Following the Minor League Teams (2009)

[JMUalumni]

10 Ks through 6 for Hanson

3 of them are Justin Maxwell (2 of them are Stammen).  Maxwell has struck out in 8 of his last 10 at-bats and 14 out of 26 plate appearances since getting recalled to AAA.  I don't know what is wrong with him, he seemed to be doing so well with the Nationals.

[sportsfan882]

Maxwell has stunk the last two years in the Minors for the most part but has played well when in the Majors.

Reminds me of Flores. sucks horribly in the Minors but produces in the Majors.

[sportsfan882]

haha. WTF! Langerhans homers again to give Cuse a 2-1 lead.

Hanson will get a no decision. Bergmann who got out of a sick jam in the 6th is in line for the win.

[hammondsnats]

stammen reminds me of martis, back end of the rotation but when on goes after hitters and doesn't overpower ya (although martis has a sick change).

i think milledge got hurt last night, IIRC, gameday said injury delay.  hopefully he bounces back.  i'd rather have him at catcher than wil nieves and him at 2nd over ronnie belliard

[JMUalumni]

haha. WTF! Langerhans homers again to give Cuse a 2-1 lead.

Hanson will get a no decision. Bergmann who got out of a sick jam in the 6th is in line for the win.

Eventually they are going to have to start letting Stammen go further in games.  He barely has any experience at 90+ pitches.  Even worse than overuse of an arm is having a player go 70-80 pitches all year at AAA and then calling him up and expecting him to hit around 100 pitches. 

[sportsfan882]

Eventually they are going to have to start letting Stammen go further in games.  He barely has any experience at 90+ pitches.  Even worse than overuse of an arm is having a player go 70-80 pitches all year at AAA and then calling him up and expecting him to hit around 100 pitches. 

QFT. I thought the same thing. they need to push these guys to the limits. too much babying going on in our system.

Both Marco Estrada and Stammen almost exclusively go 5 innings in their starts. They do well in their 5 innings of work but we need to push them into the 6-7th innings consistently.

[sportsfan882]

Ryan Langerhans with a 2-Run single in the 8th to extend the Chiefs' lead to 4-1.

Langerhans is 3/4 tonight with a HR and 4 RBIs.

[JMUalumni]

Syracuse picks up some late insurance runs to win 8-1.  Colome closed out the game with 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 1 SO.  Key stat for him:  14 pitches, 12 strikes.  Bergmann gets the win.

[mikehughes]

Syracuse picks up some late insurance runs to win 8-1.  Colome closed out the game with 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 1 SO.  Key stat for him:  14 pitches, 12 strikes.  Bergmann gets the win.

BRING BACK COLOME!

[JMUalumni]

Here are this week's Milb.com notebooks for the Nat's teams.  I didn't realize that the Suns were involved in a brawl last week.  Sounds like some idiot opposing pitcher was pissed that he gave up a HR, so he beamed Souza.

Syracuse Chiefs

THE WEEK IN REVIEW: The Chiefs won their first five games last week before losing the last one. Their seven-game win streak helped them improve to 13-7 overall and lifted them into second place in the North Division.

WHO'S HOT AND WHO'S NOT: SS Seth Bynum has hit .321 with a homer, seven RBIs and four runs scored in his last eight games. ... While 1B Brad Eldred has hit .188 in his last 10 games, he has a homer, seven RBIs and three runs scored in that span. ... Chiefs catchers Josh Bard (.211), Gustavo Molina (.200) and Luke Montz (.167) combined to bat .194 in the last 10 games. ... OF Corey Patterson enters this week in a 2-for-21 funk.

DOUBLE TROUBLE: Three Syracuse relievers -- RHPs Jesus Colome, Garrett Mock and Ryan Wagner -- have two saves apiece. Colome has been especially impressive, allowing just one walk in four hitless innings. Wagner has a 3.12 ERA in seven appearances. RHPs Jason Bergmann and Gary Glover also have one save each for the Chiefs, who are tied for the league lead with eight.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: "You never know when something is going to happen. I've been in the system the past couple of years, going up and down. It's tough. Everyone wants to stay in the big leagues. You try not to worry about what's going on. I'm just coming up here, trying to do the same thing I was doing there [at Harrisburg], helping the team." -- Chiefs LHP Michael O'Connor to the Syracuse Post-Standard after throwing 6 1/3 innings of one-run ball against Pawtucket following his promotion from Double-A.

Harrisburg Senators

THE SEASON SO FAR: The Senators are 4-17 and in last place in the Southern Division, 13.5 games behind Akron.

WHO'S HOT: 1B Matt Whitney ranked fourth among league leaders last week with a .444 (8-for-18) batting average that included a league-best 1.000 slugging percentage and three homers (tied for the league high). He was also tied for second with seven runs scored.

WHO'S NOT: LHP Yunior Novoa is off to a rough start this season, sitting at 0-2 with a hefty 6.75 ERA in seven relief appearances. In 9 1/3 innings, he has allowed seven runs on 16 hits and five walks.

DID YOU KNOW?: The Senators ended a 12-game losing streak with a 4-2 win over Reading on Friday at Metro Bank Park.

ROSTER MOVES: INF Joel Guzman joined the team from Triple-A Syracuse and INF Jemel Spearman was placed on the disabled list with a calf strain Sunday. ... On Saturday, C Luke Montz and LHP Dave Williams joined the Senators. To make room on the roster, RHP Adam Carr was transferred to extended spring training, while C Javi Herrera was transferred to short-season Vermont. ... On Thursday, INF Freddie Bynum joined the Senators after appearing in three games with Syracuse, going 3-for-8 with a home run and three RBIs.

Potomac Nationals

THE WEEK THAT WAS: The P-Nats took two of three games against Wilmington to open the week, then won two straight against Frederick. Jesus Valdez clubbed a three-run homer in the bottom of the 13th inning to give Potomac an 8-6 win over the Keys on May 1. Rain postponed the Nationals' games on May 3-4. Potomac resides in second place in the Northern Division with a 13-10 record, one game behind first-place Lynchburg.

WHO'S HOT: RHP Brad Meyers has not allowed an earned run in his last two starts. In 13 2/3 innings, Meyers has given up only eight hits and two walks while fanning 10 batters. He is 2-0 on the season with a 1.50 ERA, good for second in the league. 2B Dan Nelson homered in back-to-back outings, on April 30 vs. Wilmington and May 2 against Frederick.

WHO'S NOT: 2B Dan Lyons has only one hit in his last nine at-bats since returning to the lineup at the end of April. LHP Joe Beimel lasted only one inning in a start vs. Frederick on May 1. Beimel gave up five earned runs and seven hits, but did not receive a decision.

MAKING PROGRESS: Erik Arnesen is learning the finer points of pitching, which has led to his 3-1 start to the season. On May 2, Arnesen allowed two runs on six hits over six innings to notch his third victory of the campaign. He started to tire in his final frame when he surrendered a run on four hits and allowed one of his two walks, yet managed to persevere through the inning before handing the ball to the bullpen. "He hit his spots remarkably well," Potomac manager Trent Jewett told InsideNoVa.com. "I thought things could have been done differently, but I felt good about his performance."

Hagerstown Suns

THE WEEK THAT WAS: The Suns saw their week shortened by rain Sunday and an off-day Monday. Still, Hagerstown went 4-1, finishing the week on a four-game winning streak with a victory over Lake County and a sweep of West Virginia.

THE BRAWL FOR IT ALL: Hagerstown and West Virginia engaged in a bench-clearing brawl Thursday night during the seventh inning of the Suns' 9-4 victory. Hagerstown's Terrance Engles hit West Virginia's Calvin Anderson with a pitch in the bottom of the inning, apparently in retaliation for Ramon Aguero plunking Steven Souza in the leg in the top half of the inning. Anderson headed toward the mound, was restrained by the umpire but broke free and a full-out brawl ensued that lasted two minutes, according to the Charleston Gazette. Pitcher Patrick Arnold was one of the Hagerstown players ejected. "You don't do that," Arnold told the Gazette. "[Aguero] got beat; he was a little immature, a little sissy way, and we retaliated. That's how it is, that's how you play baseball. He gives up a three-run homer and throws 95 [mph] off the hip. We don't need that. He got beat, and he's probably getting chewed out now."

THIS AND THAT: 1B Robert Jacobsen has his batting average up to .346, thanks in part to the 10-game hitting streak he took into Tuesday's action. He's hitting .395 during the streak with a homer and five RBIs.

[JMUalumni]

Here is more on the fight from April 30th:

The game had pretty much been settled by then, thanks to a pair of three-run innings against Ramon Aguero. The Suns roughed up the Dominican righthander with a three-run triple in the sixth by Chris Curran and a three-run homer in the seventh by Robert Jacobsen.

Aguero stayed in the game despite the damage to his already-high earned run average of 6.35. His very next pitch plunked the front leg of Steven Souza.

That affront was well-remembered in the bottom of the seventh, when Suns starter Terrence Engles faced Anderson. The 6-foot-7 cleanup batter looped a two-run homer into the concourse in the fourth inning, but he wasn't going to get a chance this time around. Engles (1-1), who had otherwise pretty much muffled the Power, drilled Anderson.

Anderson went straight to visit Engles, and was restrained by home-plate umpire Doug Vines about three-quarters of the way there. But something set off Anderson further, and the ump could no longer hold him back. By then, the benches had emptied and both teams were ready to rumble.

After about two full minutes of fair-quality fighting -- there was even some kicking involved -- the dust settled and the ejections came. At least three players were tossed from both teams.

Anderson departed (to cheers from fans along the first-base line), as did catcher Josue Peley and Robbie Grossman, who had the day off. Engles left for the Suns, along with unused pitchers Osvaldo Rodriguez and Patrick Arnold.

....

Arnold said there was no doubt Aguero intentionally hit the batter. At that point, Aguero had given up five hits and two walks to 10 batters, and Jacobsen's homer was a no-doubter that sailed into Morris Street.

"You don't do that," Arnold said. "He got beat; he was a little immature, a little sissy way, and we retaliated. That's how it is, that's how you play baseball. He gives up a three-run homer and throws 95 [mph] off the hip. We don't need that. He got beat, and he's probably getting chewed out now.''

While not everybody would like to be charged by the hulking Anderson, Arnold said Engles stood his ground quite nicely. And he had plenty of backup.

"He handled it really well," Arnold said. "I don't think that's guy's charging us ever again, because I think he got a pretty good hurtin'. It was a good game, we kept our cool and beat them, which is a good thing for us. So hopefully, we'll come out here and put another 10-spot on them."

http://www.wvgazette.com/Sports/200904301032

[JMUalumni]

Slow day at work today, got a chance to listen to the first of the Hagerstown double header (vs. Greensboro).  Here are some notes:

-  I'll start with today's starter, Jack McGeary.  Besides the 2nd inning, he pitched very well today.  With that said, McGeary is having major issues with putting batters away when he is ahead in the count 0-2 or 1-2.  His goto pitch for the strikeout is his devastating curve, but unfortunately he has problems keeping it in the strike zone and it seems like the majority of batters know that.  He was able to get one K with the curve and one K using the change up, which he needs to start going to more often.  McGeary fell behind the count (2-0/2-1) only 4 times the whole game, but twice it resulted in a walk and one time it resulted in a single.

-  McGeary threw first pitch strikes to 17 of the 22 batters he faced (77%).  He threw 75 pitches, 45 of them were strikes.  A decent percentage of strikes at 60%, but a few less balls would have probably made this a completely different outing for him score-wise.  The second inning killed him, he got the leadoff batter out, but then walked the second batter.  He then let up a single and with runners on 1st and 2nd he threw a wild pitch that allowed the runners to move into scoring position.  He fell apart and then let up a 2-RBI single and then a RBI double.  He did recover well after the meltdown though.

-  McGeary got 8 GO to 7 FO and was was greatly helped by a strong middle infield defense of Arrata and Lombardozzi.  The pair combined for a pair of double plays and I believe that Hagerstown now leads the SAL league in that statistic.  Nick Arrata almost had two incredible defensive plays apparently, but just barely missed on both of them.  McGeary also helped himself out by picking off a runner at first.

-  The main problem for the Suns today was there approach at the plate.  In the 7 innings of play, only in 4 PA did a Hagerstown batter see more than five pitches.  14 out 26 times, the Suns batters saw 2 pitches or less.  Even Derek Norris, who has one of the best eyes on the team was just hacking at stuff up there (saw 4 pitches total in his 3 AB).

-  The one bright spot in the lineup was Robbie Jacobsen, who had a great at-bat in the second that resulted in Hagerstown's first hit of the game.  With that single, Jacobsen extended his hitting streak to 14 and now has the longest streak in the Sally League.  He also came through for a leadoff single in the 7th to bring the tying run to the plate, but Souza-Labrie-Englund all struck out to end the game.

-  Injury notes:  Ricardo Pecina had surgery last week on his hand and currently has a wrap on his non-throwing hand.  He should be back next week.  Marcus Jones bruised his knee about two weeks ago and should be close to a return.  He was replaced by Steven Souza, who was recalled from Potomac to fill the spot.  Souza will most likely return to Potomac when Jones returns from the DL.

-  Ozzie Rodriguez struck out the side in the 7th.  He has been killing it at Hagerstown and needs to be called up to Potomac soon.  For those that don't know his repertoire, he has a fastball, change, and curve with his curve being his deadly and almost unhittable pitch.

I hope to catch the second game of the double-header before I leave work and will probably have some notes for that one later today or tonight.

[sportsfan882]

good notes. Decent outing for McGeary. The Suns offense is awful. They have Norris who has been okay and then Jacobsen who hits for a high average but with no power.

I still have damn clue why Ozzie Rodriguez hasn't been promoted. damn you Mike Rizzo.

You mean Seuss was demoted to fill that spot? Souza (who is a giant bust btw) has been with Hagerstown all season.

[JMUalumni]

You mean Seuss was demoted to fill that spot? Souza (who is a giant bust btw) has been with Hagerstown all season.

Yeah, that's what I meant, Seuss.

BTW, Patrick Arnold will get his first start of the year in the 2nd game.

[Knock on Wood]

It won't be the worst thing in the world if Milledge never makes the roster again.  I believe the organization can do better as outfielders go.  The end result of his trade would be only that Jesus Flores is the everyday catcher, and that's not such a bad thing.  One could draw comparisons to Soriano's pick bringing in Zimmermann.

[hammondsnats]

jacobsen is a former gmu kid so i bet SF is all over him

Yeah Ozzie should be bumped up to A-Potomac right now, I wouldn't be surprised if it happened sometime this week (Brian @ NF says the same thing).

I like what I heard from McGeary in his outing - in the bits and pieces that I got to hear.  It seems like every game he has one bad inning that does him in.  As gains experience he'll get better.  I'm liking the progress.  Nice analysis JMU.

Seems like in Hagerstown and Harrisburg our hitting is pretty suspect.

[Burgess]

good notes. Decent outing for McGeary. The Suns offense is awful. They have Norris who has been okay and then Jacobsen who hits for a high average but with no power.

I still have darn clue why Ozzie Rodriguez hasn't been promoted. darn you Mike Rizzo.

You mean Seuss was demoted to fill that spot? Souza (who is a giant bust btw) has been with Hagerstown all season.

How is Souza a bust? He just turned 20 and he did good in his short stint in Hagerstown last year. He has some good raw power and speed and it's the first time he really plays long season ball, give him time. I would be more worried about someone like Stephen Englund.

[hammondsnats]

What are everyone's estimations of when (if it happens) the likes of Marrero/Espinosa/Arnesen get called up.  Burgess/Willems/Meyers would probably be later than those, I'm guessing. 

[hammondsnats]

http://asx.aicmail.net/mlb/senators.asx

... listening to the sens game, they are at home for a doubleheader with erie.  det is on the mound and so far, so awesome.  2 ip, 2 h, 0 r, 0 bb, 3 k.  he's gotten behind in some counts but has bounced back nicely.  i don't know about the first single (first inning), but the second hit was a broken bat blooper to shallow right.  hopefully detwiler can keep this up

[hammondsnats]

detwiler 3 ip, 3 h, 0 r, 1 bb, 5 k

now if he can get 3 more innings like this, maybe a couple 1-2-3's, this would mark his best start as a pro yet.  i know there's still a lot of game left to be played, but from listening, sounds like he has his stuff working today. 

[JMUalumni]

now if he can get 3 more innings like this, maybe a couple 1-2-3's, this would mark his best start as a pro yet.  i know there's still a lot of game left to be played, but from listening, sounds like he has his stuff working today. 

If he can do that, he will have overcome (if for at least one start) the obstacle that has plagued much of his career...

[hammondsnats]

det - 4 ip, 3 h, 0 r, 1 bb, 6 k

let's go det.  scratch out at least 1 more inning ... it's a doubleheader, so they'll play 7 innings ... he gets the bottom of the order next inning. 

[PANatsFan]

jacobsen is a former gmu kid so i bet SF is all over him

Yeah Ozzie should be bumped up to A-Potomac right now, I wouldn't be surprised if it happened sometime this week (Brian @ NF says the same thing).

I like what I heard from McGeary in his outing - in the bits and pieces that I got to hear.  It seems like every game he has one bad inning that does him in.  As gains experience he'll get better.  I'm liking the progress.  Nice analysis JMU.

Seems like in Hagerstown and Harrisburg our hitting is pretty suspect.

I like Ozzie because I want to see SOMEONE from our old DR academy succeed. Also, I saw a car with the license plate "Oswaldo" today.

[hammondsnats]

I like Ozzie because I want to see SOMEONE from our old DR academy succeed. Also, I saw a car with the license plate "Oswaldo" today.

haha

[hammondsnats]

5 ip, 4 h, 0 r, 1 bb, 7 k



wow great work by ross in the 5th inning: gave up a leadoff single ... sac bunt (1 out) ... fly to center, runner tagged to 3b (2 outs) ... #2 hitter struck out looking with runner on 3rd (3 outs).

that may be it for young det, if it is, outstanding day