When the Nationals announced the Hagerstown Suns roster, I knew it would keep me busy. Here is a quick overview of the season so far: (Note: All stats as of 5/8/17)
Juan Soto – Currently batting .360/.436/.523 with 10 walks and only 8 strikeouts. He is 18 years old. “You go Juan Soto” #fireemoji However, he was put on the 7 day DL on May 4.
Carter Kieboom – Currently batting .333/.402/.590. It is really nice seeing that he has also hit 2 homers on the young season. However, the 6 errors so far is a little bit concerning.
Sheldon Neuse – Currently batting .261/.338/.417. He also has also stolen 8 bags. However, strikeouts have been a problem. He has 28 in 126 PAs which calculates to a 22% rate.
McKenzie Mills – 2.90 ERA/0.97 WHIP with 40 strikeouts and 7 walks. In a recent game, he had 9 strikeouts in 5 innings but also had 3 walks.
Sterling Sharp – As a starter, he has a 1.59 ERA/0.71 WHIP with 18 strikeouts and 2 walks. In a recent outing, he put up 8 strikeouts while walking none.
Quick thoughts. I love seeing the patience and power from Soto. If he keeps this up, he will see AA Potomac soon. It is also nice to see some power from Kieboom early in the season. Those strikeout numbers for Neuse is not good but seeing as this is his first taste of A ball, those numbers should come down. McKenzie Mills is looking great to start the season. I see a promotion to Potomac by mid-season. I’m loving seeing what Sharp has done this season. It will be interesting to see if the strikeout numbers persist.
Stay tuned for more of my Nationals farm system updates as we go through the season. I’ll spotlight players who may get the call to the majors, look at who’s taken by Washington in June’s MLB Draft and any International signings they might make in July.
Shelly Verougstraete is the Nationals writer here at Prospects1500. Even as a diehard Red Sox fan, and author of sabermetric based Red Sox blog greenmonsterbb.wordpress.com, the goal here is to keep you up to date with all the happenings down on the Nats farm. Shelly lives in Virginia and has many minor league parks (A to AA) close by. Let's Go Nats!
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Shelly Verougstraetehttps://www.prospects1500.com/author/nationals002/
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Shelly Verougstraetehttps://www.prospects1500.com/author/nationals002/
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Shelly Verougstraetehttps://www.prospects1500.com/author/nationals002/
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Shelly Verougstraetehttps://www.prospects1500.com/author/nationals002/
Kieboom has 9 2B and 6 HR already. I’m buying.
Agreed! I hope he gets the call up to AA soon. That is where the big test will be.
I’ll be completely honest and a bit nitpicky perhaps, but…
I don’t see how an overview of this roster happens without discussing Daniel Johnson. For a guy who got 70-80 grades on his arm and speed, and was billed as a project at the plate:
327/382/594/976
7.5% BB rate
15.5% K rate
.267 ISO
Tied for team lead in HRs with 6
No crazy BABIP schenanigans in his line (.346)
What about Blake Perkins? He’s been really solid thus far, stealing bases and hitting for decent avg., he’s only 20 yrs of age too, anything here?