Washington Nationals Minor Leagues: Players Of The Week (5/18-5/24)
May 19, 2015; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Nationals infielder Wilmer Difo (1) reacts after his first career base hit in the seventh inning against the New York Yankees at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports
On this Memorial Day, we bring you another edition of Minor League Monday. During Minor League Monday, we bring you the best hitters and pitchers of the week in the Washington Nationals minor league system from triple-A Syracuse to low-A Hagerstown.
This week, the only Nationals player who finished up his rehab assignment was reliever Casey Janssen. Janssen, who made his 2015 debut on Saturday, pitched against the Binghamton Mets on May 20. He had one hitless inning, in which he threw 12 pitches (ten of them were strikes). Now, it will be interesting to see where Janssen slides into the Nats bullpen.
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- CJ Abrams: Franchise Shortstop
- Washington Nationals: Cade Cavalli To Make His Long Awaited Debut
Of course, the shocker of the week came on Tuesday when the Nationals promoted Wilmer Difo from double-A Harrisburg to the big leagues when they placed Jayson Werth on the 15-day disabled list. Difo, who hit .308 with no home runs and four RBI’s in 14 games at Harrisburg, picked up his first major league hit on Tuesday when he led off the seventh inning.
The final bit of promotion news for the Nationals occurred on Sunday morning. After A.J. Cole threw 4.1 innings against the Phillies on Saturday, the Nats sent Cole back to Syracuse and called up starting pitcher Taylor Jordan to help fill a role in the bullpen. We will have more about Jordan’s week a little later on.
Finally, let’s give you your weekly Trea Turner update. This week, for the San Antonio Missions, Turner is 8-for-18 with a home run and three RBI’s. On May 20, Turner went 3-for-4, including the aforementioned home run. He is hitting .340 with five home runs and 22 RBI’s on the season.
Without further ado, here is this week’s edition of the Nats minor league hitters and pitchers of the week:
*Stats and Records as of May 24
Next: Triple-A
Syracuse Chiefs (17-26)
Hitter Of The Week: C Dan Butler (.203, 0 HR, 9 RBI’s)
Last week, we told you about one of the catchers down at Syracuse in Steven LeRud. This week, it was Butler who had one of his best games of the season. Yesterday, against the Indianapolis Indians (Pittsburgh Pirates), he went 3-for-4 with a triple and a RBI in the Chiefs 5-3 win. Butler only played in four games this week, but he did record five hits and drove in two runs.
The Nationals acquired Butler in a trade with the Boston Red Sox back in January in exchange for Daniel Rosenbaum. After hitting .205 in the month of April, he is hitting .250 this month. Last season, he was a .241 hitter at triple-A Pawtucket with four home runs and 30 RBI’s.
Honorable Mention: CF Matt den Dekker (.224, 1 HR, 12 RBI’s)
For the second straight week, den Dekker is an honorable mention for hitter of the week. The Chiefs offense did struggle this week, but den Dekker had a good series against Indianapolis. In three games this past weekend, he had two hits and three RBI’s.
However, he also makes this list because he was one of the few players who had a decent series against the Iron Pigs when the team scored six runs in the three game series. Against the Phillies triple-A affiliate, he had three hits in 12 at-bats, including a 2-for-4 game on May 19. Den Dekker has eight RBI’s in 21 games this month and is hitting .247 after a month of April in which the 27-year old hit only .200.
Pitcher Of The Week: SP Taylor Jordan (1-2, 2.14)
As we told you earlier, the Nationals did promote Taylor Jordan on Sunday morning, so he was not able to make his second start this week Sunday night. That being said, his start on Monday against the IronPigs was good enough for two. On May 18, he went nine innings, gave up one run on six hits, struck out two, and did not walk a batter. In his last two starts with the Chiefs, Jordan gave up two runs over the course of 17 innings.
Last season, with the Washington Nationals, he was 0-3 with a 5.61 ERA in five starts. In seven starts with the Chiefs this season, he has given up more than two runs in a game only once. Plus, opponents are hitting .209 against him. One of the things he did well in that start vs. Lehigh Valley was that he pounded the strike zone, throwing 68 of his 92 pitches for strikes.
Honorable Mention: SP Paolo Espino (1-0, 0.00)
Due to Jordan being promoted to the Nationals, Espino received the promotion from double-A Harrisburg to make the start Sunday against the Indians. He had an excellent start, throwing seven innings of shutout ball. He gave up four hits, struck out three, and walked no one on 95 pitches to pick up the win. However, that wasn’t the best part of his day.
The 28-year old right-hander hit a three run homer in the bottom of the fourth inning to give the Chiefs a 4-0 lead. Espino also had a good start in Binghamton this week when he gave up three runs on six hits over six innings, struck out five hitters, and did not walk one batter. With the Senators, he was 0-3 with a 4.26 ERA in seven starts.
Next: Double-A Harrisburg
Hitter Of The Week: 1B Shawn Pfeifner (.261, 0 HR, 14 RBI’s)
The 25-year old first baseman had a great week for the Senators this week. He has been able to rack up the multi-hit games. If you look at the four games he played in this week, he had three multi-hit games. Counting the game on May 17 against the Trenton Thunder, he has four multi-hit games in his last five.
On Sunday, against the New Britain Rock Cats, he drove in the game winning run in the bottom of the tenth inning on a walk-off double. In 14 games this month, Pfeifner is hitting .333 with ten RBI’s. This is a vast improvement from his .205 batting average in the month of April. Last season, he hit .298 with two home runs and had 44 RBI’s for high-A Potomac.
Honorable Mention: LF Derrick Robinson (.274, 0 HR, 6 RBI’s)
While Matt Skole did have a two home run game this week against Binghamton on Tuesday, the honorable mention goes to Derrick Robinson, one of the Nationals non-roster invitees this spring. This week, in five games, Robinson had eight hits over a three game stretch. One of the games that he was extremely excellent in came on May 21 against Binghamton. In that game, he went 4-for-5 with two runs scored after driving in three runs the night before.
This month, the 27-year-old is hitting .313 with no home runs and five RBi’s. Out of the 29 games he has played at Harrisburg, he has been used mainly in the leadoff spot of the batting order. He has also showed some speed, stealing six bases in nine attempts. The six steals are second on the team behind Tony Renda (10).
Pitcher Of The Week: SP Richard Bleier (3-0, 2.48 ERA)
Every week, it seems Richard Bleier continues to find a way to get into this slideshow and it’s usually with a different affiliate. This week, however, he is on the list with Harrisburg. He was pitcher of the week last week, but he was able to top that this week when he dominated a very good Rock Cats lineup.
In eight innings of work on May 22, the the 28-year-old left hander gave up just two hits, struck out seven and walked one batter to win his third straight game. In his last 21 innings, Bleier has given up a grand total of three runs. With Espino now at Syracuse, Bleier is a very good third option to slide as the third starter with Austin Voth and Joe Ross.
Honorable Mention: SP Matthew Spann (1-0, 1.29 ERA)
After starting with Syracuse last week, Spann got a start down in double-A Harrisburg this week and continued to pitch well. On May 20, against the Binghamton Mets, the 24-year old left hander went seven innings, gave up one run on seven hits, struck out three, and did not walk a batter. He threw 56 of 91 pitches in the win. Plus, he was able to induce 11 groundball outs.
This season, amongst three minor league levels, Spann has only allowed one home run in 42 innings. In his last three starts, he has given up one earned run over 19 innings, struck out 11, and walked two. After a rough start to the season in Potomac, Spann is starting to find his form and finding it at the higher levels of the organization.
Next: High-A
Potomac Nationals (18-24)
Hitter Of The Week: LF Isaac Ballou (.295, 3 HR, 18 RBI’s)
Ballou gets the hitter of the week honor for the Nationals high-A affiliate this week because he has been tearing the cover off the ball as of late. Ballou went 10-for-25 at the plate this week and had a hit in all six games that he played in. Out of those ten hits, he had one home run and drove in five runs. His best performance of the week came on May 21 against the Carolina Mudcats when he went 3-for-5 with a triple three RBI’s in Potomac’s 11-1 win.
This month, Ballou is hitting .277, which is down from the .313 average he had in April. That being said, he has driven in nine runs already with a week to go in the month. He is second on the team in RBI’s behind Drew Ward, who has 21. Ballou’s average might be down from last month, but he is still one of Potomac’s main players in their lineup.
Honorable Mention: 2B Christopher Bostick (.241, 2 HR, 9 RBI’s)
The Potomac second baseman had an excellent series against the Myrtle Beach Pelicans this weekend. The 22-year old went 5-for-12 with two home runs and three RBI’s. He drove in a run in each game this weekend. Potomac does finish its series against the Cubs’ high-A affiliate on Monday. While Bostick was 1-for-6 in the first two games against the Mudcats, he did draw three walks.
This month, Bostick is hitting .278 with two home runs and five RBI’s. The .278 average is up from the .203 he was hitting in April. He has not stolen many bases (3-for-4), but the slugging percentage is way up as it has increased from .241 in April to .443 in May. Bostick does have the speed element in his game, but he has shown off some of his power this month.
Pitcher Of The Week: SP Nick Pivetta (3-3, 1.41)
With Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez being the main pitchers people talk about in the rotation, you can’t sleep on the 22-year-old right hander, Nick Pivetta. In two starts this week, Pivetta gave up two combined runs in 13 innings, struck out ten batters, and walked one. Yesterday, against Myrtle Beach, Pivetta shut out the Pelicans, giving up three hits over six innings, struck out four, and walking one.
This month, Pivetta is 2-1 with a 1.45 ERA in five games (four starts). One of the things that Pivetta has improved this month is his walks. He has only walked five hitters over 31 innings this month. By the way, that is the same amount of earned runs he has given up.
Honorable Mention: SP Lucas Giolito (1-2, 4.67)
This past week, down in Potomac, the top prospect in the Nationals organization continued to show off his strikeout prowess. On May 20, against Carolina, the 20-year-old right hander gave up three runs on six hits over seven innings, striking out nine hitters, and walking none. In his last two starts, Giolito has struck out 20 hitters.
In that start, in which he picked up his first win of the season, Giolito gave up one extra base hit and induced seven ground ball outs out of the 27 batters he faced. Today, Giolito gets the start against Myrtle Beach at 6:05 PM ET. It will be something to keep an eye on when you consider the fact that he is likely to get two starts this week in the Potomac rotation.
Next: Low-A
Hagerstown Suns (22-20)
Hitter Of The Week: LF Jeff Gardner (.261, 2 HR, 10 RBI’s)
The 23-year-old left fielder heads into tonight’s action against Greensboro on a ten-game hitting streak. This past week, I want to highlight the last two games Gardner played against the Lexington Legends. In those games, Gardner went 7-for-10 with a RBI. Yesterday, he went 4-for-5 in the Suns 14-13 ten-inning loss to the Legends. He had 13 hits, one home run, and four RBI’s this week.
In 20 games this month, Gardner is hitting .299 with one home run and 12 RBI’s and has a .442 slugging percentage. Right now, his slugging percentage this season is .406 (second on the team amongst players who have played in 30+ games). Plus, he is fifth on the team in hits with 36. How long will Gardner be able to keep up this hitting streak?
Honorable Mention: SS Osvaldo Abreu (.273, 1 HR, 11 RBI’s)
For the first time this season, Abreu makes the slideshow and for good reason. The 20-year-old shortstop has recorded a hit in each of his last eight games. This past week, Abreu had two multi-hit games out of those eight, but he did have four runs batted in. This includes driving in a run in each of the last two games against the Legends.
This month, Abreu is hitting .291 with one home run and nine RBI’s. His batting average of .291 is up from the .245 average he had in April. He is sixth on the team in hits with 35, second on the team in doubles with 11, and has a .326 on-base percentage. He does rack up the errors in the field as he leads the team with 15 errors. Last season, Abreu hit .229 with one home run and 15 RBI’s for short-season Auburn.
Pitcher Of The Week: SP Phillips Valdez (5-2, 1.47)
Valdez and Austen Williams have clearly separated themselves as the top two pitchers in the Hagerstown rotation. The 23-year-old right-hander made two starts this week and gave up two runs while striking out ten batters in 13 combined innings. However, Valdez deserves recognition for one start in particular where the other team could not find a way to get anything going against him.
On Monday night, against the Greensboro Grasshoppers, Valdez went seven innings and did not give up a hit. He struck out four batters and walked two in the win. Valdez induced 13 ground ball outs as well, so there wasn’t much hard hit contact against him. In five starts this month, Valdez has a 1.29 ERA. He is tied with Williams for the fourth lowest ERA in the South Atlantic League. Plus, he is third in the entire league in WHIP (0.93).
Honorable Mention: RP Justin Amlung (1-0, 1.29)
For the second straight week, a Suns reliever makes the honorable mention portion of this slideshow. 25-year-old Justin Amlung made three appearances out of the bullpen this week and pitched very well. In 4.1 innings, he gave up one hit, struck out five, and did not walk a batter. Amlung did pick up the save in Saturday’s win over the Legends and has two saves in as many chances.
This season, while it is a very small sample size, opponents are only hitting .091 against Amlung. He has six strikeouts in seven innings and has yet to have a walk. Last season, with the Cubs high-A affiliate, the Daytona Tortugas, Amlung was 4-4 with a 4.37 ERA in 15 games (nine starts). While the Nationals have yet to use him as a starter this year, Amlung is off to a good start for the Suns bullpen.