AAA OKC Dodgers:

The OKC Dodgers dropped 4 games of the 6 game series to Reno this past week and are now 28-20 on the season. Zach McKinstry leads the team in batting average, recently promoted Kevin Pillar was the leader in OPS and Jake Lamb leads the team in RBIs. Starting Tuesday, May 31, OKC will be traveling to Round Rock for a 6 game series with the Texas Rangers AAA affiliate.

 

 

 

Kevin Pillar: Congrats to Kevin Pillar for getting called up to LA. He is a California boy, so this is a dream come true for him and he certainly hopes he has found a permanent home. Pillar was hitting .315 with an OPS Of 1.034 with AAA OKC so he earned his way back to LA!

 

 

 

 

Zach McKinstry: McKinstry leads OKC in batting average, has an OPS of .914, and is doing everything he can to get back to LA for good. He is also the focus of the latest main feature Monday so click the picture on the left to hear from McKinstry himself and learn all about his journey through baseball.  If McKinstry does end up defining a permanent role at the MLB level it will surely be as a super-utility player. So far in OKC, he has played every position other than 1st base, center field, pitcher, and catcher with the bulk of his work coming at shortstop where he has a fielding percentage of .931 at that position.

 

 

Ejections in OKC! Ryan Noda was called for a check swing that was very questionable, Mike Wright Jr. yelled a magic word from the dugout and got ejected, Travis Barbary then defended his player and got tossed himself, and play by play voice, Alex Freedman, was spot on with his call! That about sums it up!

 

 

 

Ryan Noda: Ryan Noda had 2 hits Sunday including his 7th Home Run and 26th and 27th RBIs. Noda’s home run came after a very bad check swing call, in which Mike Wright Jr. and manager Travis Barbary both got ejected. Noda is a prospect with a world of power as he led all of AA Central last year in home runs and RBIs and he was 2nd in AA Central in walks. He was one of the 2 players to be named later in the Ross Stripling trade and has brought a lot of value to the Dodgers.

 

 

Omar Estevez: Estevez hit his 1st home run of the year Sunday, then, just a couple of innings later, hit his 2nd. Estevez has struggled this year with an average of just .219 and an OPS of .662, so hopefully, Sunday is the spark he needed to get going. Estevez is a 24-year-old from Cuba that played a lot of short stop early in his stint with OKC and is now a utility guy that can play both the infield and the outfield.

 

 

 

Ryan Pepiot: Pepiot got his 3rd big league start on Friday evening and gave up 1 run in 4.1 innings and now has an ERA of just 3.18 at the MLB level.  He has been optioned back to OKC and can be recalled and optioned just 1 more time before he has to stay in LA for good. Pepiot had a mix of shapes to his pitches. His slider had a 2-7 shape, fastball was 9-3, changeup was 10-4 with tumble and fade and his breaking ball was 12-6. His understanding & ability to sequence these different shapes & locations together in succession is Elite! Click the picture on the left and hear from Pepiot himself as he joined Dodger Poke and talked about his MLB debut.

 

Mark Washington: Congrats Mark Washington for getting promoted to AAA OKC. Washington has been completely dominant in Tulsa and has simply been one of the best relief pitchers in all of baseball. Washington’s ERA is all the way down to 1.11 and his WHIP, walks, and hits per inning is 0.78. Washington is 6’7 so he knows how to use vertical drop and tunneling to his advantage and is super effective.

 

Caleb Ferguson: Ferguson, according to AAA OKC PxP, Alex Freedman, threw an “immaculate inning”  on Saturday as he came in with inherited runners and left them stranded. Ferguson was featuring his fastball at 96 and a sweeping slider that was very effective. Ferguson has been recalled once earlier this month, and then optioned back down, so I imagine the Dodgers will use all 3 times they can do that with him this year before they decide whether he sticks permanently in LA in 2022.

 

 

Michael Busch: Busch is one of the best young hitters in the game and just recently got promoted to AAA where he hit a home run in his 2nd at-bat. Busch is hitting .275 with an OPS of 1.008 overall between AA Tulsa and AAA OKC but is hitting just .195 in AAA but it is nothing to be concerned about. He had periods last year where things were somewhat slow as well with Tulsa as he hit just .173 in June, then took off and got insanely hot to finish the season. Busch joined Dodger Poke and talked about his progress in the system and where he learned to hit, so click the picture on the left to see his feature, and don’t forget to click the interview that is linked at the top.

 

Miguel Vargas: Vargas, like Busch, is one of the best young hitters in the game and is one of the best right-handed hitters I’ve seen at using all fields. Vargas had his average above .300 but has come back down lately with a 2-18 patch in his last 5 games. He is the reigning AA Central hitting champion and so he has shown his elite hit tool and is getting more and more comfortable at 3rd base.

 

 

 

Garrett Cleavinger: Cleavinger, like Ferguson, McKinstry, Lamb, Martin, Alvarez etc….is also in a Fringy AAAA stage of his career. He put on a slide piece show in OKC on Saturday night en route to 2 scoreless innings. He hasn’t allowed a run in his last 5 appearances with OKC which spans 6.1 innings. Click the picture on the left to see what his stuff looked like Saturday night.

 

 

 

Andre Jackson: Jackson had his best outing of the year on Thursday as he went 4.0 innings and didn’t allow an earned run. Jackson is a very talented pitcher that didn’t pitch much in college and, quite frankly, has struggled in OKC in 2022. His ERA is 7.36 so far, but he is looking to capitalize on the momentum he created in his last performance and use it as a springboard to a very good remainder of 2022.

 

 

Jason Martin: Martin is making a lot of noise in OKC with a .300 average and an OPS of .936. He is hoping to find a role in a crowded outfield in LA. after he spent all last year with Texas and hit over .300 in his last 40 at-bats at the MLB level. He was kind enough to join Dodger Poke and tell his story so check it out by clicking the picture on the left and don’t forget that the interview is linked at the top.

 

 

 

Jake Lamb: Former All-Star, Jake Lamb is the leader in home runs for all the players that have been with OKC for the full year. Busch has 13 on the year, but he just recently got called up. Lamb is hitting .273 in OKC with an OPS of .900. The Dodgers will have to decide what to do with him at some point this year as it has been reported by Juan Toribio of MLB.com that he has 2 opt-out clauses in his contract, one in May and one in July.

 

 

 

AA Tulsa Drillers:

The Drillers split their 6-game series with Springfield over the past week and are now 27-17 on the year. Devin Mann has been smoking hot as of late and now leads the club in batting average at .306, Jacob Amaya continues to have the highest OPS at .983, and Ryan Ward is the leader in home runs and RBIs with 13 and 33 respectively. The Drillers are at San Antonio this week for their 6 games series against the AA affiliate of the Padres. As an aside, the Drillers pitching staff has the highest average velocity in all of the Minor Leagues averaging 94.4 miles per hour.

 

T-Town Magic! Gotta start the Drillers section with, easily, the most exciting moment of the week with the Kody Hoese walk-off. The Drillers were down a run and Hoese knocked in 2 to give the Drillers the dramatic walk-off win. Click the picture on the left to see the walk-off for yourself.

 

 

Brandon Lewis: Lewis went 2-2 Sunday to finish out the series with Springfield, and he did so after replacing Kody Hoese who came out due to injury. Lewis hasn’t quite gotten on track yet in 2022, but he will, and just know, last year he hit 30 homers and led the org. in home runs per at-bat. Sometimes in basketball, a scorer just needs to see the ball go through the hoop to get some positive momentum. Comparatively, In baseball, in baseball, a great hitter like Lewis just needs to see a couple of balls hit the outfield grass, like he did last night, to get going. Click on his name to see him in action Sunday and click on the picture to view his full feature.

 

Justin Yurchak: Justin Yurchak had 3 hits Sunday in the finale against Springfield. He is off to somewhat of a slow start, but he did the same thing last year as well. In 2021 he hit 0.95 in May, then ended up hitting .365 for the season. Remember, baseball is a marathon! Click on his picture to see his feature cut and click on his name to see his last action.

 

 

 

Jordan Leasure: Leasure struck out the side for the AA Drillers in his 1 Inning. Leasure was sitting 95-96 and touched 97 on a couple of occasions.

 

 

 

 

 

Jacob Amaya: Amaya is having his best year as a pro as he is putting together power numbers to match batting average and on-base percentage. Some think he is the best defensive shortstop in the system so take a look for yourself by clicking the video on the left. Click on the picture to view his full feature, including an interview at the top, and click on his name to view his feature cut.

 

 

 

Kody Hoese: Hoese left the game Sunday with an undisclosed injury, which is unfortunate because he has been on a tear. Hoese has raised his average by 81 points in his last 16 games & is all the way up to .281 to match his tremendous defense at 3rd base. Hear from Tulsa PxP, Dennis Higgins for yourself on the type of defender Hoese is.

 

 

 

 

 

Bobby Miller: Bobby Miller had his longest and best outing of the year Saturday against Springfield. He left the game with runners on 1st and 2nd in the 7th after 5 of his 6 innings went 1-2-3 He K’d 5 and walked none. Both of those runs scored, but it was most definitely an impressive outing as he reached 101 on multiple occasions and also featured his change-up, a hard-breaking ball in the upper 80s and a softer breaking ball in the lower 80s.

 

 

 

James Outman: James Outman led the game off Saturday with a hit on the first pitch, then Jacob Amaya knocked him in. Outman is now hitting .277 with an OPS of .934. Outman has also been a model of consistency at the plate as he only had 5 games in both April and May in which he did not record. Click the picture to view his full feature including an interview linked at the top, and click on his name to his him in action from this past week.

 

 

 

Jose Martinez: Jose Martinez threw a 2nd great outing in a row this week and went 5.1 innings scoreless on the heels of his last performance where he went 5.0 and gave up just 1. Martinez features a fastball that can hit in the 96 range, a slider, and change. His ERA is 5.61, but that is deceptive because he gave up 9 earned runs in his outing on May 15, and that is an outlier, so that has skewed his ERA. He has put up zeroes in 5 of his 11 appearances, so take away the outlier and his numbers would be really good.

 

 

Devin Mann: Devin Mann has continued his hot ways at the plate and has his average all the way up to .290 and his OPS up to .960. Mann has hits in 5 of his last 7 games and is 9 for 24 during that stretch, .375 with 2 homers, 5 RBI and 19 total bases. Click on his picture to view his full feature and click on his name to see him in action from this past week.

 

 

 

Andy Pages: Andy Pages had 2 hits in the first game of a doubleheader for Tulsa on Friday and that snapped a 12-game hit streak which was the longest of the season for any Driller. Pages is a projected everyday outfielder at the Major League level and has a world of power as evidenced by his 31 home runs last year. He also plays really good defense and has mainly stayed in right field this year, but has played all 3 outfield positions in the past. Click his picture to see his feature story and click his name to see him in action from the past week.

 

 

 

Landon Knack: Landon Knack had a really good mix going in his last outing for AA Tulsa. His fastball was 95-97, his Slider was 88, and he was 83 on the Change-Up and 80 on his Curveball. Knack is an East Tennessee State alum and is one of the top pitching prospects in the organization. In his last outing, he went 6.0, struck out 4, walked 0, and gave up just 1 earned run. His ERA on the year is just 2.81 and he has 22 strikeouts to only 3 walks so far in 2022. Click on the picture to view his full feature, click on his name to see action from his last start.

 

Ryan Ward: Wardo as he is known is tied with Johnny Deluca for the organizational lead in home runs at 13. Ward played his college ball at Bryant where he hit .409 his Sophomore year. He is one of the best young hitters in the system and is absolutely fantastic at using the whole field. Click the picture to view his full feature which includes an interview linked at the top, and click on his name to see him in action from this last week.

 

 

 

Nick Robertson: Nick Robertson is starting to get loose! He made easy work of the Cardinals in the 8th on Thursday and hasn’t allowed a run in his last 3 outings. His fastball sits 94-96 and can bump a touch higher than that with some adrenaline, and his change-up slider mix has been on point as well. Click on the picture to view his full feature which includes an interview linked at the top. Click on his name to view his most recent interview where he gives an update on 2022.

 

 

 

Clayton Beeter: Beeter is a pitcher out of Texas Tech who has some of the best stuff of any pitcher in the organization. He has the big 4 seam, big breaking curveball, change up and harder breaking ball. He is coming off of Tommy John and 2022 is a big year for him because he is getting back to full pitch counts. Click the picture to view his full feature, which includes an interview linked at the top. Click on his name to view him in action from this past week.

 

 

 

Gavin Stone: Stone just recently got called up and has put up blanks in his 2 starts with Tulsa. This University of Central Arkansas grad is a “soon to be” rock star in this organization because his talent, combined with his charisma and “small-town” charm is going to keep knocking doors down. Click the picture to view his full feature, which includes an interview linked at the top. Click on his name to view him in action from this past week.

 

 

 

 

Jose Hernandez: Like Stone, Hernandez is new to Tulsa as he just got called up this week. Hernandez left Great Lakes as the Midwest League leader in saves with 8 and put up a  0 in his 1 outing with AA Tulsa. Hernandez can hit 97 with a sweeping slider and change and he has used that mix to register a very low 2.05 ERA and 1.09 WHIP.

 

 

 

 

High A Great Lakes Loons

The Loons just completed a week in which they were 2-4 at South Bend and now have an overall record of 25-20 on the season. Eddys Leonard leads the team in batting average and OPS at .270, and .852 respectively. Johnny DeLuca leads the team in home runs with 13 which ties him with former Loon great, Ryan Ward for the organization’s leaders in home runs. DeLuca also leads the team in RBIs with 26. Great Lakes will be home for their 6 games series this week against Fort Wayne.

 

Great Lakes Comes Back: Great Lakes trailed 8-6 going into the 7th, then hung a 7 spot. Here’s the sequence: Zabala, DeLuca, Vivas walk, Leonard RBI single, Ramos RBI single, January 2 RBI double, Valera sac fly, Zabala RBI double, Wild Pitch. The Loons held on to win 13-10.

 

 

 

 

 

Loons Offensive Approach: They use the middle to the opposite field extraordinarily well. I.E.  6 of their 9 NON-home run hits on Saturday, as seen in the video, were center or oppo. They have a great approach to hitting, so job well done!

 

 

 

 

 Johnny DeLuca: DeLuca hit his league-leading and organizational leading 13th homer of the year Sunday for Great Lakes. Deluca is tied with Ryan Ward now for the organizational lead in home runs and also has the most amount of RBIs of any Loon. DeLuca was drafted in the 25th round out of Oregon in 2019 and has proved to be an absolute steal.

 

 

 

Julian Smith: After giving up a leadoff base hit, LHP Julian Smith put up blanks in his 1.1 Sunday night. He was 95 with the fastball with a good slider and change. Smith is a lefty who was a 15th rounder from 2018 out Catawba Valley Community College and has posted a 4.43 ERA with a 1.52 WHIP.

 

 

 

Michael Hobbs: The video linked on the picture is from a Cool sequence in which the 10th Rounder out of St. Mary’s won an 11-pitch at-bat hitting 95 with the fastball. That’s GRITTY, which is just my style! Hobbs went 2, gave up no runs and K’d 2, and has an ERA of 3.92 with a very good WHIP of 1.26 on the year. Hobbs very well may be the #1 steal from last year’s draft.

 

 

 

Jorbit Vivas: Vivas had 2 hits Saturday and Sunday for the Loons. Vivas now has 12 multi-hit games in May. If you’ve noticed a theme with the Loons hitters, they use the middle of the field to the opposite field as well as any team I’ve seen. Well done!

 

 

 

 

Jose Ramos: Ramos had 2 hits in the Loon’s win last Saturday as well. He now has hits in 15 of the 23 games he has played in May & has his average at .270, OPS at .883 and we all know what kind of defense he plays. Ramos is one of the fastest risers, IMO, in the org.

 

 

 

 

Eddys Leonard: Leonard is one of the top prospects in the Dodgers organization and he had 2 hits in Saturday’s game and 1 on Sunday. Leonard now has 10 multiple-hit games in the Month of May and is hitting .270 with an OPS of .852.

 

 

 

 

Ryan January: The January Journey is on track as the Great Lakes catcher had 2 doubles and 3 RBI Saturday in the Loon’s crazy win over South Bend. January, at the time, had hits in 3 games in a row and had raised his average by 16 points in the last 9 games. 

 

 

 

 

Imanol Vargas: The Loons 1st baseman has some serious power! Click the Picture to watch the tape-measure shot he hit off the JumboTron!

 

 

 

 

 

Ben Casparius: Congrats to Ben Casparius for getting called up to High A Great Lakes. Casparius is a young pitcher out of UCONN who I’ve been singing the praises of for a while. He has Big Stuff and a huge future! Click the picture and watch the slider cut under the hands of lefties and the fastball ride away from them. I love this kid’s stuff!

 

 

 

Ryan Sublette: Sublette is one of my favorite young pitchers to watch in the organization. He has a side-slot delivery and has been really effective with a 3.20 ERAl He is a 7th Rounder out of Texas Tech, so click on his picture and take a look at the action from his performance last Wednesday.

 

 

 

 

Jacob Cantleberry: Cantleberry is a lefty out of Missouri who, before Friday’s game, hadn’t allowed an earned run in 3 of his last 4 outings. Click the picture and take a look at the lefty in action.

 

 

 

 

Kyle Hurt: Kyle Hurt has been on a K spree! He now has 17 k’s in his last 3 outings spanning 10 innings and only 1 walk during that time. He also has given up just 1 earned run during that period and went 5 scoreless today and has his ERA all the way down to 1.74. He was a 5th Rounder in the 2020 draft out of USC and is really coming into his own. Click the picture and watch the K spree for yourself.

 

 

 

 

Low A Rancho Cucamonga:

Low A Rancho Cucamonga just finished a series with Visalia this past week in which they went 4-2. Damon Keith has had a tremendous year so far and is surely in line for a promotion as he leads the squad in batting average at .329 and also leads the team in OPS at .998. The Dodger’s #1 prospect in the organization, catcher Diego Cartaya, leads the club with 31 RBIs and has rebounded nicely after somewhat of a slow start. After a couple of really good starts in which he showed off his ++ secondary stuff, Ben Casparius got promoted to High A Great Lakes, so good luck to him.

Jake Vogel, Yeiner Fernandez, Alex DeJesus, and Damon Keith all had 2 hits last Wednesday for Rancho. Huei-Sheng Lin, a 23 Taiwanese pitcher went 4 scoreless innings in a 10-3 Quakes win. The Dodger’s #1 prospect, Diego Cartaya, had 5 hits in 17 at-bats over the past week which included a home run, a triple, a double, 5 RBI, and 11 total bases. Edgardo Henriquez threw 5 innings in his last start on Saturday and was dominant. The young Venezuelan didn’t allow a run and struck out 7. Along the same lines, Jerming Rosario hurled 4 scoreless innings on Saturday and struck out 5 as well.

Here are some headlines from the week: Damon Keith and Julio Carrion each had 2 hits apiece and Luis Rodgriguez had 3 on Saturday, while Maddux Bruns threw 1.2 scoreless innings in the Quake’s loss to Visalia. Damon Keith had 2 more hits on Thursday for Rancho to raise his average to .336 at that time, and, Ben Caspariius out of UCONN had another great outing for the Quakes in what proved to be his final for Low A Rancho Cucamonga. Julio Carrion had a good week as he had 7 hits in his 23 at-bats against Visalia which included 2 home runs, 8 RBI, and 14 total bases. Alex DeJesus had another good week as he had 6 hits on the week and had a hit in all but 1 game. Luis Diaz had possibly his best week of the year with 7 hits and 8 total bases, and Luis Rodriguez finished the week strong by collecting 5 hits in the last 3 games which included a home run a double, and 9 total bases.

 

Justin Bruihl: Congrats to Justin Bruihl for getting called back to L.A and doing a great job not having allowed an earned run in his 4 appearances since being recalled. Bruihl has featured a 76-77 slider, 86 on the sinker, and 89-90 on the fastball. He’s done a great job changing speeds & locating.

 

 

 

Miguel Vargas: Everyone knows that Vargas can hit, but here’s a clip showing how he has improved his defense. Vargas was the AA Central hitting champion last year and is hitting .306 on the year with an OPS of .909. Vargas has hits in 18 of his last 21 games and during that stretch is 31/84, .369 with 4 doubles, 2 triples, 4 home runs, and 16 RBI.

 

 

 

Eddy Alvarez: Eddy Alvarez created yet another great moment for OKC Thursday night and he scored Zach McKinstry all the way from 1st base for a walkoff win. Alvarez has been on a complete tear lately as he just snapped a 9 game hitting Streak where he went 18 for 36, had 5 doubles, a triple, a home run, 12 RBI and 31 total bases. Alvarez is hitting .325 on the year with an OPS of .995.

 

 

 

 

Jason Martin: Jason Martin started the 3rd inning Friday with a homer, then Miguel Vargas and Jake Lamb topped it off with back-to-back homers to make it 3 total for the inning. Martin is having a great year hitting .290 with on OPS of .906.

 

 

 

 

Stefen Romero: Veteran outfielder Stefen Romero has been extremely hot in the last week. He had all 3 RBI’s for OKC on Saturday, then hit a  homerun on Sunday and is 7 for his last 13. He is hitting .316 so far in 2022 with an OPS of .961.

 

 

 

 

Reyes Moronta: Here’s a look at Moronta working himself out of a jam by striking out the side. Moronta was touching 95 and had the big slider working.

 

 

 

 

Garrett Cleavinger: Garrett Cleavinger worked around 2 walks and struck out the side to go scoreless in his inning of work on Sunday. Cleavinger was touching 95 with the fastball, and in the mid 70’s with the breaking ball, and had the nasty backfoot slider working against the righties.

 

 

 

Jon Duplantier: Jon Duplantier’s secondary stuff is simply big league. Both the tight slider and the 12-6 swing and miss shape is legit. See for yourself!  The former Rice Owl has brought his WHIP all the way down to 0.96 and his ERA down to 2.55.

 

 

 

 

Carson Fulmer: I believe I’ve grown as much respect for Carson Fulmer as I have for any player in the org. The former “Vandy Boy” has had so many chances to throw in the towel but he just keeps going. He got the save Saturday night for OKC & has lowered his ERA down to 1.47.

 

 

 

Zach McKinstry: Zach McKinstry led Sundays game off with a home run and is now hitting .359 in OKC this year with an OPS of .937. McKinstry just finished an 11 game hit streak where he went 19/52! Needless to say, he’s making the most of his time in AAA.

 

 

 

 

Ryan Pepiot: Pepiot returned to OKC for his latest start on Sunday and was completely dominant and completely in control striking out 6, walking just 1, and blanking the Space Cowboys in 5 innings. The all-time strike out leader from Butler needed just 76 pitches to get through 5 which is right at 15 pitches per inning which is the goal.

 

 

 

Jake Lamb: The Dodgers are gonna have some decisions to make on Jake Lamb. As of Friday, he had hits in 11 of his last 12 games and during that stretch, he was 16/46, .347 with 2 doubles, 5 homers, 13 RBI, and 33 total bases. He has 10 homers on the year, is hitting  .278 and has an OPS of .906.

 

 

Get ‘Em on Get ‘Em over Get ‘Em In: AA Tulsa executed the beginning of Sunday’s game perfectly. James Outman led off with a base hit, stole 2nd, Jacob Amaya hit behind him and moved him to 3rd, then Ryan Ward hit a ground ball up the middle to score him. Well Done!

 

 

 

 

Gavin Stone: Gavin Stone got promoted to AA Tulsa and was featuring a 96 mph fastball, an upper 80’s slider, and a wicked changeup. He struck out the first 4 hitters of the night and 8 total in 5 innings. Welcome to AA Gavin!

 

 

 

 

Alec Gamboa: 1 out, sacks full, other team’s best hitter up, what do you do? Paint! LHP Alec Gamboa went slider down & away, fastball up & in, slider in the dirt, tailing fastball away to induce a double play. Gamboa went 3 scoreless Sunday in the finale for the Drillers in Amarillo. 

 

 

 

Aaron Ochsenbein: Aaron Ochsenbein went 1 scoreless Sunday & has only allowed an earned run in 1 outing, & that was coming off of the IL. His ERA is 2.35, which, in the Texas League is great, and his k/bb ratio is 7:1.

 

Devin Mann: It’s fitting that Devin Mann had a huge day on the last day in Amarillo. Sunday he went 3 for 5 & in the last 2 series in Amarillo, dating to last year, Mann is 16/38, .421 with 3 doubles, 8 homers, 15 RBI, and 43 total bases.

 

 

 

 

Mark Washington: I am out of superlatives to describe Mark Washington, so I’ll just say this. He recorded his 4th save Saturday, his batting avg. against him is just .125, his WHIP is 0.85, his ERA is 1.21, and he has gone scoreless in 12 of his 14 outings.

 

 

 

 

Guillermo Zuniga: In my opinion, which is worth 0, Saturday was Guillermo Zuniga’s best performance. The way he commanded and located all 3 of his pitches made things easy on him. He didn’t hit 100, like he has many times in the past, but he really pitched! Take a look for yourself!

 

 

 

 

Jordan Leasure: Jordan Leasure slammed the door on the 7th on Amarillo on Saturday Night. Leasure featured a riding 4 seam that sat at 94-95, slider at 86, & a tumbling change-up. The Tampa College grad looks like he’s getting comfortable at the AA level with his last 2 outings which have both been scoreless.

 

 

 

 

Jacob Amaya: Jacob Amaya gave Tulsa the lead with an RBI hit! At the end of Saturday’s game Amaya was hitting .338 with an OPS of 1.138 and had a 7-game hit streak. During that streak he was 12-30 with a triple, 2 home runs, and 20 total bases. He is an elite defender and is an unquestioned leader.

 

 

 

 

Hunter Feduccia: Hunter Feduccia has been unconscious at the plate lately. In his last 4 games, he is 11-19, .578 with 3 doubles, 4 home runs, and 31 total bases.

 

 

 

 

 

James Outman: On the 2nd pitch of the Tulsa game on Saturday, James Outman hit his 10th home run. Outman now has hits in 22 of his last 25 games, is 10 for his last 27 in his last 6 games plus & during that span he has 4 doubles, a home run, and 21 total bases.

 

 

 

 

Kody Hoese: Kody Hoese had a double and a triple to right-center Saturday night, & played spectacular defense as he always does. He is 8 for his last 16 which includes a double, 2 triples, 2 homers, 5 RBI, 19 Total bases, & his avg. is all the way up to .267!

 

 

 

Landon Knack: RHP Landon Knack was dominant in his start for AA Tulsa last night. Knack threw 5 scoreless & struck out 9. His fastball sat 94-96 & touched 97, & he mixed that with a tight slider & very good change. Best performance of the year for this East Tennessee State grad.

 

 

 

Nick Robertson: Nick Robertson picked up where Landon Knack left off Saturday with a scoreless inning featuring a 3 pitch mix. His fastball was 94-96, and his slider and changeup played well off of it!

 

 

 

 

Carson Taylor: Catcher Carson Taylor had quite a weekend. His alma mater, Virginia Tech, won the Coastal Division of the ACC, he called a great game & caught a shutout on Friday, a game in which he threw a runner out, then he finished the weekend with 3 hits and was just a triple shy of the cycle.

 

 

 

 

Ryan Ward: Ryan Ward took the sole lead in home runs in the Dodger’s organization for a brief moment with 2 long balls last Tuesday and has 12 on the year. Wardo is also a skilled enough young hitter to dump outside pitches to the opposite field and is the only player in the history of Bryant University to hit .400.

 

 

 

 

Antonio Knowles: Antonio Knowles threw another 1.1 scoreless inning Sunday to keep his ERA at 0.00. Equally as impressive is the fact that he has just 1 walk on the season while recording 11 k’s. His slider might rival Ryan Pepiot’s changeup as the best pitch in the organization.

 

 

 

 

Lael Lockhart Jr.: Sunday marked another successful start for Lael Lockhart Jr. as he struck out 5, walked none, and gave up no earned runs. The former Friday night Arkansas starter has an ERA of 1.73 with a k/bb ratio of 3.3 to 1.

 

 

 

Jorbit Vivas: Jorbit Vivas had another multi-hit day for High A Great Lakes Saturday. At that time Vivas had a 9-game hit streak where he was 17-36 with 2 doubles, 2 triples, 2 home runs, 7 RBI, and 28 total bases. This young man from Venezuela can really hit!

 

 

 

 

Jose Ramos: This week was the Jose Ramos show for Great Lakes. Ramos made a highlight-reel catch to end an inning, then, next at-bat he tripled, then scored on a ball back to the pitcher to generate his team’s 1st run. This kid from Panama is dynamite!

 

 

 

 

Nick Nastrini: Here’s the sequence of the 4th strikeout in a row for Nick Nastrini in his Saturday performance. Nastrini went 5, struck out 7, and walked just 1. On the year he now has 34 K’s in his 19 innings of work. On Saturday, Nastrini was 94-95 with electric secondary stuff! See for Yourself!

 

 

 

Cole Duensing: Cole Duensing had an impressive outing Saturday going 1 scoreless. Couple things: 1) he has some Goose Gossage in him 2) His changeup isn’t a changeup, it’s a power curve! Look for yourself by clicking the video!

 

 

 

 

Robbie Peto: Robbie Peto earned a Dodger Poke Helmet sticker and a W for his 3.1 scoreless innings Saturday. This Stetson alum pitches with emotions but does it without being emotional. That’s an old veteran trick that he has already conquered. FB, Slider, Change Mix!

 

 

 

 

Ryan January:  January, hit a Tape Measure home run Saturday, then went oppo for a double later in the game! Great stuff!

 

 

 

 

Braydon Fisher: RHP, Braydon Fisher, throws what I call a heavy ball. Meaning… his ball has such late movement, that hitters just rarely square it up. He now has gone scoreless in 8 out of his last 9 and has 24 K’s in 18 innings.

 

 

 

 

Kyle Hurt: RHP Kyle Hurt came to the Dodgers with Alex Vesia in the Dylan Floro trade & returned Sunday from the 7 Day IL. Hurt got his 2nd stint of action tonight and threw 3 scoreless striking out 6. Watch his ++ changeup, 95-96 mph 4 seam & slider for yourself.

 

 

 

Imanol Vargas:  Loons 1st Baseman, Imanol Vargas, has himself a 3 hit day and is now 7 for his last 15. There’s more than one Vargas in the Organization that can hit.

 

 

 

 

Max Hewitt: Congrats to Max Hewitt for getting called up to High A Great Lakes. All Max needs is for someone to give him a chance, and he’ll do the rest!

 

 

 

 

Jose Hernandez: LHP for the Loons, Jose Hernandez, has a league-leading 7 saves. He threw 1.2 scoreless Wednesday and, at that time, had allowed just 1 earned run in his last 14.2 innings. He was sitting 95-97 with a sweeping slider and a tumbling changeup. Take a look for yourself!

 

 

 

 

Michael Hobbs: Michael Hobbs, a 10th Rounder out of St. Mary’s was 93-96 last  Wednesday with a well-shaped slider en route to 2 scoreless innings. At that time Hobbs hadn’t allowed an earned run in 7 out of his last 8 appearances and had allowed just 1 earned in his last 12.2 innings.

 

 

 

 

Emmitt Sheehan:  Emmitt Sheehan is a 6th Round Draft Pick out of Boston College that had been on the IL since April 10th. Thursday he was featuring a riding 4 seam that reached 97, a breaking ball with great depth & a tumbling changeup. He threw 2 scoreless and K’d 5.

 

 

 

Damon Keith: We all know Damon Keith can hit. He’s hitting .310 with an OPS of .964, and was the player of the month in April. Watch his throwing arm though! Well done

 

 

 

 

Roque Gutierrez: Let’s meet Roque Gutierrez! Gutierrez is a 19-year-old from Guasave, Sinaloa Mexico. He played in the Dominican Summer League in 2021, was moved stateside in August of last year, and is pitching with Low A Rancho this year. Here’s a look at this stuff.

 

 

 

 

Alex DeJesus: 20-Year-Old Infielder from the DR, Alex DeJesus, had a 3-hit night Saturday. He has been hot as, at that time, he had a 4-game hitting streak and was 7 for his last 17 with 2 doubles a home run, 7 RBI, and 13 Total Bases in his last 4 games.

 

 

 

 

Ronan Kopp: Ronan Kopp was spot on with his slider Saturday, both to the back foot, the backdoor, and away from the barrel. Kopp threw 2 scoreless for Rancho, and struck out 6 in the process!

 

 

 

 

Ben Casparius: Ben Casparius has some really dirty stuff. The youngster out of UCONN went 5 innings Saturday for Rancho, struck out 8, and walked just 1. Keep an eye on this guy, his stuff plays!

 

 

 

 

Kenneth Betancourt: Betancourt made one of the best plays of the year last week at 2nd base for Rancho, and his bat has heated up too. He had 2 more hits Friday and, at that time, had hits in 7 of his last 9 games, a stretch that included 3 doubles, 2 homers 10 RBI, and 21 total bases.

 

 

 

 

Diego Cartaya: Dodgers’ #1 prospect, Diego Cartaya, had 2 hits Friday including a loud double that came inches away from being a home run! Cartaya, at that time, had hits in 11 of his last 12 & during that stretch was 16/46, .347 with 2 doubles, 5 homers, 13 RBI and 33 total bases.

 

 

 

 

Edgardo Henriquez: Here’s a good look at 19-year-old Edgardo Henriquez out of Venezuela. Henriquez has a 3.26 ERA on the year and pitched 4 scoreless last night featuring a fastball at 98 and a big slider.

Ryan Pepiot: Congrats to Ryan Pepiot for making his MLB debut. The pressure he was under considering the excitement that was built up for this start was pretty intense. Pepiot did a masterful job of fighting human nerves to post 3 scoreless innings. Pepiot was the PCL pitcher of the month last month for posting a 2.05 ERA with 36 strikeouts in 26.2 innings. Pepiot is just a wonderful young man and has electric stuff, and has a long MLB future ahead of him, IMO, health not withstanding.

 

 

 

Michael Grove: Congrats are in order to Michael Grove as well as he also made his MLB debut Sunday throwing 3.2 innings without allowing an earned run. Grove is a young man that has always had the big-time arm talent and is finally fully recovered from the Tommy John surgery he had in college. Grove made some mechanical changes in the middle of last year that led to an increase in velocity and in his strike-throwing ability. I’ve been saying this since his days at West Virginia, but this kid is the “real deal”.

 

 

 

Yency Almonte: Congrats to Yency Almonte, another player that was kind enough to join Dodger Poke. Almonte came to the Dodgers via free agency after being outrighted by the Rockies and has really found himself a home. The organization sat him down on the 2nd day he was with the club and laid out a plan for him which included ditching the 4 seam in favor of his 2 seam and sinker. So, now his mix is a fastball, slider, 2 seam, sinker and it has looked great. Almonte has always been a guy that has pitched with a lot of confidence as his handle on Social Media is “Showtime”.

 

 

 

Gavin Stone: Congrats to this Lake City, Arkansas native for getting moved up to AA Tulsa this past week. Stone leaves the Loons with a 1.44 ERA in 25 innings this year (28K/6BB). Stats courtesy of Brad Tunney, PxP for the Loons who does a fantastic job behind the mic.

 

 

 

Jose Ramos: Ramos made a catch last week that deserves another look from Dodgers fans.  Here’s a video comparing his catch to Willie Mays. Ramos plays for the Low A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes and is having a very good year hitting .277 with an OPS of .909 to match his stellar defense.

 

 

 

 

 

Robbie Peto: Congratulations to Robbie Peto for getting moved up to High A Great Lakes. Peto is a hard-throwing Right-handed pitcher from Stetson that features a 94-95 mph fastball, a ++ changeup and a breaking ball I call a “slurve”. This young man is impressive, so take a look for yourself.

 

 

 

 

Jose Hernandez:  Hernandez had another scoreless outing yesterday for the High A Great Lakes Loons and has allowed just 1 earned run in his last 10 outings spanning 13 innings. The left-handed reliever featured a well-placed fastball and a sweeping slider. Here is a video showing him in-game action.

 

 

 

 

Maddux Bruns: 2021 1st Round Draft Pick, Maddux Bruns, had his best performance since becoming a Dodger Tuesday as he threw 2.2 innings of shutout baseball while striking out 5 last Tuesday. Here is a video showing his pitch mix. 94-95 on the fastball with really good secondary stuff.

 

 

 

 

Martin Santana: Martin Santana is a hard-throwing right-handed reliever for the Quakes that features a blistering fastball, and a hard-breaking slider. He also throws in an occasional changeup and has struck out 18 in his 15.1 innings of action.

 

 

 

 

Kelvin Bautista: Here’s a look at 22-year-old LHP, Kelvin Bautista who allowed just 1 earned run in his last 6 innings for Low A Rancho. A couple of things stick out about this young lefty. 1) His breaking ball is ++ 2) The pace at which he works is very defense friendly!

 

 

 

 

Carlos De Los Santos: Carlos De Los Santos is a big right-handed reliever for the Low A Quakes that features a big breaking ball and hasn’t allowed an earned run since April, which spans 4 performances.

 

 

 

Zach McKinstry: McKinstry leads the PCL in hitting with a .376 average. He also sports a healthy .983 OPS, has a 9-game hitting streak, and is 16/36  during that period which equates to a .444 average. This Central Michigan grad is looking to get out of this Fringy AAAA stage he is in and hopes to stick with LA for good in the near future.

 

 

 

 

Kody Hoese: After 7 consecutive walks last Tuesday, Kody Hoese delivered an RBI base hit. Hoese is finally healthy again and looking to round back into his first-round draft pick form. Yesterday snapped a 5 game hitting streak for the smooth fielding 3rd baseman who might be the best defensive player at the hot corner in the organization.

 

 

 

Jeren Kendall: Former 1st round draft pick out of Vanderbilt is still trying to find his stroke at the plate, but always plays elite defense. Check out this catch he made this past week to save extra bases.

 

 

 

 

Mark Washington: Mark Washington’s scoreless streak came to an end Sunday after the tall right-hander out of Lehigh had thrown 13.2 scoreless innings which covers a span of 7 games.   His fastball, slider, and changeup mix have been on point so far this year. 

 

 

 

 

Miguel Vargas: Vargas got his average above .300 this week and just kept going. The reigning AA Central hitting champion sits at .314 now with an OPS of .914 after a very hot week. He now has 5 consecutive multiple-hit games, has a 7 game hitting streak, and has hits in 15 of his last 16 games. During that span, he has 10 hits in his last 22 at-bats and has 2 doubles, a triple, and a home run. This guy is the real deal at the plate.

 

 

 

Jordan Leasure: Keep an eye on Leasure. He was 95-97 on his fastball and was flashing good secondary in all counts for the AA Tulsa Drillers. Take a look for yourself!

 

 

 

 

Jose Adames: Adames was recently moved down to AA Tulsa to work on his command, but this former first-round draft pick from 2016 definitely has first-round draft pick stuff.  He was 97-99 Sunday with a big slider and change for Tulsa Thursday and was dropping some dimes. Watch him blister some fastballs, then drop some dimes.

 

 

 

Austin Drury: Dating back to last year, LHP Austin Drury has allowed just 3 earned runs in his last 13 outings which spans 17.2 innings. This North Florida Osprey alum changes speeds and moves the ball extremely well, and is extremely tough to square up.

 

 

 

James Outman: No Minor league report would be complete without an update on James Outman. Outman is a Brady Anderson clone in the way he hits and his production and has his average up to .272 with an OPS of .910. He has hits in 9 of his last 10 games in which he has a triple, 3 doubles, 3 home runs, and 15 RBI during that span. This guy is 100% legit!

 

 

 

Chris Betts: I got to meet the fan club of AA Tulsa Drillers catcher, Chris Betts, and they are awesome and super proud of what they call the best Betts in the org. Betts is a former 2015 2nd Round Draft Pick and had his best day as a Driller Thursday with a Homer and a double.

 

 

 

 

Michael Busch: This is your weekly reminder that Michael Busch is insanely good at hitting a baseball. Dating back to last year, Busch has hits in 27 of his last 40 games and has multiple hits in 18 of those, and 21 extra-base hits during that time.

 

 

 

Lael Lockhart Jr.: Lael Lockhart Jr. had a great outing last Thursday going 5 & giving up just 1 earned run. Here’s some video showing his pitch mix.
FB 89
Slider 83
Backdoor Slider 79
4 Seam Up 89
Curveball 75
Changeup w/ tumble 84

 

Antonio Knowles: Knowles has still yet to give up an earned run on the year for High A Great Lakes in his 11 innings and 9 appearances. Take a look at his ++ slider!

 

 

 

 

Jake Lamb: Lamb hit his 8th home run of the season Thursday to extend his consecutive game hit streak to 7. His streak ended last night at 8 games in a row, and during that streak, he is 10 for 27 .370 with 3 home runs, 2 doubles, and 10 RBIs. Oh…and a Grand Slam as well!

 

 

 

 

Ryan Ward: Ward is one of my favorite young hitters and is just behind Michael Busch for the lead in home runs for the entire organization. This Massachusetts native has a 4-game hitting streak and has hits in 6 of his last 7 games and 8 out of his last 9 for the AA Tulsa Drillers.

 

 

 

Ryan Noda: I’ve said it a couple of times now, but Noda reminds me of a bigger, athletic version of Jim Thome. Noda is now hitting .274 with an OPS of .885 and has drawn 25 walks. This guy is a stat sheet stuffer!

 

 

 

 

Alec Gamboa: If you could have a young pitcher emulate anyone in the org., LHP Alec Gamboa is a good one to choose. The way he changes speeds and locates is how every pitcher should pitch.

 

 

 

Yefry Ramirez: Congrats Yefry Ramirez for a complete-game shutout in his last performance. Ramirez gave up just 3 hits and needed just 107 pitches. He is a former first-round pick who has been around for a while but is still only 28. Here’s a look at his pitch mix from his shutout performance this past week.

 

 

 

 

Caleb Ferguson: LHP, Caleb Ferguson, was pitching backwards and touching 95 with his fastball en route to a scoreless inning during his last outing on Friday night for AAA OKC. That’s Ferguson’s 2nd consecutive scoreless outing and 4th out of his last 5th.

 

 

 

 

Justin Bruihl:  Bruihl featured a sweeping slider and arm side fastball last night in 2 scoreless innings in his last outing Friday for AAA OKC. His slider sweeps away from lefties and to the backfoot of righties. The FB, 90-94, stays under the barrel of lefties and tails away from righties. Take a look for yourself!

 

 

 

 

Carson Taylor: Top 30 Carson Taylor made it back off the IL in exciting fashion as he had a broken-bat single in which the bat flew into the stands. Take a look for yourself!

 

 

 

Austin Gauthier: Gauthier is a breath of fresh air the way he is short to the ball and uses the middle of the field with 2 strikes so well. He is almost an exact clone of Craig Biggio. Click the video on the left to see that comparison for yourself.

 

 

 

Carson Fulmer: Welcome back Carson Fulmer. After clearing waivers, re-signing him was a formality. Fulmer showcased his big breaking ball, tailing fastball, changeup, and slider Saturday night in his 1 inning save.

 

 

 

 

Bobby Miller: Miller threw up zeroes in his last start for AA Tulsa that lasted 5 innings as he out-dueled Jack Leiter. Miller had a mix of 100 mph fastball, 90 mph slider, and 82 mph changeup. Click the video on the left to see that mix in action.

 

 

 

Jacob Amaya: Amaya is simply the best player in the Minor Leagues right now. He always carries the elite defense at short stop, but this year he is breaking out with the bat. He is hitting .337 with an OPS of 1.190.

 

 

 

Kevin Pillar: Kevin Pillar had a huge night for OKC Saturday. He had 2 hits and one of the best plays of the year in center field and is hitting .321 on the year with an OPS of 1.073. Watch his great catch for yourself!

 

 

 

Eddy Alvarez: Eddy Alvarez had a huge night Saturday night with 3 hits, 2 doubles, 5 total bases, and 2 RBIs. After the Saturday night game, he was 6 for his last 13, 9 for his last 19, and was hitting .290 with an OPS of .922.

 

 

 

Damon Keith: Congrats to Damon for being selected as the Cal League player of the month in April. Keith is one of the hottest hitters on the planet right now for Low A Rancho Cucamonga, as he is hitting .372 with an OPS of 1.108 so far in 2022. This young right-hander from Cal Baptist is the real deal, so take a look for yourself by clicking the picture on the left to watch video of him in action.

 

 

 

Madison Jeffrey: Jeffrey is a relief pitcher out of W. Virginia that WILL pitch in the MLB, as long as he stays healthy. I’ve seen @mjeffrey33 twice when he was at W. Virginia and the life on his fastball and his curveball are awesome. There’s something about that West Virginia program because it seems like all of their guys have exploding fastballs with late-life and big curveballs. Take a look for yourself!

 

 

 

 

Alex De Jesus: De Jesus is a young left-side infielder from the D.R. that is off to a good start and is having a very good month of May so far. De Jesus is hitting .247 with an OPS of .875 overall in 2022 but is hitting .276 with an OPS of .969 so far in May. He also has hits in 9 of his last 11 games and is hitting .311

 

 

 

 

Diego Cartaya: Cartaya is the Dodger’s #1 prospect, and he is playing like it. The 20-year-old Venezuelan catcher is hitting .364 in May, has hits in 7 consecutive games, is 11 for his last 26, and had home runs in 3 consecutive games at the end of April. After a slow start, the Dodger’s #1 prospects average has climbed all the way to .263 with an OPS of .942.

 

 

 

Ronan Kopp:  This left-handed pitcher was picked up in the 12th round of last year’s draft and likes to throw some serious velo donuts! Kopp is 95-96 on his fastball and has recorded a minuscule ERA of just 0.73. Kopp allowed an earned run in his 2nd appearance of 2022 but hasn’t allowed anything in his other 6 stints of action. He has 26 strikeouts in just 14.1 innings, and is really turning heads with the Low A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes.

 

 

 

Ben Casparius: If you haven’t had a chance to watch Ben Casparius pitch, click the video and watch because his arsenal is loaded. Casparius was a 5th Round Draft Pick out of UCONN that has the big 4 seam up in the zone, a changeup, slider, and a big 12-6 breaking ball. He has a 3.60 ERA on the year and has allowed just 1 earned run in his last 13.2 innings of work and has 21 strikeouts in 15 innings, so his stuff is explosive.

 

 

 

Antonio Knowles: Knowles slider is a ++ pitch that continues to turn heads, and he has used it more and more to get outs for High A Great Lakes. Take a look for yourself! Knowles is still spotless on the year in his 7 games and 9 innings!

 

 

 

 

1. Braydon Fisher: Here’s a good look at the pitch mix of Brayden Fisher, a 4th Rounder from the 2018 Draft out of League City, Tx. In this video he features a fastball at 92-94, slider at 85 & a curveball that sits 78-81. He gave up no runs in his 2 inning performance for the High A Great Lakes Loons this week and has an ERA of just 2.38 on the year with a batting average against of just .081.

 

 

 

Nick Nastrini: Nastrini got out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam to start the game in his last performance and was using a fastball at 94-96, slider at 84, & curveball at 79. He gave up no runs in 3 innings and has now struck out 54 in 24.2 innings in 2022 with the High A Great Lakes Loons. This 4th round pick from last year’s draft is electric!

 

 

Michael Hobbs: 10th Round pick out of St. Mary’s, RHP Michael Hobbs, continues his excellent work by giving up just 1 earned run in his last 5 performances which spans 7.2 innings for the High A Great Lakes Loons. Hobbs features an explosive 4 seam with lots of arm-side life, a tight  slider, and a changeup with a lot of tumble and fade.

 

 

 

Ryan Sublette: Ryan Sublette featured a fastball that sat 93-96, a slider at 86, and a softer breaking ball at 82-83. Sublette did not allow an earned run in his 2 innings of work Friday, has a batting average against of just .182 in 2022, and has given up just 1 Adios Muchacho which is better known as a home run at Texas Tech, his Alma mater! Keep up the great work Ryan!

 

 

 

 

Jerming Rosario: Rosario threw 5 scoreless innings last Friday and didn’t give up a hit or a walk. @j_rosario_8 struck out 6 and was featuring an exploding 4 seam mixed with 3 different shapes to his breaking ball. He was throwing a tight 3-9 slider, a 2-7 slurve, then also more of a 12-6ish to his breaking ball as well. Great job Jerming, keep up the great work!

 

 

 

Jacob Amaya: Amaya is the best player in the Minor Leagues right now. He has always been considered to be elite defensively, but his offense had always been hit or miss. In the past, he has hit for power, and also hit for average and on-base percentage, but never at the same time. This year it is all coming together as he is hitting .351 with an OPS of 1.270, and continues to be possibly the best defensive shortstop in the Minor Leagues. Amaya has hits in his last 5 games and, during that stretch, is hitting .533 with an OPS Of 1.699. That is not a misprint!

 

 

 

Austin Gauthier: Austin Gauthier, quite possibly, has the shortest and quickest swing in the entire Dodgers organization. Gauthier is shaping into almost an exact clone of Craig Biggio and is hitting .438 in May with an OPS of 1.217 for the Low A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes. I love watching this kid play. He uses the middle of the field with 2 strikes like a pro!

 

 

 

Mark Washington: Washington might have had his best outing of the year Saturday. IMO, he didn’t have his A++ stuff like he usually does, but, grinded his way to a scoreless performance and has an ERA of just 1.13 on the year for the AA Tulsa Drillers. This Lehigh grad hasn’t allowed an earned run in his last 6 performances which spans 10.1 innings.

 

 

 

Guillermo Zuniga: This big reliever from Colombia hit 100 this week and also features a ++ slider in the closer role for AA Tulsa

 

 

 

 

Jose Ramos: Ramos made the best catch of the year Saturday as he tracked down a ball in center field Willie Mays style. Take a look for yourself by clicking the picture on the left. Ramos is quickly ascending into some top 10 lists in the organization with his play and rightfully so, as his defense is stellar and his offense has been good too. He’s hitting .255 with an OPS of .883.

 

 

 

Jake Lamb: Former MLB All-Star, Jake Lamb, hit a grand slam for AAA OKC Saturday night to give them a lead they never relinquished. Lamb now has 6 on the year, is hitting .277, and has an OPS of .875. He also has hits in his last 4 games and is 6 for 13 during that stretch with 6 RBIs.

 

 

 

Zach McKinstry: McKinstry had 3 hits Saturday night. He now has 8 hits in his last 16 at-bats and has gotten on base 10 times during that stretch. If you can’t root for Zach McKinstry, then who can you root for? The dude has an awesome process and is having a crazy-good year with OKC hitting .370 with an OPS of .979. He’s hoping to be more than a fringy AAAA guy for the Dodgers in the near future!

 

 

 

Bobby Miller: Here’s a great look at the arsenal of the Dodger’s #1 pitching prospect, Bobby Miller. Yesterday he featured an 86 mph changeup with arm-side hop, a 98 mph fastball, then an 81 mph breaking ball. That sequence would have gotten every hitter on the planet out.

 

 

 

Great Lakes Loons Comeback: This was awesome! The crazy runner’s interference call at 1st reared its head, then manager Austin Chubb lit a fire in his team, and the next thing you know the Loons scored 4 runs and took the lead. They executed the 1st and 3rd Double double steal play to take the lead which was Bigtime!

 

 

 

 

James Outman: Outman now has hits in 7 of his last 8 games and has  6 RBIs in his last 3 games. Outman is an elite defender whose offense reminds me of Brady Anderson during his prime. The big left-handed hitting outfielder from California is hitting .257 with an OPS of .886 on the year.

 

 

 

 

Nick Robertson: Robertson made his 1 inning save look really easy. The James Madison grad was featuring a fastball at 96, a slider at 87, and an 88 mph change-up. I say this every time I post about him, but he is 100% legit. His arm action is so smooth! Take a look for yourself!

 

 

 

 

Ryan Ward: AA Tulsa Driller outfielder, Ryan Ward, hit his 9th home run of the year Sunday. Ward uses the middle of the field as well as any player in professional baseball as his middle of the field % is 27%, and for a guy that is showing his power, that is elite!

 

 

 

 

Julian Smith: Here’s a good look at the pitch mix of 6’4″ LHP pitcher Julian Smith. Smith featured a change at 80, a hard slider at 86, a softer breaking ball at 80, and an 87-90 fastball yesterday in his scoreless performance, and has not allowed a run in his last 3 appearances.

 

 

 

 

Michael Grove: Here’s a good look at the pitch mix of Michael Grove. I’ve been singing this tune since he was a frosh at W. Virginia, but Grove has the potential to be a Major League pitcher for many, many years. 96 FB, 86 Slider, 77 softer breaking ball. Look for yourself by clicking the video!

 

 

 

 

Christian Suarez: LHP, Christian Suarez, has yet to allow an earned run in his 6 appearances with the Low A Quakes.

The Tulsa Drillers are starting 2022 with almost the exact same roster they ended 2021 with, minus Ryan Noda and Miguel Vargas, plus a few additions of some of the most highly ranked prospects in the organization. I have included Ryan Noda and Miguel Vargas in this article although they have already been promoted to OKC. The Drillers roster is, quite possibly, the most talented roster of any minor league team in professional baseball, and Dodger Poke has featured most of the players on the roster, so for the full feature on each player, including interviews and feature cuts, click their name and it will take you to their feature.

Catchers

Hunter Feduccia

Hunter Feduccia is a returning Driller who, like most of the club, heated up as the weather warmed up in 2021.  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 resilience 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.

Carson Taylor

Taylor is a Top 30 catching prospect out of Virginia Tech that has carried an elite “hit tool” with him every step of the way. Taylor is a switch hitter, and is really good at working with the staff and is an outstanding pitch caller. He has a defensive game that is growing to add to his already excellent offense that features hitting from both sides of the plate as a switch hitter. He was drafted in the 4th Round of the 2020 draft so he is moving up quickly and is very excited for his new challenge at the AA level.

Chris Betts

Chris Betts was acquired by the Dodgers via free agency over the winter from Tampa Bay who he had been with since 2015. Betts was originally a 2nd round draft pick so he is very talented, and despite the fact that he has been in professional baseball since 2015, he is still only 25 years old. So, he brings even more talent to the catchers pool, experience in the pro game, another left handed stick and the potential for a guy that fits the Dodgers formula with a lot of power, but then great discipline at the plate. He also can play some first base, so he brings some versatility to the Drillers as well.

Starting Pitchers

Bobby Miller

Bobby Miller was drafted in the first round and is maybe the hottest prospect in the organization entering the 2022 season, especially after his performance at Dodgers stadium in Spring Training.  He was brought up in September of last year 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 100 mph 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.

Landon Knack

Landon Knack is a power pitching prospect that 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.

Clayton Beeter

Clayton Beeter is a RHP pitching prospect in the Dodgers organization that has some of the best stuff in the entire organization. He is another pitcher that has a lightning bolt for a right arm and Beeter was drafted out of Texas Tech as the #66 overall pick in the 2020 draft. 

Beeter has added a harder curveball this year, and is implementing a “cutter” to add to his high 90’s fastball and big curveball.  His delivery is “over the top”, his fastball sits mid 90’s but can reach as high as 98, and 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 was on a limited pitch count in 2021 but is very excited to return to full pitch counts in 2022.

John Rooney

Rooney is a left-handed starter out of Hofstra that is coming off a 2021 season in which he was mostly injured. Rooney is a very talented pitcher and features a fastball, slider, changeup mix with his backfoot slider being his “go to” pitch. He also has, quite possibly, the best pickoff move in all of baseball and is primed to really make a splash in 2022. He threw 5 scoreless innings in his debut so he has good stuff, has shown to be efficient and has great stamina.

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 and he will finally be on full pitch counts in 2022, so 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 last year on his fastball, but was hitting 98 mph consistently by the end of the year and he mixes that with 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, but then had Tommy John surgery in 2019, then Covid cancelled 2020 so his momentum was slowed down.  As he stays healthy, rebuilds his pitch count and get the feel back in his off speed stuff he will pitch in the Major Leagues at some point.

Bullpen

Zack Plunkett

Plunkett was taken out of Arkansas after having only pitched 1 inning total in College. The Right-handed relief pitcher was a backup to 3 Team USA catchers at both TCU and Arkansas, but despite that, was drafted twice because of his work ethic and physical skills. During his senior year at Arkansas, Plunkett started throwing bullpens, and on the 3rd pitch of his first bullpen hit 97, so his stuff is absolutely legit. He is one of the few that features a split-finger to mix with his slider and mid to upper 90’s fastball.

Guillermo Zuniga

Zuniga is a big-bodied Right-handed reliever from Colombia that fits the Dodgers formula perfectly with his pitch mix of a fastball, slider, and changeup. Zuniga is 6’5 and 230 pounds so he has a very intimidating presence and is coming off of a very good 2021 where his ERA was 3.06 with a k/bb ratio of almost 4 to 1 and a batting average against of just .194.

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 is a 3 pitch strike thrower that sits 94-96, so he offers a lot of versatility in terms of the roles he can be used in as well as arm talent..

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 decline.  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 last 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 and has had a crazy hot start to 2022.

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. Gibbens allowed only 1 earned run in his first 13 appearances and combined for the only no-hitters in Loons history last year so he is very good when he is fresh.

Aaron Ochsenbein

Selected with the 191st pick of the 2019 draft, Aaron Oschenbein is another power arm bullpen arm that has been made a closer. He has already had his Tommy John surgery, and 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. 

Tanner Dodson

Tanner Dodson is a young prospect that was drafted in the competitive balance Round B of the 2018 draft. Dodson was recently acquired in the Luke Raley trade and was hitting 98-100 with his fastball at the end of last year. He has always been a 2 way player and had 25 at bats last year, but will, most likely, concentrate on pitching as a Dodger. He features a ++ slider and changeup and has bigtime “lights out” stuff out of the pen. This was a great pickup for the Dodgers.

Alec Gamboa

Alec Gamboa is a left-handed relief pitcher out of Madera where he was a 3 sport star in the Fresno area. Gamboa went 150-15 as a wrestler, so you know he is tough and athletic, and is considered to be one of the best Central Valley multi-sport athletes in the history of that area. Gamboa features a 4 pitch mix that includes a 2 seam-4 seam split with his fastball, so, in effect, he could be considered to have 5 pitches.  His fastball sits 93-96 and has gotten stronger the further away he has gotten from his Tommy John surgery. Gamboa is a great athlete, extremely competitive, grew up  a Dodgers fans, and is extremely talented.

Justin Hagenman

Hagenman is a right handed reliever out of Penn State that was drafted in the 23rd round of the 2018 Draft. Hagenman uses the bottom of the zone well with his 90’s fastball, can get under the ball to get good ride at the top of the zone, has a really tight slider and tumbling and fading changeup. Hagenman had better than a 4 to 1 k/bb ratio last year in 62 innings last season with Double-A Tulsa so he is carrying a lot of momentum into 2022.

Jose Martinez

Martinez had a really good first outing in 2022 and uses both sides of the plate very well to set hitters up. The right handed relief pitcher has a good slider and locates the ball well and continues to impress inside the organization. Martinez features a mix of a 90’s fastball, slider and changeup.

Austin Drury

Drury is a left-handed reliever out of the University of North Florida that finished 2021 not giving up a run in his last 3 outings. Drury works fast and has a ++ changeup and creates a lot of weak contact with his secondary pitches. Drury is fun to play defense behind because of his pace.

Melvin Jimenez

Melvin Jimenez is a right handed relief pitcher in the Dodgers organization that posted some pretty eye popping numbers in the lower ranks of the Minor Leagues. Jimenez lands on the first base side, so when he locates to his arm side, the ball runs quite a bit. Jimenez was signed in 2015 so he has been in Professional baseball for quite a while and he features a fastball, curveball, changeup mix.

Infielders

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 to last season, his finish to 2021 was nothing short of remarkable. After a decent start in May, things went pretty sideways for the Tar Heel infielder 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.  

Miguel Vargas AAA OKC

Miguel Vargas is one of the hottest prospects 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.

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 still a bigtime prospect, and nothing can be taken from his injury riddled 2021 season. He was drafted out of Tulane as the 25th pick of the 2019 draft, so just another reminder that he is still a big time prospect that hit .391 as a Junior at Tulane and hit 23 homeruns as well at the Division 1 level.  To make any kind of permanent evaluations on Hoese based off of last 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.

Devin Mann: Super Utility

Devin Mann is the ultimate utility player as he has played every position other than pitcher and catcher at AA Tulsa. He joins Will Smith and Bobby Miller as another Louisville Cardinal prospect and is long and lanky. Mann got off to a slow start in 2021, and on July 4th, 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 every position on the field, and has.

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 a huge 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.

Justin Yurchak

Yurchak hit .365 last year combined between High A Great lakes and AA Tulsa, so this guy can really hit. He is mainly a first baseman that some say needs to add power to his game, but I hope he never changes a thing because his OPS was .928 last year to go with the huge .365 average. Yurchak swings left-handed and was drafted in the 12th Round of the 2017 draft out of Binghampton and is “under the radar” most likely because of the talent that surrounds him.

Brandon Lewis

Lewis got the call up from High A Great Lakes where, last year, he showed his massive power. Lewis hit 30 home runs in 2021 which equated to 1 homerun every 14 at-bats. Lewis is an LA Area guy who played collegiately at LA Pierce, then UC Irvine, and was drafted in the 4th Round of the 2019 draft and has “lights out” power as well as being a good defender at both 1st base and 3rd base. Lewis is one of those prospects that can both hit, and then also hit with power, but being a good hitter first is something that is important to him so he is going to continue to be a great hitter at every stop. It’s also rumored that’s he’s pretty good with his putter on the golf course as well.

Outfield

James Outman

James Outman is another quickly rising prospect that was brought up to Tulsa with Justin Yurchak towards the end of 2021.  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 is an elite defender and is fearless at going and getting the ball.  He has made a lot of adjustments to his swing since joining the Dodgers and has rounded into a very good offensive player.

Jeren Kendall

Kendall is an outfielder who plays elite defense and has always had the “clutch gene”. Kendall hit the first every walkoff homerun in TD Ameritrade at the College World Series, and also had 2 walk-offs last year for the Drillers. Kendall is a former first round draft pick out of Vanderbilt that fought injury through 2021, so 2022 is a big year for the talented outfielder as he will get the chance to show what he can do with full health. Kendall is an elite defensive outfielder with the potential to be an offensive player that can hit for power, have a high on base percentage and put a bunch of pressure on defenses. Speed never goes in a slump and Kendall has it to burn.

Ryan Noda AAA OKC

Okay, MILB, 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.

Andy Pages

Andy Pages is an outfielder with every tool in the book. He has a cannon for an arm and has played in all 3 outfield positions, but projects as a corner outfielder as he grows through the system. Pages has played 3 years under Austin Chubb and is being passed to Henny for 2022 so he is in very good hands. Pages is from Cuba and brings an International flash with him, but is very popular with his teammates, and, despite having a lot of spotlight on him, is very humble. Pages hit 31 homeruns last year and had on OPS of .933, so he has lived up to the hype, which is not always easy to do.

Ryan Ward

Ward is, in my opinion, one of the best pure hitters I’ve seen. He played collegiately at Bryant and is the only Bulldog to hit .400 over an entire season, he hit .409 in 2018 to be exact, then backed that up with a .382 average his Junior year in 2019. He graduated from Millbury Memorial with less than 100 kids in his graduating class and so he has all of those great “small town” values” to mix with his enormous talent. Ward hits left but throws right and has elite work ethic and is a managers dream when it comes to his daily approach to his work and the game. The outfield for the Drillers is pretty stacked with returners, so finding consistent at bats early on might be somewhat tricky, but when he gets in a groove watch out because this guy can flat rake.