MiLB Odds and Ends with Dodger Chatter

The Dodgers Big Hurt

A couple of days ago we profiled Dodger relief pitcher Alex Vesia who came over to the Dodgers in the Dylan Floro trade with the Miami Marlins.

Those were not the only two players involved in the trade.  Right-hander Kyle Hurt also came the Dodgers way.

The 6’3”/215-lb. native of Rancho Santa Fe, California attended  Torrey Pines  High School in San Diego and was drafted out of high school in the 34th round of the 2017 First-Year Player Draft by the Philadelphia Phillies. He chose not to sign and spent the next three years with the University of Southern California Trojans. His 2020 season, which had started out very promising, was limited to four games due to Covid-19.

His time with the Trojans was not all he might have wanted it to be but he did start 30 games for USC and he had his moments. Along the way, he posted one of the most exciting performances on the mound in recent USC memory when he tossed 7.2 innings in a combined no-hitter against Utah in 2018. Hurt struck out seven batters in that game and earned Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week and Collegiate Baseball National Pitcher of the Week honors.

He threw a career-high 8.0 innings against Washington in 2019 and struck out a career-best 10 batters in that game as well.

The first part of his dream came true during the 2020 limited draft in which he was selected in the fifth round by the Marlins.

The following February he was traded to the Dodgers as a low-risk, perhaps eventual high reward player. When I say low risk I simply mean the Dodgers got him as a PTBNL when they already had Alex Vesia who was their target. His scouting reports highlight the risk part with the possible reward part disguised within the report.

Baseball America: “The gap between Hurt’s stuff and performance makes him one of the most divisive prospects in this year’s draft class…His fastball reaches 95-96 mph as a starter, his changeup is a consensus plus pitch he locates well and his curveball and slider each flash plus at their best. While he throws hard, Hurt’s fastball is too straight and plays down due to below-average command, often leaving him to rely on his secondaries. He struggles to put together more than a few good innings at a time and scouts have long-held concerns about his work ethic and makeup.”

MLB Pipeline: “The right-hander hasn’t always commanded his stuff well or maintained it deep into starts, with the sharpness of his stuff often varying from outing to outing. He entered the spring as one of the more enigmatic college pitching prospects in this class and there wasn’t really enough time for scouts’ questions to be completely answered this spring.”

“For three years, Kyle Hurt has been one of the most tantalizing prospects on the West Coast. Scouts have been enamored with his fastball that reaches into the mid-90s, a sharp-breaking slider and devastating pull-the-string changeup.” –Shotgun Spratling of D1Baseball.com.

Kyle Hurt’s journey continues with the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes. Over 8.2 innings pitched he has struck out 16 but has also walked eight. It would seem that the 2022 season might be pivotal for the now 23-year-old right-hander.

Dodgers 2021 Draft Report

Five of the 2021 draft selections have not yet surfaced:

• RHP Peter Heubeck (3)
• RHP Ben Casparius (5)
• LHP Justin Wrokleski (11)
• RHP Madison Jeffrey (15)
• RHP Gabe Emmett (19)

Four others have made their professional debut during the past week:

• RHP Ryan Sublette (7) – ACL Dodgers
• LHP Ben Harris (8) – ACL Dodgers
• LHP Maddux Bruns (1) – ACL Dodgers
• RHP Emmet Sheehan (6) – Rancho Cucamonga Quakes

Undrafted free agent RHP Jonathan Edwards debuted with the  ACL Dodgers.

All had a successful debut except 19-year-old Maddux Bruns who gave up three earned runs in a third of an inning.

Meanwhile over in Midland, left-hander Lael Lockhart (9th round) has made three appearances with the Loons and over five innings has allowed two hits, walked none, and struck out 10.

The home run title in the High-A Central League has boiled down to two players at this point. The first is league leader Andy Pages with 26 and the second is his Great Lakes Loon’s teammate, Ryan Ward, who has 24. Pages hit his 26th on Sunday in the Loons 10-2 win over the Lake County Captains. Ward currently leads the league with 78 runs batted in while Pages is third with 75.

Pages tied Kyle Russell’s 2009 record of 26 home runs in a single Loons season when he went deep in the eighth inning.

Leonard Hits Three

Twenty-year-old Eddys Leonard hit three home runs for the Loons on Sunday driving in four. The most encouraging sign is that the right-handed batter used the whole field hitting one to left field, one to center field, and one to right-center.

Leonard with his three home runs on Sunday joined Cody Thomas (2017) and Niko Hulsizer (2019) as the third Loons player since 2007 to hit three home runs in a game.

Finishing 4-for-5 with his three-round trippers and a single, Leonard set a new Loons individual game-high with 13 total bases against the Captains.

His scouting report when he signed seems to be spot on.

“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.”

Gamboa Gets Game Going

Alec Gamboa was selected by the Dodgers in the ninth round of the 2019 First-Year Player Draft out of Fresno City College.

His, like so many minor league players, is a story of perseverance. He pitched in two games with Fresno in 2017 and then had the now commonplace TJ surgery. He did not return to action until the 2019 season and it was quite a season.

Through 64 innings – nine as a starter – he gave up 46 hits, walked only 14, and struck out 95. His ERA was a nifty 1.94 along with a 0.94 WHIP.

The Dodgers eased him through his first professional season with the AZL Dodgers in 2019 using him both as a starter and reliever. In 25 innings he gave up 19 hits, walked only 2, and struck out 33 with a 2.88 ERA.

Of note, Gamboa was invited to the Dodgers Instructional League following the 2019 season with the AZL Dodgers.

Fun fact: While with the AZL Dodgers, Gamboa was given jersey No. 34, which was an honor for him.

“It was unbelievable to put on that jersey, especially with No. 34,” he said. “That’s Fernando Valenzuela. That’s why I wore 34 at Fresno City. I’m a diehard Dodgers fan. When I saw that in my locker, I thought somebody was playing a joke. You don’t get to pick your number. I saw a lot of high numbers in the locker room. I get 34 and I thought no way. It was a coincidence I got 34. Everybody in the locker room wondered what string I pulled to get that.”

The  6’1”/205-lb. left-hander’s year on and a year off continued in 2020 as the minor league season was canceled due to the pandemic.

During the current campaign with the High-A Great Lakes Loons, he had a slow start in May and June posting an ERA of around 5.00 over 33.2 innings. However, in mid-June things turned around as in three of his last four starts he pitched 12 innings and gave up only three earned runs while striking out 14 and walking three.

In July and August – also over 33.2 innings pitched – Gamboa has posted an ERA of 2.17 and a WHIP of 1.11 along with 31 strikeouts and 13 walks.

Gamboa has the pitch mix to be a starter with both a two and four-seam fastball, slider, and a change-up with his fastball topping out at 95 MPH.

Now 24, his next stop will be in Tulsa for the 2022 season.

MiLB Player of the Week (August 23-29) : RHP Edgardo Henriquez – ACL Dodgers

The Dodger’s only MiLB Player of the Week was  Edgardo Henriquez who threw five innings of near-perfect ball last Thursday against the ACL D-Backs. His only blemish in the five innings was a walk. He struck out 10. On the season he has pitched 26 innings giving up only 16 hits while striking out 40. He has walked 16.

The 6’4”/200-lb. Henriquez, 19, was signed by the Dodgers as an international free agent on September 25, 2018, out of Cumana, Venezuela.