Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
June 9th, 2023 Scoreboard
- Triple-A Oklahoma City 14, El Paso 10
- Double-A Tulsa 5, Arkansas 4
- High-A Great Lakes 5, Lake County 0
- Single-A Rancho Cucamonga 4, Modesto 6
- ACL Dodgers 2, ACL Mariners 5
- DSL Dodgers Bautista 23, DSL Dodgers Mega 7
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In a wild, 24-run affair between Oklahoma City and El Paso, Devin Mann was the star of the show:
The former Louisville Cardinal went 3/4, with the pair of dingers, a single, a sac fly, and 4 RBI. For the season, his slash line is up to .302/.407/.547.
Life and baseball have one overarching commonality; they’re not fair. The person who grinds every day in yeoman-like manner; they go to school, work two jobs, do the internet discount hustle, and barely make ends meet. Then there’s that dingus born on third base, who think they hit a triple, and only got picked off because the sun was in their eyes. Poor stadium design, of course. A guy smokes a ball, 115 mph off the bat, it finds a glove. 42 mph swinging bunt into no man’s land, it’s a line drive in the box score, might even ruin an outing, or win three rings if you’re the Giants. EYB. Bleh.
Point being, if Devin Mann were just about anywhere else, he’d already be in the show. There’s nothing left for him to prove at the minor league level, he is who he is — a 26-year-old who will don whatever glove you want, take quality ABs, spray the ball all over, and pick his spots to get just big enough with his swing to punish teams, because he has a sense for the moment. Why? Because he’s a gamer — he brings it, every single day, when he has every right to be frustrated. He’s a gamer.
I don’t often root for guys to get moved, but depth for depth’s sake ignores the human aspect, and Devin Mann deserves a shot, period.
Sorry for the pontificating, folks. It’s tough seeing a guy who has so clearly earned it continue to knuckle down so admirably in relative obscurity. Only wishing the best for Devin Mann.
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Anyway, another prospect, who no doubt admires Oklahoma City, but is doing his damnedest to get out of the Big Friendly is Michael Busch:
Busch went 3/5, and his OPS is a comfortably plus .917. It’s a joy to see such an advanced hitter showcase plate discipline and pop like Busch has — this oppo taco flew 421 feet, and that was despite a cross wind, and he powered it out on a 1-2 count, tattooing a 95.5 mph sinker. Speaking of MLB-ready bats, yeesh.
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Jose Ramos, 0-2 slider enthusiast?
It’s a bad pitch. A terrible pitch. But, it’s an 0-2 count, and it’s a slider. This was the 22-year-old Ramos’ Kryptonite for all of 2022, and look at him go.
The long and short of it: be encouraged by the Panamanian outfielder’s progress vs breakers, but the work ain’t done yet.
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Braydon Fisher had a statement outing for Tulsa on Friday:
On the heels of what was his worst outing of the season, Fisher came out spittin’ fire in a shootout between the clubs occupying the top two spots in the Texas League North Division, a pair of clubs separated by just 1.0 game.
So much about the minor leagues is response — you get knocked down, you get up again. You have to, if you have any stomach for this game. Some folks slowly find their feet, and other guys pop right up, rarin’ to go. On Friday, that was Fisher, tossed right out into a bases loaded, nobody out fire, and he handled it with aplomb. Big fist bump, a victory well-earned.
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As you can see above, the Tulsa Drillers did not wear their typical jerseys on Friday — in partnership with the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, a Native American tribe located in Oklahoma, the Dodgers’ Double-A club donned uniforms that bore several thoughtful and representative touches evoked from the aforementioned Muscogee, from color to spelling and even trim design.
For a bit more information on how this collaboration and came about, and the meaning behind some of the jersey design elements, please click and read here.
As an aside — as a Dodger fan who has lamented the lame-ass City Connect jerseys, while I believe Native Americans deserve a heck of a lot more than a thoughtful jersey tribute (I mean, bare minimum stuff here in the grand scheme, though I really appreciate the execution), I also think the big club can do a much better job of connecting to their community than by simply donning blue pajamas. Very, very well done, Tulsa. Big tip of the cap, this is how you do it. Dodgers, dig a little deeper, please.
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Here’s Saturday’s start times for the minor-league clubs (all times Pacific), along with the Dodger affiliate’s starting pitcher:
- Oklahoma City at El Paso – 5:35 PM, Mike Montgomery
- Tulsa vs Arkansas – 5:05 PM, Landon Knack
- Great Lakes vs Lake County – 4:05 PM, Maddux Bruns
- Rancho Cucamonga at Modesto – 6:05 PM, Chris Campos
- ACL Dodgers at ACL Mariners – 1:00 PM, TBD
- DSL Dodgers Bautista vs DSL Brewers 1 – 10:00 AM, TBD
- DSL Dodgers Mega at DSL Pirates Gold – 10:00 AM, TBD
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Enjoy your Saturday, folks.
