AAA OKC Dodgers

The OKC Dodgers just finished a great series against Salt Lake, the AAA affiliate of the Angels, in which they went 5-1 against the Bees. Zach McKinstry is back down with the Dodgers AAA club and is the team leader in batting average at .335 and on-base percentage at .419. Jake Lamb leads the team in home runs at 12, OPS at .905, and Miguel Vargas leads the club in RBIs. It may come as a surprise to find out that Jason Martin, the former Texas Ranger, leads the team in slugging percentage at .531 and doubles with 12. Click on this highlighted area to visit the official stats page. of the OKC Dodgers. OKC is at Reno for their 6 game series this week.

Covid Curveball: Get your copy of the book Covid Curveball, a book written by Tim Neverett that gives a “behind the scenes” look at the Dodger’s 2020 World Championship. I have a copy and have read it multiple times and it is a fantastic book and very well written. For details on how to order, click the picture on the left. Neverett was kind enough to join Dodger Poke so click on the Covid Curveball title for that feature which includes his interview linked at the top.

Comeback Crew: The OKC Dodgers were trailing all day in their game last Wednesday until Jake Lamb tied in with a bases-clearing double in the 9th, then Michael Busch hit the game-winner! Awesome call by OKC Dodgers PxP Alex Freedman too!

Max Muncy: 2 nights before he got called up, Muncy hit a walk-off for OKC. It had a 109 mph exit velocity and traveled 441 ft. so Enjoy!

Andrew Heaney: Heaney was on point with the riding 4 seam & sweeping slider combo in his last start on Thursday for OKC. He went 4.1 innings, K’d 5, & walked none. He’ll have at least 1 more rehab start before the club makes a decision on him. Take a look for yourself!

Zach McKinstry: Zach McKinstry is back in OKC, unfortunately, but is doing his thing again, and that is, making the most of the situation. He just hit his 3rd homer and is hitting .335 with an OPS of .881. McKinstry was kind enough to join Dodger Poke a couple of weeks ago, so for his feature, including an interview linked at the top, click on his name for the direct link.

Marshall Kasowski: Kasowski put up another 0 for OKC Saturday night. He has now gone scoreless in his last 7 outings which spans 6.1 innings & has gone scoreless in 12 of his last 13 spanning 16 innings. His FB, Slider, and Change mix has been on point. Click the picture on the left to see for yourself!

Miguel Vargas: Vargas hit his 10th home run and had 2 RBI today for OKC on Sunday. He now leads the team in RBIs, is 2nd in homers, doubles, and batting average, and is 4th in OPS. He is truly an incredible young offensive player! 

Mitch White: Having had success with LA at the end of last year, and so far this year, surely it was disappointing for Mitch White to find out he was going back to OKC for Sunday’s start. If he felt that way, he didn’t show it though, and, instead, showed how professional he is by going 5.1 innings scoreless w/ 6 K’s. White joined Dodger Poke toward the end of last year, so for his feature, including an interview linked at the top, click on his name for the direct link.

Jake Lamb: Jake Lamb has 2 hits for OKC Saturday night, and now has a 6 game hit streak and hits in 9 out of his last 10 games. He leads the team in home runs with 12, is 2nd RBIs with 39, is 2nd in OPS at .884, and is 4th in average at .270. It has been reported that he has an opt-out coming up, so we’ll see what happens with him, but he is having a great year in AAA OKC.

Robbie Erlin: Robbie Erlin had a great outing for OKC tonight going 5 and giving up no runs. The Oakland native has a batting average against of just .129 in his 2 starts in June and brings 341.2 innings of MLB experience to the pitching depth in the Dodgers system.

Ryan Pepiot: Here’s the latest example of how elite Ryan Pepiot’s stuff is. Watch the inside fastball, tumble/fade changeup combo. Then look at the picture in the last frame & look at how they tunneled off each other but ended in such different locations. This “tunneling” effect, combined with how he knows how to sequence, is why he has “elite” potential. When he’s landing it all for strikes, he makes quick work of MLB hitters. Pepiot has been kind enough to join Dodger Poke twice now and most recently talked about his MLB debut. Dodger Poke has also done a feature cut on the star right-hander that explains how he tunnels and sequences his pitches and how that gives him the ability to be elite, so click on his name for the full feature,. His first interview is linked at the top, and his 2nd interview and feature cut are linked at the bottom of the feature.

Jason Martin: Jason Martin hit his 8th homer of the day for OKC and is hitting .283 with an OPS of .908. Martin now has a 6-game hit streak in which he is 8 for 22, .363 with 2 homers, 6 RBI, and 18 Total Bases. I have to think he’ll be promoted to LA sometime this year, which would be a dream come true for him because he is from the LA area. Martin was kind enough to join Dodger Poke so click his name for his full feature including an interview that is linked at the top.

Tomas Telis: Catcher Tomas Telis had a huge day for OKC with 2 doubles and a single. He’s now hitting .323 and has hits in 6 of his last 8 games, a stretch where he is 9 for 26. He is another fringy AAAA guy that has to be making the club think and adds MLB depth to the organization.

Ryan Noda: Ryan Noda continues to be a stat stuffer!  He is 2nd in homers & walks, a stat that should surprise no one, & is also 3rd in doubles, and batting avg. & OPS. This is the payoff to being a hitter that uses the whole field! Dodger Poke was fortunate enough to talk to Noda towards the end of last year and featured him, so click his name for his full feature including his interview that is linked at the top. 

Drew Avans: Avans has gotten hot. He is hitting .324 so far in June with 10 RBIs and an OPS of .990. He has raised his average by 78 points since April 27th.

AA Tulsa Drillers

The Drillers are in the midst of their longest home stand of the year and just finished a rough series with Northwest Arkansas in which they went 2-4. A weird stat that has no logical explanation is that the Drillers are just 15-5 at home at the beautiful OneOk field. I imagine that will drastically improve as the Summer goes on. Leonel Valera has had a hot start in his time in AA as he is hitting .379, but of the guys who have been with Tulsa for the whole year, Kody Hoese and James Outman are tied for the team’s highest batting average at .284. Outman and outfielder Ryan Ward are tied for the team lead in home runs with 13 and Ward leads the team in RBIs with 36.  Outman leads the team in hits, doubles, walks, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and OPS. The Drillers continue their home stand this week against Wichita who is in first place in the Texas League. Click on this highlighted area to visit the official stats page. of the Tulsa Drillers.

James Outman: James Outman leads the AA Tulsa Drillers in hits, doubles, walks, on-base %, slugging %, and OPS. Outman is also tied for the team lead with Kody Hoese in batting avg. at .284 and home runs with Ryan Ward at 13. Wow! Surely he’s due for a promotion to AAA OKC sometime soon.

Landon Knack: Knack was this week’s main feature on Dodger Poke so click on the picture on the left for his full feature, or on his name to go directly to his interview. Knack features a 4 pitch mix with a fastball that is 93-96, change up at 83-84 with swing and miss tumble and fade, and 89 MPH slider, and a softer breaking ball that sits at 78-79.

Jeren Kendall: Jeren Kendall homered last night, then homered again today, and was on base 3 times. This guy can “disrupt” games as well as anyone when he’s getting on base like he did today. Kendall was kind enough to join Dodger Poke and mentioned that he is trying to get back to the player he always has been, and, there’s no doubt in my mind that he will! Click on his name for his full feature including an interview with him linked at the top.

Ryan Ward: Ryan Ward had 2 hits Sunday for Tulsa and leads the Drillers in RBIs and is tied in home runs. This young Woolie is a Mammoth of a good young left-handed hitter! Ward also joined Dodger Poke and talked all about his background, his career, and his future, so click his name for his full feature that includes his interview linked at the top.

Clayton Beeter: Clayton Beeter went 2 on Saturday, and gave up 0, due in large part to what you’re gonna see in this video on the left. What you’ll see is his riding 4 seam at 85, tumbling change up at 84, slider at 85, then his 4 seam low with carry. I threw in another tumbler for fun. Beeter also joined Dodger Poke and talked all about his background, his career, and his future, so click his name for his full feature that includes his interview linked at the top.

Gus Varland: Gus Varland has moved to the pen, and has been lights out! He was hitting 97 again with a tight slider and a 90 mph change on Saturday night. See for yourself by clicking the picture on the left! He now has gone scoreless in his last 4 since the adjustments have been made. Varland also joined Dodger Poke and talked all about his background, his career, and his future, so click his name for his full feature that includes his interview linked at the top.

Jordan Leasure: Jordan Leasure was hitting 97 Saturday night with his fastball and he paired that with a tight slider. See for Yourself by clicking the picture on the left! Leasure has been overpowering in June and he hasn’t allowed an earned run yet this month. In fact, he has gone scoreless in 5 in a row and 6 out of 7.

Aaron Ochsenbein: If you miss the 92 MPH fastball from Aaron Ochsenbein, you’re getting his split-finger and his slider, &, well, you’re out! The only outing on the year where he has allowed a run was coming off of a stint on the IL. Everything else has been 0’s. Ochsenbein also joined Dodger Poke and talked all about his background, his career, and his future, so click his name for his full feature that includes his interview linked at the top.

Carson Taylor: Catcher Carson Taylor had 2 hits tonight. His consistency is remarkable as he has a hit in all but 12 games this year, but, yet, with his 2 hits Saturday night, he has reached base in 13 straight games. Taylor also joined Dodger Poke and talked all about his background, his career, and his future, so click his name for his full feature that includes his interview linked at the top.

Justin Yurchak: Justin Yurchak is showing signs of starting to hit the ball like we’re all accustomed to seeing him hit. He’s had multi-hit games in 2 of his last 4. Dodger Poke did a feature cut on the Binghampton Alum and broke down what makes him such a good hitter. For that feature cut, click on his name.

Jacob Amaya: Jacob Amaya had a big night for the Drillers on Saturday with 2 hits! He is now hitting .264 with an OPS of .870 to pair with his elite defense at shortstop and unquestioned leadership skills. Amaya also joined Dodger Poke and talked all about his background, his career, and his future, so click his name for his full feature that includes his interview linked at the top and a feature cut linked at the bottom.

Brandon Lewis: Lewis, like Yurchak, is showing signs of getting hot and hitting the way we are accustomed to seeing him hit. He had 3 hits Saturday night and is now 4 for his last 8. He is a tremendous young corner infielder from the LA Area with more than just power, he can hit and hit to all fields. Dodger Poke featured Lewis and also did a feature cut that is linked at the top of his feature, so for his full feature click on his name above.

Andy Pages: Andy Pages hit his 9th home run of the season on Saturday. He now has hits in 19 of his last 24 games and has 4 home runs, 5 RBI, and 23 total bases in June. Pages is an impressive young hitter so click on the picture to see for yourself!

Austin Drury: Thursday night, IMO, was easily the best stuff LHP reliever, Austin Drury has had all year. He hit 95 on the first pitch in the sequence featured, and paired that with a tight slider! Drury threw 1 scoreless tonight! Well Done by the former UNF Osprey Alum!

Gavin Stone: Gavin Stone was 95-96 on his fastball in Tuesday’s start, which I got to see from the front row. This kid is absolute dynamite who, injuries notwithstanding, is 100% on a crash course path with MLB stardom. Dodger Poke featured Stone so click on his name for his full feature that includes an interview linked at the top.

Jose Hernandez: Jose Hernandez is a left-handed relief pitcher that was recently promoted from Great Lakes to Tulsa. Hernandez was the saves leader in the Midwest League when he left the Loons and has an ERA of 1.93 with an over 3:1 K/BB ratio. If he’s not on your radar, he needs to be.

High A Great Lakes:

The Great Lakes Loons just completed the best series of any team at any level in the organization, and that includes LA. The loons entered this last week’s series against 1st place Dayton down 7 1/2 games in the Midwest League standings. After losing the first game, Great Lakes opened up a can of “whoop-ass” and won the next 6 games amongst the rain, cold, and everything else. The Loons are now just 33-24 and just 3.5 games back in the Midwest League. Great Lakes returns home for a 6 game series this week against the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers who are the High A Affiliates of the Brewers.

Jorbit Vivas has been super hot and now leads the team in batting average at .272 and walks with 34. Imanol Vargas leads the team in OPS at .826, and Johnny DeLuca is the ultimate stat stuffer. DeLuca leads the team in home runs with 13, RBIs with 31, stolen bases with 11, and runs scored with 35. Eddys Leonard is having a very good year and leads the Loons in doubles and slugging percentage.

Jeff Belge: Jeff Belge is an 18th-round draft pick out of St. John’s who threw up his 2nd 0 in a row on Sunday since being recalled to Great Lakes. The 6’5 Right-Hander had the back door & back-foot slider to righties working, paired with a 92-94 MPH fastball. See for yourself by clicking the picture.

Kendall Williams: Kendall Williams had another scoreless start Sunday throwing 3, and striking out 8! His 4 seam gives the “rising” effect, split gives the tumble and fade, and slider gives the cut, so he has every shape. Plus, he only walks 1 per start on average, so he really pitches. Williams was kind enough to join Dodger Poke in the off-season, so click his name for his full feature that includes his interview linked at the top.

Kyle Hurt: Kyle Hurt threw a no-hitter this past week,  and was absolutely rolling again on Saturday, but was removed for an undisclosed injury. Here’s a 91 mph slider he threw in the 1st inning. Let that soak in, he threw a 91 MPH slider! Here it is!

Alex DeJesus: This is what you call a frozen rope off the bat of Alex DeJesus. This was his 6th of the year and he is now hitting .271 with an OPS of .903. He’s hitting .324 in June with an OPS of .954. Great young left-side infielder!

Johnny DeLuca: The Loons had a huge win on Saturday and DeLuca’s 2 RBI single in the 1st is a  big reason why. DeLuca leads the Loons in Homeruns with 13, RBIs with 31, stolen bases with 11, and runs scored with 35. This Oregon Duck is really a stat stuffer!

Kevin Malisheski: Malisheshki won a couple of Dodger Poke helmet stickers this week. In his last performance, he came in the 2nd inning after Kyle Hurt had to leave due to injury and went 3, struck out 6, & had the riding 4 seam up in the zone paired with the slider combo working bigtime tonight. Malo hasn’t allowed an earned run in his last 2 outings and 8 out of his last 10.

Jose Ramos: Ramos led the way offensively for the Loons Friday night with 2 hits that included a double and the game-winning hit! Here’s the winner!

Braydon Fisher: Braydon Fisher had some competitive energy working Friday night. The situation in the video was 1 run lead, runner, at 3rd, no outs, and he struck out the side with 96 mph fastballs and 89 mph sliders. Well done and very clutch! has a habit of doing this stuff!

Cole Duensing: Watch Cole Duensing come in and put out a fire! Duensing entered with runners at 1st & 2nd & no outs, then struck out the next 2. He went 2 scoreless striking out 4 & walking none in Friday night’s exciting win over 1st place Dayton.

Antonio Knowles: Knowles has given up just 14 hits in 19.2 innings this year and has an ERA of just 2.75 for Great Lakes. I say it almost every time he pitches, but his slider is one of the best pitches in the organization. It needs a name!

Lael Lockhart Jr.: Lockhart Jr. gave up 2 runs in the 4th inning of Friday night’s game, and the ball left the infield 1 time, in large part to this call that was 100% incorrect, which you can see by clicking the picture! Other than that, he went 5 and gave up just those 2 runs. Lockhart Jr. was kind enough to join Dodger Poke in the off-season, so click his name for his full feature that includes his interview linked at the top.

Ismael Alcantara: Ismael Alcantara had 2 hits  Friday night in the 2nd game for the Loons and both hits were a clinic on how to stay inside the ball and not try and do too much. His 12-ounce cup was filled to the top!

Ryan January: January may be a cold month, but Ryan January is burning hot at the plate. In this week’s Dayton series, as of Friday, January was 4 for 6 with 2 home runs a double, 6 RBI, and 11 total bases. He’s raised his average by 29 points in this series! Dodger Poke featured January a few months ago, so click on his name for the full feature.

Jorbit Vivas: Vivas had 3 hits Thursday for the Loons. Vivas has a 6-game hit streak and has hits in 8 of his last 9 games, a stretch in which he is 11/31 with a home run, 7 RBI, and 16 total bases. Vivas is an explosive young player.

Cole Percival: Watching Cole Percival in the closer role for the Loons has become must-watch TV. Percival ended the dramatic game on Thursday by throwing 2 innings in which he did not allow an earned run, and he has not allowed an earned run in his last 2, and 3 out of his last 4.

Eddys Leonard: Eddys Leonard had 2 hits in the first game of the Loons double header against Dayton on Thursday. Leonard had the game-winning hit in the 8th and also had his 17th double.

Diego Cartaya: Diego Cartaya hit his 11th home run of the year for the Loons in the first game of the Double header Thursday. He has hits in 10 of his last 12 games and is hitting .263 with an OPS of .963 for the year.

Low A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes

Rancho didn’t have video again this week so we will just type up a review of the week. The Quakes went 4-2 at Stockton and are now 32-25 on the year and 2 games back of first-place Lake Elsinore.

Damon Keith continues to lead the Quakes in batting Average at .306, slugging percentage at .513, OPS at .939, RBIs at 32, doubles at 13 and runs scored at 40. He is 2nd on the team in On-base percentage and 3rd on the team in triples with 3. Luis Diaz is tied with Damon Keith with the most amount of home runs with 7 and he also leads the team in stolen bases. Austin Gauthier leads the team in on-base percentage at .444.

Gaige Howard is 4 for his first 8 since being called up to Rancho and he had 2 hits in Saturday night’s game. Yunior Garcia had 3 more hits for the Quakes on Saturday night as well, has hits in 9 for his last 12, and is hitting .484 so far in June with an OPS of .1167. The dude is mashing! Jake Vogel might be the hottest hitter in the organization right now. He ended a 5-game hit streak Sunday which was a streak where he was 10 for 22 with 2 triples, a double, and 15 total bases. This kid has the ability to “disrupt” games as well as anyone in the organization. Austin Gauthier had 2 hits & was on base 3 times for Rancho on Friday. Gauthier is one of my favorite young hitters in the organization because of his approach and how short his swing is. He ended a 9-game hit streak on Sunday where he is 14/34, .412 with 2 triples and 22 total bases. Adolfo Ramirez continues to turn heads as he had another scoreless outing on Thursday which moved his era all the way down to 1.32 and his WHIP down to 1.02. He has had scoreless performances in 6 of his 8 outings so far this year.

The Quakes are home this week for a huge series with the Angels Low A affiliate, Inland Empire for a 6 games series. There will be no video, so, if you’re in the area make sure and get your tickets and go check out the Quakes.