Nationals Farm Authority

Good article at Perfectgame.org about Bryce Harper. http://www.perfectgame.org/stories/09_08_25_the_scoop_on_bryce_harper/index.aspx?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1 I hope he can manage all the hype he’s going to face this year especially if we end up drafting him next June. Brian, I know this would be purely speculation but how long would you expect it to take a 17 year old (his age entering the minors) to work his way through the system before making it to the big leagues? Would it be fair to compare the expectations of his development to that of a guy like Chris Marrero or is he so highly touted that they would try to move him through the system a lot quicker? I know it depends on a lot of factors but I’m curious about the initial expectation aspect.

Hi, it is too bad but I don’t think that Harper will end up with the Nats. I think KC will unfortunitely for us finish last. Nast are not doing too well but KC is playing evenn worse…

The Harrisburg rebound is even more impressive when you consider they have had a wholesale turnover of their pitching staff.

Brian, I would also like so second the idea of a top 20 list. I would love to see what you come up with. Thanks!

On the Harrisburg turnover of their pitching staff, it certainly wasn’t because they all sucked, most have actually moved UP from the beginning of the year. In April, rotation started as O’Connor (AAA, was 2.45 ERA in 15 IP for H-burg), Detwiler (AAA & Majors, was 0-3 2.96 in 27 IP), VanAllen was demoted to bullpen due to 2-5, 5.33 in 74 IP as SP, J Jones – also in bullpen now, was 3-10 4.69 in 81 IP as SP, and Atilano (now AAA) was 7-8 4.16 in 115 IP as SP. Alaniz made the rotation in late April when O’Connor was lpromoted, he’s now in the ‘pen.

Bullpen was Carr (demoted), Avery – still there, Novoa (AAA), Segovia (AAA), Spradlin (AAA), Wilkie (AAA), and Zinicola (AAA).

So 8 of 12 were promoted from a team with 2 wins in April! They didn’t do “bad” but rest of team helped that out, plus being 1-7 in 1 run games in April.

Conclusions: Potomac’s 1st place Carolina League pitching staff plus Drew Storen promoted. Matt Chico’s improvement, Arneson, Meyers, Mandel. A good mix of left and right handed hitters. Better than most major league teams? Losing the two international players to suspension appears to have helped not hindered allowing the promotion of better or at least better motivated players? Marrero’s recent unreal hitting. Consistent hitting by Guzman, Nanita, Whitney and Davis. Whitney walks a decent amount of times … as does Lowrance in spite of his low batting average. So, his OPS is .769.

Well…

Early on the team wasn’t hitting nor was it pitching. The team ERA was nearly 5.00 in early June and they were near last in the league in runs scored and hitting.

They went on a run where finally everyone was hitting and the pitching was good.

Now the hitting is back to being terrible. No one is really performing. And although several here want to say Chris is on a “tear”, 25 ABs isn’t enough time to figure out whether someone is ready for this level or not.

Over the past ten games: Guzman 2 x 23 Lowrance 0 x 9 (on dl) Rhinehart 5 x 27 Rooney 2 x 22 (and it’s much worse going further back)

Spearman, Montz, and Marrero are the only players hitting near or over 300.

The reason they are winning lately is pitching. Pitching. Pitching. And more pitching.

By the way, someone was talking about walking…

The Sens are last in the league in drawing walks. They are third in the league in striking out. They are second to last in runs scored.

Pitching. Pitching. Pitching.

The stats chart for Harrisburg does not show that Spearman and Montz are hitting near or over 300. Montz has not been near 300 for a very long time and has been below 200 most of the season. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Robin, those stats are for the last ten games. I grouped that with the guys that have been struggling, sorry I wasn’t more clear.

Nanita and Plasencia are probably more organizational type players at this point in their careers.

Todd Boss: It looks like Arnesen was promoted from POT on May 11th, while Meyers got the call on July 6th. HAR has “churned” 25 pitchers in 2009, including their current staff of 12; That’s a lot of turnover.

Todd: They also rolled the remainder of their initial Starting five (O’Conner, Van Allen, Detwiler, Jones, Alaniz) to the bullpen after O’Conner & Detwiler were promoted.

I’ll tell you who’s hurting SYR lately- Brad Eldred hitting a robust .132 in August in the clean-up spot. He and D. Ward are swingng like women. No power, no RBI’s. Morse and Padilla are really missed in the line-up. I mean we got no power at the AAA level.