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Washington Nationals: Potomac Nationals midseason update

By Ricky Keeler |
Mar 28, 2017; West Palm Beach, FL, USA; A general view of a spring training game between the Miami Marlins and the Washington Nationals at The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 28, 2017; West Palm Beach, FL, USA; A general view of a spring training game between the Miami Marlins and the Washington Nationals at The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

We continue our midseason look at the Washington Nationals minor league affiliates with High-A Potomac, headlined by Victor Robles

Last week, two of the Washington Nationals minor league affiliates were on their respective All-Star breaks. We broke down the Hagerstown Suns first half with play-by-play announcer Kevin Gehl. Today, we move one level up the system and talk about the High-A Potomac Nationals, who went 33-37 in the first half down in the Carolina League.

The Potomac Nationals are headlined by outfielder Victor Robles, who is the consensus top prospect in the Washington Nationals farm system. In his second season with the P-Nats, the 20-year-old is hitting .305 with seven home runs, 28 RBI’s, 13 stolen bases, and has an on-base percentage of .397. This month, he is hitting .311 over the span of 20 games.

Robles is at the top of the order of a lineup that has scored the second most runs in the Carolina League and the third most home runs. Their home run leader is catcher Taylor Gushue, who has 13 home runs in his first season with the Nats organization.

When the Carolina League All-Star game took place last Tuesday, the P-Nats had three position players on the team (Robles, Gushue, and third baseman Kelvin Gutierrez). Also, they had one pitcher in reliever Ronald Pena (26 strikeouts in 22.2 innings).

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Speaking of the pitching staff, the pitcher who leads the team in strikeouts is starter Luis Reyes. The 22-year-old right-hander has had two 10 strikeout games this year, but he hasn’t had a month where his ERA was lower than four.

Tripp Keister’s squad had two starters promoted to Double-A Harrisburg in Wirkin Estevez and Matthew Crownover. With that being said, there is still talent in the rotation with arms such as right-hander Hector Silvestre (6-2 record) and left-hander Grant Borne (2.43 ERA in five games as a starter).

Last Friday, I had the chance to talk with the play-by-play announcer of the Potomac Nationals, Mike Weissman. During our conversation, Weissman gave his take on the first half, which included a lot of one-run losses for Potomac that could’ve changed how their first half went.

Also, we discussed Robles, Gushue, some of the surprises on Potomac’s offense in the first half, the consistency of Kelvin Gutierrez and much more. Finally, Weissman told me about the uniqueness of the Carolina League and what his favorite part about the job is.

Next: Michael Taylor our player of the week

We thank Weissman for taking the time to give us this Potomac update. Potomac is 1-3 to start the second half of the year and they will start a series tonight against the Myrtle Beach Pelicans (Chicago Cubs). You can actually watch the game at 7:05 p.m ET on MILB.TV.

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