Dodgers Prospect Notes: Jackson ticks up, Rooney at his best, Vargas & Outman homer, Bruns’ arsenal, Petey vs. pitch clock

July 27th, 2022 Scoreboard

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Andre Jackson looked as good as he has in a long time on Wednesday:

When the season has been a battle, this is quite the breath of fresh air.

Jackson’s fifth inning of work was something to watch — after getting the first two outs, his velo and command slipped, dropping into the 92 range, and he walked three batters in a row. Encouragingly, Jackson was able to find it again, and he threw his hardest fastballs of the outing to the last hitter he faced, 95.8 and 95.9 mph, before getting the final out of the inning.

With the back end of the big club’s bullpen struggling, this version of Andre Jackson, who was a sight for sore eyes, could be a welcome addition. A few more outings where his stuff looks like this, and the front office might have a decision to make.

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John Rooney went out and did the crafty lefty thing for Tulsa:

Rooney’s fastball was mostly in the 89-93 range, but it’s his command and secondaries that carried the day. That, and one of the best pickoff moves in all of MiLB:

And, as it often happens in games like this, he got by with a little help from his friends:

Rooney bounced back from his worst start of the season to have his very best, which, well, baseball gonna baseball. Great to see him get back on his horse, and attack hitters from the get go.

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James Outman continues to thrive with Oklahoma City, and he had another pair of extra-base hits last night. The first one came off of someone you may recall, and none-too-fondly:

If Outman keeps this up, he’s destined to be a fan favorite.

The second extra base hit was a golfed homerun to right:

Overall, the former Sacramento State Hornet went 2/3, with two runs scored, two RBI, and he also drew a walk, raising his OPS for the season to .936.

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Miguel Vargas ended his longest homer drought of the season with this shot to left:

It had been 14 games since the Cuban prospect last homered, but it’s more incidental than anything. He didn’t get away from his approach, with nearly twice as many walks than strikeouts during that time frame (11 vs 6).

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Maddux Bruns had a pretty uneventful pair of scoreless innings for Rancho Cucamonga. Bruns did issue a pair of walks, but one of them was questionable enough that it left him smiling. After a mound visit, the electric lefty settled in to retire the next four in a row to wrap up his day. His repertoire:

There’s a lot to dream on here.

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This is an incredibly high form of performance art:

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Lastly, here’s Thursday’s scheduled starting pitchers for the full season affiliates:

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Enjoy your Thursday, folks.

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