Syracuse and Buffalo were once again postponed by rain. The two teams will make up the last two games in back-to-back doubleheaders in August.
Today: Columbus RHP Ken Ray (1-2, 8.05) at Syracuse LHP Scott Olsen (rehab start)
Harrisburg rallied from a three run deficit in the bottom of the ninth, scoring five runs and walking of with an 11-9 win on an Edgardo Baez (2/6) three-run homer (box/gamer). The Senators rallied with two outs as RBI singles by PH Marvin Lowrance (1/1) and LF Mike Daniel (1/2) cut the B-Mets lead to 9-8 setting the stage for Baez’ heroics. 3B Matt Whitney was 4/5 with a double & run scored; RF Joel Guzman was 3/4 with a pair of doubles & three runs scored; and CA Luke Montz was 1/4 with a three-run homer. LHP Cory VanAllen started for Harrisburg and was roughed up for six runs on seven hits in just two innings of work. RHP Matt Avery threw three shutout innings of relief, scattering four hits and two walks while striking out two. RHP Josh Wilkie picked up the win with two shutout innings of relief, allowing two hits and a walk while striking out one.
Today: Harrisburg RHP Luis Atilano (4-3, 5.40) at Reading RHP Kyle Drabek (2-0, 3.00) at 7:05PM
Thursday’s game between Potomac and Salem was postponed due to field conditions. The game will be made up as part of a doubleheader on Saturday starting at 5PM (Reminder: That is the night of the P-Nats Booster Club Silent Auction; probable pitchers are RHPs Terrence Engles & Brade Meyers). Notes: OF Michael Burgess was named to the Carolina League All-Star team; RHP Colton Willems is not injured, the Nationals are working on his mechanics; OF Jesus Valdez is not recovering qujickly from his quad injury, no timetable for his return.
Today: Salem RHP Bryan Price (0-2, 9.98) at Potomac LHP Tom Milone (3-2, 3.62) at 7:05PM
The Suns fell to the BlueClaws 8-3 on Thursday (box/gamer). RHP Marcos Frias took the loss, giving up four runs (two earned) on five hits and two walks over four innings while striking out five. The Nationals second #1 draft pick, RHP Drew Storen, made his professional debut in relief last night. After giving up a home run to his first batter and a single to the second, Storen settled down and retired the next three hitters (on a strikeout, groundout & flyout). LHP Austin Garrett pitched two scoreless innings of relief, giving up three hits and two walks while striking out two. 2B Stephen Lombardozzi was 2/4 with a stolen base and CA Derek Norris (0/2) and 1B Tyler Moore (0/3) each had one RBI for the Suns.
Today: Hagerstown LHPs Jack McGeary (0-5, 6.24) and Pat McCoy (2-1, 1.85) at Delmarva (pitchers TBA) 5:35PM
The Vermont Lake Monsters kick off their 2009 season this evening against Lowell.
Today: Vermont LHP Graham Hicks (NR) at Lowell RHP Yeiper Castillo (NR) at 7:05PM
The GCL Nationals get started next week, I hope to have the official roster on Monday.
The DSL Nationals defeated the DSL Twins 5-4 (box). 20-year old RF Aridio Rodriguez was 2/4 with a double, triple, run & two RBI; 19-year old LF Alejandro Hodge was 1/3 with his eleventh stolen base; and 17-year old 2B Estarlin Martinez was 1/3 with a run & RBI. 20-year old LHP Francisco Vizcaino made the start, allowing two runs (one earned) on five hits and a walk over four innings with one strikeout. 20-year old RHP Rafael Guerrero picked up the win, giving up two unearned runs on three hits and a walk over three innings of relief, while striking out three.
Today: DSL Nationals 17-year old RHP Pedro Encarnacion (1-1, 2.61) at DSL Yankees2 at 10:30AM
#1 by joNAThan - June 19th, 2009 at 08:37
Storen a HR to his first batter!!! What a bum, he has no future. We should have drafted Aaron Crow, Fire Rizzo, Fire Manny. Oh, I forgot, this is Nats Farm Authority, not Nationals Journal!!!! Welcome to the minor leagues Drew, hope to see you in Washington soon.
#2 by cjrugger - June 19th, 2009 at 08:44
welcome to pro ball Drew Storen, glad to see he settled down tho
Estarlin Martinez seems to make a daily appearance in the highlights
#3 by Bill - June 19th, 2009 at 09:31
With that type of start Storen has proved he is ready to be promoted to the big clubs bullpen now.
#4 by Gavin B - June 19th, 2009 at 09:42
I have to admit, I stopped reading the comments there months ago because of this very thing. Is it still like this?
#5 by Section 204 Row H Seat 7 - June 19th, 2009 at 09:50
You are a card johNathan! Very funney. Storen will be all right. Stammen, he who shut out the vaunted Yankees last night, blew up, in the last game I saw at NATS Park, in the first inning (5 runs-feature a gazillion walks two HBPs and three wild pitches, etc.) and than went on pitch scoreless innings.
Olsen start will be interesting. A lot of the NATS Journal do not want him back. I am, mostly with them, but am curious at Management stand that they seem to want to give him anothe shot. I hope Willems gets fixed. He was doing rather well. Van Allen seems gone and McGeary is close behind.
#6 by MattK - June 19th, 2009 at 10:00
Calling the Rhinehart Mafia: According to the box Rhinehart was 2-5 w/an RBI last night. He’s hitting .395 in his last 10 games and is up to .273 for the season. Looks like he may be figuring out AA pitching…
#7 by Berndaddy - June 19th, 2009 at 10:45
Wild Bill Rhinehart…the mafia love continues, eh. His AFL buddy Davis has heated up lately, as well. Good job. Hey, what’s up with the Carolina league giving an All-Star bid to Burgess and leaving out Marrero. Left me scratching my head in amazement. Oh well, Chris you’re the man right along with Burgess.
#8 by Andrew S. - June 19th, 2009 at 11:13
I didn’t know hitting .230 was worthy of an all-star bid.
#9 by Sue Dinem - June 19th, 2009 at 11:33
Apparently it is when the player is 4-6 years younger than the more-deserving OFs (i.e. Keel, Durham).
#10 by Marcus - June 19th, 2009 at 11:55
I thinks its real interesting that Detwillers poor performance in the minors were because we tried to change his delivery.
Did he loose a whole year of development because of this?
#11 by Brian Oliver - June 19th, 2009 at 11:58
Marcus – Pretty much, yes. It goes back to the uncomfortable vibe I have about the Nats PD abilities. I understand why they attempted to make the change with Detwiler (injury concerns) but it seems they either were incorrect or did not make the correct modification to his delivery. A similar thing happened with Balester.
#12 by Bill - June 19th, 2009 at 12:19
Burgess was picked for the all-star team as a replacement for Christian Marrero who was promoted to AA yesterday.
#13 by joNAThan - June 19th, 2009 at 12:19
Gavin
Nats Journal may be worse than 3-4 months ago…especially with the anti-Manny crowd now more bold than ever thanks to the media reports of his demise. First it was Milledge, now Manny, there is always a public enemy #1 and sadly, little substantive discussion. I’m just glad Rizzo is the GM and not some of the fans.
Brian, whats the status on guys like Mock and Bergmann, how many more option years do they have left?
#14 by Floresfan - June 19th, 2009 at 13:02
Brian, what are the chances of Marrero and Burgess getting a promotion to Harrisburg this year?
#15 by Dick - June 19th, 2009 at 13:47
Any speculation on who the Nats get for O’Connor? I wonder if it wouldn’t be a 2008 draft choice who will be named when he is eligible to be traded. Someone like Blake Tekotte or Cole Figueroa. Or even Sawyer Carroll, a former unsigned Nats draft pick.
#16 by Marcus - June 19th, 2009 at 14:14
Brian in the article it seemed like St. Clair was a big part of him switching his mechanics. Pitchers seem to be doing a much better job under McCatty now. Do you think this was a St. Clair/Bowden problem. That may be fixed now that their both gone?
#17 by Marcus - June 19th, 2009 at 14:17
btw as far a Marrero and Burgess go, I think they both stay at High Class A this year. Marrero isn’t exactly dominating the league he’s doing well, but when you look at some of the other top 1st basemen he could step up his BA a bit and still needs work on his D. He’ll be in Double-A next year. I think Burgess starts next year off in High Class-A again. Hopefully by then he’s more consistent at the plate.
#18 by cjrugger - June 19th, 2009 at 14:27
How are you predicting next year already? We’re not even half way done this year
Id bet Marrero does get promoted later this year. Unless Burgess lights it up I think he spends the whole year in A
Dick: We’re gonna get basically nothing for O’connor
#19 by VladiHondo - June 19th, 2009 at 14:56
As far as pitching “fixes” that didn’t work, the exception with Balester was they were trying to change not out of injury concerns, it was pitcher philosophy change. they thought he’d be better as a “downward plane” pitcher instead of a “drop-and-drive” (think Tom Seaver) pitcher.
Balester’s “change” is when my doubts flared.
#20 by Sue Dinem - June 19th, 2009 at 15:23
cj/marcus – About a month ago, folks were calling for Marrero to get pushed up and I said: Wait for the entire league to see Chris and then see if he’s still dominating.
As implied, folks began to find a way for get Marrero out – particularly RHPs. Now, it appears that Chris may be making the adjustment back. But I side with keeping him put until he shows that kind of dominance over a longer period of time, not to mention his defense is still very, very poor.
Burgess can ‘t seem to put together a streak of consistency at the plate. Lately, it seems like LHPs can have their way with him by getting a fastball in for strike one, then go soft and away for strikes two and three. Unlike Marrero, Burgess is an above-average OF with an above-average arm.
Neither of these two prospects is old enough to buy a beer, so I’m not sure what the rush is, beyond the DC-area sense of entitlement and impatience with the parent club.
#21 by dd - June 19th, 2009 at 15:43
At this point, I can’t think of any one hitter who deserves a promotion to higher levels based on their performance, except for maybe Norris. Any thoughts?
#22 by Berndaddy - June 19th, 2009 at 15:45
LOL – beyond the DC-area sense of entitlement and impatience with the parent club
DC natives are rare Sue. Most of us come from outside the DC area. (Army Brat from all over myself) That’s part of the problem and the seeming schizophrenia with this place…people want things now because they’re not sure if they’ll be sent somewhere else for their job…
#23 by Marcus - June 19th, 2009 at 15:58
In total agreement with Sue. I think a lot of ppl got their player of development point of view messed up by Bowden. He consistently hyped players before they showed results and promoted people way too fast.
Rizzo seems to be doing things the more conventional way. Letting his prospects get confidence before challenging them at a higher level.
cjrugger: I just don’t see Burgess moving up until he’s hitting atleast .270. Can’t see that happening this year and he was just drafted 2 years ago and would be perfectly age appropriate for the Carolina League next year. Thats why I don’t see him getting moved up.
#24 by Ric - June 19th, 2009 at 16:04
DD – I’d add Desmond and Rooney, maybe Lowrance as well. But that’s about it, I agree.
#25 by Sue Dinem - June 19th, 2009 at 16:12
dd – Agreed. Norris and Rooney should be rotating between the C and DH slots every night until a spot opens up in Harrisburg, with one of the three aging A-ball catchers (Reagan, Peacock, Ivany) given his release.
Berndaddy – Glad you saw that careful choice of “area” vs. “native,” which I find to be a loaded word, like Southerner or Yankee.
#26 by Berndaddy - June 19th, 2009 at 16:42
Sue for the most part I’ve lived in the south but my mother’s from Honduras and my father’s a New Yorker. I agree totally about the attitudes here in DC and like Marcus eludes Bowden marked expectation in a bad way for these kids.
BTW Desmond seems to be working things out this year. It would be nice to see one of the hitting prospects showing a complete game. We seem to have a lot of prospects with one major flaw or another. Thankfully the Bowden way has been shown the highway…
#27 by Suns Fan - June 19th, 2009 at 19:30
Norris is great. I think he has a real future. Rooney is too. The problem with having them platoon is both of their issues are behind the plate (Norris needs to work on receiving and blocking balls), Rooney needs to work on his arm and pop time. So if you have them platooned, you are taking away valuable time from each of them behind the plate.
If you keep Norris in Hagerstown and Rooney in Potomac, and let a guy like Peacock or Reagan catch every 4th night or something, then they’ll improve at their weaknesses . Plus, I’m not really sure that there is that much of a difference between the SAL second half schedule (where players are facing a variety of teams) and the Carolina League second half schedule.
I also think Norris could learn a lot from a guy like Reagan. Reagan is a good defensive catcher with solid fundamentals. He could teach a guy like Norris a lot, which (I assume) is why he’s in Hagerstown.
#28 by Suns Fan - June 19th, 2009 at 19:32
By variety of teams, I meant teams for the second time. The Suns have already faced Lakewood, Lake County, and Delmarva multiple times. In the second half, they’ll go through Greensboro, Kannapolis, and West Virginia for the second time.
#29 by Andrew F. - June 19th, 2009 at 22:36
McGeary is really, really struggling.
#30 by souldrummer - June 19th, 2009 at 23:23
Also, if they promote Marrero, what happens to Rhinehart? Isn’t this time to see whether he can figure out AA consistently instead of this being a flash in the pan?
It’s nice to see us have some depth in prospects at a position. The analysis of the catcher situation in this forum is really helpful for me.
McGeary’s situation is really a concern. Willems and McGeary are real downers for Stan’s “Plan”.
I do spend a lot of time following Nats Journal. Nats Journal is more of a kind of a forum for emotional catharsis more than substantive viewpoints but it’s fun to find somewhere where people are passionate about the team. Our fans are really passive in Nats Park.
#31 by Jeff E. - June 19th, 2009 at 23:26
With all the chatter about the prospects with their incomplete game(s): I repeat: that trade shipping Sizemore, Phillips and Lee to CLE messed up the org. for 10 years….think about the past , the present and next two years…
#32 by Dick - June 19th, 2009 at 23:53
Willems and McGeary are still too young to write off. They are part of Bowden’s plan, not Stan’s. Stan didn’t pick them, JimBow did. They also show why you shouldn’t touch HS pitchers with a 10-foot pole in the early rounds. McGeary, of course, was a sixth rounder; he only risks some of the Lerner’s money.
Rizzo, obviously, has a completely different draft philosophy. He only takes college arms early in the draft. Lots of people on this site took exception with his draft philosophy this year. Time will tell if he is right or not. You do have to wonder if Rizzo had been in charge if he would have taken Joba Chamberlain instead of Willems. Again, you can’t be sure that in the long run Willems won’t have a better career than Joba, though it doesn’t look like it now.
#33 by Danny - June 20th, 2009 at 09:35
Graham pitched last nite, Friday 19th in Lowell. He had a solid start but not spectacular. He had 4so, 2walks, 4hits, 1pick off, with 1 hr. I talked with him last nite and he know why he gave upo the hr so he can fix it. Graham undedrstands he is only 19 and this is a learning process and it is important to learn with each start and improve. He left with a 6-3 lead but we lost 10-6.
#34 by Mark L - June 20th, 2009 at 10:13
Thanks, Dad, for keeping us updated on Graham’s progress. It brings added insight that we would’nt otherwise have.
#35 by rukidding - June 20th, 2009 at 11:34
Seriously, could Burgess be more uninspired during a game. Every time he strikes out he just puts his head down and walks slowly back to the dugout. Show some energy on the field. Please. Oh wait they seem to reward this attitude with an all star appearance?
#36 by Rich - June 20th, 2009 at 11:55
Who do you think will move back down to Syracuse when Olsen comes back? Looking at Olsen’s performance, should he be in the Nat’s rotation?
#37 by Eric R. - June 20th, 2009 at 12:36
There is no way Olsen deserves to be back in the rotation at this point.
#38 by dd - June 20th, 2009 at 13:32
Jeff E The Sizemore trade happened in 2002, 7 years ago!! While I agree it set the franchise back a few years, to say it will hurt the team fot 3 more years is simplification at best. Phillips is now in Cinci, after having been let loose by Cleveland. Lee (a 4th round pick) should have been a keeper and Sizemore, well, he is really good. The trade took place in 2002. Since then, there have been drafts, trades, ownership changes,… The Sizemore trade did set the team back, it was a horrible deal, but in no way does this organization get off so easily!!
#39 by Eric R. - June 20th, 2009 at 15:03
Cleveland has the second worst record in MLB, so that trade is not helping them at the moment.
#40 by Dick - June 20th, 2009 at 15:24
I suspect Olsen has bigger issues than simple tendonitis. It wouldn’t be shocking to find out it is labrum or rotator cuff trouble.
#41 by Fasol - June 20th, 2009 at 19:16
Watch out for this Estarlin Martinez kid.
#42 by dd - June 20th, 2009 at 20:00
Fasol Great, another 17 yr old longshot from the Dominican! So far, his early stats are not that impressive. A .262 BA and 8 errors in 17 games is nothing to get mildly impressed with. Why do you think he is a prospect to watch/
#43 by RD exposfan - June 20th, 2009 at 23:32
The worst thing that happened to this organization was Jeff Loria and MLB ownership years. Allowing Loria to strip the organization bare and take them to Florida was a crime. Then allowing MLB to strip the farm team for short term players gutted this team and killed the farm system. The Expo organization had a great scouting organization both domestically and internationally that brought great players such as Dawson & Carter, Walker & Guerrero, “the Big Unit” and they would trade them away or leave by free agency and have players on the farm ready to replace them.