The Nationals took a ton of heat for not signing right-handed pitcher Aaron Crow last season — the team’s first-round draft pick at No. 9 overall. The only silver lining was the compensation pick the team received at No. 10 in this year’s draft. Reliever Drew Storen endured a shaky start at low-A Hagerstown. But he began to dominate at that level and was promoted to Single-A Potomac, where Storen pitched three scoreless appearances with seven strikeouts and no walks. That’s the kind of dominance that some believe gives Storen a shot at a big-league callup. Thursday he finally gave up his first Carolina League run, an eighth-inning walk leading to a double and a blown save. But Storen earned the win when Potomac scored in the bottom of the inning and he retired the side in order in the ninth.
Left-handed pitcher Jack McGeary, 20, has settled down since joining short-season A Vermont in June. He has a 2-2 record and a 2.62 ERA in 34 1/3 innings. That’s a big improvement on his numbers at low-A Hagerstown, where McGeary’s ERA was 6.79 in 13 starts (55 2/3 innings). But with so little pitching experience — McGeary spent his first two years after a sixth-round selection in the 2007 draft attending Stanford and playing pro ball for short stints in the summer — command has been an issue. McGeary has 69 walks this season, including seven in just four innings Thursday night for the Lake Monsters.
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When he was chosen in the second round of last year’s MLB draft, outfielder Destin Hood was described as a raw athlete who had the potential to turn into a middle-of-the-order bat. So far, so good for the 19-year-old, who hit .330 with a 1.001 OPS with the Nats’ Gulf Coast League affiliate. The organization had seen enough and Hood was quickly promoted to Vermont, where he entered the weekend 4-for-14 (.286).
