The Columbus Clippers split a doubleheader with Louisville dropping the opener 3-1 in 11 innings before blanking the Bats 1-0 in the second game (box1/box2). In the first game, it was all hands on deck as six Columbus pitchers combined to allow three runs on eight hits and three walks over eleven innings. Chris Michalak started, going five innings allowing only a solo home run and striking out four. Billy Traber, Chris Booker, Arnie Munoz, and Winston Abreu pitched the next five shutout innings allowing only two hits and two walks (all by Booker) while striking out four. Leval Speigner took the loss getting knocked around for five hits (all singles) and two runs in the top of the eleventh. Every Clipper starter had at least one hit though none came after the bottom of the seventh inning. 2B Bernie Castro was 2/5 with his 26th stolen base of the season. In the second game, Matt Chico and Edward Valdez combined on a two-hit shutout. In his first appearance for Columbus, Chico went six allowing only one hit but walking four while striking out three. Valdez picked up the save with a scoreless ninth. Castro scored the only run of the game in the first inning, singling, moving to third on an errant pickoff throw, and scoring on a Brent Abernathy groundout. RF Abrham Nunez had the other Columbus hit.
Tonight: RHP Collin Balester (2-2, 4.54) wraps up the series with Louisville (pitcher TBA) at 7:05PM
Harrisburg split a doubleheader of their own, getting blanked 6-0 in game one before returning the favor and shutting out Connecticut 2-0 in game 2 (box1/box2/gamer). Mike O’Connor took the loss in game one surrendering six runs on five hits and four walks over five innings with five strikeouts. The Senators could only muster two hits on offense, singles by 1B Josh Whitesell adn RF Steve Mortimer. The Senators managed only one hit in the second game, a two-run single by CA Javi Herrera but it was enough offense for Harrisburg to gain the split. In the second inning, Whitesell and CF/RF Frank Diaz both walked and moved to 2nd and 3rd on a sacrifice by Dee Brown. After an Ofilio Castro strikeout, Herrera brought them home with a single. Those three were the only Harrisburg baserunners of game two. Gerald Plexico made the spot start going four innings allowing four hits and one walk while striking out five. Alex Morales picked up the win with two scoreless innings striking out four. And Zech Zinicola picked up the save with a scoreless ninth.
Tonight: Harrisburg opens a series in Altoona with RHP Beltran Perez (6-5, 4.45) facing off with Curve LHP Josh Shortslef (3-12, 4.45) at 7:05PM
2007 5th round selection Brad Meyers made his Carolina League debut going three innings in a 6-3 Potomac win over Kinston (box). Meyers struck out two and allowed three runs on five hits and two walks. No word on whether it was pitch count or other reason for his early evening. Craig Stammen picked up the win with 3 2/3 innings of one hit/one walk relief, striking out four. In August, Stammen is 1-0 in four appearances allowing no runs, only four hits & one walk while striking out twelve over eleven innings of work. CF Justin Maxwell was 2/5 with a double, run scored and RBI. RF Mike Daniel was 1/5 with a two-run home run. LF Chris Marrero was 3/5 with two double and one RBI. 3B Leonard Davis was 1/4 with a double and a run scored and is batting 0.275 since his promotion from Hagerstown. And, 1B Brett McMillan was 1/2 with a pair of walks and two runs scored. Over his last twn games, McMillan is batting 0.355 with five runs, five RBI and five walks.
Potomac does not play today.
Hagerstown dropped another game in Delmarva, losing 4-2 on Wednesday evening (box). Yunior Novoa allowed three runs on seven hits over five innings to take the loss, though he did strike out seven Shorebirds. DH Marcos Cabral was 2/3 with a run scored. CF Francisco Plasencia was 2/4 with a run scored. And, 3B Trevor Lawhorn was 1/4 with a double and two RBI.
Tonight: The Suns look to salvage a game in Delmarva at 7:05PM tonight. RHP Erik Arnesen (5-7, 4.79) takes on RHP Kyle Schmidt (6-8, 3.49)
Hassan Pena and Randy Matias were torched for eleven runs (nine earned) over less than four innings of work as the Lake Monsters were blown out by Staten Island 13-2 (box/gamer). Pena was touched up for six runs on four hits and five walks in onl 3 2/3 innings of work. Matias had it even worse allowing five runs (three earned) on three hits, one walk and a hit batter without recording an out. SS Dan Lyons drove in the only two Vermont runs with a double. LF Aaron Seuss, CA Sean Rooney, and 3B Jake Rogers each had two hits for Vermont. 2B Stephen King was 1/4 and his had a hit in all four of his Lake Monsters starts.
Tonight: RHP Cole Kimball (2-4, 4.03) takes on Staten Island RHP Jason Stephens (3-0, 1.05) at 7:05PM
The GCL Nationals defeated the GCL Marlins 7-2 (box). LF Clint Pridmore was 2/4 with one run and one RBI. DH Derek Norris was 2/5 with a double, triple, run and two RBI. 1B Zach Booker was 2/3 with a pair of walks, one run scored and two RBI. CF Chris Blackwood was 1/4 with one RBI and two stolen bases. And 3B Steve Souza was 0/3 with a pair of walks, two runs scored and one stolen base. Atahaulpo Severino picked up the win with five shutout innings allowing only two hits and striking out six. Kyle Gunderson pitched the final two scoreless innings, extending his scoreless inning streak to 13 2/3 innings.
Today: The GCL Nationals visit the GCL Dodgers at 12:00PM
The DSL Nationals1 game with the DSL Padres was cancelled due to rain. The DSL Nationals2 defeated the DSL Mets 4-3 in a rain-shortened game (box). 21-year old RHP Yael Arias allowed three runs on three hits over three innings of work with three strikeouts. 20-year old RHP Ruben De La Rosa picked up the win with four shutout innings allowing only three hits and striking out nine. 3B Felix Fermin Jr was 2/3 with a run scored.
Today: The DSL Nationals1 & 2 face off at 11:00AM. It’s the last scheduled game for the DSL Nats1. The DSL Nats2 have one game after today’s
Joe | 23-Aug-07 at 10:43 am | Permalink
Brian,
Have you heard anything about September call-ups? Who do you think will go up? Watson? Whitesell? Casto? The nationals seem to be keeping mum on this topic with about a week to go!
Hartmanbirge | 23-Aug-07 at 10:53 am | Permalink
The below comes from an ESPN chat by Keith Law… For the record this guy has done nothing but bash Bowden (in particular) and the Nationals. Seemingly everything they do is written with a negative spin. This is the sort of bias that the Nats face from some in the national media. To whit:
Q: Nats draft
Keith Law: I liked Smoker and Detwiler, and Zimmerman’s probably a 3/4, a 4 on stuff but a 3 because of his command and aggressiveness. McGeary is already the most overrated guy in their system. Remember, just because a guy got first-round money doesn’t mean he’s a first-round talent. I didn’t like most of what they did after the fifth round … not a top-five overall draft, but an OK one.
Q: Dan (DC): Fill in the blank: The Nationals will make the playoffs in __ years. ALL HAIL STAN’S PLAN!!
Keith Law: 12?
Q: Jon (DC): How do you project Hanrahan and Lannan?
Keith Law: I thought Hanrahan was a #3 starter when he was in the Dodgers’ system, but IIRC he had some major arm problems that may or may not have led to his complete loss of control. Lannan’s a 5th starter or a swingman. Hanrahan was a good pickup - that’s one thing Bowden does well, find guys on the scrap heap who used to be prospects, run them out there, and keep the ones who aren’t awful.
Q: So looking back — how do Jordan Zimmerman and Josh Smoker compare to the prospects we would have gotten had we traded Soriano?
Keith Law: That depends on how much of what we heard on the offers was real. But the difference is that whatever you got last July would have been 2-3 years closer to the majors than Smoker is.
That about sums it up.
Eric | 23-Aug-07 at 10:58 am | Permalink
Brian — with the DSL season coming to a close, what will become of some of these players? Any chance they can move to the GCL for a couple of weeks? I’ve been looking at some of the pitching stats, and I’d love to know more about these particular players:
SP Federico Tanco (21 yrs old):
5-2, 1.85 ERA, 73 IP, 65 H, 11 BB, 100 K, 1.04 WHIP, 12.3 K/9
SP Jorge Urena (20 yrs old):
6-3, 1.92 ERA, 70.1 IP, 54 H, 16 BB, 87 K, 1.00 WHIP, 11.1 K/9
SP Marcos Frias (18 yrs old):
6-3, 2.18 ERA, 66 IP, 45 H, 24 BB, 64 K, 1.05 WHIP, 8.7 K/9
RP Carlos Peralta (22 yrs old):
3-1, 1.73 ERA, 36.2 IP, 21 H, 15 BB, 42 K, 0.99 WHIP, 10.4 K/9
RP Julio Perez (19 yrs old):
3-0, 2.33 ERA, 19.1 IP, 6 H, 12 BB, 27 K, 0.93 WHIP, 12.6 K/9
these numbers look pretty impressive, but I’m not familiar with the DSL and whether it’s a hitters league or a pitchers league.
I’d like to know if these guys will get a chance to move up one level in the Nats system.
Brian Oliver | 23-Aug-07 at 11:04 am | Permalink
Eric - I doubt it since the GCL season will only go a few days longer than the DSL ones. Some of those guys might be coming over for the fall instructional league but coming to the GCL or Vermont or Hagerstown seem unlikely to me.
Brian Oliver | 23-Aug-07 at 11:08 am | Permalink
As for call-ups, Bergmann comes off the DL. I’d imagine Billy Traber, Chris Booker, and Matt Chico are most likely with a pretty good chance Kory Casto and Brandon Watson (if healthy) come as well since they are already on the 40-man. Other than that, Whitesell is an option as are Winston Abreu, maybe Bernie Castro or another MI. That’s nine additional players. Not sure they’ll go the full 40 though.
Suns Fan | 23-Aug-07 at 11:27 am | Permalink
Meyers has a pretty strict pitch count. They took him out of a game where he was pitching a one-hit shutout (despite 3 errors in the field) after 4 2/3 of an inning. He hits the pitch count, and he’s gone.
That game was the game where the Suns made 7 errors–it was really 10, but the scorekeeper was being generous–in a 7 inning game. And the thing is that Meyers pitched well enough to give the team the chance to win, despite their atrocious defense. (And before anybody blames it on the field, the visiting teams have less errors than the Suns at Municipal Stadium this year).
Basil | 23-Aug-07 at 1:44 pm | Permalink
That about sums it up.
What does it sum up? I hardly think Law’s opinions are unassailable, but is disagreeing with the team’s decisions or having a low opinion of Bowden an indication of bias?
John | 23-Aug-07 at 2:54 pm | Permalink
Basil: I believe the Nats got five players that Law rated in his top 50 or so prior to the draft, including McGeary. He then turns around and calls it an “OK” draft and calls McGeary the most overrated player in the system. Pretty much everyone else you read has the Nats at least in the top 3 in terms of draft. If you go by the players early performance, they’re #1 by miles and miles.
I’ve heard he also said Marrero doesn’t have the bat speed to make it in the majors when he was rated as the top hitting prospect by the coaches in two different leagues.
He also went out of his way to attack the re-signing of Young and Belliard.
To me it’s pretty clear cut that he has something against the organization. He constantly puts down the players and moves at all levels.
Law also ranked Pedro Alvarez fifth in his 2008 draft rankings when everyone else I’ve seen has Alvarez a clear cut number one. Law raved about how great Justin Smoak is and rated him ahead of Alvarez. Alvarez went on to outplay Smoak by a huge statistical margin this summer for Team USA.
I think his former employer JP Richardi, who fired him, summed it up best when he said Law was officially an idiot.
John | 23-Aug-07 at 3:47 pm | Permalink
OT: It looks like phenom shortstop Edward Salcedo is going to sign with the Yankees for a bonus of over $4.5 million(according to Peter Gammons). This kid apparently really amazed everybody at a recent showcase. He just turned 16 on July 30th. I’ve read he’s a five tool prospect at short. It’ll be interesting to see how he does.
Brian Oliver | 23-Aug-07 at 3:58 pm | Permalink
$4.5 million? Wow! I’d almost rather grab 10 guys at $450K/player and hope that the odds improve with more options.
John | 23-Aug-07 at 4:02 pm | Permalink
I agree. That’s a ton of money to spend on a kid that just turned 16. At $450K you can get a very good prospect.
Alan | 23-Aug-07 at 4:06 pm | Permalink
This article by John Markon in the Richmond Times-Dispatch has a refreshingly no nonsense take on the major league team:
http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/sports/baseball.apx.-content-articles-RTD-2007-08-20-0148.html
Dick | 23-Aug-07 at 7:21 pm | Permalink
You know, the beauty of guys like Keith Law is that, in the end, his opinion doesn’t matter at all. It is what they do on the field that counts. That’s why they play the games! Besides, being the underdog and having people think, like they do in Arizona, that you are terrible allows you to sneak up on people.
Hartmanbirge | 24-Aug-07 at 2:04 am | Permalink
“You know, the beauty of guys like Keith Law is that, in the end, his opinion doesn’t matter at all.”
This is true. Law is what he is - just irksome. I wouldn’t mind if even once he would throw a compliment but I still have yet to see that and probably never will. Which by definition makes him irrational. In my mind, there are several writers and fellow GMs who can’t stand Bowden (professional jealousy?). For whatever reason Bowden must have really irritated them at some point and it’s going to follow him as long as he’s a GM. The significance to us fans is that when we read about our talent pipeline it is perhaps wise to know the source of the proferred opinions.
Alex | 24-Aug-07 at 9:11 pm | Permalink
Here is a link that should pretty much sum up the Keith Law situation for anyone who is interested…
http://www.wnff.net/index.php/topic,4784.0.html