What an exciting night in the Nats’ minor league system with last inning wins by Fredericksburg in Class-A and Rochester in Triple-A. Also, Harrisburg in Double-A had a blow-out win. Unfortunately, the big league club, the Washington the Nationals, lost a tough game to end their series with the D-backs. Keibert Ruiz had two of the Nats’ five hits as he tallies another multi-hit game.
Donovan Casey returned to Rochester in a big way, smacking a homer and singling as one of the standouts in a winning effort from the Red Wings. Luis Garcia also stayed hot with three singles including the go-ahead RBI in the top of the ninth. Joey Meneses smacked two homers to best everyone in Rochester in this game.
At Class-A Fredericksburg on the road, Rodney Theophile was on the bump for the FredNats as he put together his third quality start in a row. Unfortunately he gave up a few runs, so his ERA is no longer 0.00, but I’ll take 1.80. Theophile is a large presence on the mound and pounds the zone with his cut-heavy fastball. Tonight he didn’t throw his off-speed much, but he doesn’t need to when his fastball is that effective. On the offensive side, Jeremy De La Rosa had two hits and a stolen base. De La Rosa has started the year off hot with a .926 OPS – a major improvement from 2021. FredNats’ catcher Steven Williams (2-5) had the game-winning hit in extra innings with a single. Brady House knocked in two runs with two singles. Viandel Pena and Yoander Rivero (29th ranked prospect) each tallied two hits. Rivero has only had 21 at-bats and already has eight hits with a 1.107 OPS.
Drew Mendoza put together another good game with his fourth double of the young season for High-A Wilmington. He’s a former 3rd rounder who’s had competitive at bats as of late. Israel Pineda is another top prospect who’s struggled previously, but has done a good job early.
The player of the night was Jake Alu for Harrisburg Double-A. Alu went 5-for-6 with a double, three RBIs and two runs scored as our #1 minor leaguer last night in the #Nats system. Richard Guasch ,who was acquired in the Yan Gomes and Josh Harrison blockbuster trade, had 5 2/3 scoreless innings while striking out seven batters. Guasch was ranked as having the “Best Slider” in Oakland’s Minor League system according to Baseball America.
It was a good night for Nats prospects and young stars.
