MiLB Just Bumming Around

Just a few notes regarding MiLB, Dodger style. There is no significance to the order of presentation.  Only one Dodger minor league game on Monday so I was really just bumming around looking for tidbits of MiLB.

Dodger Minor League Affiliate Standings: Monday, June 28

• Great Lakes Loons are  in second place 2.5 games back of the Dayton Dragons.
• Rancho Cucamonga Quakes  are in first place 1.5 games up on  Lake Elsinore Storm.
• Tulsa Drillers are in second place 0.5 games behind Wichita Storm Surge.
• OKC Dodgers are in third place 2.5 games behind the Sugar Land Sketters.

It was announced on Monday by MiLB that Tulsa Drillers starting pitcher Ryan Pepiot, has been named the Double-A Central Pitcher of the Week for the week of June 22-27. The right-hander made one start last week and pitched 6.0 shutout innings, issuing no walks and giving up only one hit, while striking out six batters. Prior to the first hit, Pepiot pitched four perfect innings. The outing marked Pepiot’s first professional win. For the season, Pepiot has accumulated a 1.47 ERA in 30.2 innings pitched. He is the first Drillers player this season to receive a weekly award.       

On Sunday Loons first baseman Justin Yurchak recorded his 12th multi-hit performance of the month, increasing his batting average to a league-best .448 in 18 games in June. Yurchak continues a white-hot stretch of seven games, tallying two or more hits in all of those, accomplishing the feat in 11 of his last 12. Yurchak is also second in on-base percentage (.414) and batting average (.312) amongst active members of the HAC. In the month of May, Yurchak was 4-for-42, averaging .095.

Yurchak on Monday led the league with a .316 batting average and was third with a .421 OPS.

Outfielder Ryan Ward is fourth in the league with a .311 batting average. Outfielder Andy Pages leads the league  with 15 home runs.  Pages and Ward are fourth in the league each with 47 hits.

Andy Pages has been tabbed as the Launch Angle unicorn by FanGraph’s Eric Logerhagen

“He can hit balls out with a flick of the wrist, even when he hasn’t taken his best swing. His speed under way and defensive instincts give him a chance to stay in center field, which would obviously give Pages a little more margin for error as a hitter. If he stays in center, he has a star-level ceiling. If not, then he has a whiff-prone, traditional right field profile driven by obvious impact power. Even if the latter occurs, it’s very likely Pages not only gets to all of his raw power, but might outperform it because of how often he’s able to lift the baseball.”

Maybe this is the hit for Jeren Kendall that will get him moving in the right direction again.

Trailing 3-2, Sunday’s ninth-inning rally began when Carlos Rincon drew a leadoff walk from Edgar Escobar. Escobar retired the next two batters before hitting Michael Busch with a pitch and walking Hunter Feduccia to load the bases, setting the stage for Kendall. The outfielder quickly came through, lining the first pitch from Escobar inside the right field foul pole and onto Elgin Avenue for the game-ending slam. It was a two-out grand slam for Kendall.

Hands up. How many know about Rancho Cucamonga shortstop Eddys Leonard (Leo-nard)?

Shortstop: Eddys Leonard (19 – November 10, 2000)  R/R Ht: 6′ 0″ Wt: 160

Leonard was signed in the same class as Jorbit Vivas  and Andy Pages in 2017 out of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

This is the scouting report on Leonard by the Dominican Prospect League when he signed.

“Eddys Leonard has the ability to make consistent contact with gap to gap power. His above-average speed allows him to fully utilize his contact and power giving him the ability to extend singles into doubles and doubles into triples. Combining his speed with a high baseball IQ, at 16-years-old, and you get a player who will have the ability to steal bases at every level. His speed also gives him good range at short, while his arm strength and quick hands will allow him to be an above-average defender.”

This from Baseball America in  April of 2018.

“Leonard is 6 feet, 160 pounds, a good athlete with plus speed. While some scouts thought Leonard would fit best in center field, the Dodgers have kept him at shortstop after seeing promising strides with his fielding. Leonard has fast bat speed and good swing path from the right side, and while he’s not a big home run hitter, the ball carries off his bat well with a change to develop average power.”

Of note his height and weight are still listed as 6’/160 lb.

He played in the DSL during the 2018 season and moved to the Arizona League Dodgers (Lasorda) in 2019. With the Dodgers over 46 games he slashed .280/.380/.423 but his advertised speed did not result in stolen bases. He homered three times and drove in 20 runs.

Leonard finished out his season with 8 games in the Pioneer League with the Ogden Raptors with a triple slash of .333/.391/.478.

This season with the Quakes he has a triple slash of .279/.387/.503 with an OPS of .891. He has walked  20 times and struck out 44. In June in 20 games he has slashed .299/.407/.597 with a 1.005 OPS.  In those 20 games he has hit five home runs  and driven in 15 while striking out 18 times and walking 11. He has yet to really use the aforementioned speed and has stolen five bases  this season. Eighteen of his 41 hits are for extra bases.

Arizona Complex League:

Arizona League play started on Monday with the league now reference as the Arizona Complex League. The Dodgers team in the ACL plays in the Central Division in the 18 team league along with the Angels, Brewers Blue, Indians Reds and White Sox. The Brewers, Giants and Royals all have two teams in the league.

The  ACL Dodgers attempted a comeback in their first game of the season with a five-run eighth inning but fell 9-8 to the ACL Angels. Luis Diaz (3B) homered twice as did Jose Ramos (OF). Jake Vogel has been moved from the RC Quakes to the ACL Dodgers. He was hitless in two at bats. Luis Rodriguez went 0-4. Kevin Bautista who was acquired by the Dodgers in the trade with Texas for Dennis Santana pitched 1.1 scoreless innings.

Song of the Day