Comprehensive coverage of Washington, D.C. sports by local writers
With full-season teams now in to the second-week of their 2013 campaigns, clubs are starting to get a feel for their minor-league talent. Many re-buidling big league teams are preparing to call-up their top prospects in just a couple of more weeks, when arbitration rules will fall in their favor. Contending clubs like the Nationals are less inclined to make front-page moves so early in the season, but they too are keeping an eye on their young’ins. They’re trying to get a read on what these players are worth in preparation for a mid-season trade, and they’re definitely looking for someone who can contribute in the event they need to to patch a hole internally.
The Nationals, who are now 8-5 with their win over the Marlins on Monday night, are very comfortable with their Major League roster. Outside of a few bullpen/bench tweaks they might be preparing to make–like adding an effective left-handed relief pitcher for instance–they probably aren’t going to replace one of their veteran big leaguers with any of their prized prospects just yet. Of course, things will change quickly if one of their stars suffers a serious injury.
As Mike Rizzo proved last season with Bryce Harper, he isn’t afraid to call-up one of his young stars when the club needs a boost. There’s an outside shot that top prospects like Anthony Rendon and Brian Goodwin could be in the Majors by mid-summer, while other promising minor leaguers like Danny Rosenbaum, Christian Garcia, Eury Perez and Zach Walters could contribute earlier.
Two weeks in to the 2013 season, here are some of the notable performances from the Washington Nationals minor league system:
The Washington Nationals made another round of cuts Thursday morning before hosting the Houston Astros at Space Coast Stadium, bringing the spring roster down to 42.
The club optioned outfielder Eury Perez to AAA-Syracuse and right-handed pitcher Nathan Karns, catcher Sandy Leon and infielder Anthony Rendon to AA-Harrisburg. Additionally, the Nationals re-assigned left-handed pitcher Pat McCoy and infielders Will Rhymes and Matt Skole to minor league camp.
Rendon put together a very impressive big league camp. The 22-year-old third baseman went 12-for-32 (.375/.412/.875) with four home runs, four doubles and 11 RBIs while with the Nats this spring. He accumulated 28 total bases in 13 games.
Perez, 22, went 8-for-23 (.348/.375/.348) with four runs scored, two stolen bases and no extra-base hits.
HAPPY 24th BIRTHDAY SANDY LEON!
Washington Nationals Catcher Sandy Leon was born on 03/13/1989 in Maracaibo, Venezuela.
Happy Birthday #41!
Washington Nationals Catcher Sandy Leon during his MLB debut, 5/14/2012 (Cheryl Nichols/District Sports Page)
This week, District Sports Page has taken a look at the players that should comprise the 2013 roster of the Washington Nationals. Following a record-setting season last year that saw the Nats finish first in the N.L. East and advance to the playoffs for the first time since the relocation, GM Mike Rizzo has tweaked the roster a bit and expectations have never been higher for the organization, which is expected to be a legitimate World Series contender this season.
On Monday we broke down Nationals’ starters, Tuesday we evaluated the bullpen, Wednesday we looked at the outfielders. Thursday we previewed the infield. Here’s our final installment, The Catchers.
PROJECTED OPENING DAY CATCHERS: Kurt Suzuki, Wilson Ramos, Chris Snyder. First callups: Jhonatan Solano, Sandy Leon, Carlos Maldonado. Down on the Farm: Spencer Kieboom.
Kurt Suzuki: Suzuki, 29, came to the Nats in a deadline deal with the Oakland A’s for catching prospect David Freitas and became the Nats full-time catcher down the stretch. Reunited with Davey Johnson and Rick Eckstein, who coached the then-youngster with the U.S. Olympic team in 2008, Suzuki hit much better in D.C. (.267/.321/.404 in 164 PAs) than he did the first half in Oakland (.218/.250/.286 in 278 PAs). Suzuki is signed through this season (at $8.5M), with a team option at the same rate for 2014. [Read more...]
The Washington Nationals finished the 2012 season with the best regular season record in their short history since the relocation in 2005 at 98-64 and a bitterly disappointing loss in the best-of-five National League Division Series to the St. Louis Cardinals. In this series, we’ll take a look at each of the 43 players that appeared for the Nats in this historic season, grade them, and evaluate their position going forward. Age listed is 2013 Opening Day; grades are relative to expectation.
Today, we look at the catchers.
Jesus Flores (28): 296 plate appearances. .213/.248/.329. 12 doubles, 1 triple, 6 homers, 26 RBIs. 59 Ks/13 BBs. Flores proved his health this season, but showed little at the plate and struggled throwing out base runners (9-of 60, 15%), though that’s symptomatic of all Nats catchers due to the pitchers’ problems with holding runner. Flores is third-year arbitration eligible so his salary will bump up from his $850 base last season, though probably not appreciably enough to warrant letting him go for that reason alone. He’ll stand third on the depth chart however entering spring training, so it’s not out of the question the team does not offer him arbitration and allows him to leave as a free agent. Grade: C-
Kurt Suzuki (29): 164 plate appearances. .267/.321/.404. 5 doubles, 0 triples, 5 homers, 25 RBIs. 20 Ks/11 BBs. Acquired in a mid-season trade, Suzuki did everything the Nats hoped he would upon arrival. He mightily struggled in Oakland this season after several years on 15-homer power. Reunited with Davey Johnson and Rick Eckstein, who had him with the U.S. Olympic team, Suzuki cut down his stroke and made better contact in the N.L. Threw out 5-of-33 (15.1%) of base stealers in N.L. after nabbing 23-of-60 (38.3%) in A.L. in first half speaks to Nats pitchers complete ineptitude of holding runners. Under contract through 2013 for $5.21M with team option in ’14. Will enter spring as No. 1 catcher. Grade: B
Wilson Ramos (25): 96 plate appearances. .265/.354/.398. 2 doubles, 0 triples, 3 homers, 10 RBIs. 19 Ks, 12 BBs. Ramos remains the Nationals best long-term fixture at the position, but after tearing the ACL and meniscus in his right knee in May and the subsequent surgeries June 1 and July 18, Ramos might not be ready to start catching in spring training. Even then, they will want to take an abundance of caution not to put full-time stress on that knee until he’s in full baseball shape. Threw out 4-for-23 (17.3%) base stealers in limited time. Will be backup and work his way back into the lineup as the season progresses and he gets stronger. Ramos is not arbitration eligible until 2014. Grade: incomplete-injury
Jhonatan Solano (27): 37 plate appearances. .314/.351/.571. 3 doubles, 0 triples, 2 homers, 6 RBIs. 5 Ks/2 BBs. The man they call “Onion” made his Major League debut at age 26 this season and didn’t look overmatched at the plate at all. But he’s a career .250/.306/.339 hitter in seven minor league seasons, so Solano isn’t a real prospect. He’s thrown out 33 percent of base stealers in the minors though, so he has some proficiency behind the plate. Still, he looks more like organizational depth than a player looking to get a chance in to prove himself in the big leagues. Battled an oblique injury all year that limited him to just 141 total plate appearances across Majors and minors. Grade: A, in extremely limited duty.
Sandy Leon (24): 36 plate appearances. .267/.389/.333. 2 doubles, 0 triples, 0 homers, 2 RBIs. 11 Ks/4 BBs. Leon was the unfortunate catcher that was called up, started, and injured in his first game. He came back later in the season for a few at bats after the roster expanded. He hit .322/.396/.460 across three levels in the minors this season, mostly for AA-Harrisburg so he looks like he has a pretty good idea of what to do at the plate. Not eligible for arbitration. Grade: B
Carlos Maldonado (34): 12 plate appearances. .000/.182/.000. 1 RBI. 4 Ks/2 BBs. Maldonado has amassed 74 plate appearances in parts of four Major League seasons. He’s a AAA catcher, only to be used at the Major League level in the most dire of circumstances. He could return as a minor league free agent to catch at Syracuse.
Thankfully, Nats pitcher Gio Gonzalez tweeted photos of the Washington Nationals rookies! After Sunday’s game, the tradition continued of dressing up the rookies in costumes to leave Nationals Park and take the train up to New York (Nats face the Mets tomorrow through Wednesday).
Last year it was Smurfs.
Meet the Nats Super Seven “Olympians” that didn’t quite make the cut for London.
Left to Right: Tyler Moore, Corey Brown, Eury Perez, Sandy Leon, Christian Garcia, Steve Lombardozzi with Bryce Harper in front as the flag bearer. Good work by the veterans.
Washington Nationals Rookies 2012 in clubhouse before heading to NYC, 9/9/2012 (Photo tweeted by Gio Gonzalez)
Washington Nationals Rookies 2012 by train before heading to NYC, 9/9/2012 (Photo tweeted by Gio Gonzalez)
Nats Closer Drew Storen pitching in 2011 (Cheryl Nichols/District Sports Page)
The Washington Nationals will activate relief pitcher Drew Storen from the disabled list, after missing all of the season so far with surgery to remove bone chips from his pitching elbow. In a corresponding move, the Nats will designate for assignment veteran outfielder Rick Ankiel.
Ankiel hit .228/.282/.411 in 68 games for the Nats this season, but has been the forgotten man of late with just six plate appearances in the month of July. He had seven base hits since June 1.
Storen, 24, went 6-3 with a 2.75 ERA last season with 43 saves for the Nationals. He pitched with discomfort during spring training until it was revealed he had loose bodies in his pitching elbow. The Nats tried to alleviate the issue with anti-inflammatories to start with, but surgery was eventually required. He’s been on a rehab assignment the past two weeks with various affiliates, and Monday night pitched a perfect inning for Harrisburg, striking out two.
The Nats also expect to recall catcher Sandy Leon from Harrisburg today to take the roster spot of Jhonatan Solano, who will be placed on the 15-day D.L. with a strained oblique.
The Nats face the New York Mets at 12:35 pm today.
Nats catcher Sandy Leon, making MLB debut, injured on play at the plate. May 14, 2012 (Cheryl Nichols/District Sports Page)
Henry Rodriguez has had a tough couple of days.
Despite his manager vowing before — and after — the game that Rodriguez and his 100-MPH fastball was still his closer, that he had the utmost of confidence in the erratic, but dynamic, right-hander, it was left-hander Sean Burnett that sealed the Washington Nationals 8-5 win over the San Diego Padres Monday night, before a soggy and nervous crowd of 19,434 — at least, officially anyway.
Burnett was called upon in a one-out, bases loaded situation set up by three consecutive walks by Rodriguez, who could not command any of his three pitches. Rodriguez threw 21 of them, just nine for strikes. But Burnett got Padres No. 3 hitter Jesus Guzman to tap back to the mound, and the emergency closer threw calmly to home to start a 1-2-3 rally — and game — killing double play. [Read more...]
