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Saturday’s News & Notes

Team Yesterday Today Probable Pitchers
Syracuse Lost, 9-6 vs. Columbus,
7:00 p.m.		 Maya (3-4, 2.57) vs.
Kluber (3-4, 4.67)
Harrisburg Lost, 3-1 vs. Reading,
7:00 p.m.		 Demny (3-2, 4.03) vs.
Naylor (3-1, 5.75)
Potomac Won, 11-8 @ Lynchburg,
6:05 p.m.		 Swynenberg (3-2, 4.57) vs.
Schlosser (5-2, 3.95)
Hagerstown Won, 4-2 @ Lakewood,
6:05 p.m.		 Karns (1-0, 2.59) and
Jason Smith (A- debut) vs.
Martinez (3-2, 6.15)
and TBD

Columbus 9 Syracuse 6
• Lannan (L, 3-5) 5IP, 7H, 5R, 5ER, 0BB, 3K, 2HR
• VanAllen 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, K
• Carroll 2-4, 2R, 2B, HR, 3RBI
• Brown 2-5, R, 3B, HR, 2RBI
• Solano 2-5, R

Corey Brown homered for the fifth straight game to set a franchise record, but the Chiefs lost, 9-6. Brown also tripled and drove in two while teammate Brett Carroll smacked a double and home run and sent in three. John Lannan also had two home runs, but they came off his arm, not his bat, as the beleaguered lefty was charged with five runs on seven hits and no walks over five innings. It was his fifth loss and the eighth longball surrendered, five coming in his last two starts. Syracuse pounded out 11 hits but somehow scored six times despite going 1-for-12 with RISP.

Reading 3 Harrisburg 1
• Ballard (L, 1-4) 8IP, 8H, 3R, 3ER, BB, 5K, 3HR; 3 sac hits
• Nelo 1IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 2K
• Lozada 2-5, R, HR, RBI
• Seabury 3-4

The longball also told the story roughly 260 miles down I-81 from Syracuse as the R-Phils went deep three times in a 3-1 win over the Harrisburg Senators. Mike Ballard took the loss despite pitching eight innings with eight hits (three homers, five singles) and a walk allowed; his longest outing of the year. He also followed each of Beau Seabury’s three singles with a sacrifice bunt, but all three times Seabury was stranded. The Sens had 10 hits and 10 men left on base, the lone run coming on (you guessed it) a home run by Jose Lozada.

Potomac 11 Lynchburg 8
• Holder 3⅔ IP, 5H, 3R, 3ER, 3BB, K
• Holland (W, 3-1) 2IP, 3H, 0R, 0BB, K
• Selik (SV, 6) 1⅓ IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 2K
• Taylor 3-5, 3R, 2-2B, 2RBI, SB
• Keyes 2-5, 2-2B, 2RBI
• Oduber 2-5, 2RBI

Potomac broke a six-game road losing streak with an 11-8 win in Lynchburg. Scoring first has been a bellwether for Potomac (13-6 this season), but on the road lately, scoring at all has been a rarity (13 runs in the 10 games prior). A five-run first followed by single runs in the 2nd and 3rd helped Potomac build a 7-0 lead before the Hillcats scratched back with three runs in the 4th and a single run in the 5th. The P-Nats answered with a four-run rally in the 6th, which Lynchburg matched. Neil Holland and Cameron Selik put a stop to any thoughts of blowing the 7-0 lead, combining for three and a 1/3rd scoreless innings of relief to earn the win and save, respectively.

Hagerstown 4 Lakewood 2
• Turnbull (W, 2-3) 6IP, 5H, R, ER, 0BB, 6K
• Holt (H, 1) 2⅓ IP, 1H, R, ER, 0BB, 0K, HBP
• Lucas (SV, 2) ⅔ IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, K, WP, 2-1 IR-S
• Nieto 1-2, 2RBI, 2BB
• Souza 2-4, 2R
• Martinson 2-4, 2B, BB

Kylin Turnbull turned in his best start of the season and the bullpen held up as the Suns put the pinch on the BlueClaws, 4-2 for their third straight win. The 22-y.o. lefty allowed just a single run on five hits and no walks while setting down six on strikes. Three of the four Suns runs were driven in without a base hit, with Adrian Nieto turning the trick twice on groundout in the 3rd and bases-loaded walk in the 8th. Steve Souza and Jason Martinson both went 2-for-4 to lead the Suns eight-hit attack. Roster moves: RHP Pedro Encarnacion was assigned to “Auburn” to make room for RHP Jason Smith, who was activated from the GCL Nationals roster to pitch the second game of the doubleheader tonight.

11 Commments

  1. So what’ll it take to get Brown some regular playing time in Washington?

    I see a couple options:

    Trade Bernadina
    Clearly, Johnson places little to no value in Bernadina (giving him only 1 AB in the past week, and using him only when there were no other options). Surely, they can trade him for a low-level prospect to a team like the Red Sox (who are very thin in OF) to make room for Brown.

    Demote Moore
    Moore is just wasting away on the bench. He’d be much better served getting regular playing time in Syracuse, and gaining some experience in the OF. This, however, doesn’t solve much since Brown would have equally few opportunities.

    DFA Nady
    Is Nady’s RH bat even useful at all? (That was a rhetorical question.) It seems to be a case where too much importance is placed on platoon splits. Nady is batting arguably worse against LHP than RHP. A pathetic .136/.191/.205 vs LHP vs .121/.171/.333 vs RHP. DFA Nady and promote Brown to use against LHPs, and occasional spot starts against RHPs (he’s batting .268/.412/.537 vs LHP this year). This immediately improves the Nats defense. An OF of Brown, Ankiel and Harper would be nuts. All are at least good CFs. This, however, would severely limit Lombardozzi’s playing time.

    It doesn’t seem like there’s many realistic chances for Brown to get a shot any time soon… But come July, Rizzo should be looking for ways to make the most of this OF depth.

    1. I was all set yesterday to do a GBI with Brown’s L/R splits (Good – Brown vs. RHPs, Bad – Brown vs. LHPs)… but now he’s creaming LHPs, too.

      These are all good ideas. And I cannot fathom why Rizzo, who was pigheaded about Mock and Chico last year, doesn’t want to validate the Willingham trade by putting Brown back on the 40-man.

      1. Maybe we’ve spoken too soon?

        Brown didn’t start for Syracuse today …

        Have to wonder if he’s about to get added …
        the problem is … he should start at lead-off and
        in CF as soon as he is. That could ruffle some
        feathers in the clubhouse … have to assume
        Davey will need some time to address that.

  2. Corey Brown would be a big time upgrade over Bernadina & Nady. I think it’s time for the Bernadina experience to end.
    He’s had around 1000 AB’s so it’s not like he hasn’t had a chance.

    1. I might like to see Brown get a shot. Problem is, once Morse comes back in one or two weeks, where do you play him and when? You don’t want to bring Brown up to sit on the bench as Moore is doing; you’d have to sit Ankiel down so that Brown could have the playing time, and I don’t know how much you would want to do that, given Ankiel’s arm and experience, and that unlike Bernardina he is contributing some offensively.

  3. Ankiel is still the best option in cf out of all the players mentioned above. Nady is done and should be let go. The problem with bringing up Brown is to make sure he gets playing time. He has earned a promotion and should see time in either lf or rf. He isn’t a good platoon candidate with Ankiel since both are left handed hitters. De Rosa remains the key here. He could provide that right handed bat off the bench that they need.
    Lombardozzi should start more often in place of Espinosa!!!
    He is the leadoff guy they need right now. Moore needs to go down and play every day in AAA. Rahl has earned a call up to AAA to replace Brown. Either Michaels or Carroll can be let go. (probably Michaels). Rahl is right handed and can play all 3 outfield spots well. He runs well and can steal a base. He and Brown should develop into bench strength and compete next year for a job. they could even use Bernadina and Espinosa as trade chips for a closer!

    1. A closer? Last I checked Clippard and Stammen were still healthy, and Storen returns in a month. All three of those guys are better than 90% of closers around the league.

      Depth at catcher seems to be a much more glaring need right now.

      1. With Solano back & Leon in about a month or so, the Nats catching depth is still among the best in all of baseball.
        Most any other farm system, you always read ‘thin at catching’.

        1. Most any other farm system, you always read ‘thin at catching’.

          Well, yes, except for James Skelton (5’11”, 165) *rimshot!*

        2. We certainly have depth, but there’s not much quality there. Until a month ago, Leon had never batted above average at any level, and has played only 27 games above A ball. Solano has a career .250/.308/.340 in the minors and is 26 going on 27. Even if he could replicate that in the majors, it would still be less than impressive. Maldonado is nothing more than organizational filler.

          So I fail to see how the Nats’ depth is among the best. I’d take the Red Sox (Salty, Shoppach and Lavarnway), the Brewers (Lucroy and Kottaras), the Phillies (Ruiz, Schneider, Valle), the Reds (Hanigan, Mesoraco), Blue Jays (Arencibia, D’Arnaud, Mathis), Braves (McCann, Ross, Bethancourt), and Rangers C options(Napoli, Torrealba), just to name a few, over Flores/Solano+Leon+Maldonado. If Ramos wasn’t out for the year, it would be a whole different story… But since he’s out for the year, it would be useful to get an upgrade, especially because Flores’ .237/.277/.329 hasn’t exactly lit the world on fire.

          Given how much time starting catchers need off, the back up catcher is arguably one of the most important back ups on the team, since they’ll often start 2-3 times per week and have such an important role handling the pitching staff. Right now, Johnson doesn’t seem to have much faith in Maldonado, and if he keeps up this pace is going to run Flores into the ground. Catchers can’t and shouldn’t start everyday, especially one with a long injury history like Flores. Getting a veteran would alleviate a lot of the burden being thrown onto Flores’ shoulders (and knees) right now.

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