DODGERS 2018 MINOR LEAGUE/PROSPECTS THREAD

Discussion in 'Los Angeles DODGERS' started by ColoradoKidWitGame, Apr 2, 2018.

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  1. Doughty8

    Doughty8 DSP Legend

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    ^GREAT stuff as usual. Sheffield as a reliever has great potential.
     
  2. ColoradoKidWitGame

    ColoradoKidWitGame DSP Legend Administrator

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    Here is a fresh report on Jordan Sheffield. Looks good, his view on Sheff's change being behind his curve is different than some other reports I had heard earlier on in his career. Wonder if it has more to do with him overthrowing it a bit in relief.
    https://2080baseball.com/reports/jordan-sheffield-2/
     
  3. ColoradoKidWitGame

    ColoradoKidWitGame DSP Legend Administrator

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    Keibert Ruiz drew some positive reviews from his clutch AB in the Fall Stars game. Chris Blessing with Baseball HQ is going over some of his findings and just posted this

    "My favorite defenders I saw in the AFL were #Dodgers catcher Keibert Ruiz and #Braves OF Cristian Pache. Plus-plus defenders. Both a joy to watch on defense."

    In regards to question about his arm:
    "Mechanically sound. It’s fringe-average to below average strength. However, the pops have been good."

    That is some high praise as defense was something that Ruiz was said to be advanced at for his age, but still lacking. With his bat to ball skills, if this report were to play out, Ruiz is probably not going to be tradeable in the mind of the FO.....


    His advanced D skills could also mean he is MLB ready sooner than later...
     
    Last edited: Nov 5, 2018
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  4. ColoradoKidWitGame

    ColoradoKidWitGame DSP Legend Administrator

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    A family emergency has pulled Keibert Ruiz from the AFL. His season is over.
     
  5. Doughty8

    Doughty8 DSP Legend

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  6. VRP

    VRP DSP Legend

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  7. ColoradoKidWitGame

    ColoradoKidWitGame DSP Legend Administrator

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    Very positive. One of the things that stood out to me was his review of White. If is velo is back and he can keep it that way, his ceiling is probably the highest of any of the soon to be ready pitchers on farm, imo. His cutter being viewed as 70/80 grade pitch in the eyes of some around the scouting world is a big reason for that feeling. Now... he needs to prove he can keep that mid-upper 90's velo and still have the movement on that pitch for that to happen. Something he has just never been able to do is stay healthy long enough to really show it all off.
     
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  8. irish

    irish DSP Staff Member Administrator

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    full write up to doughty's post for those too lazy to click the link...

    Analyzing the Dodgers’ Minor League Catchers
    by Tim Rogers | Dodgers Nation — 11 November 2018

    As the Dodgers enter the off-season moving towards the 2019 season the biggest question mark revolves around the catchers. Yasmani Grandal is a free agent (he could return) and Austin Barnes forgot how to hit. Even if Grandal comes back for a year the catching situation at the Major League level is a major question mark going forward. However, as many know, there is good news; the Dodgers have some amazing catchers in the minors. We will go over some of the main prospects and, maybe, some you haven’t heard of. I was able to speak with the Rancho Cucamonga Manager the last 3 years, Drew Saylor, about the guys that he’s had and was alerted to some by @RaptorsStringer.

    Keibert Ruiz – age 20, Tulsa (AA), ETA 2020
    I was able to see some of Ruiz during the season a bit with the MiLB First Pitch application on my iPhone. However, when I saw him on the MLB Network in the Arizona Fall League (AFL) All-Star game I saw a smooth handler of pitches and some good approaches at the plate. On the offensive side, Drew Saylor spoke of his cleanness of the swing with a bat/ball approach resembling Victor Martinez (a hero of Ruiz – both switch hitters). Defensively, Saylor spoke of his soft hands, tools and baseball intelligence. In some reviews I’ve read about Ruiz there needs to be some improvement in his throwing. To get a good glimpse of the type of character and work ethic Ruiz has, read about his unlikely family.



    Will Smith – age 23, Oklahoma City (AAA), ETA mid-2019
    I have not been able to get any up close action of Smith. Offensively, it seems he struggles a bit at different times. AAA was extra tough on him as indicated by his slash line of .138/.206/.218/.425. However, in AA his slash line was .264/.358/.532/.890. Defensively, Drew Saylor raved about his “electric arm”, continued improvement in his receiving, his blocking is strong and his catch and throw is “elite”. Offensively, Saylor spoke about how he has grown a lot. That really began to show in AA as he hit 19 homers in just 265 at-bats. I hope he can cut down on his strikeouts. As with many Dodgers, versatility is valued and Smith plays a pretty good third base and can even play second in a pinch. He also has above average sprint speed. Here is a story about his Rookie Career Development Program experience. We all know what we really want, Will Smith (the lefty) facing our Will Smith. It could happen as early as 2019.



    Connor Wong – age 22, Rancho Cucamonga (A), ETA late-2020
    Wong, like Will Smith, is a versatile player who has good speed also. He started his college career as a shortstop and learned how to catch after his freshman year. Drew Saylor spoke of his ability to play a quality second and third base. He played a lot of second base when I saw him play and he looks excellent at that position. As a catcher, Saylor spoke of him having soft hands, a good grasp on game calling and an improving transfer when throwing out base stealers. Saylor also said he’s a steady leader, which is important for a catcher. On the offensive side, Saylor cited that Wong made a lot of strides later in the season to be a key contributor during the stretch drive. Wong got off to a hot start with a lot of homers but hit a slump. He seems to be a grinder with excellent athletic ability. I would not be surprised if he plays a lot of second base at the Major League level, given how much talent there is at the catching position.



    Steve Berman – Age 23, Rancho Cucamonga (A), ETA 2021
    Berman might be someone you’ve not heard of but I was impressed with him. Drew Saylor called him a “glue guy” who was excellent for the team culture. As I observed, the team culture for the Quakes was amazing and Berman was a big part of it. He seemed to be the funniest guy on the team also. Berman’s season started slowly as he was off and on the disabled list 4 times through July 5th. He was able to make some key contributions during clutch times once he came back. Offensively, Saylor spoke of his knowledge of the situation, taking professional at-bats and was well prepared. From a defensive perspective, he receives well and calls a good game. He’s a student of the game and showed great improvement from 2017 to 2018. With some health, he will get a lot of playing time in 2019 and will make some big strides. Given his personality and preparation habits, he can be in this game for a long time past his playing career. Here is an interview of Steve with Steve Douglas:



    Ramon Rodriguez – age 20, Great Lakes (low A), ETA 2022
    Rey-Rey started the season with Great Lakes but was sent down to Ogden. Offensively, he’s someone who will take a walk and had some nice overall batting numbers in 2017. My source, @RaptorsStringer says that his caught stealing percentage was 36% which is not too bad. Rodriguez has an opportunity to move up in 2019 and I would not be surprised to see him in Rancho Cucamonga soon.



    Marco Hernandez – age 20, Ogden (rookie), ETA 2022
    Another tip from Joe @RaptorsStringer, Hernandez has some nice offensive numbers. He’s got some height at 6’2” but is built more like an infielder. This might be a player to keep our eyes on.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ETu5z9E_Bo

    Diego Cartaya – age 17, did not play, ETA mid-2021
    Cartaya, by many accounts, was the top international prospect of the 2018 signing period. He’s already 6’2” and weighs around 200 pounds. According to MiLB he’s very advanced defensively and has a mature approach at the plate. He’s shown a willingness to go to the opposite field and could be more of a higher average hitter than a power hitter.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqZ8WW3tFtI

    Summary
    Drew Saylor told me that he thinks catchers have a 3-fold difficulty than other positions players. They get beat up more than anyone else and are on-field leaders. The Dodgers do have an amazing set of prospects at the catching position. It is something to be excited about but the Dodgers have a hole there for 2019. Who steps in and fills that hole?

     
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  9. ColoradoKidWitGame

    ColoradoKidWitGame DSP Legend Administrator

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    I had a shit ton of driving today so I listened to the MinorLeagueBall podcast about our prospects... honestly it was 45 minutes and they talked about only a handful of prospects... tons of pointless filler. I will summarize what they said

    #8 Mitch White- I said this about his reports:
    Basically, John Sickels said the exact same thing. If White comes back next year throwing the way he did to end this season, he will shoot up to our #1 prospect by midseason. He is a B- prospect for the overall year and his injury track record, but his stuff at the end of the season was A grade worthy. He compared him to Walker Buehler a couple years ago where people said "there is no way he is this good off of TJ" and feels his ceiling is just as high. If White is finally right and this is the real Mitch White, the Dodgers would have another front of the rotation pitcher on their hands. Reminder, Keith Law was salivating over White's cutter/slider two camps ago.

    Unranked Carlos Rincon- This was a weird one in his books. Rincon looked lost at times last year in LoA and reports were awful, but during a late season promotion to HiA, he was an absolute wrecking machine. There are questions about who he truly is, but scouts that saw him at both levels said that they saw adjustments at the end of the season that have them thinking he could catapult to a top 10 prospect in the org if he starts off even at a more reasonable output instead of his HR every 1.9 game pace. Big time power with decent pitch recognition. Potential star if he is putting things together.

    #14 Drew Jackson- He has seen some changes made to his play where he thinks he will be a productive super utility guy. He said Drew is also so high as he has the makeup and athleticism to just one day figure it all out and take a big step up. He admitted that Jackson was honestly rated this high thanks to what Justin Turner, Chris Taylor and Max Muncy have done since joining the Dodgers org. He did say that this is the year it would need to happen as he is running out of time.

    #7 Will Smith- They think he is a first level catcher and they reiterated reports that I had seen that said he had run out of gas by the end of the season. They think he is probably more trade bait than anything since Keibert Ruiz exists.

    #6 Tony Gonsolin- They think they are the high guys in baseball on him, but they are giving him the bullish grade due to this dude handling everything the org has thrown at him and coming out much better than expected. He is supposedly incredibly athletic and some scouts that have seen him say he has 4 pitches that one time or another have flashed plus offerings. If he can continue to improve on those pitches, his ceiling is incredibly high. He is not there yet, but they are betting on his athleticism which is why his grade is as high as it is.

    #2 Gavin Lux- Sickels LOVED Lux, Dunn does not. They both see him as a power hitting 2B, but Sickels is much much higher on his hit tool. Dunn thinks his D is not going to be ok at either SS or 2B. Sickels said that there is growing belief that Lux will be able to stick at SS, but he is not going to be better than Seager at the position.

    #1 Alex Verdugo- The feeling that Dunn gets is that the Dodgers are going to move him. This is from there being continued reports about his personality, but Sickels said that he hears that those reports are overblown and truly questions the merit. Both think he has one of the best hit tools in MiLB and threw out an Andrew Benintendi comp, with a better arm(worse D though). Sickels thinks his power has emerged enough to make him an incredibly valuable hitter.


    https://www.minorleagueball.com/2018/11/12/18088804/los-angeles-dodgers-top-20-prospects-for-2019
     
    Last edited: Nov 15, 2018
  10. TheKnockdown

    TheKnockdown DSP Legend

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    I think Ruiz or Smith are gone. Never seen a scenario where two frontline catchers were held on to.
     
  11. ColoradoKidWitGame

    ColoradoKidWitGame DSP Legend Administrator

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    The team is rumored to regard Ruiz pretty highly, so I think he falls into the Seager, Bellinger, Buehler and Urias situation of untouchable. Smith had a great 2/3rd's of a season, but once again the issues with his ability or lack thereof to stay healthy a full season crept up. I could see the club being more willing to move Smith in the right deal.
     
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  12. ColoradoKidWitGame

    ColoradoKidWitGame DSP Legend Administrator

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    Jordan Sheffield waited until the last game of the AFL to give up his first run and ended up costing the Desert Dogs their season. Reports on Sheffield were still very positive and this came in from Statcast today where he threw 4 of the 10 highest spin rate curve balls.

    "Sheffield's (Dodgers' No. 26) best curveballs trailed Thornton's only slightly in terms of spin rate, and he showed the ability to set up the pitch with a fastball that was consistently 96-97 mph out of the bullpen."
     
  13. BigDaddyKaine

    BigDaddyKaine DSP Legend

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  14. ColoradoKidWitGame

    ColoradoKidWitGame DSP Legend Administrator

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    I honestly don't listen to any. That one for minorleagueball.com was the only one that I had in probably a year or two and that was only cause I knew I had an hour of driving ahead of me and it came across my twitter feed on my way out the door. I have XM, so I usually just listen to MLB Radio. Sorry I can't be of better help.
     
  15. rube

    rube DSP Legend Staff Member Administrator

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    You don't need to listen to podcasts.
    Podcasts need to listen to you.
     
  16. BigDaddyKaine

    BigDaddyKaine DSP Legend

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    I'd listen.
     
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  17. rube

    rube DSP Legend Staff Member Administrator

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    I would too.
     
  18. fsudog21

    fsudog21 DSP Legend

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    Add some stripper interviews (like when Stern was funny in the old days) and I'll listen, too.
     
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  19. BigDaddyKaine

    BigDaddyKaine DSP Legend

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    some TB collabs would be dope too
     
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  20. rube

    rube DSP Legend Staff Member Administrator

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    Or a combo show of 4 segments.

    Segment 1 analysis of players/teams
    Segment 2 memes
    Segment 3 updates on prospects
    Segment 4 long form story/rant
     
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