Nationals Farm Authority

Columbus Clippers (1-6)

The Clippers had a really rough first week, winning only one of their first seven games. The reasons for their early struggles are crystal clear, run differential.

Over the first seven games, the difference between the runs the Clippers have scored and the runs they have surrendered is -19. Columbus has allowed an International League high 44 runs this season (an average of 6.3/game) while scoring the fourth fewest (25 or 3.6/game). The issue has been primarily with the starting pitching where RHPs Garrett Mock & Tyler Clippard and LHP Jason Stanford have combined for four appearances, allowing 20 runs on 30 hits over only 17 1/3 innings of work. Offensively, the Clippers had a lackluster week batting 247/306/317 with the second fewest extra-base hits in the International League with only ten.

It is early in the season so there is no reason for panic … yet. But the Clippers need to show a turnaround both on the mound and at the plate.

 Hitter of the week: OF Ryan Langerhans - 400/520/550 over seven games. He finished the week with one home run, three RBI, eight runs scored, and three stolen bases in as many attempts

 Pitcher of the week: RHRP Brian Sanches - 0-0 with 1 save and a 0.00 ERA & WHIP. Over four appearances (6IP), Sanches was near perfect (only one hit batter). He struck out ten of the nineteen batters he faced.

Least valuable player: RHSP Garrett Mock - Over two starts (9IP), Mock has allowed an alarming seven runs on sixteen hits and five walks. His ERA is 7.00 and WHIP is 2.33.

Harrisburg Senators (4-2)

Unlike the Clippers, the Senators had no problem scoring runs as they had a successful opening homestand scoring an Eastern League leading 43 runs.

Harrisburg saw an offensive onslaught of twenty with ten home runs. Over six games, Harrisburg hit 280/370/473.  They also showed solid plate displine as the walked a league leading 30 times while striking out only 33 times. The pitching, on the other hand, was just OK. An issue the Senators might have to face this season is the lack of strikeout pitchers. Over 56 innings, the Senators only struck out 30 hitters.

 Hitter of the week: 1B/DH Luis Jimenez - 375/464/875 over six games. Jimenez barely edged out 3B Yurendell de Caster (375/423/875). Jimenez hit four home runs in the opening week and drove in twelve runs

 Pitcher of the week: RHSP Bobby Brownlie - 0-0 with a 3.75 ERA & 1.17 WHIP. His performance yesterday afternoon (box) allowed him to edge out RHRP Beltran Perez. Over two appearances (12IP), Brownlie surrendered five runs on eleven hits and three walks with four strikeouts.

Least valuable player: 2B Ed Rogers - Rogers managed only four singles over his first 23 at-bats for a 174/174/174 batting line.

Potomac Nationals (3-2)

When the opening day rosters were announced, I was most surprised by what I saw in Potomac. Theses surprises were (a) pleasant and (b) unexpected. And there was little overlap in those two areas.

I was pleasantly surprised to see the collection of highly thought of starting pitchers the P-Nats had. But the unexpected surprise was the large number of guys repeating the level (and a good number who were actually “demoted” from their 2007 endpoints).

After a week, the highlight from Potomac was clearly their pitching, specifically, their starting pitching. Counting Jordan Zimmermann among the starters (while Shawn Hill actually started the game, for analysis purposes, I’m including Zimmermann), the P-Nats saw their five SPs combine for 22 2/3 innings of work with a 3.18 ERA and 1.15 WHIP, amassing nearly a strikeout an inning pitched (22 total). Offensively over only five games, Potomac hit a combined 247/286/355 … roughly middle of the pack in the Carolina League. An area of concern for them though is the number of walks they totalled, over 5 games the P-Nats had only 9 total walks. Only one team (Winston-Salem with 2) had fewer walks and they only played two games due to the weather.

 Hitter of the week: Tough to pick one guy so I’ll split the difference between OFs Marvin Lowrance (left) and Dee Brown (right). Lowrance hit 412/412/471 while Brown batted 333/333/533. Both guys are among the repeaters in Woodbridge that I mentioned above, Lowrance will be 23 this year while Brown will be 26.

 Pitcher of the week: LHSP Ross Detwiler - 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA & 0.80 WHIP. The first round draft pick wasted no time in getting things going. His first start saw him strike out seven and only walk one batter over five innings of work.

Least valuable player: RHRP Adam Carr - Carr made only one appearance on the week, but it was one he wants to forget. In his one appearance, he did not record an out, allowing four runs (three earned) on three hits, one walk, and one hit batter.

Hagerstown Suns (3-2)

Of the four full-season affiliates, I thought the Suns had the best collection of both hitting and pitching prospects.

The week’s first ceiling saw mixed results on both offense and defense. The Suns pitching staff had a solid overall week with 48IP with a team ERA of 3.38 and WHIP of 1.25. They managed 44 strikeouts with only 14 walks. None of their starting pitchers went more than five innings (likely due to organizational pitch counts) but all both Colton Willems saw solid results overall (5IP 8H 6R[4ER] 0BB 4K). The other four starters (Cole Kimball, Brad Peacock, Jeff Mandel, and Hassan Pena) were a combined 1-0 over 20IP with a 1.80 ERA and 0.90 WHIP with 19 strikeouts. With the bat, the Suns were middle of the Sally League, hitting 240/288/411 with a league leading 7 home runs.

 Hitter of the week: 1B Bill Rhinehart. Rhinehart started his 2008 in Hagerstown in a similar manner to his 2007 debut with Vermont … driving in runs. Rhinehart hit 318/333/591 with one home run and a team leading 6 RBI over his first five games.

[no photo] Pitcher of the week: RHSP Erik Arnesen. Another relief pitcher gets the nod here. Arnesen made two relief appearances, allowing no runs on two hits and two walks over five innings of work. What stood out for Arnesen was his 9 strikeouts in those 5IP.

Least valuable player: RHRP Martin Beno. Beno had a rough first two appearances, allowing three runs on four hits and four walks in just 1 2/3 innings of work.