Down on the Farm
The Dodgers affiliates combined for 44 runs on Sunday, led by OKC, who played slow-pitch softball with the Albuquerque pitching after getting off to a slow start to the week. That slow start was shocking because games in Albuquerque are routinely very high scoring and long, and, quite honestly, hard to watch.
James Tibbs III continues to rake, Kiké Hernandez got a bunch of at-bats, Alex Freeland is doing what he’s supposed to since being demoted, Jack Suwinski is showing a short swing to add to his pop, and the OKC pitching was good in spots. Especially Christian Romero, who had maybe his best outing in AAA this past week.
Zyhir Hope went crazy with the long ball, Josue DePaula has slowed, but is fine, Kendall George is the fastest baseball player on the planet, and he’s learned how to use it and Roque Gutierrez opened up a can as the starter on Sunday in what was supposed to be a bullpen game.
Great Lakes is probably the best overall “TEAM” in the system, and is only gonna get better with the promotion of Emil Morales, although I can’t imagine they’ll have Mike Sirota much longer. Although there’s a HUGE logjam of outfielders in the system. Brooks Auger turned in a great start for the Loons over the weekend, and Alex Makarewich threw some lightning bolts to home plate on back-to-back nights. Joendry Vargas broke out for the Ontario Tower Buzzers, and Mason Estrada has looked super impressive in his last couple of outings.
Those are some cliff notes, now, let’s dive in!
OKC – Typical Trip to Albuquerque
The Comets pounded Albuquerque 20-8 on Sunday in one of, if not the best, offensive games of the year by any affiliate all year.
Top Offensive Performers
James Tibbs III raking, going 3-for-4 with two doubles, four RBIs, two walks, and four runs scored. Tibbs raised his average to .314 with a 1.038 OPS and continues to make hitting AAA pitching WAY too easy.
Chuckie Robinson, the veteran catcher, had a monster day offensively, finishing 5-for-6 with two doubles, a three-run homer, and six RBIs, and is now hitting .310 with an .846 OPS. Robinson was with the Dodgers last year, and played one game with LA, then got DFAd, picked up by Atlanta off the waiver wire, then chose free agency at the end of last year, picked the Dodgers again, signed a Minor League Free Agent contract, and, now, he’s back. He’s a great veteran presence for the young pitchers.
Noah Miller continues to gather hits, while also improving his quality of contact, which is THE key to watch for him offensively, IMO. He hit two home runs while going 2-for-6 with two RBIs and now has five homers and an .826 OPS on the season, while also hitting .393 over his last six games. His defense is ELITE, and he’s shown to be a roughly 20% above league average offensive player, so his trend is one of a BIGTIME shortstop prospect, and that’s NO exaggeration.
Jack Suwinski continues to close his holes, which have always been too much swing and miss, and he’s doing it with a short, compact, and very direct swing. He finished Sunday 2-for-4 with two RBIs, two walks, and hit his 13th double of the year. Suwinski has now pushed his OPS over 1.000 at .303/.1.032 while, again, showing his short and direct stroke. I LOVE where he’s at, stay tuned on his front.
Alex Freeland had two triples and an RBI while scoring twice and is hitting .400 with a 1.384 OPS over his last five games. And, he’s producing from both sides of the plate, and he’s doing EXACTLY what a player has to do when they get sent down, and that is continue to prove why they became a Major Leaguer to begin with.
Kiké Hernández had an RBI double, and that’s cool, but the fact that he’s getting a bunch of ABs is what matters the most on his front.
Zach Ehrhard had a good week, hitting over .400 in the Albuquerque series with a 1.324 OPS.
Pitching Results
Logan Allen: 6 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
Allen battled through traffic all afternoon and picked up the win despite allowing three extra-base hits and a three-run homer.Jordan Weems: 1 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
Weems surrendered a two-run homer to Nic Kent during the seventh inning.Jerming Rosario: 2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 K
Rosario allowed a solo homer to Blaine Crim but otherwise filled the zone effectively and closed out the game cleanly.
The Comets have now won five of their last seven, and, over the last week, Alex Freeland, Noah Miller, James Tibbs III, Chuckie Robinson, and Zach Ehrhard have all posted OPS numbers above 1.200.
Tulsa Drillers — Zyhir Hope Powers Offensive Attack
The Tulsa Drillers rolled to a 9-3 win over Springfield behind continued power from Zyhir Hope and a strong start in what was supposed to be a bullpen game from starter Roque Gutierrez.
Top Offensive Performers
Hope led the way, going 2-for-5 with two home runs and four RBIs. He now has nine homers, which leads the team, and has shown that he has power to ALL fields. He’s hit several opposite-field home runs, and then, on Sunday, showed how much power he has to the pull side.
Joe Vetrano turned in one of his best games of the year, collecting two hits and two RBIs while recording both a double and a single. Vetrano is a big dude, and SUPER strong, but is great at using his hands to “buggy whip” the barrel even when his swing isn’t totally connected.
Kendall George went 2-for-5 on Sunday and stole his 19th base of the season, and is now 19-21 in stolen base opportunities this year.
Josue De Paula reached base twice, drove in a run, and scored once, while Kyle Nevin contributed a double and two sacrifice flies. Those two are amongst the best of using ALL fields, and combining that with lots of impact to the pull side. Neither hits a ton of home runs, but when either gets one in the air to the pull side, they can hit it a long ways.
Frank Rodriguez continued swinging the bat well in his limited opportunities, collecting two hits and raising his OPS to 1.013.
Pitching Results
- Roque Gutiérrez: 4IP, 1H, 0R, 3Ks, 1BB
Joel Ibarra: 0 IP, 0 H, 2 ER, 3 BB
Myles Caba: 2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
Christian Ruebeck: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 K
Great Lakes Loons — Pitching Dominates in Shutout Win
The Great Lakes Loons leaned on dominant pitching from Brooks Auger and Jacob Frost in a 4-0 shutout victory over West Michigan, striking out 15 hitters while allowing just three total hits.
Top Offensive Performers
Jose Meza led the offense by going 3-for-4 with a solo home run and two runs scored, and raised his average to .314
Jose Izarra delivered the biggest hit late in the game with a two-run double in the eighth inning. Izarra also walked, stole a base, and now owns a .908 OPS over the last week.
Charles Davalan added a hit and scored a run, while Eduardo Guerrero reached base twice and continues hitting over .300.
Samuel Munoz contributed an RBI groundout, and Nico Perez continued showing plate discipline with another walk.
Pitching Results
Brooks Auger: 4 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K
Auger lowered his ERA to 0.77.Jacob Frost: 3.2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 7 K
Frost improved to 6-1 on the season and overwhelmed hitters with swing-and-miss stuff.Nicolas Cruz: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 K
Cruz closed out the shutout and earned his first save.
The Loons have been possibly the best team in the Dodgers system from start to finish, and show no signs of slowing down.
Ontario Tower Buzzers — Late Offensive Surge Buries Giants
The Ontario Tower Buzzers broke open a close game late and beat the San Jose Giants 11-5 after scoring nine runs in the last three innings.
Top Offensive Performers
Emil Morales, who is being promoted to High A Great Lakes, was 3-for-5 with a home run, two RBIs, and two runs scored. Morales now has six homers on the season and a .955 OPS over the last week.
Joendry Vargas has started to break out offensively, although his defense has left a little to be desired. He went 3-for-4 with a double, two RBIs, and a stolen base.
Easton Shelton blasted his seventh homer of the year and drove in two runs while also drawing a walk. Shelton now owns a massive 1.326 OPS over the last seven days. When he hits a ball, it STAYS hit!
Kellon Lindsey, welcome back! Lindsey was the Dodgers #1 pick in 2024, and has 80-grade speed, and can now show it as he’s become healthy. He collected two more hits and drove in a run, and is hitting .429 since returning from the IL.
AJ Soldra came through with a clutch two-run double during Ontario’s five-run eighth inning, while Landyn Vidourek, one of the most unsung but still very highly rated outfielders in the system, scored three runs and reached base twice.
Pitching Results
Mason Estrada: 4 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 4 K
Estrada has now posted back-to-back AWESOME outingsRicardo Montero: 0.1 IP, 3 H, 5 ER, 1 BB
Tough outing, he’s been feast or famine in his outings so far this yearJholbran Herder: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER
Made the game boring with the lead, which is what you wantJhonny Jimenez: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER
Jimenez closed out the victory and made his inning stress-free.
