The AA Tulsa Drillers have racked their bats for another season and it was one that saw a bunch of the highest rated prospects perform at very high levels.
The Drillers had 4 of the Dodgers top 10 prospects and 6 of the organization’s top 15 and that’s even after Ryan Pepiot and Andre Jackson got moved to AAA. Once Pepiot got moved up, the highest rated prospect was Michael Busch
Michael Busch
Michael Busch came to the Dodgers from the University of North Carolina and was a 1st round pick in the 2019 draft. While Busch had a slow start, his finish to the season was nothing short of remarkable. After a decent start in May, things went pretty sideways for the Tar Heel infieder in June as he hit .173, had no homeruns, had just 1 RBI, and struck out 29 times in 75 at bats.
After going 0 for 3 in his first game in July, Busch’s average was all the way down to .217. But as the weather heated up, so did his bat.. In the rest of the month the Tar Heel 2nd baseman hit .300 and had 8 multi hit games which was almost twice as many as he had in May and June combined.
Although August was a fairly modest month, the #3 Dodger prospect had a September to Remember. In September, Busch hit .413 and had 6 multi hit games in the 13 games the Drillers played in September. If you add in the last 2 games of August, Busch had 8 multi hit games in his last 15 games played.
Busch is a right side infielder that played mostly 2nd base but also played 1st, so the Dodgers are trying to create the versatility in him that they like in their players.
Bobby Miller
Bobby Miller was drafted in the first round and ended the year as the #4 ranked prospect in the Dodgers organization. He was brought up in September to AA and it did not take him long to create a buzz as his 2nd pitch in AA registered 99 mph.
In 9 ⅓ innings with AA Tulsa he had 14 strikeouts to only 2 walks and will remind Dodger fans a lot of Walker Buehler in the way looks and pitches. Miller has 4 pitches but relies mainly on his fastball and slider. He has a changeup and is in the process of mastering a cutter but those 2 pitches are not as developed as his fastball and slider.
Miguel Vargas
Miguel Vargas is the #6 prospect in the Dodgers organization and was acquired by the Dodgers in the 2017 International free agent signing period out of Cuba. He was brought up to AA Tulsa on June 17 and became a model of consistency and excellence. He hit .300 or better in 3 of the 5 months of action, and hit .293 and .292 respectively in June and July, the only months he didn’t hit at least .300
While the right handed hitting slugger was ultra consistent, he also had an August that was just simply off the charts. In August Vargas hit .410 with an OPS of 1.090 and had 15 multi hit games of the 26 games played. He also had 3 hits in a game on 4 different occasions in August as well.
Vargas won the AA hitting crown with a .319 average and did so by being a complete hitter. His pull percentage and oppo % were close to identical as he pulled the ball 39.2% of the time and went oppo 35% of the time. He uses the opposite field as well as anyone I have seen.
Landon Knack
Landon Knack is the Dodgers #8 prospect and came to the Dodgers from Middle Tennessee State after being drafted in the 2nd round of the 2020 draft.
Knacks fastball ranges from 93-96 and he has 2 shaped breaking balls. His 12-6 shaped breaking ball sits at 83-85 and his “3-9” shaped slider sits at 86-88. Knack also features a change up that sits in the low 80’s and it is a very effective pitch because it looks identical to his fastball coming out of his hand.
Knack was featured on Dodger Poke so for more follow the link:https://dodgerpokereport.com/?p=788
Clayton Beeter
Clayton Beeter is the #9 prospect in the Dodgers organization and is another pitcher that has a lightning bolt for a right arm. Beeter was drafted out of Texas Tech as the #66 overall pick in the 2020 draft.
Beeter is a 2 pitch guy with a very “over the top” release point. His fastball sits mid 90’s but his can reach as high as 98. His curveball is a very sharp breaking 12-6 pitch and is low 80’s so it provide a lot of downward bite as well as a big difference in speed from his fastball.
Beeter didn’t pitch until his Junior year of High School, then had Tommy John Surgery his freshman year so he is still on limited pitch counts.
Kody Hoese
Kody Hoese had a 2021 that many players, unfortunately, have to endure sometime during their professional careers. He got hurt, then just never could get going after he came back off of injury. Hoese is the Dodgers #9 prospect and was drafted out of Tulane as the 25th pick of the 2019 draft so he is a big time prospect. He hit .391 as a Junior at Tulane and hit 23 homeruns as well at the Division 1 level so he is more than capable. To make any kind of permanent evaluations on Hoese based off of this year would be unfair as oblique injuries are incredibly difficult to deal with. The core muscles are the most important muscles for athletes, so there in no doubt that Hoese did the best with the situation his body was in.
Jacob Amaya
I really, really like this guy. I was fortunate enough to get to interview and feature Amaya and came away super impressed with him. His confidence, work ethic and leadership skills are elite and so is his fielding. Amaya is the Dodgers #14 prospect and has been considered by multiple outlets as the best defensive shortstop in the organization. He has also shown every offensive skill needed to be a really good offensive player as he has had years where his average was high, and also had years where his power numbers were good. But, he hasn’t been able to do both at the same time so he is still trying to put his offensive puzzle together.
Amaya grew up just about a ½ hour from Dodger Stadium, and his grandpa Frank also played in the Dodgers organization, so when he got drafted in the 11th round by the Dodgers a dream had come true.
Dodger Poke featured Amaya so for more on him follow the link: https://dodgerpokereport.com/?p=1404
James Outman
James Outman is the Dodgers #27 prospect and was brought up to Tulsa with Justin Yurchak. Outman was drafted in the 7th round out of Sacramento State and hit .289 with 9 homeruns in his 39 games with Tulsa. Outman is bigger than you realize when you first see him and he has every tool to be very good major league player for many many years. But, the Dodger outfield is crowded so the competition for the 23 year old is fierce.
Ryan Noda
Okay, MILB…..which is where my list comes from….whoever made your list for the Dodgers Top 30 prospects just completely whiffed on Ryan Noda. Noda finished 2nd in homeruns in all of AA, 2nd in RBI’s, and 2nd in walks. And, he also is versatile defensively and can not only play multiple positions, but he can play both the infield and the outfield.
Noda was drafted by the Bluejays in the 15th round of the 2017 draft out of Cincinnati and is a big athletic left handed hitting slugger.
Dodger Poke was also fortunate enough to get to interview and feature Ryan Noda is one of our latest features. For more on Noda follow the link: https://dodgerpokereport.com/?p=1270
Devin Mann:
Devin Mann joins Will Smith and Bobby Miller as another Louisville Cardinal prospect. Mann is long and lanky and got off to a slow start in 2021. On July 4th Mann was hitting just .199, but from that point on he started to heat up then absolutely caught fire in September. Mann hit .264 in July, .263 in August, but then .323 in September. But, that doesn’t tell his story.
Mann had multi homerun games in 3 consecutive games from September 9-11 and at one point had hit 6 homeruns in 10 at bats. The Louisville slugger was drafted in the 5th round of the 2018 draft and is another versatile defensive player as he can play both outfield and 1st base.
Dodger Poke featured Mann “At a Glance” so for more on him follow the link. https://dodgerpokereport.com/?p=1706
Justin Yurchak
Justin Yurchak came up from High A Ogden with James Outman in July and just hit and hit and hit. Yurchak hit .383 in his 30 games with Tulsa and had 14 multi hit games including 9 games where he had at least 3 hits in those 30 games with AA Tulsa. Yurchak plays primarily 1st base and was drafted in the 12th round of the 2017 draft out of Binghamton College.
Hunter Feduccia
Hunter Feduccia is another Driller that heated up as the weather warmed up as well. Feduccia was drafted in the 12th round of the 2018 draft out of LSU so he has a lot of experience playing high levels of baseball. Feduccia is a longer lanky body type at catcher and is, in my opinion, the most underrated prospect in the organization. That’s because he’s not flashy, but the left handed hitting catcher is just very solid and has a quick release throwing the ball to 2nd base.
Feduccia hit .254 with 10 homeruns, but considering that he was hitting just .198 on July 7th, he showed reslience and improvement over the last 3 months. The Bayou Bengal hit .291 in July, .271 in August then .289 in September.
Feduccia has a very flat left handed swing so he should be able to hit the ball to the left center gap very well which should provide him some consistency.
Landon Knack
Landon Knack was featured on Dodger Poke Report and is another power arm in the Dodgers organization that is being used as a starter. Knack was drafted out of Middle Tennessee State in the 2nd Round of the 2020 draft and was fast tracked all the way to AA this year. He is another Dodger that likes to take advantage of the spin rate of his fastball up in the zone, then also has a slider shaped breaking ball and a 12-6 with a lot of downward movement. And, also, like many of the Dodgers pitching prospects, Knack features a really good changeup as well.
All in all Knack in a 4 pitch power pitcher with the potential for all 4 pitches to be ++++.
Nick Robertson
Nick Robertson is another big bodied power arm for the Dodgers that has a lot of versatility in the role the Dodgers may choose for him. Robertson played his college days as a James Madison Duke and was drafted in the 7th round of the 2019 draft.
Robertson hit 100 with his fastball this year and is a 3 pitch strike thrower, so he offers a lot of versatility in terms of the roles he can be used in.
Robertson was featured by Dodger Poke so for in depth analysis of him follow the link: https://dodgerpokereport.com/?p=1605
Mark Washington
Mark Washington stands at 6’7 so when he comes out of the pen he is daunting and when he delivers the ball it’s coming in at a pretty good incline. Washington was drafted out of Lehigh in the 25th round and has gotten better and better. In 2017, in rookie ball, Washington had an ERA of 3.20. The next year between rookie and A ball the 6’7 Washington had an ERA of 2.95. In 2019 in High A his ERA was 2.97, but this year his ERA was just 2.00 in AA.
Washington is 94-95 on the fastball and features a good changeup and throws an occasional slider.
Clayton Beeter
Clayton Beeter was taken as the 66th pick of the 2020 draft out of Texas Tech and is one that the Dodgers are protecting. Beeter had Tommy John in 2017 and is still trying to increase his pitch count in his starts.
Beeter has a very over the top delivery and features a very sneaky but ++ fastball that sits mid 90’s and can reach as high as 97-98. His curveball is in the low 80’s so it provides a lot of difference in speed so he can keep hitters off balance. It has a 12-6 shape, then he also has more of a 3-9 slider that some think is his best pitch. He has a changeup but doesn’t get to it as much because his other pitches are so good and he hasn’t thrown that much.
Michael Grove
Michael Grove came to the Dodgers from West Virginia in the 2nd Round of the 2018 draft and I can tell you first hand that his stuff is legit. He is a a starter and likes to use his fastball up in the zone so he has given up some home runs this year, but, trust me, when he puts things together watch out for this guy. He was put on the 40 man roster so that tells you all you need to know in terms of what the organization thinks about him.
The Dodgers were so high on him that they took him even though he missed all of 2018 due to Tommy John Surgery. Grove sat anywhere from 93-95 this year on his fastball and has a power slider and a very sharp breaking curve ball. The thing that gives him a chance to be a very good major leaguer is that his delivery, arm slot and everything is identical between locations of pitches then types of pitches so there are no tip offs as to what he’s throwing or where.
Gus Varland
Gus Varland was drafted by the Oakland A’s in the 14th round of the 2018 Draft out of Concordia University.
Varland came to the Dodgers along with Infielder Sheldon Neuse in the deal that sent Adam Kolarek and outfielder Cody Thomas to Oakland. The thick framed right hander had Tommy John in 2019 and features a 3 pitch mix that has a lots of movement to them. Varland has an extremely high spin rate on his fastball and has learned to use it up in the zone to get a lot of swing and miss strikeouts. He has posted some really good K/BB ratios in the past and had an incredible first year as a professional in 2018. With his Tommy John surgery in 2019, then Covid cancelling 2020 has slowed down the massive amount of momentum he had after 2018. If he stays healthy, rebuilds his pitch count and get the feel back in his off speed stuff he will pitch in the Major Leagues.
Bryan Brickhouse
Being drafted in 2011, Brickhouse is an older guy for the AA level an is on his 3rd organization in professional baseball. Brickhouse is a guy that has always had the bigtime fastball in the upper 90’s, but has struggled with command of his secondary pitches. If he is able to find a reliable secondary pitch I think he would project as a 1 inning relief guy at the MLB level.
Cameron Gibbens
Cameron Gibbens is 6’8 bullpen arm and came to the Dodgers from Australia and the Australian Baseball league. Gibbens is 92-94 and has off-speed stuff in the mid 80’s so he offers a big speed difference between the two. Being 6’8 Gibbens also offers a lot of downward tilt even on pitches he is not forcibly trying to create movement on.
Aaron Oschenbein
Selected with the 191st pick of the 2019 draft, Aaron Oschenbein is another power arm bullpen arm that has already had his Tommy John surgery. Oschenbein has what I call “knees and elbows” in his delivery as it has enough uniqueness to throw a hitter off.
He is another guy that can really run the ball up to home plate and has a curve ball and change up. He was moved to the bullpen in College so he could max out the velocity on his fastball and not have to conserve mph for longevity in a game. His fastball and “slurve” are his go to pitches and are very effective as long as he is maxing out on his velocity in the 94-95 range. As a starter in College he was 89-91 with only 2 go to pitches so the transition the bullpen has been a natural fit for him.
