14 posts
I had started a series of posts re: June is Busting Out All Over. June is still busting out but all of a sudden more difficult to follow. For whatever reason, the game logs and splits for minor league players are no longer available at MiLB.com . One day they were there, the next day gone. I have written to Jeff Lantz, Senior Director of Communications for Minor League Baseball,
What does Albert Pujols bring to the table? How about just poking the ball through the hole at SS to score Mookie from 3B. That play was better than a thousand words. When you have a chance to score the runner from 3B, you do it. Forget the long ball. Take notes, kids! This is what HOF ers do!
The Arizona Fall League started nearly a month ago and Tonight they will have their All-Star Game and the Dodgers will be represented by one player, namely Brett de Geus, who has blossomed into an excellent prospect since signing for $75,000 as a 33rd-rounder from Cabrillo (Calif.) JC in 2017, developing a 93-98 mph fastball with running action, a hard slider and a power curveball. He excelled in his full-season
We often take a look at minor league players who have never been considered as can’t miss players. Some are very late round draft picks that creep up on the minor league ranks. DC and I have mentioned Zach McKinstry quite a bit this season. Zach was a 33rd round draft Pick (2016) out of that baseball hotbed Central Michigan University. He has continually charged up the organizational ladder and
The MLB draft has come and gone, and the draft talent evaluators have opined that the Dodgers had a top 5 draft. This year’s draft pool was not considered very good, but the Dodgers were able to draft for value and need. The Dodgers are getting good at finding value in the low order they pick from. They even picked up a top potential HS draft pick in SS/3B Brennan
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)
Man, what a day! A beautiful warm spring day and Dodger baseball starts tomorrow as the 2019 season is about to begin for real. A 1:10 PDT start so I will know the results before I go to bed. I can even follow the game. At this point we don’t really know how things will begin much less end. Some folks are concerned about how the team is presently constructed,
Yesterday we discussed the Dodgers minor league managers for the full season teams. Today we are going to focus on the rookie league managers. Ogden Raptors Austin Chubb Chubb was born in Lake Mary, Florida and attended high school in his home town. Following his graduation, he attended State College of Florida in Bradenton, Florida playing for the Manatees for two years. He then transferred to Florida Southern University
Last week we had a look at the pitching coaches in the Dodgers minor league system. Today we get a glimpse of the hitting coaches down on the farm. Being a hitting coach must be one of the most difficult jobs in all of professional sports simply because hitting a baseball in full flight is the most difficult task in all of professional sports. At what other task in the
We all follow the Dodgers minor league players with special interest as they move up the mountain towards MLB. It is a most difficult climb as the terrain is littered with land mines of various kinds. The task of the parent organization, in its own special interest and in the interest of the young men with whom they have been entrusted, is to smooth out the path up the mountain
I always have a fascination with young players who are selection in the last few rounds of the First-Year Player Draft. Often, they are “take a chance” picks for high school players who most likely will not sign. Two such players that may well have been steals had they signed with the Dodgers after being selected in the last three rounds of the 2018 draft opted to go to college .
The more we read about minor league ball players, the more we learn about the commitments they make, not just as baseball players, but as young men. They have all of the challenges in life just as young men who do not pursue an athletic career have, plus they have the near impossible task of navigating a road to MLB littered with speed bumps. Many, or most, are
Some eyebrows were raised when news broke that the Dodgers were contemplating hiring 32-year-old Robert Van Scoyoc as their new hitting coach. Perhaps those eyebrows are still raised and locked into position waiting to see how things play out. One argument expressing doubt is that he has never played major league baseball so perhaps lacks the understanding of hitting at that level. I’m not sure that makes much difference
The past number of days AC and MT have been on fire. I’m not sure a blog has ever seen such in depth analyses of Dodger needs and possible solutions. I doubt that AF has as much on the big board in his office. However, I do expect he has some ideas. If not, he should read LADT regularly. To try to follow in the path blazed by AC
