Washington Nationals Minor Leagues: Players Of The Week (4/8-4/19)
Mar 16, 2015; Melbourne, FL, USA; MLB umpire Manny Gonzalez (79) calls out Houston Astros left fielder Alex Presley (20) at second base following a tag by Washington Nationals shortstop Wilmer Difo (1) during the fifth inning a spring training baseball game at Space Coast Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports
Today, at District On Deck, we begin a series that we are going to bring you every single week throughout the baseball season. While most of the attention is focused on the big league club, we are going to take you around the minor leagues, which have played a little over a week’s worth of games up to this point.
Two of the Washington Nationals relievers that began the year in their minor league system are now on the 25-man roster in Felipe Rivero and Rafael Martin. Plus, two of the Nationals everyday players had rehab assignments ranging from double-A Harrisburg to low-A Hagerstown. Those two players were Denard Span and Jayson Werth. Plus, two affiliates have been no-hit (Potomac and Hagerstown), with Hagerstown actually winning the game that they were no-hit in, 1-0.
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Each week, we are going to profile who was our hitter and pitcher of the week across all the Nationals affiliates. Before we do that, let’s give an update on how a future National prospect is doing.
Shortstop Trea Turner, who is currently with the San Diego Padres organization, is slated to join the Nationals in June after he was a part of the Wil Myers/Steven Souza Jr. trade. Currently, Turner is playing with San Diego’s double-A affiliate, the San Antonio Missions in the Texas League.
In nine games, Turner is hitting .324 (12-for-37) with one home run (hit yesterday), four RBI’s, and two stolen bases. Turner’s best game of the season so far came on April 13 when he went 3-for-5 against the Springfield Cardinals. While he only has one extra base up to this point, he is a player that we will continue to monitor throughout the year.
So, without further adieu, let’s take a look around the minor leagues, starting with the triple-A Syracuse Chiefs:
* All prospect rankings are from MLB Pipeline
Next: Triple-A: Syracuse Chiefs
Syracuse Chiefs (4-7)
Hitter Of The Week: SS Jason Martinson (.308, 0 HR’s, 3 RBI’s)
The Chiefs have been one of the better offensive teams in the International League up to this point. They are fourth in runs scored and fourth in RBI’s. One of the things they can do better as a team is get on-base as their .314 team OBP is toward the bottom of the IL.
However, shortstop Jason Martinson continues to find a way on base. He has recorded a hit in eight of his first nine starts. The 26-year-old has three multi-hit games and three walks on the year. He has a .357 on-base percentage, which is fifth on the team.
Martinson was taken by the Nationals in the fifth round of the 2010 MLB Draft. He was a MILB organizational All-Star in 2012, but he has never hit higher than .272 in any given season. The Nats have good infield depth at Syracuse, which includes Emmanuel Burriss. Martinson hasn’t shown the power yet, but this is a guy who has hit 10+ homers in the minors each of the last three seasons.
Honorable Mention: 1B Kila Ka’aihue (.167, 2 HR’s, 8 RBI’s)
One of the Nationals’ non-roster invitees from Spring Training has hit two home runs in his last four games and leads the Chiefs in RBI’s with eight. That total is fourth in the IL behind the likes of players like Blake Swihart and Chris Parmelee. Ka’aihue had a great Spring Training for the Nationals. In 18 spring games, he hit .250 with three home runs and eight RBI’s.
While you would like to see Ka’aihue’s average improve, one of the things to watch about this first baseman is the power and the extra base hits that can he rack up when you consider three of his seven hits this season have gone for extra bases.
Pitcher Of The Week: Taylor Hill (1-0, 1.42 ERA)
In a rotation that began the season with A.J. Cole and Taylor Jordan, Taylor Hill has had a very good first couple of starts. In two games, Hill (#25 Nats Prospect according to MLB Pipeline) has gone at least six innings in each one, giving up a combined two earned runs. While Hill only has three strikeouts in those two games, he has been able to pitch to contact effectively.
Last season, Hill went 11-7 with a 2.81 ERA in 25 games for the Chiefs. With Hill being an effective number three starter for Syracuse, it is a very good trio that the Chiefs have at the top of the rotation, especially when the sixth round pick in the 2011 MLB draft is locating his pitches for strikes.
Honorable Mention: Rich Hill (0-0, 2.25 ERA)
While Hill lost out on the final left-handed reliever spot out of the bullpen in spring training, he has been able to rack up the strikeouts at triple-A. He has nine strikeouts in four games, which includes no fewer than two strikeouts per outing. While the four walks are a little high, Hill is showing he can overpower some of the hitters at this level when he is faced with a difficult jam.
Next: Double-A: Harrisburg Senators
Harrisburg Senators (5-6)
Hitter Of The Week: 2B Tony Renda (.326, 0 HR, 3 RBI’s)
The Harrisburg Senators have only hit three home runs thru the first 11 games of the season, but they do have a player who is right up there among the league leaders in the hit category. Second baseman Tony Renda (#23) has 15 hits in his first 11 games, which is tied for the most in the Eastern League.
The 24-year-old recently had a eight-game hitting streak snapped on Saturday afternoon against Binghamton, a stretch which included four multi-hit games. Four of Renda’s 15 hits have been for doubles, which are two behind the league lead.
Last season, at high-A Potomac, Renda hit .307 with 47 RBI’s and stole 19 bases. The second round pick in the 2012 MLB Draft is showing out of the gate why he is one of the best, if not the best second baseman in the organization right out of the gate.
Honorable Mention: 3B Matt Skole (.184, 2 HR’s, 7 RBI’s)
Again, Harrisburg doesn’t have much power in their lineup, so Skole has to get some mention here. He has two home runs, which included a grand slam against the Bowie BaySox back on April 14. One of the things that Skole has done well recently is worked the count against opposing pitcher. He has two walks in three of his last four games and has seven walks over that four-game stretch.
This is Skole’s third season at Harrisburg and he is coming off a year in which he hit 14 home runs and drove in 68 runs. The fifth round pick in the 2011 draft will look to bring some lumber to a lineup that could use it going forward.
Pitcher Of The Week: Austin Voth (2-0, 2.50 ERA)
When you talk about this Senators rotation, they have two names that immediately come to mind, Austin Voth and Joe Ross. The ace of the staff is Austin Voth. Voth (#10 prospect) had a 7-7 record in 24 starts amongst three levels last year with a 2.77 ERA. He struggled at Harrisburg last year, going 1-3 with a 6.52 ERA in five starts.
However, Voth has used that experience to help start his 2015 season. In his three starts so far, he has throw six innings in each one and has given up one run or fewer in two of those games. He did give up four runs against Bowie on April 14, but recorded the win. With just two walks in three games, keep an eye on Voth’s control and don’t sleep on this 22-year old pitcher who is behind guys like Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez in most rankings.
Honorable Mention: SP Paolo Espino (2-0, 3.27)
Espino doesn’t get the attention that Voth or Ross might get, but he is the only starting pitcher, other than Voth that has a win for the Senators. Back on April 11, against the Altoona Curve, Espino had a one-hitter thru six innings, struck out four batters, and walked one. While he gave up four runs to Binghamton in a win yesterday, the 28-year old right hander has thrown over 85 pitches in both of his outings.
Last season, Espino was 6-5 with 3.98 ERA in 24 starts. His post All-Star Game ERA of 3.54 was an improvement from his pre-ASG ERA, which was 4.31. Espino may be far removed from being named pitcher of the week in 2011, but don’t sleep on this guy, even amongst all the big names.
Next: High-A: Potomac Nationals
Potomac Nationals (7-5)
While the defending Carolina League champions have been no-hit this season, the offense has been the story of their young season. In the last six games, they have scored 40 runs, including two games of 13+ runs. On Friday, Potomac scored nine runs in the ninth to come back from a 7-4 deficit against the Lynchburg Hillcats. Their total of 56 runs is 12 more than any team in the Carolina League.
Hitter Of The Week: SS Wilmer Difo (.310, 3 HR’s, 9 RBI’s)
On Saturday night, 23-year old Wilmer Difo had one of the best games of his career. Against Lynchburg, he went 5-for-6 with a grand slam, five RBI’s, two doubles, and two stolen bases. The shortstop has 11 hits in his last six games and his total of 13 hits leads the team and is tied with two others for the league lead.
Difo also has a .409 on-base percentage thru the first 11 games and is now the new leadoff hitter after Rafael Bautista broke his finger early last week. Difo made a great impression this spring with the big league club and has carried that over into the start of his high-A season. Considering that he leads the team in homers, Difo (#8 prospect) is showing he can hit for contact as well as power.
Honorable Mention: LF Isaac Ballou (.324, 2 HR’s, 5 RBI’s)
Ballou, who was the 15th round pick of the Nats in the 2013 MLB Draft, is currently on a five-game hitting streak. Over the course of those five games, Baillou has 9 hits in 23 at-bats with three home runs. Keep in mind, last year at Hagerstown, he hit six home runs the whole season.
On Saturday, in Potomac’s 15-8 win over Lynchburg, Ballou went 4-for-5 with a double, a RBI, and a stolen base. He has recorded hits in six games with three of them being multi-hit games. With 11 hits on the season, Baillou is off to a great start for Potomac.
Pitcher Of The Week: SP Brian Rauh (1-0, 0.84)
While you can make the case for Nick Pivetta (1-1, 0.90) this week because he was the losing pitcher when Potomac got no-hit Wednesday, I am going to go with Rauh, a 23-year old right hander who had a combined 4.50 ERA in the minors last season. In two starts, Rauh has given up one earned run in his first 10.2 innings pitched.
On Thursday, against Lynchburg, Rauh struck out eight Hillcats over 5.2 innings. Keep in mind, Rauh did not strike out more than seven batters in a start last year. At Potomac last season, he was 2-4 with a 4.39 ERA in 17 games (12 starts). The 11th round pick of the Nats in the 2012 draft is off to a great start, especially when you consider he gave up 16 runs in all of April last season.
Honorable Mention: RP Jake Johansen (0-0, 3.38)
Johansen, who was the Nats second round pick in the 2012 MLB Draft, has thrown 10.2 innings out of the bullpen, which is nearing the team lead in innings pitched. After a rough outing in the season opener (2.2 IP, three runs, three walks), the righty has given up one earned run and eight hits over the last eight innings and has struck out ten batters.
Johansen (#19 prospect) has a very good fastball, but the command is something to watch going forward. Last season, at Hagerstown, he walked 55 batters in 29 games (18 starts) to go with a 5.12 ERA. Working exclusively out of the bullpen for Potomac, Johansen has the chance to hone his fastball and use it to his advantage, but the command will be crucial if he wants to rise up the Nationals rankings. However, at least he is able to give the Nats innings out of the pen.
Next: Low-A: Hagerstown Suns
This is a Suns team that hasn’t shown much with the bats in terms of contact as their .231 team average is the third lowest in the South Atlantic League. However, when they make contact, the ball goes far as evident by their SAL leading eight home runs. Pitching is another strength of this team in the early going as their team ERA of 3.09 is third in the league. Plus, you have to be somewhat impressed when a team wins a game despite being no-hit.
Hitter Of The Week: 1B Jose Marmolejos-Diaz (.290, 2 HR’s, 6 RBI’s)
The 22-year old out of the Dominican Republic was an All-Star in the New York Penn League last year for the Auburn Doubledays. He had one home run and drove in 31 runs, but he had 28 walks as well, which was tied for sixth in the league. He had the best on-base percentage for the Doubledays as well (.343)
So far, in Hagerstown, he is on a four-game hit streak and has back-to-back multi-hit games. He has three doubles and two home runs (tied with Raudy Reid for most on the team). In addition, he has driven in a run in three of his last four games. It will be interest to watch the development of this left-handed first baseman.
Honorable Mention: 3B Grant DeBruin (.281, 0 HR, 3 RBI’s)
DeBruin is the honorable mention for this week because his nine hits are tied with Marmolejos-Diaz for the team lead. This is his first season in the Nationals organization, but he is off to a great start. The third baseman from Alabama-Huntsville has had two games in which he has recorded three hits.
His best game of the season came on April 10 against the Hickory Crawdads when he went 3-for-4 with three RBI’s. DeBruin only has one extra-base hit, but the Nationals know he has potential with the bat. Last season, in the Frontier League, he hit .355 with 12 home runs. In fact, him and Diaz are tied for the best on-base percentage on the squad.
Pitcher Of The Week: SP Austen Williams (1-1, 0.93)
Williams, who was the sixth round pick of the Nats in last year’s draft, was the Opening Day starter for Hagerstown. He was the winning pitcher when the Suns were no-hit on April 15 against West Virginia. In that outing, he went 5.2 innings, gave up four hits, struck out seven, and walked one.
Last season, with the Doubledays, the 22-year-old did not strike out more than six batters in an outing. Now, the Penn-League is a short season league, so you don’t normally see guys go that many innings. However, he only walked eight batters in 38.2 innings last season. So far, this season, he has one walk. Williams will make his next start at home against the Delmarva Shorebirds tonight at 6:05 PM ET.
Honorable Mention: RP Tyler Mapes (1-0, 0.00)
Mapes has made two appearances this season and has not given up a run in the six innings that he has pitched in. The 30th round pick in the 2014 MLB Draft had a 1.25 ERA in 15 relief appearances for Auburn. This season, he has thrown three innings in each of his appearances, giving up a combined three hits.
Mapes converted all five of his save chances last year, but he has not had a save for Hagerstown as three different relievers have a save. On April 16 against Lakewood, Mapes was able to force six groundball outs. He hasn’t shown that he can rack up the strikeouts, but that doesn’t mean that the 23-year old can’t be effective by pitching to contact.