Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
Triple A Oklahoma City
Frankly, James Outman would have been the player of the week for Oklahoma City for this game alone, and whatever else came along would have been gravy:
Turns out, there was lot of gravy:
For the week, Outman slashed .571/.565/1.381, with two homers, three triples, five doubles, and a whopping 14 RBI. In just one week, the former Sacramento State Hornet raised his OPS with Oklahoma City from a solid .916 to a stellar 1.021, which would lead the entire Triple A level if he had enough ABs to qualify.
Outman is clearly making a case to get a long look with the big club during the stretch run.
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Bobby Miller lived up to the hype in his second outing in the Pacific Coast League:
One thing that stood out from this outing was the heavy and effective curveball usage. Prior to the season it was widely considered to be his fourth-best pitch, and of the 27 he threw in this outing, only four were put in play, none for a base hit, and it had a CSW of 41%. The average exit velo against it was an anemic 76.2 mph, and the 2858 RPM it averaged would rank in the 92nd percentile at the major league level. Not bad for a strike-stealing work in progress.
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Double A Tulsa
For the second week in a row, it’s Nick Nastrini who shined on the mound for the Drillers:
As the season is getting into its latter stages, Nastrini continues to be ascendant. Dating back to July 9th, he has registered a quality start in seven of his eight outings, his ERA is 1.86 in 48.1 IP, and his K/BB is 60/13.
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Offensively, Brandon Lewis stood out for Tulsa, hitting a pair of dingers:
Though it was a rough week for the Drillers, who dropped five of six, Lewis did his part as he racked up six of the club’s 13 RBI over that timeframe. He slashed .313/.429/.813 for the week, with the aforementioned homers, along with a pair of doubles.
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High A Great Lakes
Ismael Alcantara returned from a 10-game stint with Tulsa, and he had himself a monster week:
For the week, he slashed .500/.632/1.357, with six of his seven hits going for extra bases, and with a BB/K of 5/3.
Alcantara, whom the Dodgers signed out of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic back in 2017, struggled mightily for a long stretch this season, with a wRC+ of just 38 as July came to a close. A rash of injuries left Tulsa in a tight spot, so Alcantara, who can play center field, came up for a couple of weeks to give them a bit of a reprieve in the field. That bump saw him have a surprising amount of success, as he posted a wRC+ of 141 in his time as a member of the Drillers, and he clearly brought back the hot bat back to the Midwest League.
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On the pitching side, the nod goes to Ben Harris, who notched his 13th, 14th, and 15th consecutive scoreless appearances in relief:
Since Harris’ promotion to Great Lakes, in 22.2 IP, he has an ERA of 0.79, with a K/BB of 36/9.
Though the former Georgia Bulldog has flown under the radar a bit, he has been turning enough heads to garner an interview over at FanGraphs.
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Low A Rancho Cucamonga
As if it could be anyone else. Dalton Rushing, folks:
Rushing slashed .522/.607/.870 for the week, amounting to an OPS of 1.477. Incredibly, this barely moved his season mark with the Quakes, as he rolled into the week with an OPS of 1.465. This is apparently his performance level in the Cal League, which, like, maybe it’s time for the next challenge?
Going out on a limb here — Dustin and I may have him ranked a bit more highly the next time we shuffle the prospect list around. Good grief.
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On the mound, Orlando Ortiz-Mayr stood out for the Quakes with an array of secondaries and movement that had hitters baffled:
It’s like he’s throwing a whiffle ball. Sheesh.
Ortiz-Mayr, who is from Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico, was signed by the Dodgers last Summer as an undrafted free agent out of Troy University, where he only pitched for the abbreviated 2020 season, and all of 2021.
As can probably be imagined, command of the incredible movement his repertoire gets can be elusive at times, as his 5.3 BB/9 will attest, but when it’s working, it … it’s kind of amazing that the Dodgers have a guy in Low A slinging frisbees like this. If this ever gets really harnessed, it could be a lot of fun.
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A bit of an aside here as shortstop Rayne Doncon is not a performer of the week, but he is one of the most highly-rated teenagers in the system, and he made his full-season debut this week with Rancho Cucamonga this past week. He definitely showed why he is receiving the hype:
A rope off the sign like 30′ above the playing field. NBD.
Doncon bears a resemblance in the box to another infielder who hails from the same hometown:
If they decide to quiet down that stride a bit, Doncon would be a dead ringer. The young Dominican will definitely be one of the most closely watched prospects in the Cal League as the 2023 season kicks off.
Somehow a loaded system continues to deliver.
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Have a good week, folks.
