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| Photo by USA Today |
Syracuse Chiefs - (8-12, 5th in Int’l League North)
Offensive Player of the Week
The Nats may have questions at second base on their major league team, but there is no denying the organizational depth at the position. 24-year-old Jeff Kobernus is proving that notion with a .411/.457/.521 split through his first 19 games. The 2009 second round pick has 14 hits in his last ten games with at least two in four of his last seven. He leads the Chiefs in both runs (16) and stolen bases (8), ranking second in the International League in both categories.
Pitcher of the Week
Lefty J.C. Romero took the loss on Thursday after allowing the go-ahead run to Rochester, but his season so far can’t be overlooked. The 36-year-old has one earned run through nine relief appearances, posting a 0.93 and 14 strikeouts in 9 2/3 innings pitched. Romero’s progress is a good sign for the Nats any way you look at it as he could be the next man up to help Washington’s bullpen.
Notes
*Erik Davis is also standing out in the Chiefs’ bullpen with a 1.13 ERA and a save through seven relief appearances. He has ten strikeouts in eight innings and a 0.630 WHIP.
*Chris Marrero is finding his power stroke with nine RBI in his last eight games. He is also hitting .317/.380/.667 after 63 at-bats.
*Danny Rosenbaum took the loss on April 21 after giving up two earned in 5 2/3 innings, but remains solid overall with a 1.62 ERA this season.
Harrisburg Senators - (9-11, 5th in Eastern League Western)
Offensive Player of the Week
Center fielder Brian Goodwin has heated up as of late, batting .342 with 13 hits over his last ten games. He leads Harrisburg in runs (15), total bases (39), stolen bases (5), and ranks second in walks (9). The former first round pick also has two home runs in his last four games, showing the power he displayed late last season.
Pitcher of the Week
Karns earned Eastern League Pitcher of the Week honors after striking out 13 batters and allowing just two hits through seven innings vs. Altoona. He now has 24 Ks in 15 2/3 innings pitched despite a 4.60 ERA on the season. Karns has now put in two solid starts since his forgettable season debut and looks back on the right track as the leader of the Senators’ staff.
Notes
*Outfielder Destin Hood is still having trouble this season with just five hits in his last ten games. He is hitting .211/.300/.282 on the year and has 19 strikeouts in 20 games.
*25-year-old right-hander Caleb Clay has put in three consecutive quality starts and now sits 2-0 with a 2.70 ERA and 18 strikeouts in 23 1/3 innings pitched.
Potomac Nationals - (9-11, 3rd in Carolina League Northern)
Offensive Player of the Week
2010 fifth round pick Jason Martinson has become the star of the P-Nats lineup, leading the team in homers (5) and RBI (15) after 20 games. Over his last ten he is batting .324 with 11 hits and eight walks. On the season he holds a .306/.427/.583 slash with a 1.010 OPS.
Pitcher(s) of the Week
This week it’s hard to pick a favorite when Potomac has three young starting pitchers playing so well. Taylor Jordan, Taylor Hill, and Robbie Ray – all 24 or younger – each hold sub-2.00 ERAs with four starts apiece. Hill leads the staff in wins (3), Ray is tops in strikeouts (26), and Jordan has the best ERA (1.48) of the rotation.
Notes
*Slugger Kevin Keyes is having a rough time so far with a .175 average and 26 strikeouts through his first 19 games, but he did do this.
*Starter A.J. Cole is not having as good a month as his counterparts are with a 4.95 ERA through his first four outings. He has allowed four earned runs in two of those games and failed to get past the third inning in his most recent start after surrendering seven hits and two earned runs.
Hagerstown Suns - (11-10, 4th in Atlantic League Southern)
Offensive Player of the Week
The Suns don’t have a lot of good to report on when it comes to their performance at the plate, but 2012 second round pick Tony Renda has continued his strong start to the season. He has seven runs in his last ten games and leads the Suns in the category with 13 overall. He also tops the club in doubles (7), stolen bases (7), and places second in RBI (12).
Pitcher of the Week
Hagerstown has seem a nice start for most of their starting pitchers and perhaps no one has been better than Dixon Anderson. Picked in the ninth round in the 2011 draft, Anderson put in another solid start on April 20. He gave up just one earned run in 4 1/3 innings and now sits with a 2.86 ERA after four starts. He has 22 strikeouts in 22 innings and a .193 opponent’s batting average.
Notes
*23-year-old first baseman Mike McQuillan has been a bright spot in the Suns’ lineup with 12 runs and seven stolen bases through his first 20 games. His .257 average isn’t great, but he is getting on base at a .402 clip.
*Right-hander Blake Schwartz, taken in the 17th round last season, has given up only two earned runs through his first 20 1/3 innings this season. He made his first four appearances with Hagerstown before heading to Potomac where he put in a six-inning start with three hits and no runs allowed.
18 comments:
Looks like we're developing some good trade chips at second base.
How is Harper brother doing?
Look's like Bryan hasn't had much work, 3 appearances this year. 5.2 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 7 K.
He may not have had an appearance since the last minor league update.
JMart - 1st ten games 7 extra base hits 6BB/17K
JMart - 2nd ten games 2 extra base hits 8BB/9K.
he's making adjustments and if the power comes back they'll have something
Great job Chase! Thanks for putting Hagerstown on the bottom of the order!
A post for today... maybe it will show up in the blog roll, maybe be not.
Opening Day Starts, plus Gio
http://ladyandthenats.blogspot.com/2013/04/five-golden-throws-opening-day-starters.html
Also working on a detailed look at Storen's recent appearances. The two lefties who came up in his last appearance both smacked singles. Any thoughts?
Alexva,
JMart is 24 and still in A ball. He is a nice player but it's tough to consider him a prospect.
It's encouraging to see Goodwin progressing; I think hell be a nice player for the Nats in a couple of years.
Karns is intriguing; if he continues to dominate at AA he may not be that far away but no he's not taking Haren's spot this year and neither is Rosenbaum.
Karns is intriguing; if he continues to dominate at AA he may not be that far away but no he's not taking Haren's spot this year and neither is Rosenbaum.
Rosenbaum is already there. He has now pretty much proven everything he needs to prove to get a shot as a left-handed starter (a very rare breed). Its just a matter of replacing Haren with Rosenbaum if Haren continues to decline and is unable to go beyond 5 innings. Of course ... there is Stammen who has markedly improved with the new cutter. There you have two young starters who could be superior to Haren.
Karns still has to prove he can make it through AA. Once he does that the chance of his being relegated to the bullpen drop significantly. He is doing well and if he continues should get a look see in September perhaps.
*Erik Davis is also standing out in the Chiefs’ bullpen with a 1.13 ERA and a save through seven relief appearances. He has ten strikeouts in eight innings and a 0.630 WHIP.
Its a shame he wasn't left-handed. But there's your replacement for any back-of-the-bullpen pitcher who goes down.
Left hander Fernando Abad has looked better than 36 year old JC Romero.
Nice to see Jeff Kobernus get top grade as he seems to be playing the best of any position player prospect in the system.
JD, granted. I just found the adjustment (albeit a small sample) to be interesting. this is a player with serious power and a serious K problem. continued development in higher levels has to come and quickly.
JMart is 24 and still in A ball. He is a nice player but it's tough to consider him a prospect.
Found it very odd that Luke Erickson does ... given he is such a stickler about this ... but ...
He should be in AA starting at shortstop. The only reason he isn't must be due to his poor fielding ... another Michael Morse at shortstop in the offing?
he's still in A ball because of his plate discipline issues. hence my observation above
Rosenbaum is already there. He has now pretty much proven everything he needs to prove to get a shot as a left-handed starter (a very rare breed). Its just a matter of replacing Haren with Rosenbaum if Haren continues to decline and is unable to go beyond 5 innings.
I know I shouldn't poke the bear, but peric, what exactly has changed for Rosenbaum since he was unable to crack the Rockies rotation in Spring Training other than the quality of hitters that he has faced? Is it your view that anyone who performs well in AA or AAA is a lock to play well in the majors? If not, how do you assess whether a prospect is ready to move up?
My view is that Haren is going to get a lot of rope before Rizzo gives up on his biggest free agent signing of the winter. But if he does run out of rope, Chris Young will join the rotation, not Rosenbaum, not Karns, not Yunesky Maya (thank goodness).
Oh Section 222! The key to GM Peric's thinking is consistent:
...replace tried and true Major Leaguers with unproven, untested unknowns. It is really simple.
E.g., Moore, Rendon and Kobernus. Before that there was Cory Brown. Now it's Rosenbaum. Peric sings one song. But he sings it ALL THE TIME.
I'm bracing myself. The bear will feel compelled to explain why I am an idiot.
TCostant.. Byran Harper was on the 7 Day DL (???) for Hagerstown. He seemed to be doing pretty good up until then.
Sec222,
I must admit that I never saw Rosenbaum pitch (I saw most of our prospects in spring training but he was on the Rockies at the time) but from everything I read his upside is John Lannan, a crafty lefty with fringy stuff that gets by with good location and command but doesn't really have a swing and miss stuff.
I also think that if Haren settles in with performances similar to his last start on a consistent basis with a little more upside that this would be fine and would be somewhat similar to what we got from EJax last year.
I have to admit that I was impressed with Nate Karns in Florida, he has some serious good stuff which could translate to a mid rotation starter in the majors if he can establish consistency (I did see him get absolutely crushed in one spring training game). He reminds a bit of Brad Peacock.
Last year Daniel Rosenbaum was a tale of two pitchers, stats-wise. The first half he was lights out, the second half he was lit up. peric said the 2nd half was due to injury but I never found a report that said he was injured until I heard some freak thing happened in either the last, or next to the last game of the season. I'm not saying that he wasn't injured for the 2nd half, but I still haven't found anything other then from peric that said he was. peric, what was his injury?
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