Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
Jun 13th, 2023 Scoreboard
- Triple-A Oklahoma City 17, Salt Lake City 8
- Double-A Tulsa 3, Springfield 9
- High-A Great Lakes 5, Wisconsin 8
- Single-A Rancho Cucamonga 1, San Jose 2
- ACL Dodgers 2, ACL Rangers 1
- DSL Dodgers Bautista 14, DSL Marlins 0
- DSL Dodgers Mega 2, DSL Phillies White 1
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Josue De Paula, who turned 18 just three weeks ago, put together a heck of a ballgame for Rancho Cucamonga on Tuesday. He went 3/4 at the dish, with a pair of singles, one a bouncer back through the box, the other a line drive to right, and he also picked up his first homer in full season ball:
Kudos to the San Jose Giants, they capped the inning with a slow motion 3rd base dugout camera shot of De Paula’s first bomb:
It’s a gorgeous stroke. That’s a newly-turned 18-year-old with a quick, leveraged swing, fantastic rotation, his head is right on it, he’s short to the ball, and he’s staying in there to take a lefty yard. And ready to break out of the box to boot. I’d replace all these words with emojis if I could.
De Paula also acquitted himself well in the field:
Listed at 6’3 when he signed as a 16-year-old, it’s entirely possible the towering teenager loses a step or three as he fills out, but the effort is definitely there. Get hyped for this kid, he brings it.
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Michael Busch, fresh off being named the Pacific Coast League player of the week, brought the heat again on Tuesday:
Busch ended up going 3/4 at the dish, with a single, a triple, 4 RBI, and also reaching via HBP. The former North Carolina Tar Heel is slashing .320/.436/.552.
Depending on the severity of Max Muncy‘s hamstring injury, Busch might be the natural callup. If not, with the trade deadline fast approaching, going streaking at the end of the school year might actually be a positive for a change.
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Some rather unfortunate business happened in Great Lakes — Dalton Rushing, who, of late, has looked a good bit better behind the dish, including drawing praise for his pitch calling and communication skills with some of the younger hurlers, suffered one of the pitfalls associated with donning the tools of ignorance. A hazard of the backstop business that is unfortunately all-too known to Dodger fans of late — he took a barrel from a backswing right to the helmet.
After said impact, Rushing stayed in for a pair of pitches. The first, he received. The second ended up being popped up around home plate. After a route that was rather indicative of how grievously impacted Rushing was by the conclusion of the previous AB, the 2022 40th overall pick caught the pop up, dropped to his knees, looked down at the ground, and was promptly removed.
While there was no mention of any of this in Great Lakes’ recap of the ballgame, that comes as little surprise. The Dodgers keep all such things close to the vest. It is my assumption that the Dodgers will be exceedingly cautious with Rushing, and placement in concussion protocol is certainly in play, as they did recently with Will Smith. As more information becomes available, it will be relayed here. Best wishes to Dalton Rushing, and hopefully he passes all associated tests with flying colors.
Update:
Dalton Rushing was placed on the 7 day IL on Wednesday, catcher Max Hewitt was sent down from Double-A Tulsa to take his place.
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Here’s Wednesday’s start times for the minor-league clubs (all times Pacific), along with the Dodger affiliate’s starting pitcher, where known:
- Oklahoma City vs Salt Lake City – 10:05 AM, Mike Montgomery
- Tulsa at Springfield – 10:05 AM, Ben Casparius
- Great Lakes vs Wisconsin – 4:05 PM, Justin Wrobleski (50% off White Claws, in case you’re looking for a classy good time in Midland, Michigan)
- Rancho Cucamonga at San Jose – 1:00 PM, Payton Martin
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Enjoy your Wednesday, folks.
