FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE on Thursday, 9/14/17 Potomac Nationals Media Relations Contacts: Mike Weisman 703-590-2311 ext. 219 (Office) 781-929-2755 [email protected] 2017 Potomac Nationals Season in Review Potomac Celebrates 40th Season in Franchise History Woodbridge, VA—A season after the Potomac Nationals were just one out away from a seventh trip to the Mills Cup Championship Series, the P-Nats set their sights on a sixth title quest in 2017. For the fifth consecutive season, Potomac ushered in more than 200,000 fans to The Pfitz. Fans got to enjoy a season of excitement not only on the field, but off the field in celebration of the 40th season in franchise history. INSIDE THE CHALK Armed with multiple top prospects in the Nationals’ farm system and 11 returning players from the 2016 squad, Potomac began the 2017 season well equipped to make a run into the playoffs. The Red, White, & Blue remained in playoff contention nearly all season long, but fell short of another postseason berth in the final week of the 2017 season. The P-Nats ended with an overall record of 63- 77. The Opening Day roster featured five of the top 30 prospects in Washington’s system according to Baseball America. At the top of the list, OF Victor Robles entered as a consensus top prospect in the organization and a consensus top 20 prospect in all of Minor League Baseball. 3B Kelvin Gutierrez began the season with a return trip to the P-Nats as the 16th ranked prospect for the Nationals and rated as the best infield arm for Washington according to Baseball America. INF Edwin Lora (#23), OF Telmito Agustin (#28), and RHP Joan Baez (#29) rounded out the quintet of ranked prospects on the Opening Day roster. The P-Nats got off to a hot start with a 4-2 record over the first two road series of the season, with series victories over the Wilmington Blue Rocks (Kansas City Royals) and Frederick Keys (Baltimore Orioles). The club spent eight days in first place of the Northern Division over the first two weeks of the season, but the club went 8-8 through the rest of April and wrapped up the month at 12-10. Power propelled the P-Nats through the first month of the season. The team hit 22 home runs in April, which included three grand slams. On 4/26 vs. Frederick, the P-Nats connected with a season high four home runs in an 11-3 victory over the Keys. Page 1 of 7 C Taylor Gushue began his Nationals career with a home run in four of his first six games. Traded to the Nationals from the Pittsburgh Pirates in the off-season, Gushue had his best professional offensive season in 2017. Gushue’s team-best 18 home runs tied him for second in the Carolina League, behind only Ademar Rifaela, the Carolina League MVP. Gushue drove in 67, second on the team and fourth in the league. He earned both Carolina League mid-season and postseason All-Star appearances and garnered his first opportunity at the Double-A level, where he played the final four games of the season for the Harrisburg Senators. INF Austin Davidson also broke out of the gates quickly. Davidson recorded two five-RBI games within a span of one week. He set his career high with five RBIs on 4/20 against the Lynchburg Hillcats (Cleveland Indians), and matched that against the Keys on 4/26. Davidson finished the season second on the team in batting average (.272), walks (45), and third in OBP (.354). April was the best offensive month of the season for Potomac. The Red, White, & Blue posted the club’s highest home run total with 22 in 22 games. A .275 batting average was also the team’s best monthly average. As the calendar turned to May, the bats cooled off, but the pitching staff had its best month of the season. On the first day of May, RHP Jefry Rodriguez had the best start of the season for a Potomac pitcher. The right-handed starter took a no-hitter into the eighth inning on the road against the Down East Wood Ducks (Texas Rangers). The performance earned Rodriguez Carolina League Pitcher of the Week honors. Over the rest of the month, the pitching staff posted a 3.68 ERA with 233 strikeouts in 254.2 innings. Potomac went just 12-18 in May despite the strong pitching performance as well as an outstanding effort from Robles. After an injury-riddled April, Robles adjusted to the Carolina League in May, his second go-around in the league. On 5/19, his 20th birthday, Robles had four hits and finished a double shy of the cycle. The young outfielder began a season-high 19-game on-base streak in the month and hit .294 with five home runs and 15 RBIs in 30 games in May. After 41 games with the P-Nats in 2016, Robles played in 77 games for Potomac in 2017. Prior to a promotion to Double-A on 7/12, Robles hit .289 with seven home runs and 33 RBIs. The top prospect was as advertised defensively, with multiple home run robbing catches and sparkling plays all over the outfield. He continued his success with the Senators, where he hit .324 with three home runs and 14 RBIs in 37 games. The 20-year-old made his Major League debut on 9/7 vs. the Philadelphia Phillies, and collected his first MLB hit and RBI three days later, also against Philadelphia. The P-Nats entered June at 24-28 and picked up steam heading into the All-Star break with an offensive surge from 1B Ian Sagdal. The first baseman had his best offensive month of the season, as he hit .330 in 25 games in June. The native of Wenatchee, WA pushed his way into MLB Pipeline’s top 30 Nationals prospects at the start of July. Like Rodriguez in May, RHP Luis Reyes put together an outstanding June, which included a Carolina League Pitcher of the Week award for the first week of the month. On 6/8, Reyes tied his career high with 10 strikeouts, as he pitched eight-shutout frames against the Wood Ducks at Pfitzner Stadium. Over a four-start span, Reyes struck out 35 opponents in just 25 innings. Page 2 of 7 Potomac closed out the first half on a 7-4 run, but finished in third place in the Northern Division at 33-37. The Hillcats and Salem Red Sox (Boston Red Sox) finished in a tie at 40-29 atop the division. Lynchburg earned a playoff spot due to the head-to-head tiebreaker. The P-Nats had four players selected to the Carolina League All-Star Game in 2017. C Taylor Gushue, CF Victor Robles, 3B Kelvin Gutierrez, and RHP Ronald Pena each earned recognition, with the first two appearing in the Northern Division vs. Southern Division battle. The Northern Division picked up the victory 2-0, while Gushue and Robles each went 0-2. Out of the All-Star break, the P-Nats finished with nine games in June and wrapped up the month at 13-14, their second best record in a month during the 2017 season. As the schedule turned over to July, a slow start put the P-Nats into a hole in the standings, one that they were never able to dig out of. The P-Nats went just 11-16 in July, but did get their first walk-off home run of the season, as 3B Dan Gamache hit a one-out, two-run home run to cap off a rally on July 4th. Potomac picked up some steam towards the end of July with some new blood. Over the back half of the month, C Jakson Reetz and CF Daniel Johnson joined the team and made an immediate impact. Reetz bolstered the catching depth and added another top 30 prospect to the team. The 21-year-old hit .236 in 26 games with Potomac, and threw out 38% of attempted base stealers. The P-Nats didn’t feel any impact as quick as that of Johnson. In replacement of Robles, Johnson hit a leadoff home run on the second Carolina League pitch that he saw against the Wood Ducks on 7/22. After just one home run in his first professional season (2016), the New Mexico State alum hit 17 home runs in his first 88 games of full season baseball. In 42 games with Potomac, Johnson hit .294 with five home runs and 20 RBIs. He hit two leadoff home runs, while two more came in the back half of the game to either tie or give Potomac the lead. OF Jack Sundberg joined Johnson in offensive success in the outfield in the second half of July. After a .320 batting average in June, Sundberg followed up with a fantastic July, which included two walk- off hits against the Myrtle Beach Pelicans (Chicago Cubs). His first Carolina League home run walked-off the Pelicans on 8/11. In his second professional season, Sundberg led the P-Nats in batting average (.277), walks (52), OBP (.361), and runs (56). With six wins in the final eight games of July, the P-Nats found themselves in the thick of the playoff hunt entering the final full month of action. Potomac pulled as close as two games back of the final playoff spot, but a sweep at Salem on the second to last road trip of the season and a 1-9 record in the final 10 road games of the slate proved to be too much to overcome.