Many Moving Parts
Since Andrew Friedman took over the team a decade ago, he has not been shy about using his roster and shuffling players from OKC to LA, and moving players across various levels. Some of us saw the OKC Comets play last night, and they also play today and tomorrow. Ryder Ryan…
Since Andrew Friedman took over the team a decade ago, he has not been shy about using his roster and shuffling players from OKC to LA, and moving players across various levels. Some of us saw the OKC Comets play last night, and they also play today and tomorrow. Ryder Ryan starts tonight for OKC. Let’s take a quick look at the other levels of the minor leagues.
Tulsa Drillers
They open the season on April 2,3 and 4th vs. the San Antonio Missions at Nelson Wolff Stadium in Tulsa. The rosters are still in flux, but here are some of the pitchers on the Drillers:
- Patrick Copen
- Wyatt Crowell
- Cam Day
- Jackson Ferris
- Luke Fox
- Peter Huebeck
- Carson Hobbs
- Jared Karros
- Adam Serwinowski
- Christain Saurez
Yenier Fernandez, Griffin Lockwood Powell, and Nelson Quiroz are listed as the catchers. The position players include Josue DePaula, Zyhir Hope, Kyle Nevin, Chris Newell, Sean McLain, and Elijah Hainline. Of course, they are managed by Eric Wedge. I look for Mike Sirota to move pretty quickly to Tulsa, maybe even start the season with them. We shall see.
Great Lakes Loons
The Loons start the season at home vs. the ft. Wayne Tin Caps on April 3rd, 4th, and 5th. Pitchers of note on their roster are:
- Brooks Auger
- Maddux Bruns
- Joel Ibarra
- Payton Martin
- Christian Ruebeck
- Renaldo Yean
- Christain Zazueta
Jesus Galtz and Gio Cueto are the catchers, and the position players include Cam Decker, Jake Gelof, Samuel Munoz, Joe Vetrano, Logan Wagner, Kendall George, Mike Sirota, and Eduardo Quintero. June 30th through July 5th, the Loons are in Ft Wayne, and I plan to see several of those games. My daughter lives in Ft. Wayne, and she now works for us (2 days in the office in Indy and 3 days remote), so I have a place to stay if I want. Her husband played with Zach McKinstry.
Ontario Tower Buzzers
This oddly named team starts the season on April 2nd vs the Lake Elsinore Storm. Their names on the Buzzers are not as widely known, but do include Chase Harlan, Kellon Lindsey, Emil Morales, Joendry Vargas, Charles Davalan, Jaron Elkins, Ching-Hsien Ko, Brendan Trunik, Hyun-Seok Jang, and Justin Chambers… among many others.
Arizona Complex League
The ACL does not return until May 2nd, so we will check in on them later.
I think there will be a lot of movement between each level and a few surprises. There has never been a time in the history of the Los Angeles Dodgers when the Farm System has been so stacked… especially with outfielders, which means the Dodger Brass has the collateral to make a huge trade at the deadline… if warranted. This is going to be a fun season… at all levels.
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Discussion (39)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Ohtani’s plate discipline looks much better so far this year
Tibbs III just missed a cycle. His double in the 8th hit just below the top of the fence. Ward was ofer and is hitting below the Mendoza line.
Short arms!!!!!!!!!!
Nice to have a closer!
I feel like people often elide over Will Smith and Pages (I guess Busch too) when they lament the lack of top-tier superstars the Dodgers have recently drafted and developed… Like how many star-level players are you expecting to get exactly? He’s gonna end up in the 1% of results, lol. 1% is in relation to this from the great JJ Cooper: https://x.com/jjcoop36/status/2014016911546138738
Oh, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Will Klein have five of the last six Dodger wins. How’s that for scouting! Joke.
Dodgers might not lose this year.
Will Smith on the road to the Hall of Fame, Mr Clutch does it again last night.
He has a chance, especially if the Dodgers keep racking up pennants that give him more October heroics. Also on a HOF path: Our old friend Kenley. Could reach 500 saves this season with the Tigers.
Smith was a late first-rounder…. And has outplayed everybody who was drafted ahead of him. Yeah, the front office is pretty good at this. After his latest HR, some of the Dodgers greeted the birthday boy in the dugout by bobbling their heads. Roberts said that he had been planning to rest Smith, but that Smith talked him out of it. Batting him 4th ahead of Freddie turned out to be a smart move, a bit like how Roberts batted him 2nd in place of Mookie in Game 7.
I have to admit, I’m not looking forward to Sasaki’s start Monday! Emmit was not sharp Friday, we can all agree on that. But! Sasaki could be very “dull “ on Monday! It’s a known fact he doesn’t want to consider going down to AAA and work on things. But if he struggles mightily on Monday , what choice do the Dodgers have? I guess it’s a possibility he could come out and pitch 5-6 very good innings and we can all sit back and shut up! But from what I’ve seen so far? Ain’t happening. He saved the teams bacon in the playoffs last season! Throughout exhibition games he’s been absolutely awful! Plenty of time to get him on track but his next start will determine whether or not he stays in the rotation. We all want him to succeed. So if going down to AAA is what it takes, he should be open to it. Question is, will he ? Will Smith ain’t never gonna hit 60 bombs! But in my opinion , he’s the best catcher in the world! I really feel bad for Dalton! Of all the teams to be on, he gets stuck behind Will! I believe Kyle Tucker is going to get better, and better, and better! Glasnow can be a beast! If he can stay away from 3 ball counts, he’s unhittable! AGREE! Diaz brings an element to the ninth inning the Dodgers haven’t had in a while! Kenny was(is) an excellent closer. Diaz brings a feeling of confidence and dominance that only a few closers possess. If Scott comes back to his old self? Look out! Will Klein can be the new and healthier Graterol! He looks so confident! Poor Miggy! 2 hits and what do you get? A seat on the bench and Doc has no regret! A little Tennessee Ernie Ford there.
Give a Sasaki a chance before he hasn’t thrown a pitch in the regular season. If it doesn’t work out, i’ve read that he is amiable to going to AAA Oklahoma City to work on his pitching flaws. I still believe in the young man.Wrobo will be his backup if he falters early.
Will Klein has” Big Time” stuff that is unhittable. Another AF trade from Seattle last year that went unnoticed at the the time.
Of course I want him to succeed! And I hope he never has to go down. And I did see that he might be open to go down. I’m just saying that if he doesn’t improve quickly, the bullpen won’t be able to to keep covering for him each and every start. The talent is there.