Nationals Farm Authority

Last Year’s stats for the quintet:

Arnesen 10-7 124 ip, 10 HR, 29 BB, 111 K, 4.14 1.31 @Hagerstown & Potomac, 2006 17th round, 25 yrs old

Atwood 2-1 52 ip, 2 HR, 9 BB, 60 K, 2.41 0.93 @Hagerstown, 2008 12th round, 22 yrs old – ALSO= 2k8 @SC 5-4 82 ip, 13 HR, 34 BB, 67 K, 5.25 1.41

Mandel 10-9 152 ip, 12 HR, 42 BB, 103 K, 4.25 1.43 @Hagerstown, 2007 19th round, 24 yrs old

Milone 1-6 59 ip, 5 HR, 9 BB, 49 K, 3.51 1.22 @Vrmt, H-Town, 2008 10th round, 22 yrs old -ALSO= 2k8 @USC 6-6 97 ip, 4 HR, 20BB, 98 K, 3.51 1.17

Meyers 9-7 107 ip, 8 HR, 34 BB, 94 K, 4.79 1.52 @Hagerstown, 2007 5th rounder, 23 yrs old

DJ – Ask again in another two weeks; by then folks will have seen them all at least once, if not twice.

In the meantime, here’s what yours truly saw in Lynchburg tonight…

LYNCHBURG, Va. — Pedro Alvarez did not disappoint in his 2009 debut, going 3-for-4 with 4 RBIs including a HR and a double, leading the Hillcats to a 6-5 victory over the 2008 Carolina League champions, the Potomac Nationals.

Potomac opened the game with three runs on five consecutive hits, with Michael Burgess doubling in two and Chris Marrero plating one with an infield single to deep SS.

After the Marrero single, Hillcat starter Matt McSwain recovered to retire the next three batters in the first and allowed only two more baserunners over the next three innings.

In the fourth, the Hillcats began to solve Potomac starter Erik Arnesen, who had faced just 11 batters over the first three innings.

Alvarez singled to lead off the inning and was sent home after Nationals LF Jesus Valdez turned a warning-track flyball into a double for Lynchburg RF Miles Durham, who took third on the throw to the plate an eventually scored on a passed ball, making the score 3-2 in favor of Potomac.

The Lynchburg bullpen delivered three solid innings of relief after McSwain, allowing only SS Danny Espinosa to reach base via a HBP in the 5th and a two-out double in the 7th.

Meanwhile, Lynchburg put two spots on the board in the 6th and 7th, courtesy of Alvarez via the longball to left-center off reliever Andrew Kown and a double over the centerfielder Francisco Plasencia off reliever Martin Beno, respectively.

Potomac rallied in the 8th to make the game close. Stephen King led-off with a perfectly placed bunt that didn’t roll foul, followed by doubles by Marrero, Valdez and Plasencia.

But the black hole that was the 8-9 slots in the lineup fell short again (combined 0-8 with 4K) and the Nationals stranded two to fall short 6-5 after 8 innings.

After a quiet 8th by the Hillcats, the Nationals rallied one last time with a one-out walk by King and a two-out single by Valdez, but unlike the previous inning, Plasencia could not deliver a base hit, as Hillcat closer R.J. Rodriguez held on to earn the save.

#

Despite the Alvarez pyrotechnics, it wasn’t a bad night all in all. Valdez badly misplayed a ball, but also threw out a runner with a beautiful throw in the third. Espinosa and King both stole bases and it appears that Trent Jewett is much like Randy Knorr in terms of playing small-ball with players that have decent speed.

Chris Marrero did look noticeably thinner and Burgess made solid contact in his first three ABs. Arnesen was consistently getting first-pitch strikes and getting ahead in general.

Defensively, I’m a little suspicious of Alvarez, despite the bullet throw. The misplay looked like he was a convert to the position, reminding me of Marrero in ‘07. Plasencia continues to have Martin Lowrance syndrome in reverse (slow in the OF, fast on the basepaths).