Sharp brilliant in Senators' debut
On Thursday, when Sterling Sharp and the rest of Class A Advanced Potomac's starters learned Nationals starter Jeremy Hellickson was making a rehab appearance with the club, they wondered whose spot the 31-year-old would take in the rotation. Ten minutes later, they had their answer. Hellickson would pitch on Sharp's day.
On Thursday, when Sterling Sharp and the rest of Class A Advanced Potomac's starters learned Nationals starter Jeremy Hellickson was making a rehab appearance with the club, they wondered whose spot the 31-year-old would take in the rotation.
Ten minutes later, they had their answer. Hellickson would pitch on Sharp's day. But in an effort to have him on the mound every five days, Sharp was sent to the Eastern League to keep him on schedule.
The right-handed Washington prospect turned in a stellar Double-A debut, allowing one hit and two walks while striking out five over seven innings as Harrisburg blanked Akron, 6-0, on Sunday afternoon at Canal Park.
Gameday box score
"I was excited," Sharp said. "I was just ready to prove to myself that I could pitch at this level and higher levels. So I was just excited that I had the chance to."
The 2016 22nd-round pick let the RubberDucks put the ball in play three times as he cruised through the first inning and fanned Indians No. 6 prospect Willi Castro, who became the first baserunner on a wild third strike. Catcher Matt Reistetter nailed Castro stealing and Sharp walked Connor Marabell before snagging a line drive off the bat of Mark Mathias to end the second.
"That was very important," the 22-year-old said of his clean first. "My first outing up here, I knew to attack and get quick outs and that would help me settle in."
Akron's lone hit off Sharp came in the third and it didn't even leave the infield. Sicnarf Loopstok rolled a slow grounder to third baseman Jake Noll, who didn't have a play after charging the ball. The Drury University product walked 25th-ranked Tyler Krieger on four pitches with two outs, then retired Joe Sever on a forceout.
The RubberDucks deployed six lefties in its lineup against Sharp, who likes to counter left-handed hitters with his sinker low and away.
"That's my bread and butter," he said. "It kind of played into my strengths. Through all of Minor League ball, that's what I've been telling myself, just pitch to my strengths."
The sinker was mixed with a changeup and Sharp also showed some of his slider. He was perfect over his final four innings and retired the final 13 batters. The Southfield, Michigan native realized he was in a groove when he set the side down in order in the fifth after the Senators put up a three-spot in the top half of the inning.
"It was that shutdown inning," Sharp said. "It was pretty quick. I landed a couple of sliders."
He threw 57 of 89 pitches for strikes and recorded 11 ground-ball outs.
"I always joke around with the guys, saying groundouts are my strikeouts," Sharp said. "I love seeing groundouts to the infield guys."
Debuts haven't always come easy for him. Last August, the righty surrendered seven runs -- six earned -- over six innings in his first start for Class A Advanced Potomac. He was back with the P-Nats to start this season, going 5-3 with a 3.16 ERA in 14 starts prior to his promotion.
Mere hours after the game, Sharp had cleared airport security and was waiting in the terminal for a flight to rejoin Potomac. Although his stay with the Senators was short-lived, he intends on pitching for Harrisburg again in the near future.
"Since I know that I can and proved that I can pitch at this level, I just have keep doing what got me promoted up here," he said. "Basically force their hands, keep pitching as well as I can, and let management take care of what they have to take care of after that.
"I've got that same motivation that I had to get here in the first place, knowing that I could pitch up here. Now, just do what I did up here, knowing that I did my job well while I was here and hopefully get that callup again pretty soon."
The 6-foot-4 170-pound hurler turned the ball over to Roman Mendez, who nailed down the Senators' fourth shutout of the season by allowing one hit over two frames.
Nationals No. 3 prospectCarter Kieboom lined a run-scoring double and Austin Davidson went 3-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored for Harrisburg.
Chris Bumbaca is a contributor for MiLB.com based in New York. Follow him on Twitter @BOOMbaca.
Orioles' Honeycutt joins The Show Before the Show
Check out the latest episodes of The Show Before the Show, MiLB.com's official podcast. A segment rundown is listed below, in case you want to skip to a particular section. Like the podcast? Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts. The podcast is also available via Spotify, Megaphone and other
Red Sox prospect rips double THROUGH Fenway-esque scoreboard
Red Sox No. 4 prospect Franklin Arias, an infielder for High-A Greenville, REALLY didn’t want to let visiting Asheville score any runs in the top of the eighth inning on Friday night. With runners on first and second base in the bottom of the fourth, Arias showed he apparently held
April's hottest hitting prospects -- one for each organization
The Minor League season is a month old and several of the game's best hitting prospects are off to fast starts. Red Sox outfielder Roman Anthony is tearing up Triple-A (just like he did at the end of last year), Padres shortstop Leo De Vries is leading the High-A Midwest
Check out the best -- and wackiest -- Minor League promos happening in May
Benjamin Hill travels the nation collecting stories about what makes Minor League Baseball unique. This excerpt from the Baseball Traveler newsletter, presented by Circle K, is a mere taste of the smorgasbord of delights he offers every week. Read the full newsletter here, and subscribe to his newsletter here.
MiLB podcast coming LIVE to a Somerset this June
Check out the latest episodes of The Show Before the Show, MiLB.com's official podcast. A segment rundown is listed below, in case you want to skip to a particular section. Like the podcast? Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts. The podcast is also available via Spotify, Megaphone and other
New ballparks highlight 2025 MiLB road trip stops
Benjamin Hill travels the nation collecting stories about what makes Minor League Baseball unique. This excerpt from the Baseball Traveler newsletter, presented by Circle K, is a mere taste of the smorgasbord of delights he offers every week. Read the full newsletter here, and subscribe to his newsletter here.
Minor League Baseball partners with TruGreen
FRANKLIN, Tenn. -- TruGreen, the nation's leading lawn care treatment provider, is proud to announce a groundbreaking partnership with Minor League Baseball that includes activations across all 120 clubs, a makeover of the home dugout in each market, sponsorship of select MiLB team grounds crews, and a new initiative called
Podcast explains why the Syracuse Mets are looking for Jim Morrison
Check out the latest episodes of The Show Before the Show, MiLB.com's official podcast. A segment rundown is listed below, in case you want to skip to a particular section. Like the podcast? Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts. The podcast is also available via Spotify, Megaphone and other
Dash im-prom-tu promo and Mets' Suero joins the podcast
Check out the latest episodes of The Show Before the Show, MiLB.com's official podcast. A segment rundown is listed below, in case you want to skip to a particular section. Like the podcast? Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts. The podcast is also available via Spotify, Megaphone and other
Minor League Baseball partners with Circle K
Minor League Baseball announced a new national partnership with Circle K, which will see the convenience store giant become the “Official Convenience Store of Minor League Baseball.” During the 2025 season, the Circle K brand will be integrated into the MiLB in-stadium experience through in-game video board assets at most
These 15 moments led to season No. 15 of Minor League road trips
Benjamin Hill travels the nation collecting stories about what makes Minor League Baseball unique. This excerpt from his newsletter is a mere taste of the smorgasbord of delights he offers every week. Read the full newsletter here, and subscribe to his newsletter here.
MiLB podcast crew makes Opening Day predictions
Check out the latest episodes of The Show Before the Show, MiLB.com's official podcast. A segment rundown is listed below, in case you want to skip to a particular section. Like the podcast? Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts. The podcast is also available via Spotify, Megaphone and other
Everything you need to know for Triple-A Opening Day
First, there was big league Opening Day. Now it's Triple-A's turn to take the spotlight. The Minor League season opens Friday when the Triple-A International League and Pacific Coast League seasons get underway for the first of MiLB’s two Opening Days. And right out of the gates, several of baseball's
Top prospects to watch at Triple-A -- one for each organization
It’s Triple-A’s turn up to bat on Friday. The regular season begins for the Minor Leagues’ highest level one day after the action starts on the Major League side. Fun fact: it’ll be the earliest start to a Minor League season since 1951 (March 27). Double-A, High-A and Single-A will
Here's where every Top 100 prospect is expected to start the season
The 2025 Opening Day prospect roster announcements began last week when the Cubs informed Matt Shaw (MLB No. 19) he was making the trip overseas to compete in the Tokyo Series. Roki Sasaki (No. 1) also received the good news, but his assignment was much less of a surprise. Now
Nationals prospect King joins MiLB podcast
Check out the latest episodes of The Show Before the Show, MiLB.com's official podcast. A segment rundown is listed below, in case you want to skip to a particular section. Like the podcast? Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts. The podcast is also available via Spotify, Megaphone and other
Here are the 2025 All-Spring Breakout Teams
Fifteen games, several jersey swaps and countless highlights later, the second edition of Spring Breakout has officially concluded – and it lived up to its billing. Of the 16 contests sprinkled across four days, only one game (Dodgers vs. Cubs) was rained out. Coincidentally, the Cubs were one of two
Rox young sluggers aim to bring pop back to Coors Field
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Coors Field may provide the best run-scoring environment in Major League Baseball, but the Rockies haven’t taken advantage of it in recent years. Even without adjusting for Coors, they have fielded offenses worse than the league average the past three seasons, and they scored the fewest runs
Astros brass sees potential in consistently 'underranked' farm system
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- The last time the Astros landed in the top 10 of MLB Pipeline’s farm system rankings was before the 2019 season. Since those rankings expanded to all 30 teams ahead of the 2020 season -- 11 lists in total -- they’ve never ranked higher than
Complete results and highlights from Spring Breakout
The second edition of MLB Spring Breakout is complete, and there was no shortage of highlights from the future stars of Major League Baseball over the four-day showcase. Here's a complete breakdown of the 16-game exhibition:
Southpaw Spring Breakout: White Sox future on display with Schultz, Smith
GLENDALE, Ariz. -- If all goes as planned for the White Sox, left-handers Hagen Smith and Noah Schultz won’t spend much time following each other to the mound in a single game. Schultz, the No. 1 White Sox prospect and No. 16 overall, per MLB Pipeline, and Smith, who is
In first pro game, Rainer offers pop, promise to Tigers fans
NORTH PORT, Fla. -- Bryce Rainer’s pro career consisted of workouts and batting practice until Sunday.
'Me and Brady on the dirt again': House, King reunite at Spring Breakout
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- The 2025 Spring Breakout was a flashback for Brady House and Seaver King. Over 10 years ago, the infielders were travel ball teammates in Georgia who shared the dream of making it to the Major Leagues. Now, they are top prospects in the same organization,
Lambert -- 'an adrenaline guy' -- hoping to be next Mets bullpen gem
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Ryan Lambert loves throwing hard. He relishes the idea of getting to two strikes and blowing hitters away. “Get me in a game,” Lambert said, “cool things will happen.”
Stewart embraces Spring Breakout: 'What's not to love?'
PHOENIX -- Sal Stewart was one fired-up Reds prospect. On Sunday in the first inning during the organization's 9-7 Spring Breakout win over Brewers prospects, Stewart lifted a 2-2 pitch that sailed over the center fielder's head to the wall. Already not known as a speedster, he stumbled running between