2008 Following the Minor League Teams

[ronnynat]

Is Craig Stammen expected to be a starter or a reliever? I see he's done both this year. He's having a pretty great season so far.

[blue911]

Justin blew his knee out in the off season. 

Didn't he go to high school with Ryan Zimmerman?

[sportsfan882]

Is Craig Stammen expected to be a starter or a reliever? I see he's done both this year. He's having a pretty great season so far.

Not sure. He had been a reliever in the past few seasons but this season he has moved to starter and he's been excellent. I'd keep him starting, at least while he is excelling. He deserves a call-up to AA.

[ronnynat]

Not sure. He had been a reliever in the past few seasons but this season he has moved to starter and he's been excellent. I'd keep him starting, at least while he is excelling. He deserves a call-up to AA.

Did he start off at Columbus or is that where he is now?

[daveb32]

Did he start off at Columbus or is that where he is now?

No he was called up to Columbus for a spot start early on in the year, but he didn't stay. He's playing for Potomac now and he's also selected to be in the ASG along with Alaniz, Baez and Rogelstad.

[ronnynat]

http://farmauthority.dcsportsnet.com/2008/06/11/alaniz-carr-to-harrisburg/

Alaniz & Carr to Harrisburg

Reports are that RHPs Adrian Alaniz and Adam Carr have been promoted from Potomac to Harrisburg. Alaniz was 9-0 over 12 starts with the P-Nats. Over his 65 1/3IP, Alaniz has a 2.62 ERA and 1.15 WHIP with 56 strikeouts. Carr is 3-4 with five saves and a 6.15 ERA over 21 appearances.

No word on who will replace the two in Potomac or who will come off of the roster in Harrisburg.

[KnorrForYourMoney]

Strange that Carr got a promotion even with that horrible ERA.  I guess he was improving lately or something.

[ronnynat]

Strange that Carr got a promotion even with that horrible ERA.  I guess he was improving lately or something.

Moves on the horizon? Nah, probably not.

[sportsfan882]

Strange that Carr got a promotion even with that horrible ERA.  I guess he was improving lately or something.

Nah, he's been garbage lately. That move makes no sense.

[sportsfan882]

O'Connor with another dazzling start for the Clippers tonight: 7 IP 4 H 1 R 1 ER 2 BB 4 K 

With that win he improves to 4-1 and lowers his AAA ERA to 2.21. 

Lo Duca caught for him and went 1/4 with the GW-RBI Single in the 5th inning.

[sportsfan882]

Speaking of Stammen, he pumps out another quality start tonight as Potomac wins their 2nd game of the day. Potomac is now 41-25 on the season. 

Stammen's outing: 6 IP 5 H 1 R 1 ER 3 BB 6 K. He is now 3-2 with a 2.02 ERA in 62.1 innings for Potomac this season. 

[sportsfan882]

Marco Estrada with a typical solid outing for Harrisburg tonight: 6 IP 4 H 0 R 0 ER 1 BB 6 K

Numbers on the season: 74.1 IP 62 H 27 R 22 ER 5 HR 32 BB 67 K (6-3, 2.66 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, .223 AVG Against).

Promote him damn it! The Nats already ruined Rhinehart by leaving him in one level he was dominating way too long. He is still in Hagerstown right now, believe it or not, and his average is all the way down to .299. I remember when he was hitting .340+ not too long ago but they screwed him by not rewarding him for his excellent hitting.

[BBQ]

Rhinehart was a waste of talent. I wish we could just fire jim bowden. I am writting with so much damn hate. freak!!!!!!!!!!I hate jim bowden!

[GMUTrkstar]

Geez did he steal you guys lunch money or something.

How was Rhinehart a waste of talent. Dude did play OF in college maybe his defense still needs some work. Plus Marero is coming out of his slump and had we had Rhinehart up there taking AB's from him, he might still be in that slump. The way it is both are getting consistent work on above .500 ball clubs.

Also it doesn't make much sense to promote Estrada when there's more talent at AA than AAA.

Say what you want about the club at the MLB label but management has done great in the minors.

Now onto the positive. C. Willems pitched 6 innings 1 ER 3 SO's. Smoker lasted four innings last night which is the longest he's gone in his professional career(I know it isn't much but it is a sign of progress). Marrero keeps hitting and Nunez had a solid start!

[sportsfan882]

Geez did he steal you guys lunch money or something.

How was Rhinehart a waste of talent. Dude did play OF in college maybe his defense still needs some work. Plus Marero is coming out of his slump and had we had Rhinehart up there taking AB's from him, he might still be in that slump. The way it is both are getting consistent work on above .500 ball clubs.

Also it doesn't make much sense to promote Estrada when there's more talent at AA than AAA.

Say what you want about the club at the MLB label but management has done great in the minors.

Now onto the positive. C. Willems pitched 6 innings 1 ER 3 SO's. Smoker lasted four innings last night which is the longest he's gone in his professional career(I know it isn't much but it is a sign of progress). Marrero keeps hitting and Nunez had a solid start!

The fact is that they screwed Rhinehart. He hit the hell out of the ball and led all of A-baseball in many offensive categories and yet did not get a promotion. I know Marrero is in High A and you have LeFave and Jimenez in AA but you had to find somewhere to promote Rhinehart to one way or another because of how well he was hitting. Now after cooling down he'll have to earn another promotion which still isn't even guaranteed. He's 23 and was drafted out of College (ASU) so he should have been pushed quickly through the system unlike younger players like Marrero.

[GMUTrkstar]

The fact is that they screwed Rhinehart. He hit the hell out of the ball and led all of A-baseball in many offensive categories and yet did not get a promotion. I know Marrero is in High A and you have LeFave and Jimenez in AA but you had to find somewhere to promote Rhinehart to one way or another because of how well he was hitting. Now after cooling down he'll have to earn another promotion which still isn't even guaranteed. He's 23 and was drafted out of College (ASU) so he should have been pushed quickly through the system unlike younger players like Marrero.

Pushed quickly to where? Where does he have to go and once again he is learning a new position. So that may have something to do with it. Rhinehart will get his promotion they haven't forgotten what he's done.

[sportsfan882]

Josh Wilkie, reliever for Potomac, deserves a promotion. He has had an excellent first half of the season.

Wilkie's '08 Numbers: 33 IP 27 H 4 R 4 ER 1 HR 6 BB 29 K (1.09 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, .233 AVG against).

Wilkie, 23, was an undrafted free agent signed in '06 by the Nationals out of George Washington University. He posted a 3.49 ERA in 80 IP with Hagerstown last season and then began this season in Potomac where he has been dominant pretty much all season.

I have no clue why Carr was promoted over Wilkie. 

[daveb32]

I have no clue why Carr was promoted over Wilkie. 

Because the Nats need bullpen help. They consider Carr their closer/setup man of the future, whereas Wilkie is, IMO, just a Minor League filler.

[BBQ]

Exactly, in two years Carr will be starting at closer for us.

[blue911]

Exactly, in two years Carr will be starting at closer for us.

Huh?

[spidernat]

Exactly, in two years Carr will be starting at closer for us.

Huh?

Exactly

[sportsfan882]

Because the Nats need bullpen help. They consider Carr their closer/setup man of the future, whereas Wilkie is, IMO, just a Minor League filler.

But Carr is pitching like absolute crap. Wilkie is just 23 and is putting up much better numbers at the same level.

[blue911]

But Carr is pitching like absolute crap. Wilkie is just 23 and is putting up much better numbers at the same level.

GM's & Managers get serious wood over guys with strikeout potential.

[JMUalumni]

It might be a little early to start hyping up this kid too much, but I have been keeping my eyes on Martin Beno (formerly of Hagerstown) now pitching for Potomac.  So far in 7 games (7.0 IP) with Potomac he has yet to allow a run and has struck out 2 batters in 5 of the 7 appearances (at least one K in the other two app).  Last season with Vermont he had 38 Ks in 21 IP and only 16 walks, so it would appear that he most definitely has strikeout potential.  I was a little miffed at why he fell so far in the draft to us in 2007 (round 36), as he was drafted by Los Angeles the year before in the 19th round.  He attended Community College before going to Oklahoma State University in 06-07 and was one of 11 players that was drafted from the OSU in the 07 draft (good pedigree).  It will remain to be seen how he will pan out as he moves up the minor league ladder, but I suspect that we may have gotten a steal.  Whether he will be a closer or middle reliever/set up man, I do not know, but I am excited to see what he can do.

[ronnynat]

P-Nats Add Infielder

The Potomac Nationals signed IF Brian Finegan as a minor league free agent. The 26-year old Finegan had played for the Double-A Altoona Curve this year. He’ll likely serve the role as utility infielder off of the bench, maybe some starts at 3B.

http://farmauthority.dcsportsnet.com/2008/06/14/p-nats-add-infielder/