MINOR LEAGUE/PROSPECTS Thread

Chris Anderson has reemerged in Rancho after going back to EST with no start on the horizon. Looks like we are FINALLY seeing him return to the bullpen. Just another reason to stay the fuck away from college pitchers this year in the first round.

 

I was wondering about this after the Wood news broke
Cool to have a versatile piece like Montas

 

BA All Prospects team for the month of May included two Dodgers.
RHP Chase DeJong • Dodgers
Double-A Tulsa (Texas)
An extreme flyball pitcher with solid-average velocity and breaking stuff, DeJong located his pitches exquisitely in the Texas League in May, striking out a batter per inning and allowing opponents to hit just .140. The 2012 second-rounder out of high school allowed just two home runs in five starts last month after being bombed for six in five starts during April. The Dodgers acquired DeJong last July when the Blue Jays shipped him to Los Angeles for $1 million in international bonus money, which Toronto applied to their signing of Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

LHP Julio Urias • Dodgers
Triple-A Oklahoma City (Pacific Coast)
While Urias has run up a 9.39 ERA through his first two big league starts—on the road against the Mets and Cubs, mind you—the 19-year-old decimated Triple-A competition in May, recording 23 scoreless innings with 21 strikeouts and just 10 hits allowed. He has shown the tools to succeed in the majors, including a mid-90s fastball, a mid-80s slider and a mid-70s curve, so now all Urias must do is refine his command.

 

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  Salvador G. (New Mexico): Who is Brock Stewart, I have been looking for a current scouting Report on him everywhere. He just keeps dominating, and not just lightly, he gives up very few hits, doesn't walk anyone really and continues to get 8 or 9 strikeouts a game. What do you know about his arsenal especially his fastball? Very gratful 4 u taking questions.

Vincent Lara-Cinisomo: He was a two-way guy at Illinois State, but mostly played third. The Dodgers liked his arm strength in the few times they saw him pitch. They liked that he had a fresh arm. His fastball has been up to 96 this year, according to someone who's seen him, and he now throws a couple of different sliders, with a changeup that can now be called near-average. He's probably more a reliever, but the Dodgers will continue to develop him as a starter, as most teams do. Hard to find starters. He is 24 already however.


Not a glowing review, but these two way players can see an increase in stuff as they focus more on a specific position.

 

The Dodgers are having a private workout with Vladimir Gutierrez before the signing deadline. His workouts have been up and down since he defected last year which is why he has remained unsigned for so long. His velocity seems to be back in the mid 90's after a drop that some attributed to his mechanics being off. Some scouts had said his upside was higher than another Dodgers Cuban signing, Yadiel Alvarez. He doesn't have the fastball that Alvarez does, but his breaking stuff is superior. He also has the upside of a front of the rotation pitcher, but the stuff now to be a valuable bullpen piece. I asked Ben Badler about the chances of anyone making a final signing before the deadline and he said the Dodgers it sounds like may do something as they have really upped their presence at Cuban workouts.

 

Wouldn't mind if our luck was any good with them.

 

Yay more Cubanz to save us

 

And 20yrs old..sold.
Gettem.
At the very least another versatile asset

 

RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif.—Grant Holmes has the stuff.

He’s just learning to harness it.

The Dodgers’ No. 6 prospect flashed a fastball up to 95 mph Saturday night for high Class A Rancho Cucamonga, but allowed seven hits and five runs—three earned—over six innings and took the loss in a 5-4 defeat to Inland Empire.

“He’s mechanically been working on a few things that have helped him become more efficient with his body so he doesn’t rely on his big arm to make up for inadequacies in his delivery,” said Rancho Cucamonga pitching coach Kip Wells, the former major leaguer. “He’s got to allow himself to make the adjustment and then implement it throughout the whole game and not go in and out of it. His last few outings he’s moved in the right direction.”

Holmes, 20, walked one and struck out five, flashing a wipeout slider and hard changeup as secondary offerings and throwing 62 of his 98 pitches for strikes. The Dodgers’ first-round pick in 2014 is now 4-3, 3.30.

Holmes threw 95 often in the middle innings, but struggled to locate consistently at that velocity. The majority of his strikes came in the 92-93 range, with the occasional 94 up in the zone getting batters to chase high. He kept his velocity past the 90-pitch mark and into his sixth and final inning.

“I’ve been working on my mechanics a little bit and just I think the 95s were going up,” Holmes said. “I usually do work around 92-93. That’s where it feels most comfortable.”

While tantalizing at times, Holmes got hurt for losing his control on occasion.

With the bases loaded and no outs in the fourth, Holmes got ahead of Michael Strentz 0-2 but hit him with a 95 mph fastball when he tried to go up and in, forcing home the first run of the game.

The hardest hit ball off Holmes all night, a triple by Zach Welz into the gap in left-center field, came on a changeup he left up in the zone.

Still, it was progress. The one walk and one hit batter continued a trend of improved command for Holmes, who averaged 5.1 walks per nine innings in his first four starts compared to 1.6 walks per nine over his past seven outings.

“First couple starts I couldn’t find the zone as well as I can now,” he said. “I feel more consistent, more confident with my pitches now.”

Holmes’ main secondary pitch was an 80-82 mph slider that bit in hard to lefties and often had them swinging over the top of it, although righthanded hitters largely avoided chasing when he tried burying it in the dirt.

That two-pitch mix made up most of Holmes’ night, but he did mix in an 85-88 mph changeup on certain two-strike counts.

While his final line wasn’t the prettiest, the night represented another step in Holmes’ progression and maturation.

“He’s doing a good job,” Wells said. “He’s a young kid and he’s got a good assortment of pitches. He’s had some tough luck numbers-wise … but he works hard, he changes speeds, he understands the game beyond his years at 20.”

NEWS AND NOTES

Rancho Cucamonga outfielder Johan Mieses, the Dodgers’ No. 12 prospect, went 0-for-4 to with two strikeouts and two groundouts to drop his average to .251 on the year. The muscular 20-year old Dominican has struck out in 24 percent of his plate appearances this season, although he does have a .786 OPS. “He’s so strong, so physically gifted, sometimes he can fall in love with trying to pull for power,” Rancho Cucamonga manager Drew Saylor said. “It comes with age and development and maturation more than anything else. It takes time for guys to understand sometimes less is more. We’re looking for consistency. It’s going to come.”

 

It actually sounds like he is reeling it in a bit as he used to touch upper 90's(I think he's been clocked as high as 100) and work mid 90's. So he may be dropping the MPH's to try to gain more control.

 

Double-header in Tulsa today, Stewart and Barlow getting the starts.

 

Jose De Leon to start tonight for OKC, but limited to 3 innings and 45 pitches. He needs to get healthy ASAP. Higher ceiling than any other option the Dodgers have coming back alongside a healthy Alex Wood. He also needs to get going so he hits his IP numbers which should be at least 150ish IP, if not more. Held him back to keep him ready for the back stretch and that has backfired already. Hopefully he gets going from where he left off.

 

Dejong an option to jump over AAA ala Stripling at some point?
Or nah?

 

Nah, something catastrophic would have to happen to go all the way to him. By the time they would likely get to him then Frias, McCarthy, Wood, Montas, Cotton, Lee, Stripling and probably even both Stewart and Oaks would have to fail or get hurt.

 

Montas is not hurt, though it was assumed that he was pulled early from his last start after only 2.1 IP. Still scheduled to start Thursday for AAA OKC

 

Maybe they got some good news regarding Ryu?
Strip's not hurt either, innings limit, suppose they're using him as a safety net in case Ryu/McCarthy/Wood/etc. can't pick up the slack later in the season