The Washington Nationals kicked off the 2008 season with a dramatic 3-2 win in the bottom of the ninth by the face of the organization, 3B Ryan Zimmerman, on the opening night at the brand new Nationals Park. Baseball is underway.
Taking a peak at what is going on at the Minor League affiliates:
Columbus Clippers (AAA):
Columbus officially open their season on April 3rd at against the Charlotte Knights. The Clippers 5 man starting rotation is set.
Your Five Starters: Mike O’Connor, Garrett Mock, Collin Balestar, John Lannan, and Tyler Clippard.
On paper, this appears to be a substantially strong rotation. Both Balestar and Lannan are expected to have some type of impact on the Nationals in 2008, with Lannan possibly landing a starting slot in DC, soon rather than later. No need ot go into any further dialogue on my thought son why Lannan should already been in DC, I have written enough about that. Balestar is also considered a starter in the rising, possibly landing in DC this year as well. Next to Lannan, he is considered the next closest to major league ready in a farm system that is suddenly flooded with pitching prospects.
The Nationals have high hopes and really like Garrett Mock as well. Mock was obtained via trade along with current Nats starter Matt Chico for Livan Hernandez. Mock also had a promising winter ball stint that boosted his prestige within the Nationals brass. Tyler Clippard was obtained via trade this off-season with the Yankees. O’Connor put together a nice Spring Training for the Nats to re-energize his prospect, which fell drastically the last two seasons, mostly due to injury.
Harrisburg (AA)
The Senators open up on April 3rd against Akron in Harrisburg. Rsoters are still finalizing, but notables on the Senators:
Pitchers: Reliever Adam Carr. The Nationals invited Carr to the Nats Spring Training late because of their high hopes for Carr and his dominance out of the bullpen at various levels of the minor last season. Two draft picks, David Trahan, and Zechery Zincola will be on taps for the Senators this season.
Position: Lost was 1B slugger Josh Whitesell, who was signed by the Arizona Diamondbacks. In the outfield will be rising prospect Justin Maxwell, who saw some playing time at the end of last season in Washington.
Potomac (A)
The Potomac Nats start out their season on Friday April 4th against Salem.
The Potomac Nationals should have a nice starting rotation, to at least start the season out, before promotions begin. Here are some of the current projected starters: Ross Detwiler, Shairon Martis, and Cory Van Allen.
Notable here of course is Ross Detwiler, the 2007 Nationals first round draft choice. Don’t know how many starts the Nationals plan to give Detwiler in Potomac, but he is expected at some point soon to land in Harrisburg. Detwiler could also be a possible late season call up to the Nationals, although Lannan and Balestar are ahead of Detwiler. Martis had a good year for the Nationals last season posting a 14-8 record with Potomac. Martis also recorded 108 strikeouts to lead the Nats. Josh Perreault should provide steady relief out of the Potomac bullpen. Last season, Perreault was 5-3 with 5 saves in Potomac and an ERA of 3.51.
Offensively, the Potomac Nats will have draft pick Devin Ivany behind the plate. Ian Desmond will help anchor the middle of the infield. Desmond was originally the number one ranked prospect in the organization a couple of years ago, but has since fallen down the list. Last year, Desmond hit .264 with 13 homers and 27 stolen bases. His performance put him back on the radar of the Nationals, which earned him a trip to Spring Training, before being sent to Harrisburg. Leonard Davis will provide the Nats some power. Davis hit .285 with 20 homers and 66 RBIs. last year between Hagerstown and Potomac. Another prospect getting a look is Michael Daniel. Daniel split his season between Hagerstown and Potomac and hit .294 with 11 homers, 35 doubles and 78 RBIs. The Baby Nats will feature the number one prospect in the nationals system, 2006 first round pick Chris Marrero. Marrero is listed by Baseball America as the Nats number one blue chip prospect and he could get a look later int he season in DC. Last year Marrero combined for a .277 average while hitting 24 homers and knocking in 88 runs.
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