On Monday outfielder Cody Thomas made a bit of a splash with the Dodgers after entering the game in the sixth inning to replace Cody Bellinger, although he moved to right field. All Thomas did was drive the first pitch he saw to the opposite field for a home run and then rob Blake Rutherford of a home run with a catch that would be Bellinger-like.
Granted it is an early spring training game but Cody Thomas comes to play.
He was selected by the Dodgers in the 13th round of the 2016 First-Year Player Draft out of the University of Oklahoma.
He had previously been drafted by the New York Yankees in the 2013 Amateur Draft when he graduated from Colleyville Heritage High School in his hometown of Colleyville, Texas. He chose not to sign with the Yankees but made a commitment to play football and baseball at the University of Oklahoma.
He had passed for 7,603 yards and 82 touchdowns during his junior and senior seasons at Colleyville, catapulting him up the ranks of four-star recruits and providing him with a football scholarship.
The 6’4”/211-pound Thomas was initially most interested in becoming the starting quarterback with the Sooners. He devoted most of his time to football and in 2014 played only 14 games with the baseball team collecting but one hit in a total of 12 at-bats. His goal was to a two-spot star in the pros.
Thomas played football exclusively in 2015 but was disappointed that he could not get past the role of the backup quarterback, a role he was not satisfied to keep playing. He was backed up behind Trevor Knight and some guy called Baker Mayfield.
Following the 2015 football season, he changed his focus and decided to devote all of his time and energy to baseball and abandon his football dream. He reported to the baseball team only to learn that there were nine outfielders in a competition for three starting spots. Several of those players would have had more experience than him but he set out to win a spot.
Thomas very quickly helped head coach, Pete Hughes, with his dilemma by demonstrating some power that might have caused him to surprise himself, and separated him from some of the other outfield contestants.
“He hit five home runs in two and a half weeks,” Hughes said when asked what Thomas did to separate himself. “That’s it. Our next guy had three, our next guy had one, but he just showed up and balls were going over the hill over there. It was really impressive.”
Coach Hughes continued: “He could be a monster,” Hughes said. “He’s committed to this thing. He’s just a presence out there. Every time he swings I think he’s going to hit it out.”
His coach concluded: “For him to hang in there mentally when he was on the bench shows what kind of kid he is,” Hughes said. “He’s super mature and has been around, and he’s a team-first guy.”
Thomas finished his junior year with Oklahoma University with a triple slash of .299/.354/.556 along with 27 runs batted in and six home runs earning All-Big 12 Honorable Mention.
He signed with the Dodgers and began his professional career with the Arizona League Dodgers on June 26, 2016. His stint in the Arizona League lasted all of seven games in which he had 11 hits in 22 at-bats.
On July 6 Thomas debuted with the Ogden Raptors of the rookie-level Pioneer League. He homered in each of his first three games as a Raptor. Although he cooled off in the second half of the season, he posted a triple slash of .276/.360/.576 in 52 games along with 16 home runs that tied him for second-most in the league.
Cody Thomas, when he took the baseball field in 2016, knew what he had to do at the plate.
“I think it’s just repetitions,” Thomas said. “I knew I just needed my at-bats, to keep on seeing pitches and filling up my mind with a lot of the different things you see up there at the plate. Just recognizing things earlier and earlier and jumping on it.”
The repetitions came in 2017 with the Great Lakes Loons as he hit 20 home runs along with 65 runs batted in over 121 games. The reps continued in 2018 as he stroked 19 home runs along with 87 runs batted in with the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes in 127 games.
The left-handed-hitting outfielder was a California League all-star selection in 2018 as he batted .285 along with those 19 homers and 87 RBIs to help Rancho Cucamonga win a pennant. He slugged a first-inning grand slam in Game 2 of the California League Finals and hit .333 with a pair of round-trippers and seven RBIs in seven postseason games to help the Quakes win their second championship in four years.
In 2019 with the Tulsa Drillers he hit 23 home runs with 76 runs batted in through 130 games. He has not had a stint on the injury list during his minor league career.
His return to Tulsa was a bit of a second coming as it wasn’t his first trip to ONEOK Field. He had a two-run triple to lead the University of Oklahoma past Oklahoma State 3-1 in his last visit in May 2016. It took one game to actually realize what he had accomplished in three years.
“When I came here the last time, I was on the visitor’s side so I messed up and went to that side first (Monday) when I came to the stadium,” Thomas said. “I never thought playing here in college, I would be back and playing in the minor leagues here, so it’s definitely going to be cool. I couldn’t be more excited.”
Thomas could perhaps be compared to DJ Peters who bats right-handed. Both were drafted in 2016 by the Dodgers and both are home run hitters. Peters has hit 11 more home runs (92) than Thomas (81) although Thomas has driven in seven more runs than Peters. Both strike out more than one would like. Peters 615 times in 455 games and Thomas 544 times in 437 games. Peters walks more often and has a higher OBP.
His 2019 manager compares Thomas to another 2016 draftee, Luke Raley, who had been traded by the Dodgers and then brought back in a trade. This is Scott Hennessey’s assessment of Thomas as he headed into the 2019 season.
“He’s [Thomas] a gap-to-gap hitter with power, looking for him to pull the ball a little more,” Drillers manager Scott Hennessey said. “He’s got power and the power is going to come. I look for a big year from him. The sky’s the limit, I’ve always said that about him.”
“I love how hard he plays, similar to (Luke) Raley last year. He’s going to run out every ground ball and is a sneaky good outfielder.”
Does Cody Thomas miss football? Yes and no.
“Every football season, yeah, when I see some of my buddies out there playing, I definitely miss it,” Thomas said. “But I’m full tilt in baseball and I’m loving it.”
Dodgers manager, Dave Roberts, has taken notice of the athletic Thomas who will no doubt start his fifth professional season in 2020 with the Oklahoma City Dodgers.
“He’s an interesting guy,” said manager Dave Roberts. “Football player, quarterback. The body, the skill set.”
Dodger Notes by Mark
- Deepest Dodgers team ever? How about Deepest Team Ever? Mike Petriello writes about just that!
- As I predicted, Clayton Kershaw is in alignment to start the opener.
- Corey Seager looks locked and loaded, but he shouldn’t be stealing bases on a regular basis! Or… I should say “trying” to steal.
- It was good to see AJ go to the opposite field for a two-run blast.
- Victor Gonzalez gave up some hits, walks, and runs, but you can see that he can be useful.
- If Dennis Santana keeps this up, he will break with the team. His stuff looked filthy.
- Even though Kasowski threw a 1-2 inning, I was not impressed because only 7 out of 16 pitches were strikes. The D-Bags were just over-eager. MLB hitters will walk if he pitches like that.
- Guduan looked good and bad. He still is someone to watch.
- I am just so impressed with the level of talent at every position.
I think this team is deep and good. However, Doc is the manager, and that scares me. He cannot make tough decisions. He tries to keep everyone happy. That is ok to a point. Beuhler is the ace of the staff and should be the opening day pitcher, not Kershaw. Doc has not moved on from 2017. Yes, I know he started Beuhler in the first game of the play offs last year. In last years play offs, his decisions were horrible. I just do not trust Doc to make the right move. I just hope the Dodgers are good enough that it does not matter what decision Doc makes, the Dodgers will still win. Kershaw is a great pitcher, but he is number two at best. Doc, just do your job, and do not worry about hurting Kershaw feelings.
Nice article DC.
DC, wonderful column on Cody Thomas. He is one who has sort of slipped through the prospect rankings without much fanfare, and yet has put up similar numbers to DJ. DJ’s power is unquestioned, but Cody is still prolific. DJ has accomplished a bit more and is a year younger. This is going to be a critical year for Cody (L) as he should start the season in AAA with DJ (R), Luke Raley (L), Zach Reks (L), and Anthony Garcia (R). He is such a tremendous athlete so I am hopeful for him.
Dennis Santana does have a shot at breaking camp in the bullpen; however he is still looking up. RHRP who seem to be locks are KJ, Strip, Kelly, Treinen, and Baez. I think AF would rather take Santana to LA and let Tony Gonsolin continue to start in OKC. Jimmy Nelson is still ahead of Santana, but he is going to need to prove he is healthy enough to break camp with the team. The same for Brusdar Graterol. Santana has to be considered ahead of Sborz, but Floro still has to be considered ahead of Dennis because of his ML experience, although Santana has a much higher ceiling. #6 RHRP will be a competition between Nelson, Graterol, Gonsolin, Santana, and Floro.
Reymin Guduan has shown enough that he will be a frequent flyer candidate this spring and summer. Unfortunately, I did not get to watch Victor Gonzalez pitch yesterday. But I did see the Joe Broussard meltdown. That is text book Broussard. Dominate one game and then get lit up the next. I think Joe has reached his zenith with LAD. I hope he gets a chance to get his call with another team. He is so close. I still fear for Sborz and Sheffield that they will fall into that category. Consistency has to be the top consideration to continue to climb. All three have good arms, but just have never been consistent.
I also got to watch Brett de Geus. He did give up the hit and BB, but got out of his inning without a run. He did improve on his last outing. He was in the 93-95 range. I hope he gets more comfortable with his slider because it looks like it can be an out pitch. His curve should be just for show. He should still get a couple more outings with the big club before going back to minor league camp.
I’m not sure I would have let Garlick go. I know on paper the Dodgers have Kike, CT3, Barnes, and possibly AJ off the bench but there isn’t really a RH bat at AAA if they need one. They have Raley, Reks, Rios. I think Sborz is just a guy. A mediocre pitcher with a flat fastball. I get not wanting to release a young arm and I guess Tyler White might be sitting at AAA to, but Garlick would have been able to give them competent AB’s now and then if they needed him in a pinch.
Hey there, I concur that I would not have let Garlick go. There is DJ Peters, a RHB for OKC most likely, as I don’t see him making the MLB roster. His still swing and miss tendencies are still high, which has kept him from getting a MLB look according to Orel. last year at Tulsa and OKC combined he struck out 168 times in 457 AB’s, somewhat excessive.
What a talent Cody Thomas is and great write-up on him DC. I have high hopes for him in the future and for this year especially. It has been fun watching the spring training games and seeing the minor league players perform at Camelback. Cody Thomas is one I will be most interested in and cheer for. Thank you, DC.
I’m actually really excited to watch Josiah Gray pitch today. Let’s see what the next Dodger stud pitcher has!
Spot on!
A lot better f young guys with something to prove at OKC this year. I’m rooting for Cody. Thx DC
In Mike Petriello’s article yesterday, teams were rated at depth at each position. The Dodgers were the only team Projected to be in the top 1/3 at every position this year. This has never happened before and will most likely not happen this year, although that would be fantastic. The article went back over 120 yrs. looking at nearly 3,000 team seasons. There were only 10 teams who had a top 1/3 finish in all but 1 position. 2 of them were Dodgers teams. The ’53 team (lost WS vs. the Damn Yankees) and the ’55 team ( Won WS vs. the Damn Yankees)
It remains to be seen where the team will finish in depth ratings but wouldn’t it be great to see the ’20 team win the WS vs. the Damn Yankees?
Of course it would be great! There may actually be some chance for Thomas to make the OD roster if Joc is still hurting, as he is now and hasn’t picked up a bat at all yet. It may be that Cody Thomas would perhaps platoon with Pollock in LF in that case.
Baseball America has a story about Jose De Leon’s comeback. He’s trying to make it as a reliever with the Reds. My interest always perks up when I see stories about former Dodgers prospects.
https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/jose-de-leons-stuff-returns-to-prime-form-in-reds-spring-training-debut/
I hope he makes it. That may be a perfect spot for him.
The Reds are my pick for winning the NL Central and a surprise team this year!
Damn good for him! He was one of my fave minor leaguers back then.
Surprised we didn’t give him a shot!
I think the depth in the Dodgers system would make it more difficult for him to make it here. The Reds have done a good job with pitcher development the last few years. That may have something to do with Kyle Boddy. I think Jose is in a good spot to succeed. I’m rooting for him.
We gave him somewhat of a chance, but Tampa wanted him for Logan Forsythe. I was very sad that day, as I had seen JDL pitch a dominant game in Lancaster. It was one of the most dominant MiLB games I have seen pitched.
I was hoping the Dodgers would have given him a MiLB contract and an invite, but I hope he sticks with Cincinnati. He is someone I will follow.
Talking about depth I thought to put out there using the 40 man roster team A&B. I think team B would be very competitive.
Betts. Rf Peters
Belly. Cf. Pollock
Joc. Lf. Kiki
JT. 3b. Beaty
Seager. Ss. Taylor
Lux. 2b. Barnes
Muncy. 1b. Rios
Smith. C. Ruiz
Anybody I miss?
How about a starting rotation of Stripling, May, Gonsolin, Nelsen n and Gray
Gray isn’t on the 40 man but definitely better than some big league staffs.
With some of the other MLB teams he would already be on the active roster. But he should be ready when his time comes.
That Giancarlo Stanton contract is starting to look bad. I wonder if he is going to turn into one of those players that just can’t stay healthy. I hope the next collective bargaining agreement reduces the length of player contracts while allowing younger players to get paid more. I think it is a fair trade off.
dude needs to do yoga to lengthen his gigantic hard muscles. You can tell he’s not the most flexible of athletes out there
If this is the KJ we get in 2020 then start planning the parade route!
haha, you know, I was thinking that same thing. He’s looked really good the 2 times he’s been in.
Kelly too…
Do we have any young outfield prospects that don’t strike out half of the time?
They are all under 40%.
… which is bad.
If Machine Gun Kelly gets going along with Treinman, we are golden in the pen! Nasty back end, that’s for sure.
BANG!
Just watched the aforementioned Cody Thomas Jack one out in the 8th.
DC your preview of him was spot on.
He is a beast.
Raley looked good too.
Kyle Glaser on Zach McKinstry
He’s the latest good contact hitter the Dodgers unlocked power in, a lot of people in the organization think he’s the next Matt Beaty… The Dodgers internally consider him average to above at SS, 2B and 3B. He projects to bounce around more as a utilityman than be set at one position.
So many good things to say about the team today on their win against the Angels. Jansen, Kelly, Bellinger, Lux all did well. Minor leaguers Caleb Ferguson, Raley, and Salow also. And, did I mention I have high hopes for C. Thomas and McKinistry. Wow!
Sorry. Typo. I meant McKinstry.
Zach McKinstry is my absolute favorite minor league Dodger and has been for quite some time. He has simply willed himself to make it to MLB. He was a 33rd round selection in 2016.
Nice comeback against the Angels today. Raley’s a big kid. Gray lacked command and was late to cover 1st on a potential 3-6-1 dp. Nice to see Kelly get an inning. Best part of the day was KJ. Good morning, good afternoon and goodnight with not so much as a foul ball. I’d like to see that continue.
Taylor, McKinstry, Hernandez… they are the same player.
The Dodgers only need 2… not 3!
Ideally, a RH and LH hitter, so CT3 or Kike is trade bait!
Mark, I was thinking the same thing when Zach hit that HR today. It might make more sense to have a LH and a RH platoon combo. Right now, Kike/CT3, as good and as popular as they are, are pretty redundant.
What could we get for JOC, Strip and Kike? Would Marsh be in play for the Angels?
Sherlock, I think you are on to something, Holmes!
Marsh will be more available than he would have been a few days ago. Messed up his elbow diving in the outfield and may miss most of spring training. I still think he may have been the other prospect in the original deal with the Angels and Moreno got cold feet.
I love reading these comments from the MOST brilliant minds of baseball fans anywhere. The Dodgers have the classiest organization and I am still in full support of Doc. It’s quite possible we could have had 2 world series winners if not for the cheating. I’m gonna be at Camelback ranch this Sunday. Hoping to see some Dodger greats in the stands. I’m still firmly in the Matt Beaty camp. Not sure if he’ll get a lot of AB’s unless someone gets hurt.(I sure hope that doesn’t happen) We definitely have the deepest and most talented pitching staff in ALL of baseball. Someone mentioned Stripling, May, Gonsolin, Nelson and Gray for a second starting 5. That would be several notches better than my home state Tigers SP’s. And I’m not so sure the backups wouldn’t be better than Detroit’s starting lineup either. Lol. So much fun watching year after year of winning baseball… at least winning some playoff games. It’s depressing for many fans rooting for losing teams continously. Go LA from the cold winter water wonderland state.
I think the Angels were about to offer up a quality minor leaguer in the trade but got cold feet. They probably had 2 different proposals in place pending jocs arbitration. If joc had won we would have gotten a lesser package. But, the Dodgers saved the Angels roughly 2 million so marsh may have been in the deal. Smarty Arte decided to renege. I am glad we still have Pages.
It’s early but I call for Roberts to stick to talking about baseball and leave the medical reports to someone who knows. I have never known of any person so worshipped for his communication who is so uninformed. I think it is his side oh I don’t know which one. On joe Kelly, oh he was injured oh I guess he is over it I haven’t heard anything. I could go on but I thought this guy talked to everybody every day. We have plenty of time to ramp him up oh but wait it may be more serious than what I thought.
AF has provided Roberts with a tremendous array of talent and the Dodgers have performed extremely well. I don’t know how to rate Roberts because I think you could throw Grady Little with this team and he couldn’t screw it up. I just find his blather comical at times and frustrating at playoff time.
How about Cody Thomas, I have been following him since he has been with the Dodgers and rooting for him. Homers to right and left. The young man has power.
Keibert Ruiz is working through a swing change and will be seen later this week according to Roberts. I guess his low K rate and bat to ball skills aren’t enough for the Dodgers.
~
Dustin May is still being held out do to issues with his side. We can all pencil him for AAA to start the year.
Who says no:
Yankees get:
Chris Taylor & Ross Stripling
Dodgers get:
Kevin Alcantara
Ezekiel Duran
Alex Vargas