Washington Nationals Minor Leagues Players Of The Week: (7/6-7/12)
Jul 12, 2015; Cincinnati, OH, USA; USA pitcher Lucas Giolito throws against the World Team in the first inning during the All Star Futures Game at Great American Ballpark. Mandatory Credit: David Kohl-USA TODAY Sports
It’s Monday, which means it is time for another edition of Minor League Monday. This is the article where we take a look back at some of the best hitters and pitchers of the week in the Washington Nationals farm system.
Coming up on Wednesday night, the Eastern League (double-A Harrisburg) and International League (triple-A Syracuse) will be playing their respective All-Star Games while the big league club enjoys their four day break before they get back in action on Friday.
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During this past week, there were a couple of big promotions in the Nats’ organization. Starting pitchers Matt Purke and Austen Williams were moved up from low-A Hagerstown to high-A Potomac. Williams picked up his first win in Potomac in his debut on Friday against the Winston-Salem Dash. Plus, Nick Pivetta made his debut in double-A on Friday and picked up a quality start as well. At Auburn, outfielder Rhett Wiseman, the Nats’ third round pick in this year’s draft, made his professional debut Friday against Batavia.
Of course, some of the top Nats prospects got to show off their talents in yesterday’s SiriusXM Futures Game out in Cincinnati. Right-handed pitcher Lucas Giolito was the starter for Team USA and gave up no runs on two hits while striking out one in two innings. Plus, shortstop Trea Turner was 2-for-2 with a double, triple, and two RBI’s coming off the bench in the USA’s 10-1 win over Team World.
In addition to the All-Star games this week, there is a little bit of a cool coincidence in one of tonight’s pitching matchups in the Nats system. Fourth round pick Mariano Rivera Jr. will be making the start for Auburn against the Staten Island Yankees. Of course, the Yankees are the team his dad saved big games for 19 years
With that being said, here are our best performers from the minors this week, starting with Triple-A Syracuse. Stats are as of Sunday, July 12:
Next: Triple-A
(Photo Credit: MILB.com)
Syracuse Chiefs (39-57)
Hitter Of The Week: SS Trea Turner (.276, 2 HR, 6 RBI’s)
With the struggles that Ian Desmond has had at the Major League level this season, all eyes have been on the 22-year-old Turner, who joined the Nationals organization a little over a month ago. This week, before playing in the Futures Game, Turner was able to rack up the hits. In six games, Turner went 10-for-19 at the plate with a home run, three RBI’s, and four runs scored.
In his final game before going to Cincinnati, Turner hit a solo home run in Game two of a doubleheader against the Rochester Red Wings (Minnesota Twins). He had two three hit performances (July 6 against Pawtucket and July 8 vs. Scranton Wilkes-Barre). After having two RBI’s in the Futures Game yesterday, it will only increase the eyes on one of the Nats’ top position prospects.
Honorable Mention: RF Caleb Ramsey (.294, 1 HR, 15 RBI’s)
This season, Ramsey has alternated between Harrisburg and Syracuse, but he had an excellent series against the Yankees’ triple-A affiliate, Scranton Wilkes-Barre. During that series, he went 8-for-13 with two runs scored and two RBI’s. On July 9, he went 4-for-4 in Syracuse’s 5-2 win.
One of the impressive stats about Ramsey this season is having a four hit game is nothing new to him. The Chiefs have had four four hit performances this season, but Ramsey has had three of them and two of them have come this month (July 4 vs. Pawtucket). This month, he is hitting .419 in nine games and he leads the team in on-base percentage (.361).
Pitcher Of The Week SP A.J. Cole (1-4, 3.91 ERA)
This past week, Cole was able to record his first win of the season during Game one of a doubleheader against Rochester on July 10. The 23-year-old was making his first start since June 29 due to injury and he didn’t skip a beat. He went six innings, gave up two hits, struck out two, and walked one in the Chiefs’ 4-0 win.
Cole threw 44 of his 71 pitches for strikes that day and got seven of the 21 batters he faced to hit groundball outs. Plus, remember that in a doubleheader, the two teams play seven inning games instead of nine. Now that he is healthy, he will look to rebound from a bad June where he went 0-2 with a 6.48 ERA in five games.
Honorable Mention: RP Jose Valverde (0-0, 2.59 ERA)
When the Nationals signed Jose Valverde to a minor league contract back in April, it was unknown if the 37-year-old was going to be able to make a contribution at the Major League level. While he hasn’t done that yet, he is starting to find his form in Syracuse. Valverde made four appearances this past week and gave up one run while converting all four of his save opportunities.
Valverde is 8-for-8 on save chances this season and had a 0.90 ERA in ten games during the month of June. While he did give up a run on July 8 against Scranton, it was the first time the right-hander allowed someone to score since June 17 against Toledo (Detroit Tigers), which is a span of eight games.
Next: Double-A
(Photo Credit: MILB.com)
Harrisburg Senators (44-46)
Hitter Of The Week: 2B Christopher Bostick (.247, 1 HR, 11 RBI’s)
Bostick joined the Senators on June 16 after being promoted from high-A Potomac, where he played the first 62 games of the season. This weekend against Erie, the 22-year-old second baseman went 6-for-13 with a home run and two RBI’s.
Overall, he went 9-for-29 over the course of the week with three RBI’s, which included a hit in six of the seven games he played in. He has two triples this season with the Senators, which is tied for second on the team. Only Brian Goodwin has more triples with four.
Honorable Mention: CF Brian Goodwin (.237, 3 HR, 25 RBI’s)
While Goodwin’s average hasn’t been great this season, he has been able to put up 59 hits, which is tied for third on the team with Shawn Pleffner. This past week, the 24-year-old had three multi-hit games, going 7-for-29 with two RBI’s.
Those two runs batted in came on July 11 against the Erie Sea Wolves (Detroit Tigers). In that game, he went 2-for-4 with a triple, a home run, and two RBI’s in Harrisburg’s 5-3 win. Goodwin is hitting .235 this month with one home runs and three RBI’s in nine games.
Pitcher Of The Week: SP Austin Voth (3-5, 3.19 ERA)
Voth will be one of the Harrisburg representatives at the Eastern League All-Star Game on Wednesday night. While he won’t likely pitch because he got the start this afternoon against Erie, it is a selection that is definitely well deserved. He made one start this past week (July 7) against the Richmond Flying Squirrels (San Francisco Giants).
In that outing, he went seven innings, gave up two hits, struck out seven, and did not walk a batter for the first time since June 10 against New Britain. He threw 62 of 93 pitches for strikes, but he would get the no decision in Harrisburg’s 2-1 13 inning win over Richmond. Voth hasn’t had a win since June 10, but he has yet to give up a run this month in two games heading into this afternoon’s game vs. Erie.
Honorable Mention: SP Dakota Bacus (5-2, 3.77)
While Bacus had a bad outing against Erie yesterday, that should not take away from the excellent outing he had on July 6 against the Altoona Curve (Pittsburgh Pirates). The 24-year-old right-hander went eight innings, gave up no runs on six hits, struck out four, and walked none in a 3-0 win. It was Bacus’ second shutout against Altoona this season.
Yesterday, Bacus had his worst start of the season when he gave up seven runs on ten hits in 4.2 innings. However, he still has picked up a win in four of his last six outings. Harrisburg’s rotation had a couple good starters this week, including Richard Bleier. Bleier shut out Erie on Saturday, giving up two hits over seven innings to pick up his third win in the last four starts.
Next: High-A
(Photo Credit: MILB.com)
Potomac Nationals (44-43)
Hitter Of The Week: 3B Khayyan Norfork (.257, 1 HR, 15 RBI’s)
While the 26-year-old only had one extra-base hit this past week, he enters this week’s action on a five game hitting streak. In his last seven games, he is 8-for-22 with three RBI’s. He has three multi-hit games in his last five, including a 5-for-12 series against the Winston-Salem Dash (Chicago White Sox) this past weekend.
In Game one of a doubleheader on July 9 against the Lynchburg Hillcats (Cleveland Indians), Norfork had a walk-off single in Potomac’s 3-2 win. This month, he is hitting .323 in nine games.
Honorable Mention: 3B Drew Ward (.246, 3 HR, 36 RBI’s)
The 20-year-old third baseman has a hit in nine of his last ten games. While the home runs haven’t been there this season in high-A, he did have four RBI’s this week to increase his team-leading RBI total to 36 (three ahead of Stephen Perez).
Yesterday, against Winston-Salem, Ward went 3-for-5 with a double and a RBI. He has had five games this season of three or more hits, which includes a four hit game against Lynchburg back on April 22. With Brandon Miller retiring from baseball this week, Ward is a huge key to this Potomac offense. He is hitting .310 in 11 games this month with seven RBI’s.
Pitcher Of The Week: SP Lucas Giolito (3-4, 2.76 ERA)
While Giolito stood out at yesterday’s Futures Game, he stole the show in last Monday’s game against Wilmington (Kansas City Royals). For the second straight outing, he came in the game in relief of Aaron Barrett, who is now back with the Nats. In that outing, he went six innings, gave up no runs on three hits, struck out ten, and walked one.
The ten strikeouts are the second highest Giolito had in an outing this season (11 K’s back on May 14 against Wilmington). He did have an error, wild pitch, and a balk in that game, but that doesn’t take way from the swing-and-miss ability Giolito has. The 20-year-old right-hander has 76 strikeouts this season, which is third in the Carolina League and he’s had six fewer starts than the pitcher with the league lead (Mitch Horacek with 93). You have to wonder if a promotion to Harrisburg with Pivetta is in the near future.
Honorable Mention: SP John Simms (5-5, 2.89 ERA)
All season long, we have talked about Potomac’s rotation and the likes of Pivetta, Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez, and Phillips Valdez. That being said, John Simms has flown under the radar and continues to put up quality starts on a consistent basis. In his last start on July 9 against Lynchburg, Simms threw a complete game in Game two of a doubleheader, striking out one, and walking one.
While the 23-year-old right-hander doesn’t strike many batters out (36 K’s in 74.2 innings), he has just 20 walks and five of them came in one outing. The Nats’ 11th round pick in the 2013 MLB Draft has pitched into the sixth inning or later in nine of his last ten starts. In his last three outings, he is 2-0 with a 0.45 ERA and has given up one earned run in his last 20 innings.
Next: Low-A
(Photo Credit: MILB.com)
Hagerstown Suns (44-42)
Hitter Of The Week: 2B Bryan Mejia (.327, 3 HR, 10 RBI’s)
In his first 12 games with low-A Hagerstown, Mejia is already making a good first impression. The 21-year-old second baseman went 11-for-32 at the plate with two home runs, six RBI’s, and seven runs scored.
Mejia’s best game of the week occurred on July 8 against the Delmarva Shorebirds (Baltimore Orioles). He went 2-for-5 at the plate with two home runs and three RBI’s in a 4-1 win. Mejia hit .391 in the first six games of the season for Auburn before being promoted. Last season, he hit .259 with the Doubledays, had two home runs and 14 RBI’s.
Honorable Mention: CF Dale Carey (.242, 8 HR, 32 RBI’s)
Carey has had a constant presence on this slideshow throughout the season. This week, he had three multi-hit games against the Shorebirds. He went 6-for-20 at the plate with one home run and four RBI’s. Out of those six hits, four of them were for extra bases (three doubles, one home run).
Carey’s home run occurred on Saturday when he hit a solo shot in the third inning, but the Suns lost the game 6-2. The 23-year-old center fielder is hitting .250 with two home runs and five RBI’s this month and is hitting .265 since the All-Star Break.
Pitcher Of The Week: SP Luis Reyes (4-5, 4.93)
Reyes appeared in one game this week against the Shorebirds on July 8 and put up a solid outing. He went five innings, gave up no runs on one hit, struck out six, and did not walk a batter. The six strikeouts are the most that the 20-year-old right-hander has had this season since April 11 against Hickory.
With the five innings that he threw on July 8, he now leads the Suns in innings pitched with 76.2 innings. Despite logging a lot of innings, he has given up the most runs of any pitcher on the staff (42). However, he does have a 2.45 ERA in three starts this month, so July could be trending in a good direction for Reyes.
Honorable Mention: SP Drew Van Orden (5-2, 2.92)
Van Orden made two starts this week in the Suns rotation. He threw a combined 11 innings, gave up five runs, and struck out seven batters. On July 6 against Lakewood (Philadelphia Phillies), he went six innings, gave up three runs on seven hits, struck out six, and walked two. Then, on Sunday vs. Delmarva, he gave up two runs on four hits, walked three, and struck out one in five innings during a no-decision.
As you can see, the one issue Van Orden had this week was the five combined walks that he had. Van Orden’s 22 walks this season are third on the team. It has been a rocky second half for the South Atlantic League All-Star as he is 1-1 with a 5.85 ERA in four starts. However, he has thrown 71 innings, which is second on the team now that Williams is in Potomac.
Next: Short-Season
(Photo Credit: Grading On The Curve)
Auburn Doubledays (8-13)
Hitter Of The Week: OF Andrew Stevenson (.333, 0 HR, 6 RBI’s)
It has been only 14 games, but Stevenson has adjusted well in his first couple of weeks in professional ball. Currently, one of the Nats’ second round picks in this year’s draft is on a nine game hitting streak even though 18 of his 19 hits have been singles. He was 7-for-22 at the plate this past week with four RBI’s.
Stevenson has also been active on the bases as he had four steals in seven attempts. The Doubledays usually hit him leadoff, but this past weekend, Rafael Bautista has been with Auburn on a rehab assignment, so he has been hitting leadoff. While he may only hit singles, he does his job and gets on base. It’s definitely been a great start for Stevenson.
Honorable Mention: SS Edwin Lora (.269, 1 HR, 6 RBI’s)
This past week, the 19-year-old shortstop for the Doubledays had three multi-hit games over a five game period. He was 7-for-19 at the plate with three RBI’s. Unlike Stevenson, Lora’s hits have mainly gone for extra-base hits this year. Out of Lora’s 14 hits, he has eight extra-base hits this season (five doubles, two triples, one home run).
His best game of the week came on July 10 against the Batavia Muckdogs (Miami Marlins). He went 2-for-3 with a triple, a RBI, two runs scored, and two walks. Last season in the Gulf Coast League, Lora hit .293 with 15 RBI’s and had eight doubles in 52 games.
Pitcher Of The Week: SP Jefry Rodriguez (1-2, 5.40)
Rodriguez, who was named New York-Penn League pitcher of the week this week, had a good outing on July 10 against Batavia. He went six innings, gave up one run on two hits, struck out eight, and walked two in Auburn’s 13-1 win. He threw 83 pitches, with 49 of them going for strikes.
The 21-year-old began his season at low-A Hagerstown, where he went 1-5 with a 7.45 ERA in nine games. One of the main problems for Rodriguez has been his control. He has 32 walks in 58.2 combined innings this season and has walked at least two batters in eight straight outings. If Rodriguez can show better control, he has the chance to put up some good numbers at the short season level.
Honorable Mention: SP Erick Fedde (1-1, 1.59 ERA)
It’s been a great four starts for Fedde in his first few games of professional ball. In his start against Staten Island (New York Yankees) on Saturday, he went five innings, gave up one run on four hits, struck out six, and did not walk a batter. Fedde has struck out six batters in each of his last two starts and has a 7:1 strikeout to walk ratio.
One of the things to keep an eye on about Fedde’s first few starts is his pitch count. The 22-year-old right-hander has thrown 75+ pitches in each of his last two starts, where he has gone five innings in both. In his start against Staten Island, 55 of the 76 pitches he threw went for strikes. So far, Fedde and Rodriguez are tied for the team lead in strikeouts (21) and are in the top ten in the New-York Penn League in that category.