Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Weekly minor-league report

Here is this week's minor-league report, compiled by Bill Gluvna of the Nationals' PR department...

This Week's Top Headline
HEY NOW, YOU'RE AN ALL-STAR!: The Harrisburg Senators, in conjunction with the Double-A Eastern League, yesterday announced the rosters for the 2010 Eastern League All-Star Game being played on Wednesday, July 14 at Metro Bank Park in Harrisburg, PA ... the Senators had 6 players selected: SS Danny Espinosa, 1B Chris Marrero, RHP Rafael Martin, INF Michael Martinez, LHP Tom Milone and C Jhonatan Solano ... additionally, Harrisburg Manager Randy Knorr and his staff will lead the Western Division squad.

Triple-A Syracuse Chiefs
International League North Division
45-35, 2nd Place, 0.5 Game Behind


THE JOSHUA TREE: RHP Josh Wilkie, who played collegiately at nearby George Washington University, has allowed just one earned run in 12.0 innings (0.75 ERA) in 10 June appearances ... he's fanned 13 and walked only 2 in that span ... Wilkie owns a 1.67 ERA in 28 appearances overall ... the 25-year-old has limited opponents to a team-best .194 (25-for-129) batting average against ... Wilkie signed with the club as a non-drafted free agent, June 14, 2006.

ATA(HUALPA) BOY: In 10 appearances beginning May 31, LHP Atahualpa Severino has tossed 13.1 consecutive scoreless innings ... overall, Severino is 3-0 with a 2.68 ERA in 29 appearances ... Severino, 25, signed as a non-drafted free agent, February 13, 2004.

TAKING IT TO THE MAX: OF Justin Maxwell is batting .300 (30-for-100) with 4 doubles, 3 homers, 10 RBI, 5 stolen bases and 12 walks in 29 games during June ... Maxwell hit .121 with one homer and 3 RBI in 21 games at the big league level this season with Washington before being optioned to Syracuse on April 28.

Double-A Harrisburg Senators
Eastern League Western Division
38-40, 3rd Place, 11.5 Games Behind


JOHNNY ON THE SPOT: LHP John Lannan allowed just 4 hits in 7.0 innings of one-run ball in his first start with the Senators ... Lannan, Washington's Opening Day starter this season, was optioned to Harrisburg on June 21 after going 2-5 with a 5.76 ERA in 14 starts with the Nationals ... Lannan is scheduled to make his 2nd Double-A start, tonight at Portland (Red Sox).

UH-OH, HERE COMES MARRERO: 1B Chris Marrero has hit safely in 34 of his last 42 games, batting at a .341 (56-for-164) clip with 8 doubles, 8 homers and 26 RBI ... the right-handed hitting slugger has reached base safely via hit (56), walk (12) or HBP (1) 69 times (1.61 times per contest) during that stretch…he is 37-for-101 (.366) in 27 games during the month of June ... in 78 games this season, Marrero is hitting .290 with 14 doubles, 11 home runs and 43 RBI ... the 21-year-old was the Nationals' top selection (15th overall) in the 2006 First-Year Player Draft.

CLEAN COLE: RHP Cole Kimball is a combined 5-1 with a 1.61 ERA in 31 appearances with Harrisburg and Potomac of the Single-A Carolina League ... he's offered scoreless relief in 25 of his 31 games ... since being promoted to Harrisburg on May 27, Kimball is 2-1 with a 1.35 ERA (3 ER/20.0 IP) and a .143 BAA (10-for-70) in 12 appearances ... the 24-year-old began the season with Potomac, where he went 3-0 with a 1.82 ERA (5 ER/24.2 IP) in 19 appearances ... Kimball was Washington's 12th-round pick in the 2006 First-Year Player Draft out of Centenary College (NJ).

Single-A Potomac Nationals
Carolina League Northern Division
First Half – 31-39, 3rd Place, 10.0 Games Behind
Second Half – 2-3, 4th Place, 1.5 Games Behind


SHOWING HIS FEATHERS: RHP Brad Peacock's 101 strikeouts lead the Carolina League and rank 5th in minor league baseball ... with 101 strikeouts and just 20 walks in 81.0 innings pitched, Peacock has posted a 5.0/1 strikeout-to-walk ratio and 11.22 strikeouts per 9.0 innings ... Peacock is scheduled to toe the rubber tonight at Winston-Salem (White Sox) ... the 22-year-old was drafted by Washington in the 41st round of the 2006 First-Year Player Draft.

EVEN STEPHEN: 2B Stephen Lombardozzi ranks 2nd in the CL in runs scored (54), triples (7) and walks (40) ... he also ranks among the league leaders in hits (7th, 84), stolen bases (7th, 15) and OBP (7th, .385) ... the 2009 mid-season Single-A South Atlantic League All-Star finished 2nd in the SAL in both runs scored (90) and hits (147) last season ... Lombardozzi was a 19th-round pick in the 2008 Draft out of St. Petersburg JC (FL).

Single-A Hagerstown Suns
South Atlantic League Northern Division
First Half – 36-34, 3rd Place, 6.0 Games Behind
Second Half – 2-4, 5th Place, 3.0 Games Behind


STOP AND SMELL THE ROSES: In his last 9 starts, LHP Dan Rosenbaum owns a 1.94 ERA (11 ER/51.0 IP) ... despite his 2.14 ERA in 15 starts overall, Rosenbaum hasn't earned a win since his season debut on April 8 ... among South Atlantic League pitchers, he is 6th in ERA ... earlier this month, the southpaw was named a South Atlantic League mid-season All-Star ... in addition to the All-Star selection, he was the MiLB.com SAL Pitcher of the Week for the period of May 10-16 ... Rosenbaum was selected in the 22nd round of the 2009 Draft out of Xavier University (OH).

JUSTIFIED: 1B Justin Bloxom continues to be one of the SAL's best offensive players, as he ranks among the top 5 SAL batters in hits (2nd, 95), total bases (2nd, 146), batting average (3rd, .322), doubles (3rd, 25), runs scored (4th, 50) and RBI (5th, 51) ... Bloxom, a 2010 SAL mid-season All-Star selection, has posted an organization-best 26 multi-hit games ... the 22-year-old Kansas State University product was Washington's 11th-choice in the 2009 First-Year Player Draft.

CLEGGO MY EGGO: LHP Mitchell Clegg, who began the season pitching in relief, is 8-1 with a 2.55 ERA in 15 games (8 starts) ... since moving to the starting rotation on May 12, he is 5-1 with a 1.37 ERA (7 ER/46.0 IP) in 8 starts ... the 23-year-old has allowed one earned run or less in 7 of those 8 (87%) starting assignments ... in 4 June outings, he is 2-1 with a minuscule 0.38 ERA (1 ER/24.0 IP) ... Clegg, a 2009 New York-Penn League All-Star, was selected in the 21st round of the 2009 First-Year Player Draft.

Short-Season Single-A Vermont Lake Monsters
New York-Penn League Stedler Division
9-3, 1st Place, 2.0 Games Ahead


SWYN MOVE: RHP Matt Swynenberg has allowed just one earned run in 10.0 innings (0.90 ERA) in his first 2 starts of the 2010 campaign ... in his season debut, he fired 5.0 shutout innings on one-hit ball to earn the win against Lowell (Red Sox) ... Swynenberg was selected by the Nationals in the 28th round of the 2009 First-Year Player Draft.

BLAKE IS LIVELY: SS Blake Kelso, selected in the 10th round of the 2010 First-Year Player Draft, is hitting .357 with 2 doubles and 3 RBI in 8 contests ... the University of Houston product has hit safely in 5 of the last 6 games.

JORDAN BRAND: RHP Taylor Jordan, 21, is 1-0 with a 1.23 ERA in 3 starts this season ... he's fanned 14 and walked 3 (4.6/1 SO/BB ratio) ... the Merritt Island, FL native was drafted by Washington in the 9th round of the '09 Draft.

BOBBY'S WORLD: In 10.1 innings (3 games, 2 starts), LHP Bobby Hansen has 17 strikeouts against 0 walks ... his strikeout total is 2nd-best in the league, and he's averaging 15.1 strikeouts per 9.0 innings ... Hansen was selected by the Nationals out of Lewis-Palmer High School (CO) in the 18th round of the 2008 Draft.

Gulf Coast League Nationals
Gulf Coast League East Division
2-6, 5th Place, 3.5 Games Behind


MANNO MAN: In 3 appearances to start the season, LHP Christopher Manno has allowed just one unearned run on 2 hits while striking out 10 batters in 4.2 innings ... Manno, 21, paces all GCL hurlers with an average of 19.29 strikeouts per 9.0 innings ... the Duke University product was a 26th-round pick in the 2010 First-Year Player Draft.

CRAZY EIGHT: SS Adrian Sanchez has opened the 2010 GCL season with an 8-game hitting streak ... his 14 hits pace the GCL, while his .424 batting average ranks 4th ... Sanchez has collected 3 doubles, one home run, 3 RBI and 8 runs ... born in Maracaibo, Venezuela, the switch-hitting shortstop was signed by the Nationals as a non-drafted free agent prior to the 2007 season.

OLIVER'S TWIST: 1B Tyler Oliver has hit safely in 5 of 7 GCL games, with 3 multi-hit efforts in those contests ... overall, he is 8-for-22 (.364) with 2 doubles, 5 RBI, and 3 runs scored to begin his pro career ... selected in the 35th round in 2010 out of Wabash Valley Community College (IL), Oliver led all Warriors in hitting in 2010 with a .456 average (88-for-193), 19 doubles, 30 home runs and 103 RBI.

6 comments:

Steve M. said...

TAKING IT TO THE MAX: OF Justin Maxwell is batting .300 (30-for-100) with 4 doubles, 3 homers, 10 RBI, 5 stolen bases and 12 walks in 29 games during June ... Maxwell hit .121 with one homer and 3 RBI in 21 games at the big league level this season with Washington before being optioned to Syracuse on April 28.


Are they giving us Maxwell stats because they think they are good and this is a new and improved Maxwell? That is a 16 HR pace in AAA and 60 RBIs which equates to very little in MLB terms unless he will leadoff and play CF for the Nats. Bernadina is ahead of that pace on both!

Section 222 said...

I'm sure we'll be hearing from some (Peric, where are you?) that Maxwell and Wilkie should immediately be brought up. Unfortunately, performance in the minors doesn't translate to performance in the majors. Maxwell has had alot of chances to show he can be a major league hitter. Sorry to say, he just isn't one.

Slopitchtom said...

Cleggo my Eggo. That's my favourite this week.

Nats fan in NJ said...

I keep forgetting how young Marrero is. He's 21 and having a good (going on great if he keeps this pace up) year at AA. Glass half full - the kid is maturing and figuring it out...

Sam said...

176 plate appearances is "a lot of chances?" Please...and if you think his most recent, 47 PA stint is worth judging, well, you're wrong. 47 plate appearances is hardly enough to tell you anything about a player, especially with a .150 BABIP. Maxwell really hasn't had all that many chances, while guys like Nyjer Morgan fail at the big league lvel.

tc.tony said...

Mark - is there a chance Josh Wilkie will be given an opportunity to pitch here this season?

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