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Saturday, June 28, 2008

Questions from the minor league report

Doing my morning reading before heading to D.C. and Nationals Journal (see cool new links off to the right, it takes me a while to learn how to do things) has a tidbit or two of interest.

1. COLLIN'S MAULIN': RHP Collin Balester is 8-1 in 10 starts beginning May 2...the 22-year-old has allowed 2 earned runs or less in his last 5 starting assignments, going 4-0 with a 2.85 ERA (9 ER/28.1 IP) in that span...Balester, selected in the 4th round of the 2004 First-Year Player Draft, is 9-3 with a 4.00 ERA in 15 starts overall...his win total is tied for 2nd in the International League...per Baseball America, the Huntington Beach, CA native entered the season rated as the No. 3 prospect in the Washington system.

The question - so why not Balester instead of Clippard? It is long-term. We won't see Hill for a while.

2. ALL SMILES: Including a 2-for-4 game with a 3-run triple yesterday at GCL Cardinals, INF Smiley Gonzalez has posted multi-hit and multi-RBI efforts in 3 of 4 games to begin the season...overall, he is batting .444 with 2 doubles a triple and a team-leading 7 RBI...the 18-year-old signed with the Nationals as a non-drafted free agent July 2, 2006.

The question - is this dude really 18?

Come say hello tonight and tomorrow. I'm the big, bald guy covering his eyes when a ball is hit to Dmitri.

7 comments:

Unknown said...

Clippard has ML experience and is on the 40-man. Those are the only 2 reasons I could think of. Still, I'd rather see Balester as well.

MikeHarris said...

But with Johnson on 60-day, a 40-man spot is open. Isn't it?

Steven said...

I'd be surprised if we don't see Balester at some point this year.

Seems like the team would just want to make sure it's the ideal situation. I'm not sure what that means, but if caution is the watchword with the higher upside prospect, I'm for that.

I don't have any real evidence, just giving JimBo the benefit of the doubt for once in my life.

Unknown said...

Yes, a spot is open. Bowden could still be over-valuing how much 40-man roster spots are (or just valuing them wrong, after wasting spots on guys like Tony Blanco and Damian Jackson before).

Unknown said...

Our wish came true, Collin is going to start Tuesday!

MikeHarris said...

Heard that as I left a dreary night at the stadium, right before they said that Milledge was on the DL. So there's some good news at least - wonder who goes to make room?

Unknown said...

My guesses are either Lopez (if the trade to Orioles is really imminent), Colome or Orr. We'll also have to make room for Kearns next week.