Davis, Spradlin & Wilkie - All-Stars

[NFA Brian]

Just out from the Nationals/Senators

Three Sens set to play in 2009 E.L. All-Star game
Davis, Spradlin and Wilkie to represent Senators in game

The Harrisburg Senators, in conjunction with the Eastern League and the All-Star game host Trenton Thunder, announce that INF/OF Leonard Davis, LHP Jack Spradlin, and RHP Josh Wilkie are 2009 Southern Division Eastern League All-Stars. The game is at 7:05pm on Wednesday, July 15 at Mercer County Waterfront Park in Trenton, NJ.

Davis is in his first full season with the Senators, after having spent ten days with Harrisburg in 2008. Through June 30, he is batting .285 with 11 HR and 38 RBIs.  He leads the team in RBIs. He batted .309 in June with 5 HR and 20 RBI’s helping the Sens to their first 20-win month in over five years.

Davis was selected in the 8th round of the 2004 draft by the Expos. He was the 2008 Nationals Minor League Player of the Year, playing at three different levels in the Nats organization. This is the second time he has been a mid-season all-star as he was a mid-season all-star for Hagerstown in 2007.

Spradlin is the reigning Eastern League pitcher of the week and has put together a fabulous season out of the bullpen for the Sens. He is 4-1 with 3 saves and a 2.22 ERA. He has not given up a run in his last 13.1 innings of work.  Spradlin has allowed runs in just six of his 26 outings. Over his last 15 outings, 25.1 innings, he has a 0.64 ERA. He has pitched three innings or more in four different games this year.  He has inherited 18 runners this season but none have scored.

The Washington Nationals selected Spradlin in the eighth round of the 2007 draft.  He pitched for the University of Southern California before joining the Nationals.  He went 6-3 with 97 strikeouts and a 4.47 ERA during his junior year with USC.

Wilkie has been outstanding out of the pen for the Sens this year. He is 5-1 with a save and a 2.68 ERA. In 40.1 innings, he has struck out 33 and walked just 12.  He is currently on a 9.2 inning scoreless streak, dating back to June 14.

Wilkie was originally signed as a non-drafted free agent by the Nationals on June 14, 2006. He played his collegiate baseball at George Washington University. He was signed by the Nats after then Nats outfielder Jose Guillen arranged a tryout. In 2007 he had the best change-up in the South Atlantic League according to Baseball America’s “Best Tools” survey.

[hammondsnats]

Thanks NFA Brian.  And Rizzo doesn't like Leonard Davis, because?!?!?!?!?!

[NFA Brian]

No real positional home.

And given the roster composition entering 2009, he was way way down the depth chart

And when they removed him from the 40-man, no other MLB team was anxious to grab him

[hammondsnats]

No real positional home.

And given the roster composition entering 2009, he was way way down the depth chart

And when they removed him from the 40-man, no other MLB team was anxious to grab him

but don't you think he's done enough to earn a shot?  versatile, good pop, from listening to games it sounds like he plays hard.

[blue911]

but don't you think he's done enough to earn a shot?  versatile, good pop, from listening to games it sounds like he plays hard.

Doesn't he have a K/bb Ratio of 4:1?

[hammondsnats]

Doesn't he have a K/bb Ratio of 4:1?

yeah it's his biggest problem, but it's not like kearns doesn't strike out often

[blue911]

yeah it's his biggest problem, but it's not like kearns doesn't strike out often

So we are now using Kearns as the model for what a Nationals player should aspire to? Please, no.

[hammondsnats]

So we are now using Kearns as the model for what a Nationals player should aspire to? Please, no.

c'mon i'm just kidding.  i'm just wondering why davis hasn't gotten bumped up, to see how he'd fare in AAA.  I agree he needs to cut down on the k's though.

[blue911]

c'mon i'm just kidding.  i'm just wondering why davis hasn't gotten bumped up, to see how he'd fare in AAA.  I agree he needs to cut down on the k's though.

I think the k ratio is what's keeping him at AA. 65 strikeouts in 70 games is unacceptable.

[NFA Brian]

c'mon i'm just kidding.  i'm just wondering why davis hasn't gotten bumped up, to see how he'd fare in AAA.  I agree he needs to cut down on the k's though.

No room in Syracuse for him to get regular playing time plus I believe he got rushed last year and it hurt his development.

[sportsfan882]

No room in Syracuse for him to get regular playing time plus I believe he got rushed last year and it hurt his development.

He got off to a shaky start in AAA at the end of last season but finished strong. It had to be disappointing for him to go back to AA to start this year and get booted off the 40 man roster.

looks like he is just finally getting over it.

[JMUalumni]

No room in Syracuse for him to get regular playing time plus I believe he got rushed last year and it hurt his development.

QFT, another legacy of Bowden, unnecessarily rushing guys up the ladder.

Congrats to the 3 Senators that made the ASG.  I've been a big fan of Wilkie's since the Carolina league playoffs last year, plus he has a good story.

[hammondsnats]

hey gotta love wilkie/spradlin b/c he's a reliever and obviously that's our biggest need right now. 

i still have hope for davis and that one day he'll be able to contribute @ the major league level, but it's true we do need him to cut down on the k's.

i second the congrats, jmu, to all three. 

[sportsfan882]

QFT, another legacy of Bowden, unnecessarily rushing guys up the ladder.

Congrats to the 3 Senators that made the ASG.  I've been a big fan of Wilkie's since the Carolina league playoffs last year, plus he has a good story.

rushing guys up the ladder?

Rizzo is doing the opposite right now and it's worse than rushing them. We have promoted the fewest players in all of baseball.

[JMUalumni]

rushing guys up the ladder?

Rizzo is doing the opposite right now and it's worse than rushing them. We have promoted the fewest players in all of baseball.

How is it worse than rushing them, are their skills rotting away while they sit at lower levels .  I don't know, I guess I just believe in developing complete ballplayers instead of promoting guys that still have issues.  Just because some kid has some good stats for the last two weeks, doesn't mean that he is necessarily ready to be promoted.  But go ahead, promote away so we can end up with more incomplete players like Lastings and Elijah, that lack fundamentals.

[sportsfan882]

How is it worse than rushing them, are their skills rotting away while they sit at lower levels .  I don't know, I guess I just believe in developing complete ballplayers instead of promoting guys that still have issues.  Just because some kid has some good stats for the last two weeks, doesn't mean that he is necessarily ready to be promoted.  But go ahead, promote away so we can end up with more incomplete players like Lastings and Elijah, that lack fundamentals.

that's funny. Guys get discouraged because they have played well for half a season and they are still stuck at the same level. They want to see progress and move up through the system.

Good stats for the last two weeks? They have been playing since April. that's 3 months.

What use does Meyers have to pitch in Potomac any longer? He's 24 and is the most dominant pitcher in the Carolina League (a great pitcher's league). With any other organization he would have been in AA several weeks ago.

Sure, Bowden may have rushed a few guys in the past but generally he did a good job in promoting the Minor Leaguers when they earned it. Rizzo is doing the opposite. It's like he is oblivious to what is happening down on the farm. They promoted Arnesen to AA, Zech to AAA, and Everts to AA. that are really the only moves of significance.

Several guys in our system deserve promotions though. Rizzo is retarding the development of our players by keeping them at a level too long.