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• (ed. note - "This has only appeared in one place so far, (and was retweeted early in the a.m. by @NFA_Brian), so until it's confirmed it's just rumor, but the official Twitter of the Sports Radio 620 announce team (Jason Benetti and Mike Couzens) that calls Syracuse Chiefs' games, (@chiefsradio) has a Retweet on their front page that reads as follows, "RT @cespi7 Woken up at nearly 1am to hear that my brother was called up to the major leagues! SOOO PROUD @DE818." Click on those Twitter account links and draw your own conclusions.")
• SI.com's Joe Lemire has future-Nats' pitcher Yunesky Maya, the Cuban-born international free agent who was signed in late July, listed as one of his Top 10 September call-ups to look for in an article entitled, "Hard-throwing Chapman tops the 10 September call-ups to watch", writing that the 28-year-old right-hander, "...is expected to join fellow Cuban Livan Hernandez in the Nationals' rotation, though Maya won't be going very deep in games."
• While introducing the Nats' 2010 1st Round pick Bryce Harper to the baseball media in the nation's capital last week, DC GM Mike Rizzo told the press, when asked, that the plan for the 17-year-old catcher-turned-outfielder was to have Harper, "play in the Florida Instructional League with the rest of our top prospects, and that will begin in about two weeks, and from there, we're not sure. There's a possibility that he could play in the Arizona Fall League. We're going to take that step by step, and then he'll prepare for Spring Training next season."
• The Nats' prospect who will participate in the AFL, barring any changes (see: Norris, Derek):
• Adam Carr (RHP): '06 18th Round pick out of Oklahoma State, 26-years-old. 2010 Stats: Double-A Harrisburg: (6-1), 5 SV, 3.04 ERA, 2.70 FIP, 36 G, 50.1 IP, 14 BB (2.50 BB/9), 48 K's (8.58 K/9). Triple-A Syracuse: (0-1), 2.55 ERA, 13 G, 17.2 IP, 10 BB (5.06 BB/9), 15 K's (7.64 K/9).
• Cole Kimball (RHP): '06 12th Round pick out of Centanary College (NJ), 24-years-old. 2010 Stats: Class-A Potomac: (3-0), 6 SV, 19 G, 24.2 IP, 1.82 ERA, 2.23 FIP, 8 BB (2.92 BB/9), 27 K's (9.85 K/9). Double-A Harrisburg: (4-1), 2.13 ERA, 35 G, 50.2 IP, 29 BB (5.15 BB/9), 69 K's (12.26 K/9).
• Sammy Solis (LHP): '10 2nd Round pick out of San Diego University, 22-years-old. 2010 Stats: (9-2), 3.42 ERA, 15 G, 14 GS, 92.0 IP, 82 H, 45 R, 35 ER, 5 HR (0.5 HR/9), 29 BB (2.8 BB/9), 92 K's (9.0 K/9).
• Derek Norris (C): '07 4th Round pick out of Goddard, HS - Kansas. 2010 Stats: Class-A Potomac: 86 G, 64 for 273, .234/.420/.414, 16 2B, 11 HR's, 44 RBI's, 82 BB, 85 K's, 51% CS.
• Stephen Lombardozzi (2B): '08 19th Round pick out of St. Petersburg College, FL, 21-year-old. Class-A Potomac: 110 G, 129 for 507, .293/.370/.409, 30 2B, 9 3B, 1 HR, 38 RBI's, 20 SB. Double-A Harrisburg: 19 G, 23 for 75, .307/.366/.547, 5 2B, 2 3B, 3 HR's, 8 RBI's, 3 SB.
• Michael Burgess (OF): '07 1st Round pick out of Hillsborough, HS, FL, 21-years-old. Class-A Potomac: 101 G, 101 for 386, .262/.351/.430, 21 HR, 4 3B, 12 HR's, 70 RBI's. Double-A Harrisburg: 13 G, 11 for 45, .244/.358/.511, 2 2B, 2 3B, 2 HR's, 6 RBI's.
Last season it was pitchers Drew Storen, Stephen Strasburg, Jeff Mandel, Josh Wilkie, Danny Espinosa, Chris Marrero and Sean Rooney playing for the Phoenix Desert Dogs. This time around the Nats' prospects will play for Double-A Harrisburg Skipper Randy Knorr and the Scottsdale Scorpions in Scottsdale, Arizona's aptly named Scottsdale Stadium, the spring home of the San Francisco Giants. The first game of the AFL season is scheduled for October 12, 2010 at 6:35 pm MST.