Nats Clients Shining At Every Level

While the Washington Nationals may be ridiculed by casual sports fans and members of the media, the team’s farm system actually is not all that bad.  Dynasty is fortunate to have a stud at three different levels, making a push to be a part of the organization’s bright future.

At Class AA, Atahualpa Severino, one of Dynasty’s newest clients, received a call-up to the Harrisburg club earlier this year.  At first, Ata had a rough time adjusting to the new level.  In July, he had a 7.11 ERA with the team, but nobody was worried.  He bounced back to have a ridiculous August, where he was inserted into 9 games, threw 13.1 innings, and only allowed the opposition to bat .146 against him.  In the 9 games, he picked up 2 saves and 5 wins.  And he did not give up a single earned run in the month.  Ata has already begun to put together a solid September, picking up a win in his first appearance of the month last night.  He went 1.1 innings and struck out 3 batters.  Remember that 7.11 ERA in July?  It’s now sitting at 2.14, which looks very good next to his 6-0 record.

One class below Ata, and a former teammate of Severino, Dan Leatherman has been the staple of the High A Potomac Nationals.  No reliever on the team has logged more innings this year than Dan, who has a total of 69.2 after last night’s performance.  Last night, he came into a tie game in the 8th inning, and pitched 2 innings of no hit, no walk, no run ball, to keep the P-Nats in contention.  Dan also had 3 strikeouts.  The P-Nats won the game in the 11th.  The P-Nats have relied on Dan all season.  He has finished 20 of the 41 games he has appeared in and boasts a very impressive 1.25 WHIP.  His K/BB ratio is also right about 3/1 and Dan’s ERA is a respectable 3.23.  Dan also has 5 saves to go along with his 6-1 record.  While we have been hoping to see Dan called up to AA Harrisburg for quite a while, we know that it is just a matter of time before he is given a chance at a higher level and impresses with that team, as well.

And then there is Gary Amato, formerly of the Pirates organization.  He was cut only two days after we decided to bring him on as a client, and instead of worrying, we found him a new home in the Nationals organization.  He developed some new pitches and worked on his technique in Extended Spring Training.  When he was ready to move on, he was placed in Class A Short-Season Vermont with the Lake Monsters.  Amongst relievers on the team, he is 2nd in innings pitched, with a total of 35.1.  In that span, Amato has yet to give up a single homerun, has a little better than a 4/1 K/BB ratio, and has only allowed the opposition to bat .180 against him.  In August, opponents really couldn’t hit Amato.  Collectively they had a.145 batting average against him in the month.

All three players have very bright futures ahead of them.  The Washington Nationals have a huge need for pitchers with the big league club.  Severino, Leatherman, and Amato will be ready to help out as they continue to rise up the ranks of the organization.