THE LEAD: Rough Weekend down on the Farm

Man, it was a brutal opening weekend down on the farm for many of the Washington Nationals' minor league squads. The Nationals' minor league system took a real beating, from Fredericksburg up to Rochester, and it was downright painful to witness. Rain-soaked fields, sloppy play, and some tough losses left fans and analysts alike scratching their heads.

The Fredericksburg Nationals, Low-A affiliates, struggled to find their footing, while the High-A Wilmington Blue Rocks got rocked in their season opener. Even the Triple-A Rochester Red Wings couldn’t escape the chaos, dropping games left and right. It’s early days, but this rocky start has folks wondering if the Nationals' farm system can turn things around—or if this is a sign of deeper troubles brewing for the organization. We are sure that it's just a blip on the radar.

 WASHINGTON NATIONALS MINOR LEAGUE REWIND

Triple-A Rochester Red Wings

Weekly Report from Rochester: Looking Back/Looking Ahead!

The first full week of the season began with the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs playing a six-game series with the Red Wings at Innovative Field in Rochester. The Iron Pigs won their first series of the year five games to one. I could talk about what went wrong, but what I want to focus on at the end of the week is what went right. In the first game on Tuesday, the Red Wings won 10-1. Drew Millas, on Opening Night, provided the fireworks with two triples and a home run and drove in five RBIs.

Another highlight this week on Thursday was Brady House hitting his first home run of the season 428 feet over the center field fence for the Red Wing’s only run in a 3-1 loss. House is leading the team in batting average at .367, an OBP of .424, and an OPS over 1.000. Also playing really well this week was DH Franchy Cordero, hitting his first home run as a Red Wing. His hitting line is.364/ .440/.985. The Red Wings lost the last five games to Lehigh, but on Sunday, after 4.5 innings, were trailing 9-1. Their offense, which had been dormant since Tuesday, started to come alive again. They rallied, scoring seven runs in the second half of the game, but their rally fell short with a 12-8 loss. Putting up a great effort did not go unnoticed by the fans in Rochester, and I hope that the momentum of that rally goes forward into their next series.

Up Next

Rochester travels to Scranton/Wilkes Barre this week to have a six-game series with the Rail Riders (Yankees). The Rail Riders have a record of 5-4. Scranton just finished a series in Syracuse where they won 4 games to 2. Their offense is led by right fielder Grant Richardson .455/.500/1.318 and first baseman TJ Rumfield .303/.395/1.071. The first game of the week starts at 6:35 Tuesday night in Scranton. Chase Solesky will take the mound for the Red Wings and try to end their five-game losing streak. Erick Lear will be pitching for the Rail Riders.

 WASHINGTON NATIONALS MINOR LEAGUE REWIND 

Double-A Harrisburg Senators

The Harrisburg Senators start the season (0-3) after being swept at the hands of the Erie SeaWolves (3-0). Nationals Top 30 prospects, outfielder Daylen Lile, first baseman Yohandy Morales and third baseman Cayden Wallace, were in the lineup for all three games of the series but the latter two struggled at the plate going a combined (2 for 20)with one extra-base hit, seven strikeouts and four walks, Lile on the other hand was the lone bright spot for the trio going (3 for 12) with two strikeouts over the weekend. On the pitching side, Nationals Top Prospect Jarlin Susana went four innings, only giving up one run and striking out seven. Other than Susana, the pitching staff struggled, giving up 20 runs in the three-game set, and to add on to the pitching woes, Senators game two starter Dustin Saenz left the game after only throwing 34 pitches and recording only two outs. His status or reasoning for being taken out is still unknown.

Up Next

Harrisburg Senators will be home playing the Richmond Flying Squirrels (Double-A Affiliate of the San Francisco Giants)

 WASHINGTON NATIONALS MINOR LEAGUE REWIND 

High-A Wilmington Blue Rocks

The Wilmington Blue Rocks (0-3) couldn’t contain the hot bats of the Brooklyn Cyclones (3-0), resulting in the Blue Rocks being down in a (0-3) hole to start the season. The Blue Rocks struggled to score in all three games, only scoring five runs in three games and being shut out in the series finale on Sunday afternoon. Nationals Top 30 Prospects, outfielder Elijah Green, shortstop Seaver King, catcher Caleb Lomavita, and infielder Brenner Cox, struggled to get anything going offensively, all of them going a combined (4 for 31) with 19 strikeouts and four walks. Alex Clemmey, The top pitching prospect who came back from the Cleveland Guardians in the Lane Thomas trade from last Summer labored through his first start of the season, only going three innings and giving up four runs (two earned) on one hit, five walks and got six of his nine outs by-the-way of the strikeout.

Up Next

Wilmington Blue Rocks will be home playing the Hub City Spartanburgers (High A Affiliate of the Texas Rangers)

 WASHINGTON NATIONALS MINOR LEAGUE REWIND 

Single-A Fredericksburg Nationals

The Fredericksburg Nationals (0-3) will return home winless after being swept by the Carolina Mudcats (3-0) to start the 2025 Minor League Baseball regular season. All three games of the series were decided by less than three runs, but unfortunately for the Fred-Nats, none of them went their way. Nationals Top 30 Prospects, outfielder Christian Vaquero and catcher Kevin Brazzell, had a very successful start to their respective seasons at the plate, with Vaquero going (4 for 16) with a run-batted-in, double and five strikeouts in three games and Brazzell going (3 for 10) with a double and one strikeout in two games. The Fred-Nats will also look for better pitching performances upon their return home as they gave up 20 runs in three games to the Mudcats, including a game where they gave up nine in an extra-innings affair.

Up Next

The Fredericksburg Nationals will be home playing the Salem Red Sox (Low-A Affiliate of the Boston Red Sox). This will be our featured minor league team of the week!

WHAT WE THINK THE NATIONALS FRONT OFFICE IS READING

Speed Reads

📌 Phillies Set Highly Touted Prospect's First Minor League Start of Season (Sports Illustrated)

📌 2024 Draft first-rounders headline Saturday's top performers (MiLB)

📌 Oh, no! Athletics' MiLB Affiliate Does Something Not Seen in Past 6 Years (Yardbarker)