Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
August 2nd, 2022 Scoreboard
- Triple A Oklahoma City 2, Salt Lake City 1
- Double A Tulsa 5, Northwest Arkansas 9
- High A Great Lakes 3, Lake County 4
- Rancho Cucamonga 7, Inland Empire 10
- ACL Dodgers 1, ACL Mariners 7
- DSL Dodgers Bautista 3, DSL Pittsburgh Gold 1
- DSL Dodgers Mega 4, DSL D-backs Red 3
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Andre Jackson picked up his first win of the season, as he looked solid for a second consecutive start:
In his two outings since returning from the development list, Jackson has struck out 16 in 10.0 innings, allowing just one run, though he has walked six.
Though Jackson’s fastball has reached 98 in the past, it had been down a bit this season, averaging 92.3. In his previous outing, he saw an uptick to 94.1, topping out at 95.9. In this outing, it was still up, though less so, averaging 93.4, t94.9. Whatever the case, it’s a step in the right direction, though the walks may relegate him to relief duty long-term.
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August 3rd, 2022 Scoreboard
- Triple A Oklahoma City 6, Salt Lake City 1
- Double A Tulsa 4, Northwest Arkansas 6
- High A Great Lakes 14, Lake County 4
- Low A Rancho Cucamonga 12, Inland Empire 4
- DSL Dodgers Mega 15, DSL KC Stewart 13 (completion of the game suspended on July 13th)
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Dustin May continues to check off boxes on his rehab stint, this time getting through the scheduled workload increase from 3.0 to 4.0 innings:
Another interesting note — May threw six changeups tonight. This stands out for two reasons:
1) Because he threw zero changeups in 2021
2) Because while the pitch is a work in progress, at times it got as much as 17″ of horizontal movement, which, if he’s able to achieve that consistently, it would place it in the 90th percentile
He already has some of the most ridiculous stuff in baseball, this would be just unfair.
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Chris Taylor went off in his rehab game with Oklahoma City:
Taylor went 3/4, drove in three, and scored a pair of runs. Defensively, after playing left field in his first rehab game, they had him spend time at both second and third base, so it looks like the plan is for him to go immediately back into the mix as a Swiss Army Knife.
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Edwin Rios nearly had a big fly of his own:
Rios went 1/5 as the DH, a role he has filled for two of his five rehab games. He has played third base in the others.
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Bobby Miller entered the game after an opener for the first time this season, and it was the worst outing of his career. After tossing a scoreless 2nd inning, Miller only got one out in the 3rd, with it going E3, single, homer, strikeout, walk, SB to 3B on E2, single, homer. The first homer was off a fastball that was supposed to be up and in, and it was center cut. The second came off a 1-2 breaking ball that was supposed to be down, but it was a middle/middle hanger, and it got launched. The final line was 1.1 IP, 5 hits, 6 runs (5 earned), 1 walk, and 2 strikeouts.
The command just wasn’t there today. Additionally, the big issue that has seen his outings go one way or the other this season popped up again, as the fastball shape was lacking. It didn’t have the whiff-inducing carry that’s present in his dominant outings, and was back to having the ineffective arm-side run, with just enough elevation loss to get tattooed.
Miller’s stuff still #1 starter quality, but these wrinkles have to be ironed out and remain ironed out on a more consistent basis before he can be considered for even a relief callup.
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With the trade deadline having come and gone, several promotions were announced. Here they are, in order of posting on the transaction log:
- River Ryan to Great Lakes – recent convert to pitching full time has added 4 mph in nine months, lots of 97-98
- Devin Mann to Oklahoma City – mostly 2B, can play anywhere but catcher and pitcher, though more of an emergency shortstop, 120 wRC+, excellent eye at the plate, solid bat to ball
- Cole Percival to Tulsa – was a tandem starter, fastball ticked up in single inning relief, sitting 97-98
- Lael Lockhart to Tulsa – pitchability lefty at 88-92, three solid secondaries, excellent pickoff move
- Austin Gauthier to Great Lakes – undrafted free agent shortstop, wRC+ of 146, massive walk rate of 22.2%, which leads the system, 3rd lowest swinging strike rate in the system, 7.7%
- Damon Keith to Great Lakes – 18th rounder last year, only right field and DH so far, drafted after Dave Roberts saw him play in a college game asked scouts to note him, 146 wRC+, 16.6% walk rate
At this point, I’m most excited about Ryan’s promotion, as being in Great Lakes means almost* all of his outings will be streamed. As a former shortstop, he’s super athletic, has very quickly added a changeup and a cutter/slider to his fastball/curve combo, and he has been able to mechanical adjustments mid-inning, without a visit from a pitching coach.
*I say almost, because of course, save for this week, due to the Loons visiting the Lake County Captains, the only club on their schedule who doesn’t stream. Whatever.
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Lastly, here’s Thursday’s scheduled starting pitchers for the full season affiliates:
- Triple A Oklahoma City – TBD
- Double A Tulsa – TBD
- High A Great Lakes – Nick Nastrini
- Low A Rancho Cucamonga – Gabe Emmett
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Enjoy your Thursday, folks.
