Meet the AAA OKC Dodgers

Photo Courtesy of MiLB.com Click for the AAA OKC Dodgers full schedule

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The AA Tulsa Drillers might have the best collection of young talent of any team in the Minor Leagues, but AAA OKC might be the most fun to watch. Already in this young season, they’ve won on 2 walk-off hits and a 9th-inning comeback against Vegas in their last series. 

The Dodgers like to compose their AAA roster with a good mix of up-and-coming prospects that have yet to make the Major Leagues with older players that are looking to rekindle a Major League career. 

The Pitchers

Click to watch the OKC Pitching Staff in Action

Matt Andriese, Justin Bruihl, Dylan Covey, William Cuevas, Tyler Cyr, Robbie Erlin, Victor Gonzalez, Adam Kolarek, Jake Reed, Tayler Scott, and Wander Suero are all pitchers on the OKC roster that have MLB experience. Carlos Duran and Robinson Ortiz are prospects that are on the roster, but Duran is recovering from Tommy John Surgery and Robinson Ortiz missed all of last year due to injury and was assigned to OKC directly from the Complex League. 

Of the pitching prospects that don’t have MLB experience, it’s highlighted by Gavin Stone, Mark Washington, Nick Robertson, Justin Hagenman, Marshall Kasowski and Bryan Hudson. Bobby Miller is one of the top pitching prospects in the game that, assumedly, will join the club at a date and time in the future. 

For further detail on each pitching prospect, click on their name for their full feature. 

Catchers

Click to Watch the Catcher is Action

Hunter Feduccia is a tall, lanky, tough, and durable catcher that has had a great start in 2023 dating all the way back to Spring Training. Feduccia is a Louisiana native that went to LSU Eunice out of High School and finished his career at LSU. 

David Freitas, Hamlet Marte, and Patrick Mazeika are the veteran catchers on the roster. Freitas has been with Atlanta, Seattle, and Milwaukee before he was signed by the Dodgers. Marte has been with the club for several years and has always done everything the club has needed, and that includes jumping up, and sometimes down levels, to add a veteran presence for young pitching prospects. Mazeika was DFA’d by the Mets last September, was briefly picked up by San Francisco, and was signed as a Free Agent by the Dodgers last December. 

The Infield

Click the Watch the Infielders in Action

Michael Busch, Devin Mann and Justin Yurchak are the infield prospects in AAA OKC, while Jahmai Jones, Yonny Hernandez, and Luke Williams are infielders on the squad that have MLB experience. 

Williams has been playing shortstop and has gotten off to a very hot start. He’s a very talented player who might seem older than he is because he has been in professional baseball since 2015, but he was drafted in the 3rd Round out of High School, so he’s still only 26 years old. 

Yonny Hernandez brings more than just MLB experience, he brings a lot of speed as well. Hernandez has been with Texas and Arizona at the MLB level and he’s been in professional baseball since 2015. So, like Williams, he seems older than he is, but he’s still just 24, which is younger than many of the prospects in the organization. 

Jahmai Jones brings a bundle of talent to LA and MLB experience with 2 different teams as well, the Angels and the Orioles. Jones was a 2nd Round draft pick, again, back in 2015, but, like Williams, was drafted out of High School, so, he too, is just 25 years old. 

Jones had walk-off hits in back-to-back games during the opening weekend homestand and brings a ton of energy and passion to the organization. 

Michael Busch is one of the best-hitting prospects in the organization that is still looking for a defensive position to call home. He grew up an all-state shortstop, but transitioned to first base at UNC out of necessity, but was then moved to 2nd base in the Cape Cod League. He has been taking ground balls at 3rd base as well, so, as I said, the Dodgers are trying to figure out the best way to get his fantastic hit tool to L.A.

Justin Yurchak might be one of the most underrated prospects in baseball. He hit .365 in 2021, then had a very good 2022 as well, especially in the 2nd half of the season. He’s a 1st baseman, however, that doesn’t hit a ton of home runs, so he’s kind of a tweener in that sense, which is likely why he hasn’t been ranked higher through his Minor League career. 

Devin Mann is the most versatile player in the organization as evidenced by the fact that, while at AA Tulsa, he played every position except pitcher and catcher. He’s tall and lanky, and, when he gets hot, he can carry an offense. 

The Outfielders

Click to Watch the AAA OKC Outfield in Action

Drew Avans, Michael Reed, and Ryan Ward, although he’s mainly played 1st base this year, are the outfield “prospects” on the roster. Bradley Zimmer, Ben DeLuzio, and Steven Duggar are the outfielders on the roster that have MLB experience. 

Zimmer is a 30-year-old that has been with Cleveland, Philadelphia, and Toronto and has 859 MLB at-bats, so he brings a lot of experience. He was DFA’d by Toronto last November and signed by the Dodgers to a Minor League Contract in December. 

De Luzio is a 28 Year Old that spent last season with St. Louis and has 20 MLB at-bats. He was a 3rd Round Draft Pick out of Florida State in 2013, so he is very talented and is looking to use the developmental system of the Dodgers to jump-start his MLB career. 

Duggar is a 29-year-old that brings quite a bit of MLB experience to the organization. In fact, he has 776 MLB at-bats and has been with 3 different MLB clubs, San Francisco, Texas, and the Angels, and is looking to make the Dodgers his 4th. 

Drew Avans is an outfield prospect that might be my favorite player to watch in terms of the type of game he plays. He bunts, he steals bases, he takes the extra base, he hits sacrifice fly balls, he hits behind runners and he plays great defense. He’s a great player that just needs a chance at the MLB level. 

Ryan Ward has been playing mainly 1st base early on but is one of my favorite young hitters in the game and improved tremendously in left field last year with AA Tulsa. He is the only hitter in Bryant University to hit over .400 for a season, and, last year, he was a premier slugger. His combo of power and the ability to hit for average is very, very good. 

If you haven’t had the chance to get out to the Bricktown Ballpark yet, no worries, there are plenty of home games left. Click the schedule below to link to the full schedule. 

Also, visit the team’s official website for anything and everything you might need to know about the AAA OKC Dodgers. 

Official Website: https://www.milb.com/oklahoma-city

Click for the AAA OKC Dodgers Schedule

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Author: casey.porter

I have been a teacher and coach at Guthrie Public Schools for almost 30 years. I taught Special Education for the first 18 years of my teaching career and have taught US History and AP US for the last 10. I have been a coach at the High School level for 30 years and have been a Head Coach in multiple sports, most recently being Baseball at Guthrie High School. I love baseball and I love the Dodgers, and being located in Oklahoma, I have the chance to go to several Drillers and OKC games each year and love covering the Minor League teams.

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