Play in the rookie level Arizona League began on Monday, June 17. The league now has 21 teams in three divisions. They play a 56-game schedule in and around the Phoenix area at the spring training facilities of their parent major league clubs. The AZL Dodgers play their home games at the Camelback Ranch complex shared by the parent Dodgers and Chicago White Sox. The Dodgers for the first time…
The Ogden Raptors are the Dodgers Rookie League team in the Pioneer League. They are an advanced rookie team that became affiliated with the Dodgers in 2003. Prior to that, the Ogden team was an affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. Ogden, with a population of about 83,000, claims to be the oldest settlement in Utah dating back to 1845 and has a long history with minor league baseball of over…
Sorry I can’t offer much advice on what the Dodgers should do about the pen so during the past week I jotted down some minor league happenings, much of it with the Loons. Brett de Geus Pitcher Brett de Geus became the 7th player from the Loons to be added to the East roster for next week’s MWL All-Star Game on June 18 in South Bend, Indiana. He takes the…
Uncle Ray Player of the Month Minor League Baseball on Wednesday announced the Uncle Ray’s Player of the Month Award winners for each of the 10 leagues for the month of May. Niko Hulsizer was selected as the Midwest League Player of the Month. In recognition of the honor, each winner will receive an award from Minor League Baseball and Uncle Ray’s, the “Official Potato Chip of Minor League Baseball….
There are always players at the minor league level that come along without the fanfare of being a high draft pick or a highly ranked international signing. In fact, the majority of players fit that description yet, as my Dad would say, they soldier on and force us to pay attention. Catcher Jair Camargo is one of those players with the 2019 Great Lakes Loons. It was a bit of…
On a number of occasions Mark has advised that the game is evolving and we should get used to it. It is difficult to argue with either point. The game has evolved out of necessity to offer a sense of fairness in competition and to, as they say, level the playing field with a standard set of enforceable rules. Actually, if you Google it, there are ample sources following the…
Alex Verdugo (23) – Happy Birthday Today Yesterday, Alex’s brother posted on LADT. Those guys out there do pay attention. What I have really like about Alex this year is that he has demonstrated a high level of energy and enthusiasm. He is very active in the dugout, not Puig-like, and has really hustled on the field and running the bases. Who wouldn’t like his K/BB ratio which is not…
I expect at the start of the 2019 season many of us would have guessed that at this point in the season the top hitter for the OKC Dodgers would be Edwin Rios, Will Smith or perhaps Matt Beaty. Most of us might not have guessed Kyle Garlick. Right now Garlick is the team leader in hits (26), home runs (7), total bases (55), BA (.292), OBP (.394), SLG (.618)…
If the Dodgers had beat the Padres on Sunday, that would have likely crushed the Padres… maybe even ruined their season…and the win was within reach until Kenley Jansen snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. If you are a Padre fan, it was like Kirk Gibson hitting the home run in the 1988 World Series, but if you are a Dodger fan it was worse than death itself! That…
Minor League Roster Sizes I have always had some difficulty knowing the exact roster size for the minor league affiliates although 25 and 35 were relatively safe numbers. I contacted Jeff Lantz, Senior Director of Communications for MiLB, for exact information. I had not been aware of the years of service restrictions at the lower levels although they make perfect sense. I thought perhaps some LADT posters may be interested…