Voth has completely remade his career in less than a month. Photo mlb.com official
I havn’t been doing regular check-ins with the minor league staffs for a few years, but I have always maintained little “cheat sheet” notes on the staffs of the levels day in/day out (thanks in no small part to the daily work of Luke Erickson over at Nationals Prospects of course).
It occurred to me, doing updates this week, that the four full season rotations have been about as stable as I can ever remember them this year. So I thought i’d do a quick swing through the four staffs, with quick notes on who has looked good or bad and what we may see in terms of movement going forward.
Syracuse (stats link here: http://web.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?t=t_ibp&cid=552&stn=true&sid=t552)
- Opening day rotation: Voth, Milone*, Fedde, EJackson, Vargas
- Current rotation: Milone*, Voth, Fedde, EJackson, Vargas
- spot starts/swingman: Simms, Goforth
- bullpen: Collins*, Cordero, CSmith, Miller, Adams, Valdez
- promotions: Torres, Gott, Suero
- up-and-back: Adams, Voth
- demotions: Long,
- dl/restricted/TIL: Barrett, Satterwhite
Rotation thoughts: A month in and the only change we’ve seen to the AAA rotation was the flipping of Milone and Voth thanks to Voth’s brief call-up earlier this week. Voth has absolutely re-made his career so far this year, going from possible “first man to be DFA’d” off the 40-man to a guy who is forcing his way into the conversation the next time the Nats need a starter. For May he’s posted a 0.76 ERA, a 0.68 WHIP, has a 30/3 K/BB ratio in 23 innings and has given up just 13 hits. Man, is he found gold for a team who has traded away an awful lot of pitching prospects over the past couple of seasons?
The veteran insurance policies Jackson and Milone are both pitching about as I’d expect them to be: Milone slightly better, with better base-runner control, Jackson with more wildness and worse stats. Erick Fedde has not been either good or bad, giving up a hit an inning and maintaining a 4-1 K-BB ratio but not showing any real dominance. My guess is that he’ll be sticking in AAA for a while.
The last guy in the rotation may be the most interesting: Cesar Vargas was a low-key spring MLFA signing after bouncing around San Diego’s system last year. He’s come out in 2018 looking serviceable and might be putting himself ahead of the veterans in the pecking order.
Bullpen thoughts: John Simms has looked great in a long-man role. He’s quietly been serviceable at every level in his journey upwards and you have to wonder if he’ll eventually push for a 9/1 call up. Most of the rest of the bullpen is too SSS to make real judgements, though we have seen three relievers get pushed to the majors right now (Torres, Gott, Suero) and fourth who was up and is now in AAA (Adams). Cordero still shows the same issues that have plagued him for a while; he’s got 16/8 K/BB in 11 innings. Barrett remains with the system and we hope he can get back to his former self; he’d certainly help out at the MLB level.
Who is making a push for promotion? Voth
Who is in jeopardy of a demotion (or worse): Smith, Cordero
Harrisburg (stats = http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?t=t_ibp&did=milb&cid=547)
- Opening day rotation: Dragmire, JRodriguez, Darnell*, LReyes, Estevez
- Current Rotation: Dragmire, JRodriguez, Long, LReyes, Estevez
- spot starts/swingman: AWilliams, Darnell*
- bullpen: Fleck, Guillon*, BHarper*, RMendez, Self, Ames
- promotions: Valdez
- dl/restricted: Brinley, Bacus
- Missing from 2017: NLee*
Rotation thoughts: The only substantive change in the rotation from the first pass through was to replace Darnell with Long. Dragmire and Jefry Rodriguez have both excelled thus far, though Rodriguez’s stats look more like a guy who might be pressing for promotion (more Ks, fewer hits). Dragmire is showing more of what he displayed last year at AA and he may need the additional challenge of AAA soon. Estevez and Reyes are not faring as well thus far, with elevated ERAs and WHIPs. And Long, upon his demotion from AAA, has been poor in his three AA starts, with just 6 punch-outs and a 1.85 WHIP in 13 innings. Rodriguez seems like the first starter in line for promotion.
Bullpen thoughts: Austen Williams has looked great since getting moved out of the rotation. Kaleb Fleck has some interesting stats: he’s got an 18/1 K/BB ratio in 10 innings but has an ugly 5.91 ERA (I’m sure his FIP is like 3 points lower). Fleck is too good for AA; he spent all last year in AAA and isn’t proving anything here. Bryan Harper‘s return from injury is going ok .. he’s got nearly a 2.00 WHIP though. Long serving Nats farmhand Dakota Bacus got shelled in four appearances and currently sits on the D/L; he had excellent numbers in 2017 but is getting a bit long in the tooth for AA and I wonder if he’s running out of time. One big name still sits in XST: Nick Lee, who looked promising before injuries derailed his progress.
Who is making a push for promotion? Fleck, JRodriguez, AWilliams
Who is in jeopardy of a demotion (or worse): Bacus
Potomac
(stats link: http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?t=t_ibp&did=milb&cid=436)
- opening day rotation: Crownover*, Sharp, Baez, Mapes, Crowe
- starters: Crownover*, Sharp, Baez, ?, Crowe
- spot starts/swingmen: Pantoja, Howard*, Guilbeau*, McGowin
- bullpen: JMills*, Bourque, Klobosits, RPena, Peterson, Rivera
- demotions: Fuentes
- dl/restricted: Borne*, Mapes
- Missing: Romero*
Rotation thoughts: The only change to the opening day rotation literally happened yesterday, with Mapes dropping to the D/L and (likely) McGowin (freshly taken off the AA D/L and demoted to Potomac) likely to take his place. Mapes has the best starter ERA … but the worst WHIP. Crownover may have the nicest looking stat line, with a nifty 28/4 K/BB ratio and solid peripherals. Perhaps the most important high-A arm may be Wil Crowe and so far he’s more than handling high-A; the 2017 2nd rounder has a great whip, good ratios and is looking like an excellent draft pick. Baez and Sharp fill out the rest of the rotation; both showing mid 4 ERAs and not really being good enough or bad enough to comment on thus far. The one big notable missing name here is Seth Romero, who should be featuring in this rotation as we speak but instead apparently still sits not at XST but at home in Houston. Its hard to prove the “i told you so” guys wrong when it literally took less than a season for his well-publicized maturity issues to come to the forefront.
Bullpen thoughts: Some good and some bad in the bullpen; Rivera and Howard have gotten dinged so far, while Bourque, Mills and Pantoja look solid. Bourque in particular now boasts a 22/4 K/BB ratio in 12 relief innings; like that ratio. 36th rounder Klobosits still looking solid; how exactly was he still around that late in the draft if he’s already succeeding in high-A?
Who is making a push for promotion? Bourque
Who is in jeopardy of a demotion (or worse): Rivera perhaps
Hagerstown (stats = http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?t=t_ibp&did=milb&cid=563
- Opening day rotation: BHill/Braymer*, Raquet*/Acevedo, Tetreault/Bogucki, Alastre/Troop*, Stoeckinger*/Johnston
- Current rotation: Troop*, Raquet*, Acevedo, Tetreault, Alastre, Stoeckinger*
- spot starts/swingman: Johnston, Bogucki, Held, Braymer*
- bullpen: McKinney, Brasher, Fuentes
- promotions: Guilbeau*
- dl/restricted: Howell, BHill
- Cut/Released/FA from 2017: Engelbrekt (retired)
- missing from 2017/XST: YRamirez*, DeRosier, CPena, Simonds, Barnett*, Morse, Dickey, WDavis,
Rotation thoughts: It was clear to this observer that the first few turns through the rotation were in the “tandem starter” configuration, with each of the names in the “opening rotation” throwing roughly 3-4 innings each. That has now settled into the current 6-man rotation, all of which now seem to be getting the lion’s share of the innings each time through. Of the “starters,” only really Raquet has acquitted himself well, though i’m concerned about the lack of swing and miss in his game (19/8 K/BB ratio in 27 innings supporting a 2.28 ERA and a 1.05 whip). The rest of the starters are struggling: Stoeckinger hasn’t walked a soul yet in 24 innings … .but has given up 37 hits for an ugly 7.50 ERA. Tetreault, Alastre and Acevedo each have ERAs north of 7.00. Troop and Hill (both 2017 top-10 round draftees) have been less bad but have room for improvement.
The “tandem” starters have been a different story though. Bogucki and Braymer each have been solid, with Braymer sporting a 23/2 K/BB ratio and a 0.81 WHIP and Bogucki sporting a 20/3 K/BB ratio. I wonder how long it’ll be before these guys become the “starters” instead of the “finishers.”
Bullpen thoughts: There’s really only a couple of real “relievers” in Low-A, but one of them has been quite solid. McKinney has a 14/1 K/BB ratio in just 8 2/3 innings and has yet to give up an earned run.
There’s still a slew of guys technically in “XST” or assigned to the Short-A roster who could fill in here, most of whom have prior Low-A experience and could contribute.
Who is making a push for promotion? Braymer, Bogucki, McKinney
Who is in jeopardy of a demotion (or worse): Acevedo, Alastre
That’s a quick run through the systems. Did anyone want to point out someone in particular who they think needs to be talked about?