Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
April 7th, 2023 Scoreboard
- Triple A Oklahoma City 12, Las Vegas 6
- Double A Tulsa 0, San Antonio 2
- High A Great Lakes 3, Lansing 4
- Single A Rancho Cucamonga 5, Inland Empire 3
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Torrance native Nick Frasso put together a solid debut for Tulsa, tossing 4.0 innings of one-run ball, allowing three singles, with no walks, and striking out six:
The half dozen punchouts are the most Frasso has racked up since coming over from Toronto in the Mitch White trade last August.
The 24-year-old, 6’5 righty placed highly in rankings put forth by the various prospect outlets, and his composite rank landing him at 11.3 in a loaded system (thanks for compiling that, Dustin). Indeed, Tulsa’s play-by-play team spent a bit of time wondering why in the world Toronto would ship out an arm like this for a number five starter at best with no options left, and frankly, it’s a bit of a head-scratcher. Thanks, I guess? No take-backs, no erasies.
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Ronan Kopp had the opening day honors for the Great Lakes Loons, and he was mostly overpowering in his 2023 debut:
Double-checked my math, still correct.
The big positive here is the relative lack of walks. In 2022, though Kopp missed a ton of bats, he issued free passes 15.3% of the time, which is more than a bit too high for comfort. One walk over 12 batters faced is nearly half that — 8.3%. Of course, no conclusions can be drawn from just one outing, but it’s a step in the right direction, and it’s especially good to see on a very brisk day, as it was 47° at first pitch, and low temperatures can make it difficult to get a good grip on the ball. With the quality of Kopp’s stuff, including a fastball that routinely reaches 99, if the 20-year-old is filling up the zone, look out.
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Joel Ibarra had an excellent debut for Rancho Cucamonga, tossing 3.0 scoreless, allowing just one hit, with no walks, and striking out four. The 3.0 IP matched a career high, which is part of the problem.
A native of Hermosillo, Mexico, Ibarra was signed as a shortstop back in 2018, and he never took the mound in a game until 2021. There’s ample arm talent, but the Dodgers are only just beginning to polish up a rather roughly cut gem. Though he is just 20 years old, this is the hard-throwing righty’s 40-man evaluation year, and as such, staying on the hill long enough to make some developmental headway will be crucial if he’s to stick in a loaded Dodger farm system.
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Jack Little took the hill for the first time in nearly two years, making a triumphant return from a battle with the yips, and, ultimately, Tommy John surgery. The former Stanford Cardinal closer came on with the bases loaded, and he proceeded to toss a perfect 1.1 innings for Tulsa on Friday. Here’s every he pitch he threw in his outing, during which he racked up three strikeouts:
While there was no velo on the scorebug, the play-by-play team had Little sitting in the mid-90s.
A former closer for the Stanford Cardinal, Little was drafted by the Dodgers in the 5th round back in 2019. It has been a bit of a journey since then, but what the Dodgers saw in him was clear to see — mid 90s heat from a lower release point, giving the ball a flatter, whiff-inducing plane, along with a slider that flashes plus, and a changeup that shows some downward action when it’s right.
Making it back was a huge first step. The hope, I’m sure, is that he wakes up tomorrow feeling fine, and ready to take the ball again in a day or three. Either way, congrats to Jack Little, a whole lot of work that isn’t really visible to anyone outside the org went into making this happens. Bravo.
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It’s no secret that the Dodgers lack shortstop depth throughout the organization, but one of the supposed stopgaps is off to a hot start — Dana Point native, and former Phillie-Marlin-Giant Luke Williams:
Williams ended up going 3/5 with the homer, as well as a single and a double. Thru six games, the 26-year-old is slashing .429/.433/.929. Sustainable? Probably not, but anything out of a shortstop in a system largely bereft of them is welcome at this point. If some devil magic is taking place, even better.
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Here’s Saturday’s start times for the minor-league clubs (all times Pacific), along with the starting pitcher, if known:
- Oklahoma City at Las Vegas – 7:05 PM, TBD
- Tulsa vs San Antonio – 5:05 PM, River Ryan*
- Great Lakes vs Lansing – 10:05 AM, Ben Casparius
- Rancho Cucamonga vs Inland Empire – 6:30 PM, Jerming Rosario
*Level Debut
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That’s all we’ve got. Enjoy your Saturday, folks.
