Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
May 14th, 2022 Scoreboard
- Triple A Oklahoma City 5, Round Rock 1
- Double A Tulsa 11, Frisco 1
- High A Great Lakes 8, Lake County 2
- Low A Rancho Cucamonga 4, Stockton 6
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Bobby Miller faced off against Jack Leiter in the most notable minor league pitching matchup of the night, and it was a heck of a time for Miller to pick up his first W:
Miller utilized all three secondaries, dominating hitters at times without having to go his calling-card fastball, at all:
This is where Bobby Miller belongs at the moment, and what he needs to be doing at the moment. A fleeting moment, sure, but outings like this are a gem — seeing a top flight prospect taking those finishing school steps. He leaned hard on his secondaries that he doesn’t 100% command just yet (but he’s close), the shape isn’t all the way dialed in (but it’s close), and the pitches are good enough that he can double and triple down on them, combining them to attack hitters in new and different ways (but they’ll get even better). This is what makes following prospects really fun.
As for Leiter, he was chased after just 1 2/3, allowing six earned runs on seven hits, six of which were singles. Even if you’re one of the very best pitching prospects in the game, baseball gonna baseball.
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Andy Pages had a solid game for Tulsa, helping to back Miller’s effort, knocking in runs with a pair of doubles:
Pages ended up going 2/3 with a pair of walks.
After a solid April that saw Pages slash .276/.396/.447, he struggled mightily after the calendar flipped to May. In the first eight games of the month, he went just 1/26, with 11 Ks.
With a homer, two doubles, and three walks in his last two contests, Pages is at least showing signs of life. Being able to make adjustments to break out of slumps is a huge part of a prospect’s development, and it’s not always flipping a light switch, so the unevenness may continue for a bit, but he’s too talented to be down for long.
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Jonny DeLuca hit a big fly for Great Lakes in their win over Lake County on Star Wars Night:
Jonny DeLuca’s homer off a Doug Nikhazy curve did not do the Kessel Run in 12 parsecs. But it did go a long way. pic.twitter.com/lryPObAhWP
— Justin L. (@JL_Baseball) May 14, 2022
This is DeLuca’s 11th homer, giving him the system lead in the category, and raising his OPS to .844.
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Here’s the daily Jacob Amaya highlight, almost obligatory at this point:
Amaya ended up going 3/5, and in addition to the triple he had a pair of singles, raising his OPS to 1.190.
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Damon Keith keeps trucking along for Rancho Cucamonga, he went 3/5 with a triple:
Keith had a ridiculously hot April (.391/.519/.604), and while he has cooled down a bit in May (.298/.400/.511), he’s more than holding his own. Then again, at nearly a year older than average for the level, he should be performing like this. As is the case with a lot of guys in the system, more time and better competition will give a better idea of what to expect going forward.
