Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
Following a month-long hiatus from these as I was busy on starting a new job/trying to make our recaps mildly entertaining/honestly burnt out on writing almost anything, here’s another Let’s Remember Some Dodgers post.
We are going to continue the run through the list of mostly terrible 2005 third baseman, as well as run through another of the seemingly never-ending outfielders named Jason/Jayson. The latter also happens to be a former top-10 prospect in the organization, so I am also counting him as a check-in on how the early-2000s prospect list fared in the majors.
I had no idea, but Robles was actually a third-round pick by the Houston Astros back in 1994. Spending five years in the organization, Robles struggled to bring his OPS above .800 at any level other than in 209 Rookie-ball PAs from his first professional season.
With just 7 PAs in Double-A and 4 PAs at Triple-A, Robles was released in March 1999 and played parts of six seasons in Mexico. With an OPS above .850 in all but one of the seasons, Robles’ line of .390/.475/.551/1.026 in 140 PAs for the Diablos Rojos del Mexico apparently drew the Dodgers attention.
Signed on May 10, 2005, the Dodgers immediately threw Robles into the lineup while in St. Louis. He’d go on to actually lead the team in PAs at third base for the season, with 143 of his 399 topping the list of seven guys at the position. However, his OPS of .631 in those plate appearances would beat out only Norihiro Nakamura’s .401. Robles did managed to slash .272/.332/.368/.700 overall for the season, with his numbers in 230 PAs at shortstop actually vastly out performing those of Cesar Izturis (.286/.336/.385/.721 to .257/.302/.322/.624 in 478 PAs).
Amazingly, Robles managed to finish seventh on the team with 134 total bases, and sixth in doubles at 18, because of his plate appearances ending up fourth(!!!) in 2005. The highlight probably came on July 4, when Robles finished 5-for-6 with 2 RBIs against the Padres in San Diego. Following a lead-off single by Jason Grabowski in the 11th, Jason Repko sacrificed and a Mike Edwards groundout moved him to third before Robles singled home the go-ahead run. Giovanni Carrara earned the win, with Yhency Brazoban closing it out for the save.
What a list of names for just a few innings of a box score.
The experiment sort of extended into 2006, though with Robles getting just 39 PAs in the majors and 316 in Triple-A Las Vegas. A slash line of .287/.366/.324/.690 led to Robles’ release in January 2007, much sooner than I remember it being. Honestly I’d thought his tenure ran longer than that, but the 438 PAs with Los Angeles led to another 33 for the Padres in 2007 before they also waived him early on in the 2008 season.
One last stint with the Phillies Triple-A team in 2008 was Robles last time in affiliated ball, but he returned to Mexico for another seven years where he kept putting up an OPS around .800 and .900.
Hey, I just mentioned him. Absolutely got lucky with him being involved in the one good Robles game I could mention.
A favorite of mine when he debuted in the hellish 2005 season. However, unlike much of that roster, Repko actually lasted with the Dodgers until his release in 2010.
Granted, injuries kept Repko to only 478 PAs in the majors between 2005-09. A high ankle sprain in 2006 spoiled his most successful season with Los Angeles, and then Repko needed surgery for plantar fasciitis. A torn hamstring suffered in a collision with Rafael Furcal during Spring Training the following season knocked him out for all of 2007, and that pretty much ended his run on the major league roster.
Before all of that, Repko was the Dodgers’ No. 4 prospect in 2000 and 2001 after he was drafted in the first round of the 1999 draft (as a shortstop). After earning All-Star honors in the Pioneer League in his first professional season, Repko apparently suffered a torn right hamstring blow out and a stress fracture in his back. Even with just 18 PAs in Low-A in 2000, Repko kept that high ranking before struggling to a .220/.257/.329/.586 line in 364 PAs in Single-A in 2001.
Fast forward a few years later, including a move to the outfield, where a .832 OPS with 37 doubles and 13 homers between Jacksonville and Las Vegas in 2004 pushed Repko to the majors to start the 2005. Playing behind J.D. Drew, Ricky Ledee and another outfielder I don’t feel like mentioning here, Repko and two other Jason/Jaysons rotated in the outfield. Repko finished fourth in PAs among the outfielders, with a K% of 26.6% to BB% of 5.3%. A wRC+ of 74 might have really shown the Dodgers all they needed, but Repko opened the 2006 season rotating with Kenny Lofton in center.
It might not be much, but Repko was worth 0.8 WAR in 80 PAs across 25 games that year before going down with his ankle injury. Now that was on a team that went 16-17 to start the season, but the WAR ranked second to only Drew to that point. The slash line of .304/.392/.522/.914 didn’t hold up when he returned, as Repko finished the year at .254/.345/.377/.722.
Repko missed all of 2007, but the Dodgers had signed Luis Gonzalez and Juan Pierre to join Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp, so truly there might not have been much playing time available anyway. Full seasons in Las Vegas and Albuquerque ended with an OPS right around .800, with Repko getting just 27 more PAs in Los Angeles.
Released near the end of Spring training in 2010, Repko went on to play for the Twins and Red Sox between 2010 and 2012. He kept going in indy ball for another four years before retiring at 35 in 2016.
