-place Lynchburg from a shot at division title, by Thursday or Friday.
Hickory 3 Hagerstown 1
• Strasburg (L, 0-1) 3IP, 2H, 2R, 1ER, BB, 6K
• Applebee 4IP, 2H, 0R, 2BB, 2K
• Keyes 2-4
• Sanchez 1-3, R, HR, RBI, CS
Stephen Strasburg’s struggles matched those of the Suns offense, as Hagerstown dropped its fourth game over the last five by a 3-1 count to the Hickory Crawdads. Strasburg gave up two runs, one earned, on two hits and a walk as the Hickory baserunners stole five bases while he was on the mound, seven total to make the most out of the five Crawdad hits. The loss drops Hagerstown to four games behind in the Sally North and reduces its elimination number to 10 with 13 games left to play.
State College 6 Auburn 1
• M Rodriguez (L, 2-3) 4IP, 8H, 5R, 4ER, 2BB, K
• Hanks 2⅓ IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 2K
• Mayo 2-3, RBI
• Ramsey 2-4, CS
Auburn’s five-game win streak was snapped with a 6-1 defeat to State College. Manny Rodriguez took the loss, charged with five runs over four innings on eight hits and two walks. Jeremy Mayo went 2-for-3 with the lone RBI to lead the offense. Auburn still leads Williamsport by one game in the NYPL’s Pinckney Division.
GCL Nationals 6 GCL Cardinals 5 (Comp.)
• Baez 2⅔ IP, 1H, 0R, 2BB, 4K
• Heredia (S, 3) 1⅓ IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 2K
• Peguero 2-3
• Difo 2-4, R, 3B
A four-run 6th turned a 3-2 deficit into a 6-3 lead as the G-Nats held on for a 6-5 win in the completion of the game suspended last week. Inocencio Heredia stranded two runners in the 8th and pitched a scoreless 9th to nail down the win and earn his third save.
GCL Cardinals 3 GCL Nationals 1
• Baez (L, 1-2) 2⅔ IP, 6H, 3R, 3ER, 6BB, 2K
• Harper 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• Difo 2-3, R, SB
• Mozingo 1-3, 2B, RBI
In the seven-inning “nightcap” (a.k.a. the regularly scheduled game), Gregory Baez took the loss by giving up all three runs on six hits and six walks as the G-Cards got a 3-1 victory. The split of the two games puts the G-Nats at 19-32, one game ahead of the last-place (and today’s opponent) GCL Astros in the GCL East.
Good article from Beyond the Box Score on scouts, how they do their jobs, the reports they write, etc
http://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/2011/8/23/2377758/the-art-of-scouting-how-to-compile-a-professional-scouting-report
Thanks for the link; It was interesting to see that they don’t do their evaluations in a bubble, but do a little cross-checking before submitting their reports up the chain.
Not sure I would characterize Strasburg’s outing as “struggling” when he gave up one earned run and struck out 6 in the 3 innings. While not perfect, a solid outing in my eyes.
Any word on whether Rendon, Meyer, Goodwin or Purke will play for a Nats affliate before the end of this minor league season?
As an interesting aside, G. Baez was the SP of record for both G-Nats games yesterday, due to the postponed completion.
Pilchard, I don’t think there has been any word on the ‘golden four’ from the WSH front office; I’d expect them to report to the FIL in Viera as their 1st pro assignment. Maybe we’ll see Rendon named to the AFL, but I doubt it.
I suspect you might see Rendon and Purke end up in the AFL. Purke comes across as Storen-like in that he basically really wanted to sign with the Nats … the problem is his agent wouldn’t let him sign when Storen did which was at the beginning of the minor league season. Still, given all he did to get signed on the dotted line I can see him playing if his FLA evaluation goes well.
Rendon should play in AZ just because he might just be the top prospect in baseball if his injury issues are truly minor?
Guess we’ll see.
Again, maybe, but probably not. Both Rendon & Purke have some injury questions lingering from the 2011 college season that Rizzo may prefer to keep under complete control in the FIL this year. The last thing the parent club would want is to see Purke go to Arizona & blow out his elbow / shoulder before his 1st Spring Training.
As the minor league seasons wind down, we start thinking about two things – Minor-League post-season play, and exposed prospects. Here’s a personal spin on both subjects.
As to the playoffs, the D-Nats and G-Nats are toast, and the SYR Chiefs are dead men walking. Hagerstown is falling out of contention, but Harrisburg, Potomac, & Auburn all still have tenuious control of their post-season destiny with a couple of weeks left. We hope for the best for all four, but it could still end horribly (0-7) in a worst-case scenario.
Reviewing the current minor-league rosters, the Nationals could have 28 ‘prospect’ age players exposed to either RuleV / mFA at the end of the 2011 season, by my calculations. I’ve listed them below… (#=switch-hitter, ^=hits or throws Left-handed).
Alvarez, Carlos [IF]- AUB; 25yo IFA, [RuleV, 2011].
Antonelli, Matt [IF]- SYR; 26yo, [mFA, 2011].
Arnesen, Erik [SP / LR]- HAR; 2011; 27yo, [RuleV-2009, mFA-2011].
Bloxom, Justin# [1B]- POT DL; 23yo, [RuleV, 2011].
Curran, Chris [OF]- HAG; 23yo, [RuleV, 2011].
Higley, John [OF]- POT; 23yo, [RuleV, 2011].
Gilbert, Archie [OF]- HAR; 27yo, [mFA, 2011].
Johnson, Josh# [2B-SS]- HAR; 25yo, [mFA, 2011].
King, Stephen [3B-SS]- HAR; 23yo, [RuleV, 2010].
Komatsu, Erik^ [CF]- HAR; 23yo, [RuleV, 2011].
Lombardozzi, Steve# [2B]- SYR; 23yo, [RuleV, 2011].
Mandel, Jeff [RP]- SYR; 2011; 26yo, [RuleV-2010].
Martis, Shairon [SP]- HAR; 2011 (+1 option remaining); 24yo, [FA-2011?].
Meyers, Bradley [SP]- SYR; 26yo, [RuleV, 2010].
Milone, Tom^ [SP]- SYR; 24yo, [RuleV, 2011].
Montilla, Angelberth [OF]- AUB; 22yo, [RuleV, 2011].
Moore, Tyler [1B]- HAR; 24yo, [RuleV, 2011].
Nelo, Hector [RP]- POT; 2011; 24yo, [RuleV-2011].
Newsome, Brett^ [1B]- HAG; 25yo, [RuleV, 2011].
Norris, Derek [CA]- HAR; 22yo, [RuleV, 2011].
Peacock, Brad [SP]- SYR; 23yo, [RuleV, 2011].
Rahl, Chris [OF]- HAR; 27yo, [mFA, 2011].
Smoker, Josh^ [RP]- POT; 2011; 22yo, [RuleV-2011].
Solano, Jhonathan [CA]- SYR; 26yo, [RuleV, 2011].
Souza, Steve [1B]- POT; 22yo, [RuleV, 2011].
Valdez, Jesus [RF]- SYR; 26yo, [mFA, 2011].
Wilkie, Josh [RP]- SYR; 2011; 27yo, [RuleV-2009, mFA-2011].
Zinicola, Zachry [RP]- HAR; 2011; 26yo, [RuleV-2009, mFA-2011].
BinM,
Great list…thanks for providing that. Sure looks like the Nats may lose quite a few of these if exposed to the rule v draft.
Which one’s do you think they will protect?
Tom
I think it’s a total mess…
I’m no expert but I think you have to protect:
Peacock
Norris
Milone
Lombo
and consider…
Brad Meyers
Komatsu? (I don’t know much but we just traded for him)
Smoker? (I know he’s only at single A, but he’s a Loogy so someone could stash them in their bullpen…)
Solano? (everyone keeps talking about his defense and that he might be better than Flores)
I think the question is who are they taking off the 40 man (these are just ideas not demands)?
Gomes
Nix
Wang?
Mock? although someone just pointed out he suddenly looks good in AAA
Pudge?
Cora
Bixler
Ankiel
Bernadina
Severino?
Elvin Ramirez (I don;t think we can remove him until he’s healthy…)
Most importantly you need to save at least one spot so that they can sign Yu Darvish (please!).
I would think the players that Rizzo absolutely to protect are Lombardozzi, Milone, Norris, Peacock & Solano; Meyers, Moore and Smoker are possibles as well.
As positive vibes and earthquakes rumble through the DC sports sphere here’s something that might keep you up at night:
Chief’s Radio: Garrett Mock in August: 9IP, 3H, ER, 2BB, 12K. Wow.
Particularly scary because it could prevent a September callup of one of the Chiefs starters, though I can totally see a scenario where one Syracuse pitcher sits and the other gets a look — the former positioned as “he’s pitched a lot of innings,” the latter “we want to see what he can do because he might be here next September.”
You think they’d prefer to see Mock audition as a MLB reliever vs one of the SPs? I can see how it makes sense as we have tooooooo many SP options at this point.