Minor League Monday

Columbus Clippers- Elijah Dukes- Dukes made his debut in Columbus on his road back from injury Friday, going three for four with a double and a snagged base. So far his rehab with the Clippers has been pretty successful, he is striking out a bit more then the Nats would probably like (3 in 10 at bats), but after a few games in the minors he should work his kinks out. Overall he is batting .400, with a double, a triple and 3 RBI’s.


Harrisburg Senators- Luke Montz, who we wrote about last week as being red hot, hasn’t cooled down a bit. The 24 year old catch is batting .333 in the month of May with 5 RBI’s and a pair of bombs. Montz may be playing his way right out of double A at this rate, especially with the Nats deciding to keep 3 catchers on the big league club. The truth still remains for Montz however, that there is a stopgap between him and the majors as he is the 5th or 6th string catcher. For the Nats though, a 23 year old catcher with an OPS of 1.127 may be a good bargaining chip at the trade deadline.


Potomac Nationals- Cory Van Allen- The 23 year old lefty is starting to turn some heads after a one hit, seven inning performance last Tuesday where he struck out four and walked none. With those seven scoreless innings he has no ratcheted up 18 in a row. Van Allen is old for his status in the minors but is moving up the ranks at a very fast pace. In 5 games Van Allen is 3-0, with a 0.66 ERA, 0.93 WHIP19 K’s and only 7 walks. Look for him to continue to quickly move up the system, he’s a college guy, from Baylor, so he’s had the benefit of good coaching already.