Chris Marrero Promoted to AA Harrisburg

Lost in all the coverage of whether or not Stephen Strasburg would sign with the Nationals was the news that Chris Marrero was promoted to AA Harrisburg. Marrero was the Nats first round pick back in 2006 and had become a solid first baseman who also performed well at the plate. He definitely had opposing pitchers worried as members of the Frederick Keys bullpen recently told me that they believed Marrero was “an RBI machine” and he was voted the Topps Carolina Player of the Month by opposing managers for the month of July.

With Nick Johnson being traded to the Florida Marlins and Adam Dunn’s contract only having a year left, it very well could be that Marrero is the first baseman of the future for the Washington Nationals. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if we even saw him called up, at least for spring training, next year but at the age of 21 I believe he could probably use one more year in the minors. Ideally, he would be called up during the fall next year and would stay up in DC for the 2011 season.

With all his talent, I also think it’s worth noting that he’s an extremely friendly guy. He’s always signing autographs for the kids who come out to the ball park and often slaps five with them as he makes his way out to do his warm up routine in right field before the game. Furthermore, he takes the time to talk to some of the loyal fans that have their seats along the first base line. While this doesn’t necessarily help his baseball skills, it definitely makes him a fan favorite and you never know if that extra cheering will help give him the extra motivation to grind out a ground ball at an important moment in the game.

All in all, I think this is a great move by the Nats organization and I look forward to seeing Marrero continuing to move up within the organization.

UPDATE: This is also worth noting because part of the reason that Chris wasn't promoted earlier was that he missed much of the 2008 season with an injury. In other words, he serves as a prime example of how a first round draft pick can be extremely talented but could face unforeseen obstacles during his early career.

After Loss Last Night, P-Nats Have Must Win Situation Tonight

Of course the same day that I mention how the pitching staff for the Potomac Nationals has been doing extremely well, this year's 3rd round draft pick -- Trevor Holder -- got hammered by the Frederick Keys last night. In 1 2/3 innings he allowed 5 runs and 8 hits before being pulled. Especially considering he's just a few weeks out of college, he had pitched well in the previous outings that I've seen him in with Potomac. He ran in trouble a few times, but was usually able to pitch his way out of it. Last night, however, that simply didn't happen.

Fortunately, the bullpen and offense did a great job of getting the P-Nats back in the game. After 2 innings, the Keys were only up by one (5 to 4) and in the 7th Michael Martinez was able to score the tying run off a sac fly hit by Jesus Valdez. Unfortunately, the Keys were able to scratch out a victory as they scored two runs in the 9th.

This was a big loss as it means that the P-Nats are now 2.5 games behind Wilmington for the lead in the Northern Division of the Carolina League. That puts a lot of pressure on the team during tonight's game against the Keys because it's their final home game before heading off to Wilmington for a three game series and then to Winston Salem for a three game series against the Southern Division leaders. In other words, tonight's almost a must win because the P-Nats don't want negative momentum heading into a stretch of games that could have a very big impact on their ability to defend their Carolina League Championship.

Drew Storen Promoted to Double-A Harrisburg

On a day when the Potomac Nationals had a 12:05 game, it was announced that Drew Storen would be promoted to Double-A Harrisburg. Storen was the number 10 overall pick during June’s draft and he signed extremely quickly with the Nationals (as in, the next day). After following the precedent he set by signing quickly, he reported to Low-A Hagerstown where he put forward some dominating appearances before being promoted to Potomac.

I had the opportunity to see Storen make several relief appearances with Potomac. Even when he did get in some trouble (which wasn’t very often and never very bad), he was able to respond very quickly and get himself out of a jam. As the P-Nats organization pointed out, he did very well with the club and will now be joining a staff that has a lot of the pitchers who were with Potomac on opening day.

The right-hander was then promoted to Potomac on July 20, making his debut on the 21st against the Lynchburg Hillcats, tossing two scoreless frames while striking out the side in his Carolina League debut, picking up the first save of his professional career. He made six more appearances for the Potomac ballclub, compiling a 1-0 record with two saves, and a 1.80 ERA. Opponents hit just .206 off the righty as Storen struck out 11 Carolina League batters in just 10 innings pitched.

He will now join a Harrisburg pitching staff that has been fortified by much of the 2009 Opening Day roster of the Potomac Nationals. In addition to starters Erik Arnesen, Brad Meyers, and Jeff Mandel, relievers Clint Everts, Carlos Martinez, Andrew Kown, and Atahualpa Severino have all enjoyed excellent seasons since their promotions from Potomac. Kown is the only one of the bunch currently with the Triple-A Syracuse Chiefs.

Drew has made it clear that he wants to make it to the big leagues as soon as possible and the consensus seems to be that he will make it there quickly. I tend to believe that he will get called up in the fall when they have an expanded roster. Whether or not he stays in the big leagues to start next year will then largely depend on how he performs during the home stretch of this year. If he keeps up the hard work that he’s shown since signing, I’m confident he’ll have a very good shot at staying up in DC for opening day.

Potomac Nationals Melt In Late Innings On Extremely Hot Afternoon

On one of the hottest days of the summer, I went out to watch the Potomac Nationals play in an afternoon game yesterday against the Wilmington Blue Rocks. Heading into yesterday’s game the two teams were tied at top of the Northern Division of the Carolina League for the second half, which means whoever won the game would be leading the division. Since the P-Nats have today off before they face off against the Frederick Keys at home starting on Tuesday, it would have been great to head into a day off before a rivalry game on a high note.

As game time approached, I had a feeling the heat could make for a very long game and it appeared as though the bullpen seemed to agree as the relief pitchers all had towels over their heads to keep them cool. One even said that baseball isn’t too much fun on days like this because “you feel like you’re melting.” Another pitcher said “oh thank god” when a cloud blocked the sun for a moment and shouted “nooooo” when the cloud passed.

Once the game got going, however, I was quick to put the unpleasantness of the heat aside as the P-Nats were playing well. Michael Martinez and Danny Espinosa started the P-Nats offense off with back to back triples and things were going well as the club jumped out to a three run lead. Brad Peacock definitely helped the cause too as he limited the Blue Rocks to two hits and zero runs through five innings.

The Blue Rocks tied it up in the 6th inning though as Peacock gave up a leadoff double to Anthony Seratelli. I half expected to see a lot of action in the P-Nats bullpen after Peacock gave up the double to lead off the 6th. That didn’t happen right away, however, because he quickly retired the next two batters. Unfortunately, the Blue Rocks went on a two out rally and got three runs across the plate on four hits. The Blue Rocks would later take the lead for good in a three run 8th inning.

Even though the P-Nats didn’t win, there were some positive signs for Nationals fans. Brad Peacock was recently called up from Low-A ball in Hagerstown and although he did give up three runs in the 6th, he did put in a quality start (6 innings, 3 runs) and was dominate through the first 5 innings. For someone who was picked in the 41st round back in 2006, it’s good to see that he was able to have a strong outing. This is also a good sign overall as Peacock was one of several pitchers who were called up to Potomac in recent weeks, all of whom had been performing very well at the Low-A level.

Drew Storen also provided some good news as he pitched a scoreless 9th inning. As you might recall, that is what he was drafted in the first round of this year’s draft to do for the organization. What was worth noting in this outing was that unlike some of the other outings I’ve seen Storen in, he had some pressure on him as he walked a batter and allowed a single which put men on the corners with one out. Nonetheless, he was able to help catch a runner stealing (he threw to short when runner started to second, ball was then thrown home to catch runner on third trying to steal home) and got the batter to pop up to center for out number three.

Hopefully the day off today will allow the P-Nats to recover from the tough game and get revved up for the series against the Frederick Keys starting tomorrow.

Battle of the Beltways Goes to the Minors

While the Washington Nationals were in Pittsburgh beating the Pirates yesterday, the Potomac Nationals unfortunately had to postpone their Sunday afternoon game against Winston-Salem because the morning rains had made the field unplayable. Today, however, the P-Nats will begin a three game series against the Frederick Keys. This rivalry is very interesting not only because the two teams make their homes so close to each other, but their major league affiliates are also in the area (the Nationals and Orioles) and duke it out in the annual "Battle of the Beltways."

As we head into this series I have already had the opportunity to see the two teams play at both stadiums, but will be trying to make it to at least one of the series in Frederick the next few days. The P-Nats have been playing extremely well as of late and are currently leading their division. With the addition of Drew Storen (1st round pick in this year's draft) and Trevor Holder (3rd round pick in this year's draft) I think this could be a very interesting finish to the season. Hopefully it'll end in the P-Nats repeating as Carolina League champions.

Nick Johnson and Joe Biemel Traded

The rumors have been swirling for some time now that Nick Johnson would be traded since he would become a free agent at the end of this season, so it wasn't a surprise when it was announced that he was being traded to the Florida Marlins. Even though I understand the logic behind the move and have even advocated for trading Johnson for someone who could have an immediate impact on the team, I have to admit that it's still sad to see one of the original Nats go -- especially since Nick was a good player and a very nice person off the field. In fact, I had recent bought a official inaugural season baseball online (from when the Nats first moved to DC) in hopes of getting Johnson to sign it. There is always next week when the Marlins are in town or, possibly, if he comes back to DC once he's a free agent after October.

In regards to Joe Biemel, I definitely have a lot of respect for his pitching this year as he has helped to stabilize our bullpen (at least a little) both with his pitching and his precense in the clubhouse. While I wish him nothing but the best (except when he's pitching against the Nats), I don't think anyone really thought he'd be sticking around DC so it's good that we were able to get something in exchange for him -- even if it was just for minor league relievers Ryan Mattheus (who just had Tommy John surgery a month ago) and Robinson Fabian.

As for the future of the Nats, it definitely does seem like the thinking in the front office is that we need to concentrate on pitching development. With the acquisition of three pitching prospects in these deals and the fact that we picked up several pitchers in the draft, we seem to be loading up on our minor league pitchers. Based upon the progress I've seen with the pitching staff of the Potomac Nationals and the rate of people being promoted, it does look like we have some talented young hurlers who could make a difference up in DC in a few years. Let's just hope we're able to surround them with some talent on defense and the batters box so that we can be a competative organization.

Drew Storen and Trevor Holder in Potomac

There have been some roster changes going on lately with the Potomac Nationals and with third baseman Stephen King being placed on the DL list, the third round pick Trevor Holder has been called up from Low-A Hagerstown. Although he joined the club last night, a recent statement from the Potomac Nationals indicates that he is the probable starter for tonight's game. Here's a little background on the right hander that the club provided.

Holder was drafted in the third round with the 81st overall pick back in June after finishing up his senior collegiate season with the University of Georgia Bulldogs. With the Bulldogs, Holder went 7-5 with a 4.48 earned run average and struck out 72 in 92 1/3 innings. In 2008, Holder starred for UGA on the team that went all the way to the finals of the College World Series, only to be upset by a Cinderella squad, the Fresno State Bulldogs.

After the draft, Holder signed a contract and reported to the Short Season Vermont Lake Monsters where the righty made two starts, allowing four runs in 5 1/3 innings pitched while striking out three. He then jumped up a level and joined the Suns roster in mid-July. After an initial tough outing, Holder bounced back, twirling back-to-back gems, allowing just one earned run in 10 innings while striking out nine and walking just two. The Alabama product picked up wins in his last two starts for the Hagerstown ballclub.

In regards to seeing some of our other draft picks playing in Potomac, I got to see Storen pitch well last night to get his first professional win. He came in last night in the eighth inning after Will Atwood had pitched superbly carrying a perfect game through 4 2/3 innings and only giving up one run. Storen gave up a walk and a game tying double before returning to his masterful stuff. The P-Nats offense helped Storen out as the speedy Michael Martinez hit a triple into left-center which drove in the winning run. The game was truly a great display of baseball with some terrific plays made in the field (though many of them were by the Dash's first baseman Jim Gallagher), good pitching by the P-Nats, and a few powerful homeruns.