AAA OKC Dodgers
The OKC Dodgers just completed a 4-2 week in their 6-game series down in Round Rock and enter the league-wide off day in sole possession of 1st place in the Pacific Coast East. Zach McKinstry, Kevin Pillar, and Eddy Alvarez were the team leaders in batting average, but all got promoted this week and so now Miguel Vargas is back in familiar territory by leading the team in hitting with a .289 average. Jake Lamb leads the team in home runs, RBIs, and OPS with 12 homers, 36 RBI, and an OPS of 1.034. For more stats click the following link (Link to Official Stats Page of the OKC Dodgers.
Back to Back Homers: Miguel Vargas and Jake Lamb just went Back-to-Back on Friday and they were both no-doubters. Lamb had 2 hits, and, at that time, had a 3 game hit streak and had his OPS up to .865. Vargas is hitting .289 with a .874 OPS and has a 5 game hit streak.
Pitchers:
Andrew Heaney: Heaney started Saturday night for OKC in Round Rock on a Rehab assignment and had a successful start. Click the picture on the left for a good look at Andrew Heaney’s stuff Saturday night for OKC He went 3 innings, had 5 K’s, no walks, and gave up 1 earned run.
Garrett Cleavinger: Cleavinger doesn’t have much left to prove in AAA as he put up another 0 Friday night and hasn’t allowed an earned run since May 8th which spans 7 outings and 9 innings. He’s only allowed an earned run in 2 of his 11 appearances and has his ERA down to 1.74. He has hit 97 with the fastball as well.
Marshall Kasowski: Kasowski is a name Dodgers to become familiar with. Kasowski threw up another 0 Friday, & that marks 10 out of his last 11 where he hasn’t allowed an earned run. He’s allowed just 1 earned run in his last 15 innings. He was 94 paired with the big changeup.
Carson Fulmer: Fulmer continues to be very good for OKC and threw 1.2 scoreless Thursday night in Round Rock and collected his 4th save Sunday. His ERA is now 2.35 and that includes a stretch where he didn’t allow an earned run in 11 consecutive outings.
Ryan Pepiot: went 4.2 and gave up 1 earned run in his outing on Thursday. He was 2 outs away from qualifying for a win in his last MLB outing, and 1 out away tonight. Here’s how his stuff looked!
Andre Jackson: Jackson had his 2nd really good performance in a row on Thursday. His “Greg Maddux” type change-up was 100% on point to pair with a good riding fastball. Jackson went 6, and gave up just 1 earned run.
Mark Washington: 4 Seam Fastballs riding up in the zone, 4 slot fastballs to the glove side, then the slider, and watch the slider to end the inning! Mark Washington continues to be video game good with a 1.07 ERA, a 0.75 WHIP, & a lot of confidence and swagger. He has yet to allow a run since being moved up to AAA OKC.
Beau Burrows: Burrows had 2 great outings this week in Round Rock. In fact, the 2 outings were his best since his first outing on April 8th. Burrows went 5.2, struck out 8, and only walked 2 on last Tuesday, then backed that up with a 5 inning performance on Sunday in which he gave up just 1 run and had 5 strikeouts and only 3 walks.
Infielders:
Zach McKinstry: Congratulations to Zach McKinstry for getting promoted to LA, it was overdue. McKinstry was just the model of class and consistency in OKC and is very easy to root for. He left OKC hitting .338 with an OPS of .888. He played mainly shortstop in AAA but surely will be given the super-utility role with the big club. Good luck Zach and I hope to never see you again in OKC!
Eddy Alvarez: Congrats to Eddy Alvarez for getting promoted to LA, it was well deserved. The 32-year-old Olympic medalist left OKC hitting .304 with an OPS of .930 and has provided good leadership in the clubhouse, so he has been a great addition to the depth of the organization.
Max Muncy: Muncy has started his rehab with OKC and has had some typical at-bats where he has worked the count and hit some balls hard but is just 1 for 6 so far.
Andy Burns: Burns is another one of the fringy type AAAA guys on the OKC roster who could provide some relief at the Major League level if called up. He plays a good third base and carries a pretty good hit tool with him. He just recently hit his 7th homer of the year so click the picture to the left and take a look at it.
Miguel Vargas; With the promotions of Eddy Alvarez, Zach McKinstry, and Kevin Pillar, Vargas now leads OKC on average at .289. He and Jake Lamb just went Back-to-Back Saturday night and they were both no-doubters. Vargas also has an OPS of .873 and has improved his defense dramatically at 3rd base.
Jake Lamb: leads OKC in home runs with 36 and in OPS at .891. He had 2 hits Friday night and now has hits in 4 of his last 5 games.
Michael Busch: Michael Busch has 2 hits on Friday night including his last which was a 2 run single that gave OKC the lead! Busch is in a bit of a rough patch now as he is hitting just .203 with OKC, but, that is certainly nothing to be concerned with as, like all hitters, he’s had rough patches before and bounced right back.
Outfielders:
Drew Avans: Drew Avans has had quite a weekend. Friday night he had 2 hits, including a double, an RBI a couple of stolen bases, and 2 Total bases. He backed that up Saturday by going 3-4 with a home run, an RBI, and 6 total bases.
Ryan Noda: Noda is also a 1st baseman by trade, so he could be listed as both an infielder or an outfielder. Ryan Noda had a 4-hit night last Tuesday & had a base hit to every field and 2 opposite-field hits. Noda led AA Central last year in home runs but is much more than just power, he’s also a very skilled hitter. His oppo % is 38.5% which is 6 points higher than his pull rate!
Catchers:
Tony Wolters: Wolters is another guy that brings MLB experience to OKC and had a huge night Friday with 3 hits & 3 RBIs, which came with 2 outs and 3 total bases. At that time, Wolters had a 3 game hit streak in which he is 6 for his last 10.
AA Tulsa Drillers
The Drillers lost 3 out of the 4 games they played this week and didn’t get to play Saturday or Sunday due to health concerns and protocols with San Antonio. They are 28-20 and in 2nd place int the Texas League behind Wichita who has a 1.5-game lead. James Outman leads the team in batting average at .296, and OPS at .994. Ryan Ward leads the club in Home Runs with 13 and RBIs with 34 and is tied with Johnny DeLuca of Great Lakes as the organization’s leaders in homers both with 13. For more stats click the following link (Link to Official Stats Page of the Tulsa Drillers).
5 Straight Hits: Tulsa had 5 straight hits in their last game on Friday and scored 5 in the top of 5. Valera legged out an infield base hit, Outman doubled for his 2nd hit of the game, Amaya fisted one to right and Mann smoked one down the right-field line. Here’s how it looked.
You Are Out Man! James Outman had 2 hits, including his 12th home run, & this assist from left field in Thursday’s game! His avg.m, at that time, was up to .290/OPS almost .950, & 4 game hit streak.
Pitchers:
Bobby Miller: Bobby Miller had a very good outing Friday night as he went 5.2 innings & is left with a runner on 1st. He gave up 2 earned runs on 4 strikeouts and 3 walks. He threw 87 pitches and 55 for strikes. Here’s how his stuff looked.
Nick Robertson: Robertson had another scoreless inning Thursday, which, at that time, made 4 out of his last 5 where he hadn’t allowed a run.
Aaron Ochsenbein: Aaron Ochsenbein has a unique motion, a unique pitch with his split-finger, late tailing life on his fastball, a good cutting slider, and he can ride the 4 seam fastball up in the zone. He went 1 scoreless in his last outing Wednesday which makes 9 out of 10 on the year.
Jordan Leasure: Hard in, Soft Away…It’s like buying your wife flowers, it always works! Click on the picture to watch Leasure execute that game plan to a tee in his 1 inning of scoreless work. Leasure has not allowed an earned run in his last 3 outings and 5 of his last 6.
Alec Gamboa: Alec Gamboa was really good, as usual, on Wednesday night. He was sinking the ball, sawing hitters off, and the backfoot slider was on point. See for yourself! Gamboa threw 2.2 scoreless innings.
Gus Varland: Gus Varland showed some grit and a lot of stuff tonight as the calendar flipped to June. He was on point Thursday with his good fastball, slider, and always confident swagger. Well done excited to watch him get rollin’!
Infielders:
Devin Mann: Mann had 2 hits Thursday night for the Drillers. He hit .300 in May and is 3 for 7 so far in June, and is near the top of several categories statistically on one of the most talented teams in all of the Minor Leagues.
Jacob Amaya: Amaya has slowed down some from his torrid start but had 2 hits Thursday night for the Drillers and is hitting .277 with an OPS of .934.
Kody Hoese: Hoese is on the IL currently with a leg issue which is too bad because he had been extremely hot. He hit .333 in May with an OPS of .876 and was playing a very good 3rd base.
Outfielders:
James Outman: James Outman hit his 13th home run on Friday which ties him with Johnny DeLuca & Ryan Ward for the organizational lead. He has home runs in consecutive games for the 2nd time this year and has his OPS up to .967. Can’t wait to watch him in OKC!
Ryan Ward: Ward is tied for the organizational lead in home runs with 13 and is hitting .250 with an OPS of .804. I love this young prospect’s energy and hit tool.
Catchers:
Chris Betts: Betts is a former 2nd Round Draft Pick that left the game and is back with the Drillers. He provides quality depth to a position that requires depth and is one of the most well-liked members of the team, so he has brought a lot of value to the organization.
Hunter Feduccia: Hunter Feduccia had another 2 hits Thursday night for the Drillers, and has his average up to .266 and his OPS at .909. Feduccia just does his job every night and is a really, really good player!
Carson Taylor: Taylor is a very promising young catcher who has made big strides defensively this year, but is known for his offense. Taylor is a switch hitter that has always hit the ball very well and calls a great game behind the plate.
High A Great Lakes:
The Great Lakes Loons split their 6-game series with Fort Wayne over the past week and now have a record of 28-23 and are 7.5 games behind Dayton in the Midwest League.
Diego Cartaya has hit .417 since his promotion and Juan Zabala hit .444 before he was placed on the Developmental list. Alex DeJesus has hit .273 since he got called up, but, from the regulars who have been with the Loons for the entire year, Imanol Vargas, who has been their best offensive player in the last month, has the highest average and leads the team in OPS as well at .889. Johnny DeLuca leads the team in Home Runs with 13, which is tied for the organization’s lead in homers. The Loons have a huge 6 game series this week with Dayton who is in 1st place in the Midwest League and 7.5 games ahead of Great Lakes. For more stats click the following link (Official Stats Page of the Loons Link.)
Great Lakes Offensive Approach: The Loons use the middle to the opposite field as good as any team I’ve seen. For example, in a game this past week, 6 of their 9 NON-home run hits, as seen in the video, were center or oppo. They have a great approach and it is a job well done for all those that continue to make this happen! If I’ve noticed it, you have to know many, many others have as well.
Pitchers:
Kyle Hurt: Hurt bounced back from his loss Tuesday in the first game of the series by throwing a no-hitter in a shortened game on Sunday. Hurt is a big, hard-throwing right-handed pitcher out of USC who was drafted in the 5th Round of the 2020 draft which was just 5 rounds. Click the picture on the left to see action from the last inning pitch by pitch.
Kevin Malisheski: Job well done to hold down the 9th by Wauconda, Wauconda, IL native Kevin Malisheski on Saturday night. Malisheski has a batting average against of just .167.
Lael Lockhart Jr.: Lockhart Jr. had a great outing his last time out on Saturday. The former Hog went 5, struck out 4, walked just 1, & gave up just 1 earned run.
Robbie Peto: Peto has such great versatility as he can be anything from a starter, to an opener, to a chuck inning middle relief guy, to high leverage back inning reliever He went 4 scoreless on Thursday and has his ERA down to 2.57.
Cole Percival: Percival came in out of the pen on Thursday for the first time this year and needed just 2 pitches to get the job done. Percival is having a great year with a 2.97 ERA and a WHIP of just 1.38.
Ben Casparius: Ben Casparius gave up a tough-luck run in the 1st inning of his debut with High A Great Lakes. The leadoff man hit one in the Bermuda triangle, then, with the infield drawn in a ground ball got through that would have been routine at normal depth. Check out his changeup though, that PxP calls “dead-fish”.
Ryan Sublette: Ryan Sublette picked up his 3rd save for the Loons on Wednesday. He was 93-95 on the fastball, 83 on the slider, and 79-80 on the change-up, all from his side slot. Sublette has not allowed an earned run in his last 5 outings and has his ERA down to 2.86!
Kendall Williams: Williams was 91-93 on the fastball and had the split finger really tumbling is his last performance on Wednesday for Great Lakes. He went 6.0 innings, which is his longest outing of the year, and gave up just 1 earned while striking out 3. Take a look at his split-finger for yourself.
Braydon Fisher: Braydon Fisher threw up a 0 in his 2 innings of work for the Loons on Wednesday and was 93 consistently on the fastball. Watch the tumble he gets on his changeup. Fisher put up 0’s in his last 3 outings in April and 6 of 8 in May.
Infielders:
Imanol Vargas: On May 12th, Vargas was hitting .182 w/OPS of .574. Since then he is 21/57 & has increased his OPS to .889. He leads the Midwest League in OBP of the players who have been in High A for the entire year.
Jorbit Vivas: Jorbit Vivas has a 3 game hit streak and has hits in 4 of his last 5 games. The left-handed-hitting infielder has multiple hits in 4 of his last 8 games, and after getting off to a slow start in April, he has rebounded & has his average to .262 on the year.
Alex DeJesus: Welcome to Great Lakes Alex De Jesus. De Jesus was just recently promoted up to High A and hit a mammoth homerun in his first game with the Loons and is 6 for 22 since joining the club. I love how quiet his swing is so take a look for yourself by clicking the picture on the left.!
Eddys Leonard: Eddys Leonard is one of the top prospects in the Dodgers organization and has hits in 4 of his last 5 games. He hit .290 and had 10 multiple-hit games in May to pair with an OPS of .895, so he is starting to heat up.
Max Hewitt: I am biased when it comes to Max Hewitt because I got to see his entire college career at Oklahoma State and I’ve never developed more respect for a player than him. I am so happy that he is getting his chance because that’s all he’ll need because he’ll do the rest.
Outfielders:
Edwin Mateo: Edwin Mateo had a huge game on Saturday in the Loons loss with 3 hits and 4 total bases. At that time, Mateo was 4-8 in the 2 games he had played in May, and that game marked Mateo’s 3rd 3 hit game of the season so take a look for yourself!
Jose Ramos: Jose Ramos just hit 2 Homers in Saturday’s game for the Loons and it was his10th of the year. His OPS is approaching .850.
Johnny DeLuca: DeLuca is tied for the organizational lead in home runs with 13. The Oregon alum is also a very good athlete and plays very good defense.
Catchers:
Diego Cartaya: The Dodger’s #1 prospect, Diego Cartaya, hit his 9th homer of the year on Saturday and it was a blast. He now has an 8-game hit streak and is 12/-25 during that streak. Here it is so Enjoy!
Juan Zabala: Zabala got traded to the Padres, and the interesting aspect of that Great Lakes was playing the High A affiliate of the Padres when the trade took place. So, Zabala went in Saturday night to say goodbye to his teammates and coaches, then went into the other clubhouse and was in the other dugout for the Sunday game. Listen to Dylan Nasiatka tell the story by clicking the picture on the left.
Low A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes
Rancho Cucamonga Quakes: The Quakes didn’t have a video feed of their games again this week, so we’ll just summarize their week without the use of video. The Quakes split their 5 games series with Lake Elsinore this past week and are still behind the Storm by 2 games in the California League standings. Damon Keith still leads the team in batting average at .312, OPS at .941, RBIs with 27 and is tied with Luis Diaz in home runs at 6. Keith is quite a young player out of Cal Baptist, and he has a big arm too.
Jerming Rosario posted an ERA of just 1.86 in May and threw well in his first outing in June as well putting up a 0 in his 4.2 innings of work. Austin Gauthier how has a 5 game hit streak for the Quakes. Gauthier is a tremendous young hitter out of Hofstra who is very short to the ball and loves to use the middle of the field. Jake Vogel is one of the fastest young prospects in the organization and is starting to play good offense. He has hits in 6 of his last 8 games. Kenneth Betancourt recently snapped a 3-game hit streak and has hits in 4 out of his last 5 games, and is 6 for 16 during that streak.
One of the better sequences of the week for the Quakes came in Friday’s game when Yunior Garcia singled, Jake Vogel knocked him in with a single of his own, then Kenneth Betancourt finished off the 2-run frame w/an RBI double that scored Vogel. Austin Gauthier then led the bottom of 6 off with a double and Quakes took the lead. Adolfo Ramirez had a great outing for Rancho Cucamonga on Friday. Ramirez is from Mexico and has a 2.25 ERA on the year, and went 3 innings and struck 7 while walking none in his last performance.
Jake Vogel and Kenneth Betancourt had 2 hits a piece in last Wednesday’s game, and Austin Gauthier and Damon Keith each had doubles. It was Keith’s team-leading 12th. Luis Diaz had a hit in every game of the series against Visalia, and he has hits in 10 of his last 13 games and is 16/51 during that time. Infielder Julio Carrion in Tuesday’s game, and, at the time, had hits in 6 of his last 7 and was 9 for his last 25, .360, with 3 home runs. He followed that up on Wednesday with a home run and 6 total bases.
