MiLB Bits and Pieces
Not so many games in the minor league scene today as teams at the Low-A, High-A, and AA levels have Mondays off. Triple-A has Wednesdays off. The Arizona Complex League and the Dominican Summer League both have Sundays off. So I thought I would take a look back at the week that was. That is, July 19-25. The Loons four-pitcher no-hitter on July 23 has already been featured on LADT .
Not so many games in the minor league scene today as teams at the Low-A, High-A, and AA levels have Mondays off. Triple-A has Wednesdays off. The Arizona Complex League and the Dominican Summer League both have Sundays off.
So I thought I would take a look back at the week that was. That is, July 19-25. The Loons four-pitcher no-hitter on July 23 has already been featured on LADT.
During that week the Dodgers had two MiLB Players of the Week.
In the six-game series with the Lake County Captains that moved the Loons into first place in their division and with a run differential of +103, Ward collected eight hits. His triple slash was .308/.357/.923 along with 1.280 OPS. Six of his hits were for extra bases – 2 doubles, 1 triple, and 4 home runs. He now stands fifth in the league in RBI with 51 and fourth in home runs with 14.
Keibert Ruiz – Oklahoma City Dodgers
In his last six games, Ruiz had 12 hits in 27 at-bats. He had four home runs, including a three-homer game, and drove in 10 runs. He struck out twice and walked once. In the month of July over 77 at-bats he has posted a triple slash of .351/.412/.701 along with seven home runs and 21 runs batted in. He has struck out 24 times and walked 23.
Fun Fact
While listening to an OKC game I learned that only two minor league players at this point have at least 16 home runs and 16 doubles. One is the aforementioned Ruiz and the other is 20-year-old Andy Pages with the Loons. Pages seems to have come out of his hitting struggles and has hits in six of his last seven games including three doubles and two home runs.
Baseball America 100 Top Prospects
Five Dodger prospects are included in the top 100 with Baseball America.
39 Keibert Ruiz
52 Josiah Gray
67 Michael Busch
87 Diego Cartaya
98 Bobby Miller
Temporary Inactive List
Earlier this week one LADT poster asked about Diego Cartaya who has been missing in action since July 16th. He is included in the Temporary Inactive List. The reason is not stated but may well be from the list below or be a way of juggling rosters by the Dodgers.
The Temporarily Inactive List is for minor league players only. It is essentially an in-season excused Leave of Absence, and it is used for Paternity Leave, Bereavement Leave, and Family Medical Emergency Leave, as well as when a player is delayed reporting to a new club, or is attending college, or is incarcerated, or has returned home for personal reasons.
Only minor league players (including players on Optional Assignment to the minors) can be placed on this list.
A player on the Temporarily Inactive List does not count against his club’s Active List, but he does count against the club’s Reserve List.
An Interesting Fact
The Dodgers currently most likely have the best array of catching prospects of any MLB club. AC has mentioned and I have mentioned that if we did not have Keibert Ruiz and Diego Cartaya to follow we would see Carson Taylor with the Loons as a catcher of the future. This guy is a player and after a very slow start in May has hit as well as any catcher in the league. His triple slash is .286/.404/.442 in 42 games with five home runs and 30 runs batted in. He has struck out 29 times and walked 30.
However, I digress. My interesting fact was to mention that the Dodgers have four of Venezuela’s catchers in the pipeline. Besides Ruiz and Cartaya they have Jesus Galiz and Yeiner Fernandez.
Galiz is better known than Fernandez. He was signed by the Dodgers on January 15, 2021. Still 17-years-old, Galiz was considered to be the best catching prospect during that international signing period.
According to MLB Pipeline, “Galiz dreamed of being the next Gleyber Torres and for most of his childhood, followed in his countryman’s footsteps as a middle infielder.” But Galiz’s path changed two years ago when he began working behind the dish.
His “quick feet, strong arm, and high baseball IQ,” alongside the overall athleticism that he displayed as a middle infielder, have helped him elevate to the top of the international prospect rankings. He still has the soft hands of a middle infielder, but now he uses them to receive and block pitches. “The internal clock and quick release he used to throw runners out from shortstop now make him a threat behind the plate.”
“Galiz also shows advanced skills at the plate. The teen features a quick and compact swing with the ability to drive the ball to all fields. He also projects to have plus power in the future. Galiz still models his overall game after Torres, especially in the batter’s box,” MLB Pipeline writes.
It was an emotional signing for Galiz. His father, Edgar Perez, died on Nov. 4, 2020, at the age of 46 from complications caused by COVID-19. He was Galiz’s idol, first coach, and No. 1 supporter. It was Edgar who first introduced Galiz to baseball when he was three.
Moments after Galiz slipped on his new Dodgers cap and No. 14 jersey, he walked over to his mom in the corner of the room and hugged her as tight as he could. He cried through his mask.
The Dodgers may have lucked out. Galiz wanted to sign with the Yankees and was prepared to do so. Somehow the deal fell through and when he had no team with which to sign the Dodgers quickly moved in and signed him.
He has played seven games with DSL Dodgers (Bautista) and has seven hits.
Yeiner Fernandez was signed by the Dodgers as an international signing in the same class as Diego Cartaya. There is not much written about him. He will play the entire 2021 season as an 18-year-old and is currently with the Arizona Complex League Dodgers where he has collected 13 hits in 43 at-bats including two doubles and one home run. To date, he has handled 62 chances without an error and has thrown out five of 14 base stealers.
Fernandez was a star in the 2015 Little League World Series for Venezuela, and according to FanGraphs, his deal with the Dodgers was one of the first done in the class. Fernandez adds another catching prospect to watch to a system already loaded with them, and he’s good enough behind the plate to stay there for the foreseeable future.
He’s not super physically projectable at 5’11, 189 lbs., but is toolsy enough already that it isn’t so much of a concern.
In the 2015 Little League World Series, he was a pitcher who could hit. With the game tied 2-2 with Australia in the top of the sixth inning, Fernandez hit a three-run homer that turned out to be the game-winner.
He also flashed a power arm in relief, striking out four batters and touching 77 mph with his fastball — the equivalent of 100 mph when adjusted for the shorter distance between the pitcher’s mound and home plate.
Davidson hit his team-leading 17th homer of the season — a three-run home run — in the third inning as he tied his season-high mark with three RBI. Davidson has now homered in five of his last seven games and has eight homers in his last 11 games, 13 homers in his last 20 games, and 15 homers in his last 26 games. He has also hit safely in a season-high eight straight games for his longest hitting streak since the 2018 season when he was with the Chicago White Sox.
Message From Mark
Thank you, DC for a wonderful article and coverage of the Minor Leagues. It never gets old. I have something that I want to share with everyone. I received a card in the mail yesterday from “George.” I have no idea who that is, but the card is an amazing thing. Start reading in the right column and finish on the left side. Here it is:
DC and Bear, send me your addresses and George will buy you some coffee. Every now and then nice things like this happen that make it all worthwhile. George, I will match your $100 and donate it to Mission 22. Thank You very much!
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Discussion (151)
Disagree, not disagreeable
US is leading the medal count in Tokyo. Whoopee!
Blaming Bellinger is pure BS. Not his fault Trienen lost the strike zone and walked the first two hitters. No need for the throw at all if Trienen does his job. They get runners on 2nd and 3rd with 1 out, and then the dreaded contact play is put on, but the only player on this team that scores on that play is Betts. Raley sure as hell wasn’t going to. He was out from me to you. Games like this are hard to watch. Wasted performance by Urias and an anemic offense is what cost them the game. Not Bellinger’s error. Normally steady Turner pops one to short right, rally over. But the worst, the absolute worst was McKinstry’s at bat that inning. He swung at a pitch a snake could not hit. Just an awful at bat. Well, in my book, the next two games are must win games, and AF not only needs a starter and BP help, he needs someone who can drive in runs. And do not look now, but the Giants are talking to the Cubs about Bryant. I do not want to see AF have to do a punch, counter punch type of deadline.
Another very winnable game pissed away. Oh but not to worry there are (fill in the blank of an ever diminishing number) of games left to play!
In games with a very close score, the thread will always be broken by the thinnest and will be exhibited, this year the weakness of the team is the defense, not only the errors, but also the plays that they do not make and that should be made.
Headline: DODGERS MISSING MAGIC- – Monumentally Mediocre in Loss to Giants
The so-called depth proclamation of the Dodgers as the deepest roster has been greatly exaggerated.
Raley, DJ Peters, Neuse, McKinney, McKinstry, Beaty, have all been underwhelming. This roster does have serious flaws and lacks speed, fundamental baseball acumen (often-not always) and cannot seem to create any offense sans a HR.
Several years ago the Dodgers fired Sue Falsone after a rash of injuries and might need to rethink that same fate with Rampe and Porterfield (I believe that’s the name of the sports science director) because a non-surgical hand fracture should not take 11 weeks to recover from.
Can’t win it every year and I’m not tossing in the towel on a division crown just yet, but the uninspired malaise has infected this entire team. While I want to give TB the benefit of the doubt here’s a big FU for being a weirdo who’s into kinky sex and whose actions have let a team down. Can’t wait until he gets jettisoned off the roster.
Poor defense this year plus the inability to avoid SBs has led to roughly 8-10 losses, that number of losses is what I remember, I also remember three more losses by plays that Seager couldn’t make.
I know DR loves his players but not pinch hitting for Bellinger in the 9th inning with a lefty on the mound and AP in the dugout was felony stupid.
I can’t put any blame on Bellinger. If he makes makes a good throw the runner is likely out. Who’s to say he wouldn’t have thrown the ball away at 2nd base? It was a physical error, not mental. The main culprit in this loss was the Dodgers’ inability to put runs on the board, plain and simple.
The Dodgers are missing Seager, missing Mookie, and unless he begins to find himself they’re also missing Bellinger’s bat. Name me any team in baseball that could lose that kind of fire power and not be adversely affected?
The magic is missing for the 21 Dodgers!
This team, as it is currently constructed, does not deserve to be in first place.
The moronic plays and self destruction this year has been amazing. Yes Neuse should have stretched last week but Taylor should have never thrown there.
McKinstry swinging at ball four at a pitch that was a ball out of his hand.
Treinen going from 0-2 on Posey to walking two batters. Hey, Cody the out at second was just as good as third. Freaking stupid.
I’m not sure it’s a slump. I’ve never been overly impressed by McKinstry. Has always seemed to me that he hits the fastball well, but has a problem hitting breaking balls.
McKinstry cost them a run. He’s in an awful slump,
The Pirates/Phillies trade involving Tyler Anderson fell through and Seattle stepped in. Apparently Pittsburgh was concerned about the medicals on one of the prospects, and Philly did not want to make a counter. No word yet as to who Seattle will be trading. Anderson has 103.1 IP with a 4.35 ERA/4.42 Siera and a 1.200 WHIP.
I am stepping off my high horse when it comes to Seattle. I love the City but I have no positive or negative feelings towards the team at all. I have no idea why I got so exasperated with the Graveman trade. I think I have a ton of empathy for a fan base that has not been in a playoff in 20 years, and they went backwards while the two teams they are chasing improved. I have already declared that I am not much of a Tyler Anderson advocate. But maybe he will thrive in Seattle. I will let their fans rant. I know I would if Anderson was traded to LAD.
I’m in Vegas.
Jeff is in charge and DC, 2D2 and a Grizzly Bear are his bodyguards.
Jeff has my proxy to have anyone committed to the psyche ward.
Luke raley my gosh can they give Mark a uniform?
Butt ugly uniforms
“The Mercury News declared they “look like a bottle of Glacier Freeze Gatorade,” a lifelong season ticket-holder at SFGate writes that they’re “unfortunately hideous” and “uninteresting, uninspiring and underwhelming all at once.” The Chronicle rages the new uniforms “violate the sanctity of baseball itself.”
No gray area there.
I also noticed Bellinger has had two strikes on him 93 times and struck out 47. Striking out about 50% of the time in that situation seems awfully high to me. BTW, Lux is 136 and 74. Hitting with two strikes is an art these three don’t have it.
I have posted something like this before…. but again.
Justin T has been our most valuable player so far this year, but something happens to him when he gets behind in the count. According to MLB.com, he has had two strikes on him 189 times this year and has struck out 102 times on those occasions. You would think there is something he could do to begin putting the ball in play when he gets two strikes on him.
Oh, now you have to add one more strikeout to that total.
There has been a lot of talk and wishful thinking about getting Max Scherzer. I really won’t believe it until it happens. It’s been said that he wants to go to the west coast to play and yet only 3 teams were mentioned. What about the other 3 teams on the west coast?
Today is his 37th birthday and even though he is a future HOF how many years does he have left. Yes, I know there was a few who pitched into their 40’s but how many of them were successful and threw hard like MS does. Yes, I would be happy if we got him but I would also temper my joy with the expectation of something happening because of his age. Just my opinion.
Well, calling it a night. Going to go in and watch the game. Stay safe guys.
Jeff. The Pirates beat writer for the Athletic said that the Dodgers were working on a deal for Chad Kuhl. Make any sense to you? He also said they were close to trading Rodriguez to the Blue Jays.
I’m not giving up on Lux. He really struggled his first year in minors then took off. I’m ready to give him a shot in 22 either at second or short if we don’t resign Seager. If he ever plays again for us!
It might mean nothing, but, Trea Turner was pulled from the lineup against the Phillies after one at bat. Reported by Jon Heyman.