Six days away from Opening Day, Syracuse’s preliminary roster has been revealed, with few surprises. 15 of the team’s 25 active players have been Chiefs in the past, with a whopping 16 having major league experience. Top to bottom, it’s quite possibly the strongest Opening Day roster in the five years the Nationals have been affiliated with Syracuse.

So every day from now until the beginning of the season (Thursday at Lehigh Valley), we’ll examine one of the Chiefs’ positional units and throw out some fast facts about each of the players. Today, we’ll begin with the team’s starting rotation, in alphabetical order:

Yunesky Maya

• 2013 will be his 4th straight year with the Chiefs, and likely his 3rd full year (he pitched just two games for Syracuse in 2010).
• Last Year, Maya was 11-10, 3.88 ERA in 28 Syracuse starts…he finished in a tie for the IL lead in games started, third in innings pitched and fifth in BB/9.
• 48-29, 2.51 ERA in six seasons in the Cuban National Series…won the Cuban equivalent of the Cy Young Award in 2008-09.
• His best career start came last July 27, when he came seven outs shy of a perfect game at Rochester before a Chris Parmelee home run that snuck over the right-field wall – the only Rochester base runner of the game.

Ross Ohlendorf

• 18-32, 5.10 ERA in 108 career major league games (73 starts)…38-34, 3.94 ERA in 120 career minor league games (104 starts)
• He’s been traded twice – from Arizona to the Yankees in 2007, and from the Yankees to the Pirates in 2008. The Nationals are his sixth different organization (Boston and San Diego last year).
• He’s a Princeton graduate, and thus smarter than all of us. He majored in Operations Research and Financial Engineering.
• In fact, he interned for the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 2009.
• OK, one more – he wrote a 126-page thesis on the investment and financial return of signing major league draft picks.
• OK, actually one more…he got an “A” on it.

Ryan Perry

• Ryan Perry had what amounts to a cameo as a Chiefs pitcher last year…he threw in 11 early-season games as a reliever with a 4.50 ERA and 23 base runners allowed in 12 innings. He also allowed nine runs in eight innings with the Nationals – six of which came in one outing against Philadelphia, in two-thirds of an inning.
• But things got better when Perry went down to Double-A Harrisburg and turned into a starting pitcher. He threw up a 2.84 ERA in 13 starts and walked just 22 batters in 73 innings.
• Those 13 games were the first ever starts for Perry in his professional career – a career spanning 225 total major and minor league games. The last time he’d started? 2008, with six starts (out of 31 games) for the University of Arizona.
• He has a tattoo on his hand of a skeleton in the MLB logo. And an Abraham Lincoln tattoo. (No word on whether this tattoo also contains an axe and fleeing vampires.)

Tanner Roark

• Don’t let the 6-17 record with Syracuse last season fool you – the respectable 4.39 ERA and 130 strikeouts (fifth in the IL) are better measure of Roark’s debut Triple-A season.
• OK, this is way oversimplifying some things, but – in his 17 losses, the Chiefs scored a total of 31 runs. That’s 1.8 per game. 1.8! Of course he lost 17 games with that kind of run support. (The Chiefs scored 33 runs in his six wins, by the way.)
• He played two innings in left field last year. In case you forgot that happening, or were asleep by that point, here’s a recap.
• He has a GREAT mustache.

Danny Rosenbaum

• Just a few days ago, it looked like he might begin the season with the Colorado Rockies – but Rosenbaum was returned from the Rule V draft after the Rockies decided not to put him on their Opening Day roster, and here he is in Syracuse.
• Last year with Harrisburg, he was 6-0 with a 0.99 ERA after the season’s first nine starts, and 7-2 with a 1.94 ERA after 13 starts.
• …then things went somewhat south, to the tune of a 2-9, 5.76 final three months. His final 2012 numbers: 8-10, 3.94 ERA.
• …and that’s by FAR the worst season of Rosenbaum’s career, after ERAs of 1.95 in 2009 (GCL), 2.25 in 2010 (Hagerstown/Potomac) and 2.52 in 2011 (Potomac/Harrisburg).

Next up – a much shorter look at the eight-man bullpen.

Cuts are starting to come fast and furious in major league camps this week, and today, the Nationals trimmed their roster down to 33, sending eight players down to the minor leagues. The first six, reassigned to Syracuse are:

- RP Erik Davis (1-0, 4.15 in 8 games with the Chiefs in 2012)

- SP Yunesky Maya (11-10, 3.88 in 28 starts)

- RP Ryan Perry (1-1, 4.50 in 11 games)

- C Jhonatan Solano (.250/.298/.288 in 13 games)

- 1B Chris Marrero (.244/.333/.307 in 37 games)

- OF Corey Brown (.285/.365/.523 in 126 games)

And two others reassigned to “minor league camp” that you can expect to see in Syracuse…

- SS Zach Walters (.214/.260/.286 in 29 games)

- SP Ross Ohlendorf

Ohlendorf, who was with the Red Sox and Padres’ organizations last year, is the only one of the eight that wasn’t with Syracuse last year.

All the roster stability is a good thing, even though the Chiefs went 70-74 last year. Davis and Walters have impressed in their first big league camps and are set to get their first full Triple-A years under their belts. Solano and Marrero are coming off of injury-plagued years and are fully healthy. And Perry’s been turned into a starter with more control after spending most of the season at Double-A Harrisburg. As for Brown and Maya, the numbers speak for themselves.

This group joins outfielder Eury Perez, who’s already been reassigned to Syracuse, as 2013′s Opening Day group of Chiefs. More players should join them within the week as the Nationals get set for Opening Day.

One other returning member of the Chiefs is manager Tony Beasley. Check out our conversation with him from spring training here…

http://syracusechiefsradio.podbean.com/2013/03/18/spring-training-interview-tony-beasley/

KB

Yesterday’s gloomy weather has made way for gorgeous, streaming sunlight today in Florida. (And thank you for all of your concerns, of course.)

Jason and I are in Kissimmee today, the home of the Houston Astros, for a split-squad game between the Nationals and Astros. A split-squad game, for the road team, typically means that all the major leaguers stay home – and that’s the case today. Here’s a look at the lineup:

Some of those names will surely be in Syracuse at the start of the season – and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see all of them there at some point in 2013. In fact, Tony Beasley’s managing with Greg Booker and Troy Gingrich by his side – so it’s basically the Astros vs. the Chiefs.

Some first-inning news and notes, with the Astros already ahead 4-0 after one:

- Ross Ohlendorf’s been roughed up a bit in the first, giving up four runs on four hits. One of the bigger ones came from a face familiar to Chiefs fans – center fielder Justin Maxwell. The former Syracuse fan favorite tripled to center field to knock in a run.

- Booker and a Nationals trainer came out to the mound just four batters in to check on Ohlendorf. He stayed in the game, but there’s a minor concern for the right-hander, if nothing else.

- Chris Marrero has adopted the Jayson Werth approach of growing hair – though, thankfully, only in the back. He’s got a lion’s mane flowing from below his red helmet. In fact, quite a few Nats have gone hair-wild during camp.

- Osceola County Stadium – the home of the Astros – is in Florida. This is a fact. From closing your eyes and listening to Lone Star-themed songs such as “God Bless Texas” throughout the pregame, you’d never know.

- Random Jersey of the Day: The fan sitting a few rows in front of us with a Brett Lawrie T-shirt. Lawrie, of course, plays for the Toronto Blue Jays.

More to come…

No, I didn’t forget the “t” – it is currently raining and somewhat gloomy here in (typically sunny) Viera. Of course, I don’t expect anyone up north to cry for us, because “gloomy” weather in Florida does not preclude the wearing of short-sleeved shirts and shorts.

The Nationals are off today, with home games coming up on both Wednesday and Thursday. A couple of notes from yesterday:

- We chatted for quite a while with Ryan Tatusko, a Syracuse hurler in 2011 who spent all of last season with Double-A Harrisburg. Tatusko’s hopeful he’ll be in Syracuse for 2013, and we wouldn’t bet against it. He sported a 3.50 ERA in 82.1 innings with the Senators last year, in what was likely the second-best season of his six-year minor league career. Tatusko also got married in the offseason and pitched down in Puerto Rico in winter ball. He’s an engaging and friendly guy – we’d certainly be happy to see him once again.

- We also met with new Chiefs trainer Jeff Allred, who replaces Atsushi Toriida, the team’s trainer for the last two years. “Sushi” is headed back to Japan, where he’ll be working in the Japanese Baseball League and returning home with his family. We’re sad to see him go, but Allred should step in nicely. He’s been in the Nationals’ system for a few seasons now and gets the bump up from Double-A Harrisburg.

- Zach Duke – an All-Star with the Chiefs last year – was roughed up by the Braves in two-thirds of an inning, allowing three hits and two runs. Despite that, Duke, who’s had an otherwise strong spring, looks like a safe bet to make the Nationals’ roster as a relief pitcher. Washington let left-handers Sean Burnett and Mike Gonzalez go in the offseason, and Duke may be the lone southpaw in the bullpen…

- …unless left-hander Fernando Abad makes the team. Abad, the former Astro, has impressed in camp, and may be in a battle with flame-throwing right-hander Henry Rodriguez for the final spot in the bullpen. Rodriguez is out of options, however, so the Nationals would likely lose him if they don’t keep him on the big league roster.

That’s all for now. Tweet us @ChiefsRadio if there’s something you’d like us to keep an eye on over the week.

Kevin

Good afternoon from sunny Viera, Florida where the Nationals just finished one of their 16 big-league spring training home games.  Stephen Strasburg got the start and was fantastic for the first five innings.  He let up just one hit and struck out five before the Braves got to him in the sixth inning.  The Nats lost 7-2, but a few former Chiefs stood out.

*Tyler Moore blasted his first spring training home run of 2013 in the ninth inning off of compass-named reliever Aaron Northcraft.  When Moore–who hit nine homers in 29 games in Syracuse last year–made contact, the sizable crowd at Space Coast Stadium gasped.

*Corey Brown posted a single in his only at-bat.  That pushed his average to .237.  Got a chance to chat with Corey after the game.  You’ll be able to hear about Corey’s offseason (including his marriage) in our Inside Pitch podcast shortly.

*Bryce Harper went 1-for-3 to lower his spring average to .438.  In one of his at-bats, he showed bunt on the first pitch of the sequence.

Harper leads the Nats with 14 hits this spring in 32 at-bats.  Corey Brown, by the way, is getting a workout–he leads the Nats in ABs with 38.  Anthony Rendon (pronounced Ren-DOHNE) has the most homers on the team with three.  Rendon turns 23 in June and is a good bet to be in Syracuse sometime soon.

Kevin and I will be tweeting updates from @ChiefsRadio and @SyracuseChiefs throughout the week.  Tell us if there’s someone you want to hear about.

Jason

Kev, I don’t know how you could even dream of leaving such pitching excellence off of the list….

#3 Lannimal Planet

….as Kevin said, the pitching for the Chiefs in August was just brilliant.  Duke was fantastic, yes.  The way the season careened and veered for John Lannan, though, is truly something to behold.  In Spring Training, Lannan–like so many Big 8 defenses against Nebraska–fell victim to the option.  Because he had not been sent down to the minors from the big league club in three separate years, Lannan was still a flexible player on the Nationals’ roster.  When the Nationals chose Ross Detwiler as their fifth starter at the beginning of the season and selected Craig Stammen for their bullpen, Lannan was the guy who was shipped to Syracuse.

A year before–in 2012–Lannan started 33 games for the Nationals and put together a mighty fine ERA of 3.30.  So, it seemed as though Lannan was a casualty of what economist-types call frictional unemployment.  That’s basically where an employee can’t find the job that’s right for his or her skill set.  Lannan was, as Major-League pitchers go, on the employment line.

Early in the season, being sent to Triple-A affected him.  He admitted as much.  His ERA through two months was 5.63.   With two weeks left in his season, Lannan’s ERA was 4.89.  Syracuse was en route to the South for quite a late road trip.  Lannan, it was speculated, was headed to the big leagues, to replace Stephen Strasburg.  If you haven’t heard, Strasburg didn’t pitch after September 7th.  Also, M*A*S*H is not still in production, all the triceratops are dead and the iron age has finished.

Lannan was, essentially, playing out the string.  He didn’t pitch like it.   Lannan, as Kevin mentioned in passing, threw 18 innings, gave up 11 hits, struck out 12 and walked just one.  He tossed two complete-game shutouts en route to Washington.

And now, he;s a Philadelphia Phillie.  Good luck to John in finding his way back to the majors for, he hopes, the full season.