MiLB Matters

A while back someone suggested that my column perhaps should be called, MiLB Matter with Dodger Chatter. I think it might have been Bluto. So under his advisement going forward, it shall be called, MiLB Matters with Dodger Chatter. Matters refers not only to the “stuff”  going on in MiLB but more so to the significance of MiLB. Minor league ball matters more than we know. It matters not only to the young players trying to reach the impossible dream and to their families as well as to the parent team but also to the communities in which it provides entertainment and economic benefits. For me, it is the heartbeat of professional baseball.

Also a while back I came across a portion of an article written by Kyle Glaser regarding the quality of play in the minor leagues. Although I am not privy to the entire article, the lynchpin might be the reorganization of the minor leagues and the deleting of the rookie-level that previously served as a stepping stone between the Arizona and Florida Leagues and the short season rookie leagues. For the Dodgers the step now missing is the Ogden Raptors of the Pioneer League. It seems players that previously would have moved from the former Arizona League (now the Arizona Complex League) to the short-season rookie league all of a sudden had to step directly up to the Low-A level.

And perhaps it is just a blip on the baseball diamond as the pandemic caused these young men to miss a year of competitive baseball. Working out in whatever manner is not the same as playing against real opponents on a real field.

This may have been most significant for high school and college players who lost  a season and have to get the lost development year back at a higher level. Their age level did not stop during the pandemic.

From Kyle Glaser:

“ I wrote an article about this for Baseball America earlier this month. The quality of play in the minor leagues has suffered tremendously and is down across the board. There was always a very, very large gap between the higher and lower levels, but it’s become even larger this year. The level of play at the lowest full-season levels, Low-A and High-A, has dropped significantly. The quality of play we’ve seen at High-A is what we used to see in Low-A, while what we’ve seen in Low-A is what we used to see in the short-season levels that MLB eliminated. It’s a full level lower than we’re used to at each of those levels. At the upper levels, Double-A and Triple-A, the quality of play has dropped but not quite as steeply.”

https://www.milb.com/fans/postseason-all-stars

During the past month, MiLB announced their choices for post-season all-star teams and league awards at each MiLB level.

The Dodgers had no players at the AAA level selected as all-stars and also none at the rookie-level Arizona Complex League or the Dominican Republic Complex League.

I am not sure how Matt Davidson did not receive recognition in the AAA West League. The first base selection went to Greg Bird of the Albuquerque Isotopes.

In between the Complex Leagues and AAA level things went quite a bit better, especially at second and third base,  but with no surprises for the Dodgers.

DOUBLE-A CENTRAL LEAGUE AWARDS AND ALL-STARS

Second baseman Michael Busch played in 107 games for the Drillers this season, hitting .267 with 27 doubles, 20 homers, and 67 runs batted in. His 109 hits led the team and were the sixth most in the league, while his 48 extra-base hits tied for the league lead. Busch also led the league with 84 runs scored, 10 more than any other Double-A Central player. Defensively, he committed just 8 errors on the season.

Designated hitter Ryan Noda led all Double-A Central hitters with 29 home runs while also topping the league with 74 walks. He narrowly missed on leading the league with 78 runs batted in, falling three behind Stone Garrett when the Amarillo outfielder hit a three-run homer in his final at-bat of the season. Noda was third in the Double-A Central with 200 total bases and fourth with 73 runs scored.

Third baseman Miguel Vargas did not join the Drillers until June 6 after opening the season with High-A Great Lakes, but he adjusted immediately to the higher level of play. In 83 games with Tulsa, the native of Cuba hit .321 to win the Double-A Central batting title, joining Matt Beaty (2017) as the only two Drillers to ever win batting crowns. Vargas also provided power to the Tulsa lineup, finishing with 16 doubles and 16 home runs while totaling 60 runs batted in. His 105 hits were the second-most on the team and the ninth-best in the league.

2021 HIGH-A CENTRAL LEAGUE AWARDS AND ALL-STAR TEAMS

Outfielder Andy Pages was selected as the league’s Most Valuable Player and its Top MLB Prospect while outfielder Ryan Ward was also selected as a league all-star.

As the High-A Central’s Most Valuable Player, Pages becomes the first Loon to receive the league’s honor since Dee Gordon and Kyle Russell were crowned Co-Midwest League MVPs in 2009. Russell formerly held the Loons’ single-season (26) and all-time home run (26) records entering this season before Pages knocked 31 in 120 games.

Pages finished the 2021 season as the only Loon in franchise history to play in every game of the season, finishing with his 31 home runs to lead the High-A Central. Pages led the league in wRC, with Ward sitting behind him with the second-most weighted runs created.

The 20-year-old Pages finished the season as the league’s leader in home runs (31), RBI (88), slugging percentage (.539), OPS (.933), extra-base hits (57), total bases (236), and runs (96).

Not far behind, Ward earned postseason honors with 27 home runs in 109 games played with the 2021 Loons. Ward spent the 2019 season with the Dodgers’ rookie-advanced affiliate Ogden Raptors, along with Pages and Loons’ manager Austin Chubb.

Ward finished the season with six multi-home run games to reach his 27 long balls after going deep four times in 49 games with the 2019 Raptors.

2021 LOW-A WEST LEAGUE AWARDS AND ALL-STAR TEAMS

Second Baseman Sam McWilliams with the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes might have been the least known among the Dodgers MiLB 2021  All-Star selections.

The Low-A West Player of the Week for August 30 – September 5 was selected by the Dodgers in the 19 th round of the 2018 First-Year Player Draft out of Meridian Community College.

During the 2021 season, he posted a triple slash of .304/.384/.524 along with 14 home runs and 70 runs batted in. He finished second in the league with his .524 slugging percentage as well as second with an OPS of 1.023.  He also finished second with 32 doubles and fourth with 82 runs scored.

Third Baseman  Jorbit Vivas with the Quakes was a much more familiar name and he lived up to his previous billing.

He was signed by the Dodgers as a free agent out of Puerto Cabello, Venezuela on July 4, 2017. Since then the 20-year-old left-handed hitter has hit well at every stop along the way.

During the past season with the Quakes, he slashed .311/.389/.905 while hitting a career-high 13 home runs and driving in 73 runs. His slugging percentage of .515 and OPS of .905 both ranked third in the league just behind teammate Sam McWilliams. He ranked fourth in the league with his 73 runs batted in, sixth with a .311 batting average, and fifth with his .389 OBP.

Vivas finished off his season with 23 games with the High-A Great Lakes Loons with a triple slash of .318/.422/424.

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