Never Speak of This Again!
Some things are never meant to be spoken of again. Yesterday was one of those days. The Angels beat the Dodgers like rented mules. Erase it from your memory banks. Move on… Nothing to see here, Folks. The Dodgers got mauled by the Angels. This is unspeakable! One game means…
Some things are never meant to be spoken of again. Yesterday was one of those days. The Angels beat the Dodgers like rented mules. Erase it from your memory banks. Move on… Nothing to see here, Folks. The Dodgers got mauled by the Angels. This is unspeakable!
One game means nothing. Remember that!
The Great Lakes Loons will be in Ft Wayne, Indiana, from June 30th through July 5th. I plan to be there for at least a couple of games… hopefully more, but my wife’s restaurant is opening the week before, so we will see how many games I can attend. I typically get press passes there. The Courtyard by Marriott is right beside the stadium, and I think the Loons stay there. My daughter lives in Ft. Wayne, so there is that! Ft. Wayne’s downtown is awesome and a fun place to be.
Dodger Prospects
Everyone is talking about the Dodgers ‘Top Prospects’ top prospects, namely DePaula, Sirota, Hope, Tibbs 3, Davalan, Ehrhard, Harlan, et al. However, don’t go to sleep on Logan Wagner.
Here’s what MLB Pipeline says:
After starring at the World Wood Bat Association World Championship in October 2021, Wagner moved from suburban Chicago to the P27 Academy (Lexington, S.C.) to face better competition. He thrived and went in the sixth round, where the Dodgers paid him their second-highest bonus ($597,500) in the 2022 Draft. He has barely played as a pro, getting into just 57 games in his first three seasons because he broke his right hamate in 2023 and his left hamate last year.
A switch-hitter, Wagner has a more fluid and contact-oriented stroke from the right side and a more aggressive lefty swing that provides more damage. He arrived in pro ball with more physicality than most prep products, has bat speed to go with his strength and has shown the ability to launch balls to his pull side during his brief action. His 18 extra-base hits and 27 walks in 38 Single-A games last spring hinted at his power potential and on-base ability.
Wagner played shortstop in high school and has seen action at second base this year, but he’s better suited for the infield corners. Though he’s a fringy runner, he has worked to improve his agility and become a capable defender at third base, though he played more first base last year on a Rancho Cucamonga club with a logjam of infielders. He has the solid arm strength to handle the hot corner and conceivably could try left or right field as well.
He is very, very athletic and could rise quickly. Watch him. He is currently on the IL, but at Great Lakes in 114 ABs, he hit .307 with a .940 OPS. He also had 7 HR and 11 doubles. He is striking out at a 29% rate, and that needs to be fixed, but at least it’s not 41% like Shelton. Wagner has 17 games at 3B and 7 at 2B. He has not committed an error in almost 200 innings this year.
Josue DePaula is knocking on OKC’s door, and Mike Sirota is knocking it down. Take it away… Jeff!
MiLB GAME SUMMARY REPORTS
OKC Comets 7 – Round Rock Express (Texas) 3
RF Zach Ehrhard led off the bottom of the first with a single. 2B Tommy Edman forced Ehrhard at 2nd. IB James Tibbs III and CF Alek Thomas singled with Edman scoring and JT III to 3rd. JT III scored on LF Jack Suwinski’s SF.
In the 2nd, SS Hyeseong Kim opened the inning with a single. After one out, Kim stole 2nd and scored on Ehrhard’s single.
Meanwhile OKC’s LHSP Cole Irvin got through the 1st two innings unscathed even with a pair of singles and a BB. In the 3rd, 2 more singles, a sac bunt, and groundout scored one before Irvin struck out the final batter of the inning.
Irvin retired the side in order in the 4th, but a walk, single, and SF gave the Express their 2nd run.
In the bottom of the 5th, Thomas drew a one out walk. Suwinski had an infield single. DH Ryan Fitzgerald singled to score Thomas and moving Suwinski to 3rd. Suwinski scored on a balk.
Irvin completed 6.0 innings allowing just the 2 runs on 5 hits, 2 BB, and 3 K. RHRP Chayce McDermott relieved Irvin in the 7th. The first batter he faced homered, but nothing else.
In the bottom of the 7th, Suwinski and R. Fitzgerald drew 1-out walks. With Kim at bat, both runners moved up on a balk. Kim followed that with a 2-run single.
RHRP Evan Phillips continued his rehab assignment with a scoreless 8th inning. He did walk one batter, and struck out one batter. The BB was erased on a GIDP. Phillips’ 4-seamer sat at 95-96, and reached a high of 97.
RHRP Wyatt Mills entered in the 9th and closed it out.
Edman was the only OKC batter with an XBH, his first triple.
- Zach Ehrhard – 2-3, 2 BB, 1 RBI
- Alek Thomas – 2-3, 1 BB, 1 run, 1 RBI
- Hyeseong Kim – 3-4, 1 run, 2 RBI
OKC was 2-4 for the 6 game series with Round Rock.
The Comets are 35-27 and are 2.5 games behind Sacramento (SFG) and 1.5 games behind Las Vegas (A’s). 1st half ends June 21. After OKC plays a 6 game series against Charlotte, CWS AAA affiliate of International League, they will take on the Sacramento River Cats for 6 games to end the 1st half.
Tulsa Drillers 7 – Amarillo Sod Poodles (Arizona) 6 – Game 1
Big come from behind win for the Drillers. Spoiler alert…CF Mike Sirota slugged an oppo 3-run HR (3) with 2 outs in the 9th.
Game 1 resumed with Tulsa ahead 2-0 on 2B Jake Gelof’s 10th HR on Saturday. RHRP Wyatt Crowell entered in the 2nd with a runner on 1st. He induced a GIDP, but that was followed by a double and single giving Amarillo a run.
In the 3rd, SS Elijah Hainline drew a BB and scored on LF Zyhir Hope’s 2-run HR (12).
In the bottom of the 3rd, LHRP Wyatt Crowell walked the leadoff hitter that was followed by a double and GIDP. Crowell hit the next batter, but got the final out.
After retiring the side in order in the 4th, Crowell had a bad 5th. He got the leadoff batter out, but then a single, 2-run HR, BB, another 2-run HR, double, and Crowell was lifted for RHRP Carson Hobbs. First batter he faced hit an RBI single, and Amarillo had a 6-4 lead.
Hobbs and RHRP Antonio Knowles pitched scoreless innings in the 6th – 8th. Tulsa had not scored since the 3rd.
In the 9th, 3B Kyle Nevin hit a one out single. With 2 outs, RF Josue De Paula drew a BB, and Sirota blasted his 3-run HR (3), putting Tulsa in the lead 7-6.
RHRP Nick Robertson was summoned to close it out. He allowed a 2-out single, but struck out the last batter for the save (3).
De Paula’s hitting streak came to an end, but his 23 consecutive game streak of reaching base safely is intact. No Tulsa batter had a multi-hit game.
- Mike Sirota – 1-3, 2 BB, 1 run, 3 RBI, HR (3)
- Jake Gelof – 1-4, 1 run, 2 RBI, HR (10)
- Zyhir Hope – 1-4, 1 run, 2 RBI, HR (12)
- Griffin Lockwood-Powell – 1-3, 1 BB, 1 run, double (10)
Tulsa Drillers 7 – Amarillo Sod Poodles (Arizona) 1 – Game 2, 7 Innings
RHSP Roque Gutierrez started and completed 3.0 IP. He gave up the Sod Poodles lone run in the 1st. A single, BB, and run-scoring double gave Amarillo a 1-0 lead after 1.
Tulsa scored in the 3rd. C Frank Rodriguez led off with a single. After one out, RF Mike Sirota singled. SS Elijah Hainline drew a BB to load the bases. LF Zyhir Hope hit a 2 run double, with Hainline moving to 3rd. 3B Jake Gelof hit a SF for the 3rd run of the inning.
In the 4th, 1B Joe Vetrano reached on an error. With 2 outs, DH Josue De Paula roped a 2-run HR and a 5-1 lead.
RHRP Christian Suarez relieved Gutierrez and struck out the side in the 4th, with one BB.
In the 5th, Hainline drew a BB and Hope hit a 2-run HR, giving him 4 RBI on the day.
RHRP Cam Day (2.0 innings) and LHRP Myles Caba (1.0 inning) pitched a scoreless final 3.0 innings to end the game.
- Josue De Paula – 1-4, 1 run, 2 RBI, HR (10)
- Zyhir Hope – 2-4, 1 run, 4 RBI, double (10), HR (13)
- Chris Newell – 2-4
- Mike Sirota – 1-3, 1 BB, 1 run
Tulsa was 5-1 in the 6 game series against Amarillo.
Tulsa is 37-20 for best record in Texas League, 1.5 games ahead of Arkansas (Seattle) in the Texas League North. There are 12 games left in the first half. They have 6 games at home vs Wichita (Minnesota) and 6 games away at NW Arkansas (KC).
Lansing Lugnuts (A’s) 13 – Great Lakes Loons 4
Not much positive news when it comes to pitching. Combined 6 Loons pitchers allowed 13 runs on 20 hits, and 5 BB matching their 5 K
The Loons scored solo runs in 4 innings. In the 1st, leadoff hitter LF Chuck Davalan singled. CF Eduardo Quintero followed with a single, with Davalan moving to 3rd on an error on the play. DH Jose Meza hit a SF to give GL a very short 1-0 lead.
In the 5th, Davalan hit his 14th double and scored on SS Emil Morales’ RBI single.
C Victor Rodrigues hit his 4th double, moved to 3rd on a groundout, and scored on 3B Jose Izarra’s RBI single.
And in the 7th, Morales slugged his 4th HR of the season.
- Chuck Davalan – 2-5, 2 runs, double (14)
- Eduardo Quintero – 2-5
- Emil Morales – 2-4, 1 BB, 1 run, 2 RBI
- Doubles – Victor Rodrigues (4), Samuel Munoz (3)
Great Lakes was 4-2 in the 6 game series against Lansing.
Great Lakes has a 33-22 record good for 1st place in the Midwest League East. They are 1.5 games ahead of Lake County (Cleveland). 1st half ends June 18, 11 games (includes 2 DH).
Stockton Ports (A’s) 15 – Ontario Tower Buzzers 7
RHSP Hyun-Seok Jang (1.2 IP)allowed 7 runs in the 2nd inning and RHRP Javier Bartolozzi (1.1 IP) allowed 3 runs in the 3rd, giving the Ports a 10-0 lead after 2 ½ innings.
RF Landyn Vidourek homered (4) in the 3rd putting Ontario on the board.
RHRP Seamus Barrett continued the suspect pitching while allowing 2 more runs on 3 hits and a BB.
In the 5th, 1B Easton Shelton slugged his California League leading 17th HR of the year, in the 5th. SS Joendry Vargas doubled, but was thrown out a home on C Bryan Gonzalez Garcia’s single. Garcia did score after 2-out singles by 2B Mairo Martinus and CF Jaron Elkins.
RHRP Jecsua Liborius was the 4th pitcher that could not get the job done. After retiring the side in the 5th, he allowed 2 runs on a single, walk, double, ground out, and SF.
In the bottom of the 5th, 3B Chase Harlan led off with a double (11) and moved to 3rd on a single by RF Ching-Hsien Ko. Shelton followed with a BB to load the bases. Vidourek singled to score Harlan, and a force out scored Ko. If you lost count, that’s 14-5 Stockton.
Stockton scored an unearned run in the 9th. In the bottom of the 9th, Ontario for leadoff singles by Harlan and Ko. After one out, Harlan scored on Vargas’ double (13), and Ko scored on a ground out.
- Chase Harlan – 3-5, 2 runs, double (11)
- Ching-Hsien Ko – 2-5, 2 runs
- Joendry Vargas – 2-5, 1 RBI, 2 doubles (13)
- Landyn Vidourek – 2-5, 1 run, 1 RBI, HR (4)
- Easton Shelton – 2-4, 1 BB, 2 runs, 1 RBI, HR (17)
- Bryan Gonzalez Garcia – 2-5, 1 run, 1 RBI
Both teams had 15 hits. Stockton was 9-18 wRISP and Ontario was 5-14 wRISP.
Ontario was 3-3 in the 6 game series against Stockton.
Ontario is 29-28, in 3rd place of the California League South. They are 3.5 games behind Lake Elsinore with 9 games remaining in the 1st half.
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Discussion (80)
Disagree, not disagreeable
I think they chose an inferior pitcher in Lauer over Ryan because there’s no one else in the minors to call up to pitch if they chose Ryan and something were to happen. Lauer would get claimed by someone else leaving no insurance behind Ryan. Ideally Lauer is the insurance and not Ryan but Lauer isn’t going to AAA and they probably want him to stay built up to start rather than sitting in the pen for mop up duty. I hope you’re correct and if they deal a young pitcher for Skubal, it’s Sheehan and not Ryan. I think they will go after Skubal
Oh. LA has amazing architecture. Disney Hall, the Moneo church. Zumthor’s LACMA. Hayden Tract by Eric Owen Moss. The Broad. I’m just a sucker for the Salk,
I’m not sure about this, I have read numerous reports that they just want to build up Ryan, and he wasn’t when the spot was open. You kinda allude to this, btw. That’s it.
He seems built up now. If they don’t want to lose Lauer it’s Ryan or Sheehan. I think you’re right too. It seemed like Ryan was close to being built up when they grabbed Lauer but I could see why they wouldn’t be certain.
You should get a Badge (r) for that!