The Month That Was: April

The Nationals have begun to see results from their rebuilding effort. Since their relocation to Washington in 2005, only two of their full season affiliates finished with an above 0.500 record. And the two that did it, barely did it (Triple-A New Orleans 72-71 in 2006; High-A Carolina 69-68). The conclusion of April saw strong starts in both Double-A Harrisburg and Potomac.

Team ActW ActL PythagW PythagL
Columbus 12 15 12 15
Harrisburg 16 9 16 9
Potomac 17 7 16 8
Hagerstown 12 13 12 13
Total 58 43 56 45

That’s an overall winning percentage of 0.574.

Small sample size caveats stand, but the Nationals had a collective 0.449 winning percentage over their past three seasons.

As I have mentioned before, the Nationals typically won’t place too much emphasis on the winning percentages as an arbiter of the overall results of the rebuilding effort. But the signs of a turnaround are there and it will be interesting to watch if Harrisburg and Potomac can maintain and whether Columbus and Hagerstown can improve.

Columbus 13-14; Tied for 3rd in International League West

Team R H HR RBI BB SO SB/SBA BA/OBP/SLG
Columbus 115 228 10 107 109 184 21/35 245/326/353
IL Avg 110 218 19 102 89 192 22/31 249/323/381
Team IP ERA WHIP K/9 BB/9 HR/9
Columbus 251 4.52 1.37 9.3 3.6 1.0
IL Avg 231 3.78 1.33 7.5 3.5 0.7

When rosters were announced in late March/early April, the focus in Columbus was on the starting pitching for the Clippers. Unlike 2007 which saw older Four-A type pitchers, 2008 brought Columbus some of the more highly thought of prospects in RHPs Collin Balester and Garrett Mock along with RHP Tyler Clippard who hoped a change in scenery for the Yankees might lead to a change in fortune moving forward, as well as LHP Mike O’Connor, who looked to build on a strong spring as he worked his way back from a disappointing 2007 season.

Player GS W L ERA WHIP IP H R ER HR BB SO
Tyler Clippard 5 0 3 5.61 1.44 25.67 25 18 16 2 12 28
Collin Balester 5 1 2 4.24 1.24 23.33 20 11 11 2 9 20
Michael O’Connor 4 2 0 1.96 1.00 23.00 19 5 5 2 4 20
Garrett Mock 4 1 0 4.74 1.79 19.00 26 10 10 3 8 17
Jason Bergmann 3 1 2 5.06 1.50 16.00 18 10 9 1 6 15
Jason Stanford 3 0 2 12.65 2.25 10.67 17 17 15 3 7 7
Dennis Tankersley 2 1 0 5.40 1.43 10.00 8 6 6 2 4 6

Clippard’s early struggles began to turn around later in the month and his initial start in May was strong. Balester’s overall numbers have been OK but the consistency is still not there. O’Connor’s start was strong enough to earn him a promotion to Washington in the middle of the month while Stanford pitched himself out of the organization (he ended up back within the Cleveland organization). Mock is truly puzzling, based upon his abilities, the Nationals expect more but the results thus far have been what have plagued him over recent history, he is too hittable. Bergmann struggled in Washington, was demoted and subsequently struggled in his first couple of starts for the Clippers, but like Clippard he’s rebounded to post 14 consecutive scoreless innings (bleeding into May).

Player G W L SV HLD GF ERA WHIP IP H R ER HR BB SO
Steven Shell 9 1 0 0 3 1 2.37 1.21 19.00 17 5 5 1 6 21
Mike Bacsik 9 2 1 1 1 2 3.00 1.00 18.00 12 6 6 4 6 14
Charlie Manning 10 0 0 2 3 3 2.30 1.15 15.67 10 5 4 1 8 24
Brian Sanches 11 0 0 5 0 8 1.17 0.78 15.33 9 2 2 1 3 23
Dennis Tankersley 6 0 1 0 2 0 3.46 1.35 13.00 13 5 5 1 6 14
Chris Booker 8 0 2 2 1 4 7.00 1.78 9.00 9 7 7 1 7 12
Chris Schroder 5 2 0 1 0 1 1.08 1.32 8.33 8 1 1 0 3 14
Eude Brito 5 0 0 0 0 4 10.80 1.65 6.67 8 9 8 1 3 11
Arnie Munoz 3 0 0 0 0 2 16.62 2.77 4.33 5 8 8 2 7 4
Jason Stanford 2 2 0 0 0 0 2.45 0.82 3.67 2 1 1 0 1 5
Giuseppe Norrito 2 0 0 0 0 1 5.40 2.40 3.33 8 2 2 1 0 1
Larry Broadway 1 0 0 0 0 1 0.00 0.00 1.00 0 0 0 0 0 0

The bullpen was a strength for the Clippers in April with Shell, Manning, Sanches, Bacsik and Schroder combining to make a rather daunting series of options for Tim Foli late in the game. The five arms combined for 76 1/3 innings with a 2.12 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, 11.3 K/9, and 3.1 BB/9. Their efforts resulted in a 5-1 record with seven holds and nine saves.

Player G AB R H HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA/OBP/SLG
Pete Orr 27 105 19 32 1 17 8 13 6 1 305/368/524
Ryan Langerhans 27 89 19 28 3 17 22 21 3 2 315/447/472
Larry Broadway 25 81 10 19 0 10 9 23 1 2 235/304/358
Ray Olmedo 24 81 5 20 0 6 7 4 2 1 247/303/296
Garrett Guzman 22 73 6 11 0 6 11 5 3 2 151/259/205
Tommy Murphy 18 71 17 20 0 0 11 22 2 1 282/386/394
Tony Batista 17 62 3 14 1 6 4 9 0 0 226/273/306
Jason Dubois 22 60 6 14 1 8 10 16 2 1 233/347/333
Jesus Flores 13 48 5 9 1 6 4 15 0 0 188/278/313
Bret Boone 13 46 4 12 0 8 6 11 1 0 261/327/348
Yurendell de Caster 11 42 3 12 0 8 2 11 0 0 286/318/357
Ed Rogers 9 35 4 7 1 2 1 5 0 2 200/222/286
Kory Casto 7 30 4 8 1 3 3 6 0 0 267/333/367
Wil Nieves 9 25 3 6 0 2 3 6 1 0 240/321/280
Alex Escobar 7 23 4 7 1 4 1 3 0 1 304/333/478
Javi Herrera 7 13 1 3 0 3 3 2 0 1 231/375/385
Pat Nichols 4 8 0 0 0 0 1 3 0 0 000/111/000

While there are pitching prospects of note in Columbus, the Clippers bats are predominantly comprised of what is referred to as “Four-A” players, guys who are good enough for Triple-A (maybe better) but have never really caught on in the major leagues for extended periods of time. This is a function of the modern day MLB organization where teams stock their Triple-A roster with bench players who can come up and fill in when injury dictates. Both Pete Orr and Ryan Langerhans had very nice Aprils at the plate. Each of them played in every Clippers game and tied for the team lead with 17 RBI.

Hitter of the Month: Pete Orr 305/368/524 1HR 17RBI 6/7SB
Starter of the Month: Mike O’Connor 2-0 1.96ERA 1.00WHIP
Reliever of the Month: Brian Sanches 0-0 5SV 1.17ERA 0.78WHIP

Harrisburg 16-9; 1st place in Eastern League South

Team R H HR RBI BB SO SB/SBA BA/OBP/SLG
Harrisburg 149 241 23 136 119 154 35/50 276/364/408
EL Avg 116 221 17 108 94 171 21/30 257/333/384
Team IP ERA WHIP K/9 BB/9 HR/9
Harrisburg 229 3.77 1.41 5.7 3.8 0.7
EL Avg 225 3.97 1.40 6.9 3.8 0.7

After struggling through a disappointing 2007, the Harrisburg Senators rode a combination of strong hitting and pitching to a successful April. And for those interested in the current status of the rebuilding effort, the contributions came not only from the organizational type of guy but also from the pieces the Nationals are viewing as the major leaguers of the future.

Player GS W L ERA WHIP IP H R ER HR BB SO
Bobby Brownlie 5 3 0 2.79 1.21 29.00 26 12 9 2 9 11
Shairon Martis 5 1 0 2.73 1.18 26.33 23 9 8 2 8 15
Marco Estrada 5 2 2 3.46 1.65 26.00 28 13 10 1 15 18
Josh Hall 5 1 3 7.94 1.90 22.67 32 23 20 4 11 11
Ismael Ramirez 3 0 2 8.79 1.81 14.33 20 14 14 2 6 3
Tristan Crawford 2 1 0 6.43 1.86 7.00 11 5 5 0 2 5

A former #1 draft pick from the Chicago Cubs, Bobby Brownlie, made a strong first impression in his debut for the Nationals. His performance was strong enough to earn him a May promotion to Columbus. Both Martis and Estrada made the most of their debuts in Harrisburg. Martis was impressive over his five starts with a 1.18 WHIP and 2.73 ERA. Though he had two wins, Estrada struggled with his command, allowing 28 hits and 15 walks in his 26 1/3 innings. Hall, Ramirez, and Crawford had a forgettable April, finishing a combined 2-5.

Player G W L SV HLD GF ERA WHIP IP H R ER HR BB SO
Beltran Perez 9 1 0 1 2 4 3.31 1.22 16.33 13 6 6 0 7 21
Tim Bittner 9 0 1 1 3 2 2.76 1.04 16.33 9 5 5 2 8 15
Jim Ed Warden 11 2 1 2 1 10 1.29 1.07 14.00 9 3 2 0 6 8
Josh Perrault 9 1 0 0 2 2 2.63 1.17 13.67 12 4 4 2 4 10
Mike Hinckley 7 2 0 0 1 2 4.15 1.85 13.00 14 7 6 1 10 5
Steve Schmoll 6 1 0 0 1 2 4.09 1.55 11.00 15 6 5 1 2 7
Arnie Munoz 6 1 0 1 0 3 0.00 1.13 8.00 4 0 0 0 5 5
Levale Speigner 3 0 0 0 2 0 0.00 0.50 6.00 3 0 0 0 0 3
Eude Brito 4 0 1 0 0 0 11.12 3.00 5.67 13 8 7 1 4 5
Ismael Ramirez 2 0 0 0 0 4.50 2.25 4.00 7 4 2 0 2 4
Alex Morales 1 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 3.00 0.67 1 2 0 0 1 2

Much like their counterparts in Columbus, the Senators had a reliable bullpen spearheaded by Beltran Perez, Tim Bittner, Jim Ed Warden, and Josh Perrault. The four combined for a 4-2 record with four saves and eight holds. They had a 2.54 ERA and 1.13 WHIP with 54 strikeouts and 25 walks over 60 1/3 innings.

Player G AB R H HR RBI BB SO SB/SBA BA/OBP/SLG
Roger Bernadina 23 97 22 31 2 11 8 23 12/13 320/377/433
Mike Daniel 22 90 11 27 1 5 8 19 6/9 300/357/356
Justin Maxwell 24 86 23 20 2 16 27 18 8/11 233/412/407
Ian Desmond 24 84 11 18 3 8 9 21 4/7 214/290/345
Jorge Padilla 22 72 18 26 0 9 12 9 1/2 361/459/403
Luis Antonio Jimenez 17 63 11 19 5 17 9 8 0/0 302/389/571
William Bergolla 15 63 12 16 0 10 9 4 1/2 254/342/333
Luke Montz 18 62 9 23 5 24 6 10 0/0 371/420/677
Andrew Lefave 19 62 8 16 1 13 10 6 1/3 258/356/387
Yurendell de Caster 15 56 11 18 4 16 10 15 1/1 321/441/625
Marcos Yepez 11 33 5 9 0 2 4 5 1/1 273/351/303
Ofilio Castro 9 31 2 5 0 1 1 2 0/0 161/188/194
Ed Rogers 7 27 2 4 0 0 0 2 0/0 148/148/148
Javi Herrera 8 23 4 5 0 1 5 6 0/1 217/357/261
Pat Nichols 4 6 0 1 0 0 1 2 0/0 167/286/167
Devin Ivany 1 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0/0 250/250/250

Montz had a breakout April, hitting 371/420/677 with five home runs over 18 starts. Maxwell, Daniel, Bernadina and Padilla combined to hit a collective 301 with an OBP and SLG over 400, including 27/35 stolen bases. Jimenez provided a solid source of power, hitting five homers over 63 AB.

Hitter of the Month: Luke Montz 371/420/677 5HR 24RBI
Starter of the Month: Shairon Martis 1-0 2.73ERA 1.18WHIP
Reliever of the Month: Beltran Perez 1-0 1SV 3.31ERA 1.22WHIP

Potomac 17-7; 1st place in Carolina League North

Team R H HR RBI BB SO SB/SBA BA/OBP/SLG
Potomac 104 182 18 95 76 156 17/26 233/305/367
Car Lg Avg 101 196 12 89 83 183 30/44 239/317/351
Team IP ERA WHIP K/9 BB/9 HR/9
Potomac 211 2.43 1.13 8.0 2.4 0.4
Car Lg Avg 219 3.37 1.27 7.5 3.4 0.5

Pitching, pitching, pitching. That was the main reason the P-Nats had such a strong open to the 2008 season. Whether it was the starters or relievers, Potomac saw pitching performances that helped to offset an offense that was below league average. Starters (less the rehabbing Shawn Hill & Chad Cordero) were a combined 9-5 with a 2.81 ERA and 1.17 WHIP with 112 strikeouts and only 38 walks over 118 innings of work. Relievers were an equally impressive 6-2 with eight saves and a 2.10 ERA and 1.09 WHIP.

Player GS W L ERA WHIP IP H R ER HR BB SO
Jordan Zimmermann 5 3 1 1.65 0.84 27.33 15 6 5 1 8 31
Cory VanAllen 5 3 0 0.66 0.91 27.33 18 6 2 1 7 19
Jhonny Nunez 5 0 3 5.11 1.26 24.67 28 14 14 3 3 31
Adrian Alaniz 4 2 0 2.70 1.30 20.00 19 8 6 0 7 14
Ross Detwiler 5 1 1 4.74 1.79 19.00 21 10 10 2 13 17

While Detwiler was the name most were watching, it was the performances of Zimmermann, VanAllen and Alaniz who put up the strongest numbers. Eight wins. Almost 75IP. 1.57 ERA. 0.99 WHIP. 64 strikeouts and only 22 walks.

Player G W L SV HLD GF ERA WHIP IP H R ER HR BB SO
Carlos Martinez 8 0 0 0 1 0 1.04 1.15 17.33 16 4 2 0 4 8
Craig Stammen 6 0 0 1 3 1 2.25 0.88 16.00 11 6 4 2 3 14
Yunior Novoa 6 1 0 1 2 2 2.08 0.92 13.00 10 3 3 0 2 8
Zechry Zinicola 8 2 0 3 0 6 0.00 0.49 12.33 3 0 0 0 3 15
Jack Spradlin 7 1 0 1 0 4 3.86 1.82 9.33 15 5 4 1 2 6
Adam Carr 7 2 2 1 0 6 4.00 1.44 9.00 10 5 4 0 3 13
Josh Wilkie 7 0 0 1 0 3 3.12 1.27 8.67 10 3 3 0 1 5

Zinicola and Carr provided a solid back of the rotation options for the P-Nats, accounting for four saves as the set up man and closer fo the P-Nats. The two had four wins and a 1.69 ERA & 0.88 WHIP with 28 strikeouts in just 21 1/3 innings of work.

Player G AB R H HR RBI BB SO SB/SBA BA/OBP/SLG
Christopher Marrero 23 85 9 17 2 8 10 16 0/0 200/284/353
Frank Diaz 22 83 10 21 1 7 4 15 3/3 253/287/373
Matt Rogelstad 21 80 8 26 2 10 4 6 1/3 325/360/488
Seth Bynum 21 76 8 17 1 12 4 15 1/2 224/263/342
Edgardo Baez 21 70 16 17 2 11 12 14 1/1 243/354/429
Marvin Lowrance 20 63 9 16 2 6 11 19 0/0 254/365/381
Dee Brown 16 56 10 14 2 6 3 12 2/2 250/300/429
Ofilio Castro 13 55 2 13 0 6 1 6 1/2 236/250/291
Devin Ivany 11 40 7 10 1 6 4 8 0/0 250/318/400
Jemel Spearman 10 39 7 9 0 5 5 7 5/6 231/333/282
Brian Peacock 11 37 5 6 1 8 3 11 1/1 162/225/297
Leonard Davis 10 30 6 7 4 7 4 11 1/2 233/343/633
Michael Martinez 7 25 3 4 0 0 3 2 1/2 160/276/160
Steve Doetsch 10 24 3 2 0 2 3 9 0/1 083/179/083

The performances of the P-Nats at the plate were not as impressive. Only Rogelstad had a batting average above 0.260. Davis led the way on offense with four home runs in only ten games played.

Hitter of the Month: Matt Rogelstad 325/360/488 2HR 10RBI 1/3SB
Starter of the Month: Cory VanAllen 3-0 0.66ERA 0.91WHIP
Reliever of the Month: Zech Zinicola 2-0 3SV 0.00ERA 0.49WHIP

Hagerstown 12-13; 6th place in South Atlantic League North

Team R H HR RBI BB SO SB/SBA BA/OBP/SLG
Hagerstown 125 215 25 108 81 204 19/31 245/314/394
Sal Lg Avg 119 218 17 106 77 205 30/40 249/315/372
Team IP ERA WHIP K/9 BB/9 HR/9
Hagerstown 225.33 4.47 1.44 7.8 3.3 0.6
Sal Lg Avg 226.33 3.80 1.30 8.2 3.0 0.7

Hagerstown slugged their way to a near 0.500 record. The Suns slugged 394 with 25 home runs, second most in the South Atlantic League.

Player GS W L ERA WHIP IP H R ER HR BB SO
Colton Willems 5 2 2 3.04 1.13 26.67 23 11 9 3 7 19
Jeff Mandel 5 1 1 5.68 1.70 25.33 37 18 16 1 6 24
Brad Peacock 5 0 2 7.94 1.46 22.67 26 22 20 6 7 16
Cole Kimball 5 1 1 4.15 1.43 21.67 18 11 10 1 13 26
Terrence Engles 3 2 0 0.64 1.00 14.00 9 2 1 0 5 8
Hassan Pena 2 1 1 3.00 1.33 9.00 10 3 3 0 2 9
Randy Matias 1 0 1 11.25 2.25 4.00 8 5 5 1 1 3

This is the biggest area where the Suns hope to see progress in April. Aside from Colton Willems and Terrence Engles, Hagerstown’s starting pitching was not that remarkable.

Player G W L SV HLD GF ERA WHIP IP H R ER HR BB SO
Atahualpa Severino 7 1 1 1 0 2 5.65 1.47 14.33 16 11 9 0 5 16
Erik Arnesen 8 1 0 0 0 2 4.61 1.61 13.67 16 7 7 0 6 19
Kyle Gunderson 8 0 0 0 2 3 1.38 0.62 13.00 7 3 2 0 1 9
Martin Beno 8 0 1 2 0 5 3.00 1.42 12.00 9 4 4 0 8 12
Clint Everts 8 0 2 2 0 4 4.63 1.37 11.67 7 7 6 0 9 10
Edulin Abreu 8 1 0 0 0 4 5.06 2.16 10.67 16 7 6 2 7 9
Kai Tuomi 5 1 1 0 0 3 5.40 2.00 10.00 18 9 6 1 2 7
Luis Atilano 2 0 0 1 0 1 2.57 1.57 7.00 10 5 2 0 1 1
Terrence Engles 3 1 0 0 0 0 5.40 0.95 5.00 4 3 3 0 0 4
Randy Matias 1 0 0 0 1 0 4.50 2.00 2.00 2 1 1 0 2 1
Jamie Lehman 2 0 0 0 0 0 10.80 3.60 1.67 6 2 2 0 0 2
Trevor Lawhorn 1 0 0 1 0 1 0.00 1.00 1.00 1 0 0 0 0 0

The bullpen helped to pick up some of the slack but aside from Gunderson was mainly average.

Player G AB R H HR RBI BB SO SB/SBA BA/OBP/SLG
Daniel Lyons 25 101 13 25 2 11 7 22 6/12 248/310/356
Jake Smolinski 25 98 10 19 2 9 7 24 1/1 194/252/327
Bill Rhinehart 25 94 16 30 2 18 11 11 0/0 319/393/468
Michael Burgess 25 91 17 23 8 18 9 30 0/0 253/330/571
Stephen Englund 23 84 8 15 1 7 8 23 1/1 179/263/274
Aaron Seuss 22 83 10 24 1 7 6 18 0/2 289/341/386
Francisco Plasencia 19 75 15 20 2 5 7 25 2/3 267/329/493
Steven Souza 17 57 10 14 2 9 5 17 8/9 246/317/386
Tim Pahuta 19 55 7 14 2 5 6 10 0/0 255/328/418
Jhonatan Solano 16 55 6 12 1 5 6 6 1/2 218/302/309
Trevor Lawhorn 14 39 4 9 1 7 2 12 0/0 231/268/333
Travis Reagan 7 21 3 4 0 3 3 1 0/0 190/292/238
Stephen King 4 16 5 4 1 3 2 3 0/1 250/333/500
Sean Rooney 4 10 1 2 0 1 2 2 0/0 200/333/200

In 2007, Rhinehart got off to a hot start in Vermont which he has duplicated thus far in Hagerstown. Burgess started off slowly but has slugged his way to an organization leading eight home runs in April.

Hitter of the Month: Bill Rhinehart 319/393/468 2HR 18RBI
Starter of the Month: Colton Willems 2-2 3.04ERA 1.13WHIP
Reliever of the Month: Kyle Gunderson 0-0 0SV 1.38ERA 0.62WHIP