Sterling Patick is a 20-year-old left-handed pitcher that the Dodgers drafted in the 18th round of the 2023 draft out of South Hills High School in West Covina. South Hills is just a hop, skip, and a jump from Dodgers Stadium, and it has produced several professional baseball players over the years.
In fact, Jacob Amaya, whom the Dodgers traded for Miguel Rojas, went to school there and played for Darren Murphy as well. So Patick comes from a background of big-time baseball, expectations to be elite, and the mindset of winning within a great culture.
Getting Drafted
Click to watch the Patick interview
After being drafted in 2023, Patick spent the rest of that short season at the Complex, but made his affiliated debut a year later in August of 2024. He had 6 outings to finish that season and did very well, then started 2025 in Rancho as well.
For a kid coming straight out of High School, that’s a fairly quick ramp-up, especially considering that Patick dealt with a few injuries in 2024, which was his first full year of professional baseball.
In essence, he was transitioning from a 40(ish) game High School schedule and travel ball to the full 6-month grind of a Minor League season, so getting your body trained for that grind is a challenge.
He had just 6 outings at the complex in 2024 before being sent to Rancho, and he hit the ground running and pitched well to finish his first full season as a professional.
When asked what he learned that has helped him, here’s what he had to say.
I think just getting a taste of the Cal League last year helped to have that experience to get a feel for what things are like. It was nice to have that experience, and expectation of what to expect.
Patick was asked what his biggest challenge has been.
I’d say just getting the overall workload and taking care of my body, and staying healthy. It’s a heavier workload on the body.
The Development
Click to watch the Patick interview
It’s no secret that the Dodgers have possibly the best development system in all of baseball. The AAAA guys in OKC who have played in the MLB for several other organizations almost unanimously attest to that, so Patick is in a great spot.
His pitching coaches at the Single-A level both have Major League experience. Ramon Troncoso pitched for the Dodgers from 2008-2013, and Brandon Bailey pitched for the Reds in 2020.
Click to watch the Patick interview
So, the instruction he’s getting is elite, especially considering that Charlie Hough is a regular, Rick Honeycutt works with the pitchers in the system as well, and Rob Hill, the Dodgers Minor League pitching coordinator, is on top of everything.
As you can see, the instruction in the Dodgers system is a machine full of people with the highest experience, different ideas, and no ego in terms of who has to be right. The only goal is to find the best process for each player, and Patick, as well as the others, reap those benefits every day.
When asked about Troncoso and Bailey, here’s what Patick had to say.
They’ve been awesome! Just, throughout my outings, reviewing and preparing, they’ve been great. They’ve definitely helped a lot with my development, and I have nothing but respect for both of them.
The Pitch Mix
Click to watch Patick pitch and talk about his mix and how he uses it.
Patick features five pitches, with his fastball and cutter being his main two weapons. When talking about his mix, he said his best pitch is probably his curveball, and that he’s taking strides to develop his changeup, and he’s happy with the progress he’s making.
He also mentioned that he throws a sweeper, but that it’s probably his least-used pitch and that he only throws it to lefties. He said that the 2 pitches he wants to refine the most are his changeup and curveball. His curveball is Clayton Kershaw-esque, so it’s really good when he’s commanding it.
He changed his grip on his changeup earlier this year, so he’s still getting used to that.
Keys to Success
Click to watch Patick pitch and talk about the keys to his success
With all of the modern-day analytics, it’s easy to become a “stat rat.” There is so much information available, sifting through it, can be daunting, and it’s easy to get fixated on “stuff” that lights up the track man, vs. stuff that gets hitters out.
When asked what is the key to his success, Patick had a very good perspective.
I’d say it’s just count control. I think one of the biggest things about being in pro ball is how you’re able to control the count, because pitching ahead really helps.
When I’m able to get ahead with strike 1, then win the race to 2 strikes, I definitely find a lot more success.
Finishing Up
Being from West Covina, Patick gets to go home quite a bit, and his family gets to see him pitch, so that is really cool. When asked about his hobbies, he said he likes to spend time with family and play chess, which goes hand in hand with understanding strategy that can help on the baseball field.
Baseball is the only sport that he played growing up, and he grew up idolizing Clayton Kershaw and the pitcher he models after the most at the moment is Max Fried, but he’s always loved watching Kershaw throw.
Patick is only 20, and he’s getting stronger by the day, and is refining his craft every time he goes out. And, being drafted out of High School, there is no rush, so he will have a timeline that will allow him to be very thorough in the process of finding the best version of himself.
Big thanks to Sterling for joining, it’s greatly appreciated, he is an awesome young man with a great head on his shoulders and a TON of talent. Also, big thanks to Mark Watkins for reporting on the Quakes and doing this interview. This was the first interview he had done for Dodgers Daily, and he nailed it.
And, as always, thanks to you for reading, and always remember, it’s a Great Day to be a Dodger.
Tate is a 6’0″ 194 194-pound right-handed pitcher that the Dodgers drafted with their 11th pick. He was the 345th pick overall and missed basically all of last year due to injury.
OU has a good baseball program, but it’s a football school, and there is no debate to be had there, so the bidding war in this case would be interesting if there becomes one.
The Dodgers took a chance on him, despite him not pitching much this year, because he has a fastball that has touched 98-99 and a good slider.
Tate was likely going to be the closer at OU if he hadn’t gotten injured. Tate came back to help OU in the postseason; however, he then went and pitched in the Cape Cod League for Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox.
Logan Lunceford 5’10” RHP
Click to watch Lunceford
Lunceford was the Dodgers’ 12th pick and the 375th pick overall. He started at Mizzou, then transferred to Wake Forest, which is one of the best pitching schools in the nation. The Deacons use a lot of analytics to determine mix, grips, and overall arsenals and approaches, and it works.
So, Lunceford understands analytics and how to use them for his benefit, and that will be of great benefit as he becomes a pro.
He will understand how to use the carry of his fastball to get outs more so than the velo, which sits low 90s. He’ll understand how angles help him and how to sequence one pitch off of the next to make his fastball play up.
The pitch he’ll sequence and tunnel the most is his changeup, which is high 70s, but has a pretty insane amount of straight tumble. He can also drop in a 12-6 curveball that won’t exactly play off of his fastball in terms of tunneling, but is good enough to not get ambushed when he throws it for a “get me over” strike. His curveball is definitely a strike stealer and one of his “front to back” pitches he can use to get back to his high fastball with carry.
The curveball and change-up are good, but what he doesn’t have right now is a “bridge” pitch in terms of velo band. He goes from low 90s with his fastball to upper 70s with his change, to low to mid 80s with his curveball, so I would expect the Dodgers to give him a harder breaking ball to bridge those two velo bands. Just my opinion though, and I have 0 inside information on that.
Robbie Porco 6’8″ RHP
Click to watch Porco in action
Porco was the Dodgers’ 13th pick and the 405th pick overall in the 2025 Draft. He goes up a ways at 6’8″ and his signing will remind you a lot of the signings of Patrick Copen and Eriq Swan. Huge frame, electric arm, not great College stats because the control and command have been an issue.
Well, Swan and Copen are making great progress, so you get a guy like Porco into the Dodgers system, and there’s no telling how many lightbulbs might go off.
He bounced back and forth between starting and relieving, and battled injuries his last 2 times on Campus, but made himself a reliable, if not very good, pitcher down the stretch this year.
Porco is just a Junior, so he could return to WVU if he chooses, so the Dodgers will have to make an offer that is better than what he has with a very good and rising Mountaineers program.
His fastball sits 95-97, and pro ball likely will be the place where he grows the most. The reason is, the College season is so fast, so if you’re not throwing strikes, there is no time for experimentation, especially in the Conference season. So Porco didn’t pitch for long periods.
That will not happen in professional baseball.
Even if he hits a patch where he’s struggling with command, at the very least he’ll be put on the development list and be sent to the complex to throw to live hitters, but in a setting where results aren’t the focus.
Porco offered to come chill as part of an NIL deal for just $1.00, so he’s not driven by money, the best developmental situation will likely win out in this case.
Davis Chastain – 5’11 163 RHP
Click to watch Chastain in action
Chastain started his career at Georgia State, where he spent 2 years, then transferred to Georgia this past season for his Junior campaign, so he has eligibility left. He is a relief pitcher who has great “swing and miss” stuff and is mastering the control and command aspect of things.
Chastain features a 4-Seam, slider, and curveball, and can touch mid-90s.
Chastain was a pitcher and shortstop back at Rome in High School, and was known for having great range and a strong arm. The Dodgers love signing great athletes, especially on the mound. As they dive into the analytics of each pitcher, the more athletic a pitcher is, the more they can actually implement what the analytics suggest needs to happen.
We’ve seen this with guys like River Ryan, Ryan Pepiot, Chris Campos, and several others, and Chastain is a great candidate to be next in that line.
Matt Lanzendorfer – LHP
Click to watch Lanzendorfer in action
Lanzendorfer was taken by the Dodgers as their 15th pick, and as the 465th pick overall, and he is one that you root for.
He started his career at DIII Misericordia University, which and helped them win the National title just a year after he underwent UCL repair surgery. He actually dealt with the pain and was able to hold off surgery until the season was over. He was a nursing major, which pays WAY better than baseball unless you become a Major Leaguer, so he had a decision as to which road to follow.
He chose baseball, finished off the National Championship game on the mound, then transferred to UVA after 4 years at Misericordia.
At UVA, he went 4-2 with an ERA of just 2.90 in 22 appearances out of the bullpen for the Hoos. He also recorded a team best 5 saves.
He features a fastball that he uses to ride the top of the zone and a slider that is effective to both righties and lefties. His fastball is in the 91-93 range.
AJ Soldra- OF
Click to watch Soldra
Soldra was taken by the Dodgers as their 16th pick and pick number 495 overall in the MLB Draft. He’s a 6’0″ left-handed outfielder who started his career at NJIT, then transferred to Seton Hall this past season for his Sophomore campaign.
Soldra also just finished a very successful summer in the Cape Cod League, drawing rave reviews as a potential 5-tool player with elite off-the-field processes.
Soldra takes a very direct path to the ball and does a great job of staying behind the ball and using his hands to buggy whip the barrel. Soldra is a very good athlete who has a very good arm, so the defense will arrive as a ++.
Because Soldra turns the barrel with such authority, he can impact the baseball very well. Although he only hit 3 home runs with Seton Hall, his SLG% was .505, so the power is there, although not necessarily in the form of home runs.
Sam Horn – RHP
Click to watch Horn in action
Horn was taken by the Dodgers with their 17th pick, and he was the 525th pick overall. Horn is unique, because he is a quarterback at Mizzou. He was a 4-star recruit as a quarterback coming out of High School, and is thought of to have very explosive stuff.
Horn missed the beginning of the 2025 baseball season as he was still recovering from Tommy John Surgery, so he didn’t pitch much this year. Just 10 2/3 innings, so the Dodgers are taking another chance on upside, like they did with Cam Leiter.
Horn has a great chance to be the starting QB at Mizzou, so it will be interesting to see if he chooses pro baseball
He’s 6’4″ and has good extension, combined with a low slot and has a good fastball that is capable of reaching the upper 90s, but typically sits 94-96. He pairs that with a very good slider that sits in the low 80s, and a sweeper.
He’s another in the long line of great athletes the Dodgers like to draft with young pitchers that will spend some time in the Minors developing.
Finn Edwards
Click to watch Edwards in Action
Edwards was taken by the Dodgers as their 18th pick and the 555th pick overall in the MLB draft. He’s another of the long, tall, projectile pitchers in the draft. He pitched at Iowa Western last year and is committed to go to Arizona State this year, so folks who know what they’re doing have liked him.
He features a fastball that will likely hit 100 at some point and pairs that with a good slider that is in the low 80s.
Arizona State is going to fund every scholarship, and they are getting ready to get more serious about baseball than they ever have, if that is even possible. They are going to dump whatever money it takes for Coach Bloomquist to rebuild their dynasty, so if they think Edwards is a key piece, it will be extremely hard for the Dodgers to match what they will be able to offer him.
Anson Aroz
Click to watch Aroz in action
Aroz was taken by the Dodgers as their 19th pick and the 585th pick overall in the MLB draft. Aroz is a catcher-outfield prospect who switch hits, with the right side being the strongest. He has a lot of pop, as evidenced by his 17 home runs for Oregon last year, and projects as a gap-to-gap hitter, which is where he should be able to collect a lot of hits.
He is a very good defensive catcher, is athletic, is quick, and moves well from side to side to block balls. He has a strong arm, a very good release, and has the tools to be a very good professional catcher.
The Dodgers love versatility, so like Griffin Lockwood Powell and Yeiner Fernandez, he likely will catch and play the outfield some.
Shane Brinham – LHP
Click to watch Brinham
Brinham was taken by the Dodgers in the “Mr. Irrelevant” spot, which just simply means he was the last pick of the 2025 draft. He’s far from irrelevant though as he is committed to play for Michigan as he exits his prep career.
He features a 4-seam fastball that he loves to ride the zone with. His 4-seam has a 2-seam run to it, so, as a lefty, it runs away from right-handed hitters. Currently, he’s in the upper 80s with his velocity, but there’s a lot of room to grow, and he’s touched 93. He also throws a slider that is a good pitch, and a changeup that he does a good job of using down in the zone.
He’s from North Vancouver, which, on the surface, might not seem like a great baseball situation. But, he was part of the TBJ Academy and traveled in the USA and played very high-quality competition.
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Charles Davalan was the Dodgers’ 2nd pick and was the pick they acquired in the Gavin Lux trade. Davalan is a 5’9 190 190-pound outfielder who is a native of Canada, but went to the TNXL Academy in Florida for his Senior year in High School. He went to Florida Gulf Coast out of High School, and the same as Zach Root, he transferred to Arkansas for his draft-eligible Sophomore season. He slashed .346/.433/.561 with 14 home runs and 60 RBI, and was all SEC, and a 2nd team All-American for multiple outlets.
Davalan is known for having a great “hit tool” with gap-to-gap power, good contact skills, and is a very disciplined hitter. In fact, he had 8 more walks this past season than he did strike outs, and he’s known for being good against velo as well, so the bat speed is good, and he can get to every pitch.
Arkansas has state-of-the-art facilities, so he spent lots of time studying trackman data on opposing pitchers so he would know how their ball moves. So, he’ll come “plug and play” in terms of knowing how to game plan and prepare.
Davalan has played several positions, both infield and outfield, so he brings the versatility that the Dodgers like in their young players.
Cam Leiter 6’5 RHP
Click to watch Leiter
Leiter was the Dodgers’ 3rd pick overall, and was taken as the 65th pick overall. Leiter is recovering from a shoulder injury that sidelined him at the end of March, and that was the last time he pitched at Florida State.
He is the nephew of Al and Mark Leiter, and his dad I remember very well was a part of the early 80s Oklahoma State teams that were in the College World Series every year.
Leiter is 6’5 with a very projectable fastball with high spin, and we know how the Dodgers love the long guys with great extension, big spin rates, and high velo. His fastball has touched the upper 90s in the past, so this guy fits the mold.
He also features a tight spinning curveball with lots of tumble, and from his frame, it looks like it’s dropping from space. He also has a slider that will likely climb into the low 90s, and will be a pitch he can add or subtract to give it different velo bands and shapes.
He can also tumble and fade changeups, which stands to be a big pitch for him to lefties.
Landyn Vidourek
Click to watch Vidourek
is one I have personal experience with, because he and his Bearcats team, and their Bischel ball beat OSU 2 of 3 games in Cincinnati this year. Vidourek is a 6’1 192-pound outfielder who can really impact the ball. He turned heads at the combine with his exit velos approaching 115 MPH, and how far he hit balls.
He’s a guy who does have the propensity to strike out, as he had 65 Ks in 191 at-bats last year at Cincy, but will also walk a lot. He had 44 walks and then also stole 39 bases in 40 attempts, and hit 14 home runs. So, his Ks were offset by the fact he got on base a lot, .434 OBP, then stole a ton of bases. In essence, he had 49 doubles if you add his stolen base count to his 10 doubles on the season, plus 14 home runs.
All combined led to 110 total bases in 191 at-bats.
The tools are there to be very explosive and very dynamic.
Aidan West 6’2-SS
West is an 18-year-old shortstop that the Dodgers drafted out of Long Reach High School in Maryland with their 4th pick. At 6’2 210 pounds, West was the 135th pick overall after a very impressive prep career. He hit for average, he stole bases, and he also hit some home runs.
He was committed to play at NC State and was likely going to compete immediately for a starting spot in the Wolfpack infield.
West was going to follow his grandpa, who played football at NC State and was an NFL Draft pick as he left college, so he has the bloodlines.
West runs a 6.53 60, so the speed is there, and he used it to steal bases, something the Dodgers have placed an emphasis on in their Minor Leagues. He can throw the ball close to 90 mph across the diamond, he impacts the ball very well, and these tools will only continue to get stronger as he continues to build strength.
He has a very flat path with his hands, and the projectability to his swing, IMO, comes in how much more accurate he can get at turning the barrel as he gets stronger and more mature.
Young players with a flat path with their hands always have the chance to be great hitters first, which can add power.
As young players like West gain reps against professional velocity and movement, and as they gain strength as they mature, they start turning barrels to more accurate bat angles and with more impact. That allows them to get “on plane” more consistently, which creates the best launch angles and the highest exit velocities.
West is in a great spot. He can either go play for Elliott Avent and the very good program at NC State, or he can go pro at a young age. Stay tuned!
Davion Hickson – 6’1 RHP
Hickson had a very good year at Rice and was scheduled to transfer to Mississippi State, which just hired Brian O’Connor, who built a powerhouse at UVA. The Bulldogs are a “blue blood” in College baseball and have SEC money, so it will be interesting to see what happens on this front as he still has 1 year left of collegiate eligibility.
Hickson went to the IMG academy in High School, and originally went to Florida State, then transferred to Rice for the 2024 and 2025 seasons. As an Owl, he led the squad in saves as a Junior and worked as a starter this past season, which was his first full year as a starting pitcher.
If he doesn’t sign, he will be in the thick for one of the rotation spots at Mississippi State.
Hickson features a 4-seam fastball that’s in the 93-95 range, and rides the top of the zone very well, so that suggests he can put really good spin on the ball. He also features a slider and a changeup. Slider is his main secondary, and he shows his changeup as a front-to-back pitch, to get back to his fastball.
He had 90 strikeouts in 73 innings, but he also had 35 walks, so control and command will likely be a focus as he enters the system.
Mason Ligenza 6’6 Outfielder
Ligenza was the 5th pick of the Dodgers and 165th overall out of Tamaqua Area High School in Pennsylvania. He goes up a ways, that’s for sure, and he is what is called a “treasure trove” of tools. He also pitched in High School, and posted an ERA of just 0.25 in 55.1 innings and had 100 strikeouts.
He has good speed and long strides, and can cover a lot of ground in the outfield. That part of his game is going to be ++ basically from day one. Another part of his game that will be the most “plug and play” is his ability to impact the ball, because he can hit the ball very hard.
The goal, however, will be to create professional bat-to-ball skills against top-caliber pitching.
But as he gets stronger and gains more and more experience against high-level pitching, his ability to turn the barrel to the ball accurately will improve. He already has plenty of strength to control the barrel, so it’s just a matter of optimizing his path, creating the most direct turn to the ball, picking up spin, and making good swing decisions.
All of that comes with at bat after at bat at the Minor League level, and so prospects like Ligenza, who are “treasure troves” of tools, are so fun to watch, because they can explode at any moment.
Mason Estrada – 6’0 200 RHP
Estrada has the kind of story I like to tell. He’s originally from Covington, La., and went to MIT to be an Aerospace Engineer. MIT is DIII, which can make it a little harder to gather attention, but when he started firing 98 MPH fastballs, Scouts started taking notice.
98 MPH is 98 MPH whether it’s thrown at MIT or Tennessee, where he has committed to transfer to if he doesn’t go pro. He was selected as the Dodgers’ 7th pick in the draft and 225th overall. Tennessee WILL have the funds to match his slot value, plus quite a bit more if they so choose, so that situation will be interesting to follow.
Not only does Estrada approach 100 MPH, he also has a 3/4 arm slot, which should yield “Ride and Run” like we see with Emmet Sheehan. His extension is reported to be 6.5 Feet, which is better than the MLB average, so his velo will play up even more than the 98.
Although Estrada can touch the high 90s, he’ll sit anywhere from 93-96, and will average around 94. While his “ride and run” fastball is very impressive, his slider is maybe his best pitch. It’s a pitch that is in the 2600-2800 range in terms of RPMs and has a big sweeping action. It’s a pitch that has the potential for a lot of “swing and miss”.
The Dodgers love big fastballs, especially when they have unique properties, and high RPM sliders. But, like most of these types of pitchers, control and command will likely be the focus.
Estrada has been known to change the shape of his slider to make it bigger or smaller, so it will be interesting to see if the Dodgers add a “cutter” to his arsenal as he joins the organization.
Jack O’Connor – 6’5″ RHP
O’Connor has been playing big-time baseball for a while now. He was a member of the 2021 USA Baseball 18U National Team, he was recognized by the Washington Post as being All-Met, and he was the Washington Post Catholic Athletic Association Player of the Year in 2022.
He then went to UVA, where he became a Freshman All-American according to Perfect Game, and a 2nd team All-American according to Baseball America.
But that’s when he started having to battle injuries.
O’Connor was only able to pitch 10 innings this past Spring for the Hoos and underwent successful UCL internal brace repair in May.
He features a fastball and slider, and has a very tight arm motion to release, and a release that makes his slider a very natural-looking pitch. It’s hard to tell what the velocity will look like post-surgery, but if he gets back to pre-surgery form, then bumps as most pros do, he could easily sit in the 95ish range.
His 2-Seam fastball also has some good run to it, so with his arm action, combined with velo potential, he could end up with a very good “ride and run” type fastball that is very hard for righties to hit, and equally as tough for lefties to barrel.
The Dodgers define and redefine roles for their pitchers, but, just looking at face value, I would assume he will be in relief, and the leverage aspect will be determined by how he develops.
Connor O’Neal 6’3″ – Catcher
If O’Neal is anywhere as special as the last player the Dodgers took out of SELA, count me in. Of course, that player I’m referring to is Drew Avans, who, no, he never made it to the Major Leagues with the Dodgers, but he is my own personal Dodgers Daily Hall of Fame for just about every reason imaginable.
O’Neal is a left-handed hitter who can really impact the baseball that the Dodgers took with their 9th pick. O’Neal was the 285th overall pick taken in the draft.
He hit .286 last year for the Lions with 14 home runs, 53 RBIs, and an on-base percentage of .459. Largely because he walked 52 times. Does home runs, a disciplined plate approach, lots of walks, and an SLG of .571 sound familiar? That is the blueprint for the slugging type in the Dodgers system, so his profile should fit well.
Despite having a very good slug, O’Neal works a pretty flat path to the ball and shows an advanced ability to turn the barrel to create great bat angles at impact. He’s very strong, but also has a smooth swing, so hitting velocity should not be a problem for him.
Jacob Frost – 6’3 230
Frost is another one that I have way too much experience watching, because I got to see him pitch in person on a handful of occasions. His K-State team played in Stillwater this year, and he was the Cats’ Friday night starter and went 4.2 innings and had 9 Ks.
The stuff he sent to home plate that night was totally pro, to the point that I remember it very vividly, and I remember Coach Holliday in the post-game mentioning how pro his stuff is.
He grew up in the St. Louis area, then went to Wabash, where he helped guide them to back-to-back Juco World Series appearances, so he knows nothing but winning.
Frost is 92-94 on his fastball and can bump it to 95-96 when he needs to make a pitch, and it has good tailing action. It’s tagged as a 4-Seam, but definitely has 2-seam taking action, so I’m calling it a “ride and tail” 4-Seam. He has good extension, and his fastball rides the top of the zone very well, so the spin rate is good.
His curveball is a pitch that he can steal strikes with in the upper 70s, and he can also bury hitters with as with 2 strikes as well. It plays well off of his high fastball, because it can come out of the same tunnel and steal a strike without getting amushed. He also has a slider in the mid-80s and a very good changeup in the upper 80s.
So, he has every shape, every turn, and every velo band, and he’s left-handed and likes to win, and is a “fiery” competitor.
Count me in, especially having seen him with my own eyes on multiple occasions.
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Because of penalties for exceeding certain thresholds of the Competitive Balance Tax, they had to wait for the 40th pick in this year’s draft. That’s something the Dodgers have become accustomed to, and they’ve done well with picks in that range, with guys like Dalton Rushing.
Zach Root
Root is a 6’2 210-pound lefty who started his Collegiate career at East Carolina and finished at Arkansas and took over their Friday night role.
Despite growing up in Ft Myers, Florida, Root grew up a Dodgers fan and is an especially big fan of Clayton Kershaw, and also throws a big curveball. In fact, he actually spikes his curveball
At East Carolina, he made the All AAC team as a Freshman, was very good his Jr. year, then became an All-American for multiple publications as a Junior at Arkansas. He threw 99 innings for the Hogs, so he’s a workhorse, and went 9-6 with an ERA of 3.62.
Keep in mind, as the Friday night starter, you get everyone’s best shot, so he did very good work.
Root features a 2-seam and 4-seam, a circle change, a spiked curveball, and a slider/cutter hybrid that is thrown exactly like his fastball, but with a different grip.
His Fastballs
Click to watch Root throw his fastballs
Root was the Dodgers’ first pick in the draft with pick #40. He features both a 4-seam for carry and a 2-seam for movement and locates it to both sides of the plate, and uses the carry on the pitch to carry the bottom of the zone and ride the top.
He sits 92-94 with adrenaline and touched 98 in the Supers at home vs. Tennessee.
The Curveball
Click to watch the Curveball of Zach Root
Root grew up in Ft Myers, Florida, but was a Dodgers fan, and in particular of Clayton Kershaw. So, wouldn’t you know it, he has a big curveball. Root spikes his curveball, which typically gives that pitch more 12-6 movement. Here’s a good look at his curveball in action.
The “Slutter”
Click to watch the “Slutter” of Zach Root
Root also features a hybrid slider/cutter that he throws the same as his fastball but moves the grip to give it movement. It has a lot of sweep to the back foot of righties, away from lefites, and has the potential to get a lot of swing and miss.
The Changeup
Click to watch the changeup of Root
Root also features a circle/change that he can throw to both lefties and righties. The fade moves away from righties, and the tumble works the ball below barrels of hitters from both sides.
Great Fit
One thing that is an advantage for Root is that he doesn’t have to work from “ball to strike” to fool hitters. Actually, many times, he’s the opposite. His slider/cutter hybrid works strike to ball, then his curveball can work “strike to strike”, meaning he can start it on the outside corner, and control his shape well enough to keep it in the zone on the outside corner.
He can also tumble a “strike to ball” with a curveball or change-up in the dirt, so hitters never know whether he’s gonna carry the zone or get them to chase. He’s very advanced at sequencing and execution.
Click to watch the changeup of Root
Root should fit in very well with the Dodgers because he has a deep understanding of his mix, the goal of each pitch he throws, and why he grips the ball the way he does, and is advanced at sequencing and execution. Arkansas has one of the best facilities is the nation, much better than most professional facilities, and they have a pitching lab that is state of the art. So, he’s already gone down the “advanced analytics” path and will hit the ground running with how it works.
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Despite making an improbable run at the Giants last night, the Dodgers couldn’t make it all the way back and lost their 7th game in a row, 8-7.
The Dodgers fell down 8-2 in the bottom of the 5th, but answered with a 4-spot in the top of the 6th, then added one in the 7th, and had 2 on and just 1 out in the 9th before Will Smith grounded into a double play to end the game.
Will Smith is unquestionably the hitter any team on the planet would want up in that situation because he’s hitting .328 overall, and is hitting .403 with runners in scoring position.
Michael Conforto had a great night, throwing out a runner at home plate on a perfect throw, then hitting a 2-run home run in the 4-run 6th to breathe life into the Dodgers by bringing them back with 2 runs.
Shohei Ohtani had a 9-pitch walk to lead the game off, then hit a 410-foot home run in his next at-bat. Mookie had a good night too, going 2-4 and scoring 2 runs, but Freddie Freeman continues to struggle, and is showing no signs of when it will end.
I’m not sure I’ve ever seen Freeman look like this at the plate.
Hyeseong Kim stole the show with his 3 hits and 2 stolen bases, and he made another sparkling play where he went behind the 2nd base bag, and made a jump throw to 1st base.
That dude is legit, and he needs to play every day.
Dustin May was the Dustin May we’ve gotten all year, for the most part. His last outing was excellent, but last night was more of “great moments” followed by stretches where he lost the strike zone, followed by home runs.
May has an incredible amount of potential, but is running out of starts to find the consistency we’ve been hoping for.
Anthony Banda came in to get the last out of the 5th, but gave up a triple to Willy Adames that scored 2, then gave up a single to Jung Hoo Lee to plate the 5th run of the frame.
Banda had an ERA of 4.35 in June, which isn’t good, but it’s all because of 2 outings on June 1st and June 24th where he gave up 5 runs combined in 10.1 innings. But, for the rest of his action, he gave up just no runs in 9 innings.
In July, his ERA is 5.06, and he’s given up a run in 3 of his 5 outings.
Click to watch Dreyer
Jack Dreyer threw a scoreless 7th inning, which started the comeback, which always starts with hangin’ zeroes. Dreyer gave up a leadoff single to Patrick Bailey in the 6th, then after a sac bunt from Yastrzemski, he got Heliot Ramos to strike out, then Devers to pop out.
Dreyer has his ERA down to 3.02, his WHIP is just 1.11, his average against is just 1.11, and he’s given up just 1 run in his last 7 innings.
Lou Trivino followed him and gave up a 2-out single to Jung Hoo Lee, and Will Klein finished things off by walking a batter, posting a scoreless outing as well.
Even though the Dodgers lost, all was not lost, IMO. It was good to see the offense bust out after being in a pretty big funk by any team’s standards, but especially this offense that has been the best in ALL of baseball all year. Coming back off of Logan Webb, and then also scoring on the Giants’ bullpen is not something that happens very often, so hopefully that is a springboard for tonight and moving forward.
Wrobo retired the first 8 batters he faced before giving up a home run on a good slider down in the zone. That home run was the only run he gave up all night.
He worked around a hit and a walk in the 5th, after the 1st 2 hitters reached in the 6th, he got a K and a double play ball to finish his evening.
Wrobo sat 95, hit 98, was in zone with his 4-Seam 67%, and 69% with his sinker. The cutter was also a good strike pitch, and his slider had his highest whiff %.
He split time with his slider and sinker as his 2nd and 3rd most thrown pitches.
Click to watch Gator
Austin Gauthier had 2 hits for AAA OKC, no surprise the 1st hit was turned around into center field. Tonight was great to see, because it’s been a patch for Gator, which, the way he hits, is not something you see very often, but he has the ability to get hot in a real hurry.
In fact, I expect it! More Cowbell Please!
Click to watch
Alexis Diaz threw a scoreless inning for AAA OKC, but it was anything but routine. He struck out the 1st hitter he saw with a really nice slider, but then all Hell Broke Loose.
Well, kinda!
After the leadoff K, the next hitter hit a triple on a routine flyball, which CJ Alexander, the left fielder, never picked up.
As an FYI, Alexander has been playing mostly 1st base.
Diaz then hit the next batter to put runners at 1st & 3rd. He got down 3-0 to the next hitter, then on a 3-1 count threw a 92 MPH fastball that was pretty much middle/middle and got a very adventurous double play. That ended the inning and secured the scoreless outing.
Diaz was 93-96 on his fastball, spin touched 2619, and averaged 2442. Fastball was in zone 60%, which is just about perfect. Slider had a 50% whiff rate.
AA Tulsa
Click to watch
Jerming Rosario turned in another scoreless outing for AA Tulsa as he continues to settle into his new role. Rosario has given up just 2 runs in his last 10.1 innings, and has an average against this month of .158.
Atta Baby Jerming, keep this thing rollin’!
Click to watch Cabrera
Jeisson Cabrera threw a scoreless inning for AA Tulsa to move his ERA down to just 3.16. Nice bounce back for Cabrera, who had his only 2 tough outings on the year coming into tonight.
Cabrera gave up 6 runs in 2/3rds of an inning in that outing, but prior to that, he had given up just 4 runs in 24 innings.
High A Great Lakes
Click to watch
Kendall George had 3 hits, including a double where he took 2nd on a left-fielder bobble. He later tried to stretch another double on his next hit, then had an infield base hit.
George also stole his 38th base, so he was using his speed ALL night long to make an impact on the game tonight for the Loons.
Click to watch
Cameron Decker had a couple of hits and an RBI last night for Great Lakes. Decker grew up playing shortstop, but plays just about everywhere as a pro.
Last night he was in right field, where he’s played 20 games in his pro career. He’s played 32 games in left field, 3 games at third base, and 69 games at 1st base.
Super talented young man with the potential to have tremendous power inside the framework of a great hitter.
Last night, in combination with his recent home runs are the perfect example. Last night, he served 2 balls into right field, but that’s on the heels of hitting two pretty big home runs to the pull side a couple of games before that.
Click to watch
Evan Shaw gets an “Atta Baby” for his good work last night in relief for the Loons.
3.2 IP 2H 0R 4Ks 0BB
Shaw lowered his ERA to 3.25 and has gone four outings in a row without allowing a run. Shaw has an average against of just .204, so when he’s throwing strikes consistently, it’s always a rough night for the opponent.
For instance, Shaw has 13 outings on the year where he did not walk a batter, and, in those 13 outings, he’s gone scoreless in 11 of them.
Single A Rancho Cucamonga
Click to watch
Jaron Elkins had a big night for Rancho, getting 2 hits, including home run #7 on the season. He also stole his California League leading 45th base of the season, which is a number so high that I can’t wrap my head around it.
Elkins was out for about a week, and last night was just his 2nd night back, and it didn’t take him long to get back in the swing. Jaron has his average up to .271, and is coming off a month of June where he hit .316.
Click to watch
Ryan Brown was very impressive last night for Rancho Punchin’ 3 in a 2-inning scoreless outing.
2IP 0H 0R 3K 0BB
Brown has a very impressive arsenal with a very good fastball, and a unique “Vulcan” change, and has some of the most lethal “swing and miss” stuff in ALL of Minor League baseball. He has 61 Ks in 34 innings, I mean…Whu?
Of course, keeping the ball in the strike zone is the key, as it is with every pitcher with that type of strikeout stuff, but the sky is the limit for this dude.
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Click to watch DeanJustin Dean had 2 hits last night for AAA OKC, and stole his 17th base of the year. Dean is now hitting .293 with an OPS of .828. He’s hitting .361 this month, has 4 multi-hit games in his last 8, and is 13 for his last 32. This dude is a bundle of electricity and has the “Pete Rose” type hustle to his game, with a lot of speed behind it. Lots of fun to watch! Here’s a look at his base hit to right center from the Bricktown Ballpark.
Dude had 3 more hits yesterday, an RBI, and scored twice. He’s hitting .305, with an OPS of .979.
Ward leads the PCL in home runs (23), RBIs (77), he’s 6th in OPS (979), and 8th in walks (48).
There is nothing else Wardo can do other than control what he can control and keep rakin’.
Click to watch HoeseKody Hoese had a nice night for AAA OKC, going 2 for 3 with an RBI, a walk, and scoring twice. Hoese is hitting .269, and is coming off a month of June where he hit .385, OPS OVER 1.000. Atta Baby Kody…Keep Grindin!
Click to watch Ramos in actionJose Ramos gets the “Baseball is Awesome” Award!
Ramos hit an inside-the-park home run last night for AAA OKC, and to show off his speed.
1st HR in AA, 11th of the year, as you’ll hear in the video.
Ramos later spiked a high fastball right back up the box for his 2nd hit of the game as well. The inside the park, Homer was super fun, but the fact that he got on top of a high fastball for his 2nd hit is an even better sign of putting swings on the ball that will create consistency.
Click to watch FreelandAlex Freeland went 1-3 last night for AAA OKC, and also hit another ball to the base of the wall; he walked twice and scored a run. Freeland is hitting .262 OPS of .809.
Freeland was playing 3rd base again last night, which is several games in a row now.
If the Dodgers are going to call him up as a place holder at 3rd base until Muncy gets back, it was very smart to give him a week or two of games at 3B in OKC first. He had not played there in a long time until recently.
Click to watch MillerNoah Miller only went 1-5 last night, but, as it happens in this game, he wasn’t rewarded properly for the game he played. Miller hit a ball hard from the right side of the plate, then made a ridiculous (Jeter-esque) type play where he made a jump throw moving to his right out of the shift, and nearly got the runner on an impossible play.
Miller is VERY impressive to watch in person!
Click to watch PenrodHere’s a good look at Zach Penrod from behind the plate at the Bricktown Ballpark. 4-Seam sat 94.8 and hit 97.1, and he also featured a slider, sinker, changeup, and cutter.
That’s a big mix, so a good candidate for spot starts, piggyback starts, or just good old-fashioned long relief.
Penrod threw 4 innings at the Major League level last year, so another player at OKC who has Major League experience. Last night’s line 1.2IP 4H 1ER 0Ks 1BB Moves the ball, changes speed, and locates to create weak contact.
Click to watch CarlsonI was about to pull my hair out watching the bad luck last night for Sam Carlson. Dude gave up 3 hits, and I’m pretty sure the first 2 were on broken bats.
Hit #1: Exit Velo 69.5
Hit #2: Exit Velo 71.1
The 3rd hit was hit to right center at 96, which is hard contact, but not extremely hard, but Justin Dean got to the ball and almost caught it. He also worked around an error behind him on another ball, and NEVER got phased by ANY of that bad fortune.
He just continued to grind, continued to pour fastballs in on the hands, drop bombs with his slider, and at the end of the day, was not credited with an earned run, which proves there are baseball gods.
Here’s a good look at him from behind home plate at the Bricktown Ballpark.
Click to watch FernandezHere’s a good look at Julian Fernandez from behind home plate at the Bricktown Ballpark. Fernandez came in to get the last out of the game last night and was impressive. He reached 99.1 with his 4-Seam, spin averaged over 2500. Fernandez was brought up on July 7th, then optioned back down the next day after throwing 2 innings for LA.
AA Tulsa
Click to watch McLain
Sean McLain gets an LFG Award for his 3 hits last night. The hits are great, but I’ve been tellin’ ya’ for a week or 2 now how his at-bats have been super quality, and that he hasn’t been getting rewarded as well as he should have.
Well, baseball typically evens itself out, and right now that’s happening for McLain.
McLain had 3 hits last night, including a single over the 2nd baseman’s head that was hit WELL over 100MPH. He spiked another ball back up the box and into center field, then nailed one to the opposite field into right.
This is the kind of approach and execution that just screams “approach”, which usually dates back well into the past before the results come.
Well done Sean. From a baseball purist’s perspective, that was extremely fun to watch. More Cowbell Please!
Click to Watch TY
Taylor Young extended his hit streak to 12 games, he brought out the Chicken Dance, he pounded out 3 hits on the night, and he scored a run.
Just another night in the leadoff spot for TY!
Young has 2 multi-hit games in his last 3 and is hitting .343 so far in July.
Not surprisingly, Kyle Nevin had 2 hits last night for AA Tulsa, and even less surprisingly, they were both hit back up the middle.
Click to watch Nevin
Nevin wears out the middle of the field to the opposite field, which should continue to play as he moves up to face more advanced pitching sequences.
Nevin played 3rd on Sunday, he plays a lot of 1st base, and last night he was in left field, so he is as versatile as they get.
2nd 2-hit game in a row for Nevin, 3rd multi-hit game in his last 4.
Click to watch
Kendall Simmons had 3 hits last night for AA Tulsa, one oppo, one right back up the middle, and one hit 115 MPH to the pullside. Impressive display of hitting line drives, hitting the ball where it’s pitched, and using the entire field.
This Tulsa team isn’t winning all of their games at the moment, but they are showing a lot more offense in the 2nd half.
High A Great Lakes
Click to watch
Sean Linan gets the DAYUM Award of the Day! Or for all year, for that matter.
6IP 4H 1R 6Ks 0BB
Professional glove hitter, pitcher’s pitcher. He uses his great stuff and moves the ball, changes speeds, and locates to turn in one great outing after the other.
Last night was his longest outing of the year, and it was his 11th outing of the season where he’s given either 1 or no runs.
Click to watch
Alex Makarewich threw a scoreless inning for Great Lakes, which is his 5th scoreless outing in his last 6 times out.
The good outings are dominant because this dude has a totally electric right arm. The process is to minimize the outings that aren’t as good. That will happen as he continues the process of mastering the strike zone, because when he’s in the zone, the other team can’t match him.
His average against is just .140, and he has 53 Ks in 27. innings. Front of the Rolodex potential, stay tuned!
Single A Rancho
Click to watch Snell in his rehab outing
Blake Snell began his much-anticipated rehab in Rancho Cucamonga and provided hope that we may see him on the Dodgers soon. Snellzilla looked sharp for his first rehab outing.
His very first pitch was a 96 mph strike.
Snell pitched what would have been two clean innings if not for a questionable call at first base with two outs in his second inning of work on a strikeout/curveball in the dirt. Still, Snell looked to have his pitches working well, good velocity and movement, a tight slider, and his devastating drop-off-the-table curveball that he used to punch out several Inland Empire hitters.
He mentioned after the game that he was happy with how it went, but he had no timetable yet for his next outing.
Click to watch Perez
Niko Perez had 3 hits for Rancho last night to raise his average up to .294, OPS of .808. Perez has hits in 7 games in a row, in 11 out of 12, and has 6 multi-hit games in his last 12 games played. He has 2 3-hit games just this month.
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The Dodgers have really hit the skids with a 6-game losing streak despite the fact that they still have the best recorded in the NL, the 2nd best record in all of baseball and a 5 game lead in the NL West.
They’ve played some good competition and have faced some excellent pitching, but the bats have gone cold and that’s an issue. The Dodgers hottest hitter and guy who had been carrying them to a degree was Max Muncy, and he is now out for probably at least 6 weeks.
That’s taken a toll, because all of their big bats have struggled lately.
Dave Roberts said the game was frustrating, but that the Dodgers competed.
Today was frustrating to lose, but I like the way we competed. Miggy Ro fought his butt off, Will squared up a few balls, and we took some good at bats and fought.
We just couldn’t put up a crooked number, but I like the at bats and the fight.
On the plus side, they’ve gotten some really good starts and they’re getting healthier in the rotation. Glasnow pitched 5 shutout innings yesterday, Kershaw pitched well yesterday, Dustin May had his best start of the year, Sheehan had another excellent start, and Ohtani looked very good in his start.
On the other hand, Yamamoto had his worst start of the year, and Casparius might be relegated to the bullpen again.
There’s not much else to say about this team offensively at the moment. It was good to see Esteury Ruiz get an RBI hit yesterday, Outman continues to look overmatched, however, and Rojas has been hitting very well.
When asked how the Dodgers were trying to find different ways to score, here’s what Miguel Rojas had to say
It’s kind of frustrating, because we didn’t come away with the win, and we haven’t been playing our best baseball. Glasnow was amazing today giving us an opportunity to win the game, but it slipped away from us.
Knowing we’re in a rough patch it’s frustrating, because you just want to stop it. We all know what we’re capable of offensively.
Rojas later went on to say that scoring 1 or 2 runs is not going to cut it and that the offense has to do better to find ways to win games and be a complete team.
The Dodgers are banged up and probably somewhat gassed right now. The AS break could be a big boost for them. They can use the break.
Today is a much needed off day, then they will travel to San Franscisco for a huge Divsion series with the Arch Rival and 2nd place team in the NL West. Friday will be a tough matchup for the Dodgers as Dustin May takes on Logan Webb.
AAA OKC
Click to watch Treinen
Blake Treinen threw a scoreless inning in his rehab for OKC. He started the game as an opener, threw 12 pitches, 8 were strikes, and called it a day.
1IP 0H 0R 2Ks 0BB
Treinen was 95-96 on his sinker, sweeper got 1 swing, and it was a whiff. Sinker was in zone 33%, sweeper 20%.
All of those pitch metrics are fine, but the bottom line is he looked good, the velo was good, he got through it scoreless and easy, and healthy. So all things good on this front.
Boyer came in with 2 on in the 6th and got a quick out, then made fairly easy work of the 7th. Last night was his 4th scoreless outing in a row, so things are trending in the right direction a the month flipped to July.
He was 95-96 on the fastball, spin went OVER 2400.
Click to watch Kopp
Ronan Kopp finished things up for OKC in his AAA debut and made it look easy by retiring all 3 hitters he faced. Kopp came to OKC smokin’ hot, having gone scoreless in his last 15 outings at Tulsa, so now he’s gone 16 in a row without giving up a run.
Kopp touched 97 with his fastball that reached almost 2700 on the spin, so combined with his 6’7 frame, that’s a big pitch. He paired that with a slider that averaged 90 MPH, so super impressive arsenal, of which we already knew, but now we have the Statcast data to back it up.
In his last 3 outings, Ferris has gone 6, 5, and 6, and in the two 6-innings outings, he’s given up just 1 run combined. Ferris was working fast, he was unpredictable, he was executing, and he was extremely sharp all night. He consistently hit the outside corner to righties with both his fastball and cutter/slider, then when he got them leaning over the plate, he did a great job busting them in. He swept the ball against lefties, and once he was up in the count, it was good night IRENE.
The only run and the only walk he gave up were in the 1st inning. In fact, the 1st pitch he threw was hit for a leadoff double, then he got a K, and gave up a single for the 1 and only run. He worked around another double and a walk to finish the rest of the 1st inning scoreless, then retired the next 14 hitters in a row.
Click to watch Rosario
Jerming Rosario had a good outing for AA Tulsa in the midst of a really good stretch for him. Rosario has given up just 2 runs in his last 8.1 innings as he continues to settle into his multi-inning relief role.
Got to see him for the 1st time Sunday in Wichita, and his velo comes very easily, and his breaking stuff is very good.
Click to watch Knowles
Antonio Knowles finished things up for AA Tulsa and recorded his 6th save of 2025. Knowles has an ERA of 3.44, a WHIP of just 1.12, he has 40Ks in 34 innings pitched, and has gone scoreless in 8 of his last 9 innings.
Click to watch
Kyle Nevin had 2 base knocks for AA Tulsa, and to no surprise, they were both to the opposite field. This dude wears out the middle part of the field and the opposite field, which is a piece of his hitting tool that will continue to play as he moves up levels.
Nevin is hitting .385 since being promoted to AA Tulsa, OPS of .874, and he has 6 RBIs in the 5 games he played for the Drillers since being promoted.
Single A Rancho Cucamonga
Click to watch
Eduardo Quintero led off Tuesday’s game with a home run, then he led off last night with a triple. As he was rounding the bases, the player trying to track down the ball had a last name of Ketchup, and the pitcher that delivered the ball was 6’11.
You can’t make this stuff up! Baseball is Awesome!
Quintero now has 6 triples, which leads ALL of the Cal League, and so does his 14 home runs and .970 OPS. His 33 stolen bases are the 3rd most in the Cal League as well, which goes to show just how complete his offensive game is.
If you haven’t already put this dude in your Rolodex, do it RIGHT NOW.
Click to watchMairo Martinus went big fly for Rancho for the 2nd night in a row. Martinus was playing center field, and had 2 hits, a couple of Ribeyes, and scored 3 times as well.
Martinus has back-to-back multi-hit games and has 3 multi-hit games in his last 4.
Click to watchAidan Foeller was pumping in 96 MPH 4-seam fastballs, possibly hotter than that, to pair with his slider and cutter.
Foeller has insane “swing and miss” stuff as evidenced by the fact that he leads ALL of the Cal League with 98 Ks. He’s done that in just 66.1 innings, I mean, WOW!
Of course, like all of the young strike-out type pitchers, control and command is a huge focus, but, as the Quakes PxP, Mike Lindskog said, once that happens, he’s gonna be lethal. #dodgers
Kyle Funkhouser turned in a GREAT start for AAA OKC! 5.2IP 4H 0R 5Ks 2BB
3rd straight very good outing in a row for Funkhouser, and, after tonight, he’s given up just 1 run in his last 12 innings.
4 Seam was 93-95, which is a touch down from his average, spin touched over 2500 though, which is great. Sinker was 93-94 and got a lot of weak contact. He paired his fastballs with a slider that got a lot of weak contact, a cutter, and a changeup.
Here’s a good look at his outing from behind home plate at the Bricktown Ballpark
Click to watch Henriquez
Edgardo Henriquez just finished his outing for AAA OKC. 1.1IP 1H 1R 3Ks 1BB
From behind home plate, his high rider at 100+ is very impressive, but the pitch that takes you aback is his cutter at 94. Here is a good look at his outing from the stadium and behind home plate.
He was over 100 mph several times, and the last pitch blew the doors off at the top of the zone at 101.3.
Click to watch Miller
Noah Miller went deep into the Oklahoma night for his 1st HR since being promoted to AAA. Miller’s home run was one of only two hits for the Comets tonight, but it was enough to gather a very exciting 2-1 win.
Miller is having a very good offensive season, hitting .303 overall, and he extended his hit streak to 9 games. He keeps hittin’ like this, to pair with his stellar defense, watch out.
Here’s a look at his home run from the open face, and his bunt attempt from behind from Bricktown Ballpark in OKC.
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AA Tulsa Drillers
Click to watch FernandezYeiner Fernandez had 3 hits last night for AA Tulsa to increase his average up to .284. Fernandez also had 2 RBIs & has back-to-back multi-hit games.
Fernandez has hits in 5 games in a row and is 5 for his last 10
Click to watch YoungTaylor Young had a couple of knocks for AA Tulsa. Neither of them was hit exceptionally hard, but he was due some favors from the “Baseball Gods” because he’s hit a lot of balls hard lately that haven’t ended up in his.
Young also walked twice and scored twice, which, from your leadoff hitter, is just about everything you want. TY extended his hit streak to 10 games.
Click to watch RamirezKelvin Ramirez threw a scoreless inning for AA Tulsa and was hitting the upper 90s consistently. Ramirez lowered his ERA to 3.60; he has 30 Ks in 25 innings, he’s gone scoreless in 3 outings in a row, and in 9 of his last 10.
Click to watch Ortiz in ActionRobinson Ortiz put together another good relief outing for AA Tulsa last night. 1.2IP 1H 0R 2Ks 0BB Ortiz has been smokin’ hot on the bump since his promotion to AA, posting an ERA of just 0.96 with the Drillers, WHIP of just 0.96, and an average against of just 1.82. Just before he got to the Drillers, he had given up just 1 run in his last 3.2 innings spanning 5 outings, so he’s hitting a really good stride.
High A Great Lakes
Click to watch Decker
Cameron Decker went big fly for Great Lakes for the 2nd day in a row, and this one gave the Loons the lead. Decker has impressive power, but with a focus on being a great hitter first.
Whoever taught this young man how to hit knows what they’re doing, because he has a great setup. He uses the big part of the field to gather a lot of hits, but has a WORLD of pull side power.
Super excited he’s back from his hamate injury, pumped to watch him for the rest of the year.
Click to watch Crowell
Wyatt Crowell turned in his longest start as a pro, and it was a good one last night for the Loons.
5.1IP 6H 2R 3BB
ALL 6 hits were singles, so he did a good job of staying away from damage. Crowell has back-to-back good starts and has given up just 3 earned runs in his last 10 innings.
Crowell has great stuff and is in the process of mastering the execution piece, the same as every other young pitcher. Exciting potential, wicked breaking stuff, good fastball with movement
Click to watch DayCam Day did good work last night in a multi-inning relief outing for Great Lakes. 2.1IP 1H 0R 1K 2BB He walked the first hitter he faced after coming in for Crowell with 1 out in the 6th, then retired the next hitters in a row. Both of his walks were on bookends, to the 1st and last hitter he faced. Day has back-to-back scoreless outings.
Click to watch Hobbs in ActionCarson Hobbs has a fastball that can reach 100 MPH, but last night he finished off the game for the Loons with back-to-back splitters.
Add this one the the cap of an awesome breakout campaign for Hobbs, who is obliterating Midwest League hitters to the tune of an ERA of 1.91, WHIP of 0.85, average against of .135. This dude has every mental and physical tool to continue adding helium to his rise.
Single A Rancho Cucamonga
Click to watch ChambersCongrats to Justin Chambers, who made his affiliated debut last night with Rancho, and also got his 1st professional W.
Chambers is just 19 and was drafted by Milwaukee in 2023, but was then traded to the Dodgers for Bryan Hudson just ahead of last year (2024).
Dude has SERIOUS potential, and tons of swing and miss stuff. He struck out 30 hitters in 15 innings in his action at the complex, then struck out 2 more last night.
Chambers features a sinker/sweeper mix with an occasional cutter and change. Last night he was 93-95 on the velo, and his ball moves area codes.
That was FUN to watch!
Click to watch QuinteroWhat can’t Eduardo Quintero do? Dude hit a leadoff home run, then later in the game hosed a runner at home trying to score. Quintero leads the Cal League in home runs with 4.
Click to watch FigueredoDilan Figueredo had a very good outing last night for Rancho.
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Figuereco lowered his ERA down to 1.20, and his WHIP is just 0.98, and he’s posted 4 scoreless outings in a row.
Click to watch PerezNiko Perez had quite the night last night for Rancho, pounding out 3 hits, including a ground-rule double. He had 3 RBIs as well and has hits in 8 of his last 9 games.
Click to watch MartinusMairo Martinus went big fly for Rancho, had 2 hits in total, 3 RBIs, and scored a couple of times as well. Martinus has 2 multi-hit games in his last 3.
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The Dodgers came into last night having scored just 6 runs amidst a 4-game losing streak, but when Shohei Ohtani hit the 3rd pitch of the game out of the park, it looked like things were poised to turn around.
And, then, they didn’t!
The next 3 hitters, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, and Andy Pages all struck out, and that was a sign of things to come as the Dodgers never dented home plate again.
Offense
The Offense has been covered at length. Ohtani has been mortal in the last month, Betts has been a great player overall, but not as much offensively and Freddie is not hitting home runs.
Teo either hasn’t been healthy or hasn’t been the Teo we’ve come to love, and the same goes for Edman, and no one knows what the ultimate status of Max Muncy is going to be.
Andy Pages had been smokin’ hot, but he went 0-4 last night in the 4-hole with 2 Ks, and he’s hitting just .167 in the last 7 games.
Baseball is a game of Ebbs and Flows, and you never want to make too much out of any one small sample size, but the offensive woes are real issues. The sample size for Mookie is all year, the lack of power for Freddie is approaching 200 at-bats, and Muncy might be out indefinitely. We knew Andy Pages wasn’t going to stay as hot as he has been for the last couple of months, so while no one is going to panic, for sure, they do need to be concerned, IMO.
Miguel Rojas doesn’t need to be an everyday player because he likely won’t last through that rigor, and playing every day means you have to hit against every pitcher, not just in the best matchups.
Struggling
So, the Dodgers are struggling, there’s no sugarcoating that, but last night, give the Brewers pitchers credit. Misiorowski was “As Advertised”. The 23-year-old out of Blue Springs, a Kansas City suburb, touched 101.3 and SAT 99.3.
I mean, WOW!
He also threw strikes! In fact, he landed his fastball in zone 69% of the time, his curveball 63%, and overall had a 59% in zone rate. When a pitcher has a 4-pitch mix, highlighted by a fastball that sits right at 100 mph, with spin of OVER 2700 RPMs, and throws strikes with basically every pitch type, just tip your cap.
When asked if last night was a game in which you have to tip your cap, here’s what Dave Roberts had to say.
I think so. You know, it never feels good when you lose 5 in a row, but today was a day in which it didn’t matter who they had out there; they were really good. So, you try and wash it off, and fortunately, we have a day game tomorrow, and we’re excited to have Tyler take the mound again, and Ben is back on line, so I think we’re good on the run prevention side of things.
Quintana throws a lot of ground balls, and Tommy will be in there, Teo is a little in between, so we’ll see how that goes, and getting Will back in the lineup will be good too.
And the bullpen arms the Brewers brought in weren’t much easier to hit. Jared Koenig touched almost 100 with spin over 2400, and was in zone almost 70% with his fastball. Abner Uribe sat 97.9, and Trevor Megill, the closer, touched 101.3 and was dropping knuckle curves in as well.
Here’s what Clayton Kershaw had to say about Misiorowski and the Brewers’ pitching.
Well, I know him now, that was super impressive. He was really special, I mean everything. Obviously the velo is great, but he also has 4 pitches, he commands the ball, and I don’t know how you hit that honestly.
The 3 guys that came out of the pen, plus him, I don’t think we saw a fastball under 98 all day. You can talk about us struggling all you want, but this was just a tough game.
I can’t give up any runs, that’s the way it goes.
Kershaw had originally said he didn’t know who Jacob Misiorowski was, but then admitted that he does now.
Kershaw
As for Kershaw, he was sparkling. 6 innings of 2-run ball should be, and has to be, good enough for this offense every day and twice on Sundays. While Misiorowski was pumping in 100-mile-an-hour fastballs, Kershaw sat 90, and the highest whiff rate of any of his pitches was 22%.
Kershaw induced weak contact all night. In fact, combined, the average exit velocity for Milwaukee was 78 MPH, and his slider got hit the hardest, but only had an 84 MPH average exit velocity.
His slider is the pitch that Milwaukee was able to get to in the 4th when they scored their only 2 runs off of Kershaw. After giving up a swinging bunt to Contreras to start the inning, he then gave up a fairly soft opposite-field hit to Jackson Chourio.
That hit by Chourio was the first hit to leave the infield to that point.
He then got Yelich to fly out to left before hanging a slider to Andrew Vaughn who nailed a 2-RBI single into left field.
And, while the Brewers did add one later off of Kirby Yates, the 2-run 4th proved to be all they would need.
Moving Forward
With the loss, the Dodgers are now 56-37, and have seen their lead shrink just a touch to 5 games. The 56-37 mark is the best record in the National League and the second-best record in all of baseball.
Tyler Glasnow makes his return this afternoon, and he’ll be facing Jose Quintana. Game time is 11:05 Pacific.
Frank Rodriguez hit a home run on Sunday for Great Lakes and continues to wear out the baseball. F-Rod only has 82 at-bats so far this year, but he’s made the most of them. He’s hitting .293 overall between Great Lakes and Tulsa, but is hitting a whopping .441 in 34 at-bats with the Loons. His OPS is 1.342, he has 3 home runs, and 13 RBIs.
Rodriguez is one you root for because he has and always does whatever is asked of him, and is just happy to help in the best way he can. Atta Baby F-Rod!
Click to watch DePaula
Josue DePaula had a couple of knocks for High A Great Lakes on Sunday, which was his 18th multi-hit game of the year. DePaula is hitting .269, with an OPS of .842.
DePaula has an identical BB% as he does K% at 19% for both, his on base % is .410, he has 26 stolen bases, and a WRC+ of 141. His career high in stolen bases in 27, which happened last year, so already being at 26 shows how well he’s learning how to run the bases. And he’s doing all this and just turned 20.
Click to watch Decker
Cameron Decker went big fly for the 1st since with an affiliate since returning from his hamate bone injury on June 26th. He started the season with Great Lakes, played 5 games before breaking his Hamate bone, went on the IL, came back with Rancho on June 26th, was with Rancho for 6 games, and has been back with the Loons for 3 games now.
Click to watch Hobbs
Carson Hobbs was dominant AGAIN in his outing for Great Lakes on Sunday and got the W to move to 5-1 on the year.
2IP 0H 0R 1K 0BB
Hobbs has gone scoreless in 8 outings in a row, which spans 10 innings, and in that stretch, he has 14 Ks. His ERA is down to 1.98, his WHIP is just 0.88, and his average against is just .140.
Yean closed the game out on Sunday for the Loons to register his 2nd save of 2025. He gave up 1 hit, but then went zeroes across the board. Yean has 9 outings this year where he has not walked a batter, and he’s gone scoreless in 8 of them. When he is in the zone, he obliterates hitters, as evidenced by the fact that his average against is just .182.
Single A Rancho Cucamonga
Click to watch PatickSterling Patick had a good outing for Rancho on Sunday, starting the game and going scoreless in 2 innings.
2IP 2H 0R 2Ks 2BB
Fastball was firm, and he worked both sides of the plate with it, and his secondaries are advanced for someone who is only 20.
Since the beginning of May, Patick has been incredibly good. In fact, in that time, which spans 11 outings, he’s given up just 11 runs in 42 innings (2.35 ERA), and he has 44 Ks.
Patick is one to put somewhere in your Rolodex, then just keep checking in, because he’s so young he has time to continue developing into his best version. But, the “stuff” is great, the mentality is rock solid, and there’s nothing not to be totally excited about.
Click to watch Geronimo in ActionDomingo Geronimo gave the Quakes a really good “piggyback” outing on Sunday.
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Geronimo is a 20-year-old from Azua, DOM. 4 Seam, Slider, Change, velocity sits low 90s. 2nd scoreless outing in a row for Geronimo, which spans 5.2 innings, and in that span he has 6 Ks, and NO walks.
Well done, Domingo!
Click to watch MezaJose Meza had 3 hits for Rancho on Saturday, including the big one in the top of the 10th to give the Quakes the lead, one they expanded on and kept.
Meza has an easy-looking swing, minimal load, no wasted movement, and a very direct path to the ball. Flat when he needs to be, can plane the barrel to match the shape and location of pitches.
His swing type should create consistency because it allows him to track the ball well, use his hands effectively, and duplicate his movements fairly easily.
The calendar has flipped, and he’s hitting .357 so far in July, with an OBP of .571. #dodgers
Will Smith is unquestionably the hitter any team on the planet would want up in that situation because he’s hitting .328 overall, and is hitting .403 with runners in scoring position. 
Hyeseong Kim stole the show with his 3 hits and 2 stolen bases, and he made another sparkling play where he went behind the 2nd base bag, and made a jump throw to 1st base. 
Anthony Banda came in to get the last out of the 5th, but gave up a triple to Willy Adames that scored 2, then gave up a single to Jung Hoo Lee to plate the 5th run of the frame. 
