Dodgers Prospect Notes: Ramos powers huge inning, Jorbit’s having a good time, Yurchak heating up, and more

Justin Yurchak. Photo by: Cody Bashore

July 12th, 2022 Scoreboard

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The Great Lakes Loons had an incredible, nine run 5th inning on Tuesday, and Jose Ramos was the star of the show. First, the shot:

And one heck of a chaser:

The wiry Panamanian’s third extra base hit of the game — a run scoring double to left in the 9th inning, which gave him a career high 10 total bases, put the Loons up 14-7. He ended up going 3/5, with three runs scored, and seven RBI.

Since being promoted from Low A Rancho, Ramos has seen a small uptick in his strikeout rate, as it increased from 26.1% with the Quakes to 31.9% with the Loons. His overall production relative to his league has remained remarkably similar, with wRC+ marks of 133 and 130. You’d like to see a little better bat to ball, but the damage he does when he makes contact is definitely impressive.

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Speaking of that huge Great Lakes 5th inning, here’s the anatomy of it, via Great Lakes pxp Brad Tunney:

That marathon took a little over 28 minutes to complete. Woof.

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Jorbit Vivas had only one hit in Great Lakes’ 14-run explosion on Tuesday, but it was definitely entertaining:

I am very much here for stuff like this. Baseball is fun, and I enjoy watching these guys have fun playing it. Go on, Jorbit.

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After a slow start, Justin Yurchak‘s bat has been coming alive for Tulsa:

Yurchak, whom the Dodgers acquired from the White Sox all the way back in November of 2018 for Manny Banuelos, went 2/3 for the Drillers, doubling off the wall in right center, and drawing a walk as well.

A former Binghamton University Bearcat, Yurchak had a huge 2021 campaign, slashing .365/.443/.485 between High A and Double A, but 2022 hasn’t been nearly as kind. Prior to just a couple of weeks ago, his OPS was just .601. Something may have clicked since then, as he has put up his most productive stretch of the season thus far, with an OPS of .889 since.

Plus plate discipline and bat to ball are the strongest points of Yurchak’s game, and those aspects have remained steady throughout — going into last night’s action, he struck out just 13.3% of the time, and walked 10.3% of the time. As he has done recently, I’d like to see him continue to hunt for pitches to drive, rather than get the bat on pitcher’s pitches. There’s a shot for him in the Matt Beaty, 1B/LF, professional hitter capacity, if he continues to show growth there.

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Hunter Feduccia, recently promoted to Oklahoma City, announced his presence with authority, not just once:

But twice:

Feduccia, who was written up here in the Prospect Notes a little over a month ago, continues to show his intriguing offensive profile (especially for a catcher), and the fact that his power is showing up in-game vs lefties is definitely a positive development.

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Mairoshendrick Martinus. The 17-year-old is more familiarly known as Mairo Martinus, but it’s hard not to mention that entire 80-grade handle.

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Martinus was joined the Dodger organization this past January, when he signed as an international amateur free agent. When Baseball America reviewed the Dodger IFA class in April, they had this to say about him:

Martinus is one of the better hitters to come out of Curaรงao in recent years. He has a solid approach from the right side, controlling the strike zone well for his age with good contact skills and more power coming once he fills out his 6-foot-3, 170-pound frame. Martinus will develop at shortstop, where he has a chance to stick and has a plus arm.

So the power potential is what has Martinus here in the article, as it appears to showing up earlier than expected, and in an interesting way — he has been an overall extra base hit machine in the Dominican Summer League. He has 27 hits, 13 of which have gone for extra bases — three doubles, four triples, and six homers. He is also 7/8 in stolen bases, so he’s out there turning singles into doubles as well.

Pardon me as I go off on another tangent — old friend Curtis Granderson had one of my favorite seasons of all time. Back in 2007, he put up 7.9 fWAR, but it shined in a rare, aesthetically pleasing way as well, as we went 20/20/20/20 — 23 homers, 38 doubles, 23 triples, and 26 stolen bases.

I won’t hang any expectations like that on the young Martinus. But, it is exciting to see someone in the system exhibiting the baseline capability of doing it, even if he’s lightyears away from the big leagues. The fact that a guy with these reported defensive chops is showing out like this with the bat, well, I can’t wait to see him state-side.

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

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Happy hump day, folks. May the worst be over for ya.

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