Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
May 25th, 2023 Scoreboard
- Triple-A Oklahoma City 11, Sacramento 4
- Double-A Tulsa 2, Northwest Arkansas 1
- High-A Great Lakes 2, Peoria 1
- Single-A Rancho Cucamonga 1, Lake Elsinore 3
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Jonny DeLuca put on a show for Oklahoma City, as he paced the Dodger offense by going 3/4 at the plate with a single, a triple, and a homer on Thursday:
Additionally, the former Oregon Duck shined with the leather, showing some closing speed in snaring this dying quail:
If you folks know of any clubs who could use a righty power bat, who also has wheels and has some defensive chops at all three outfield spots, please feel free to list them in the comments. Thank you for your time.
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Kyle Hurt‘s 6th start of the season got off on the wrong foot, as he issued three free passes in the first inning. But, the burly righty reined things in, and cruised the rest of the way:
To give an idea of how dominant Hurt as been, an outing as “poor” as this one raised his both his ERA and his WHIP, to 1.33 and to 0.93, respectively.
Really though, this is exactly the kind of outing that went off the rails for Hurt in 2022. Throughout the farm system, Dodger prospects get pulled if they reach 30 pitches in an inning, and the former USC Trojan was sitting at a count of 25 when he walked his 3rd batter of the inning to load the bases. To his credit, he righted the ship, and he tossed four complete frames for the second time this season (and in back to back starts). It’s a game of adjustments, and every one you make now is a box you check for necessities at the levels ahead.
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After missing just about all of the 2022 season with forearm inflammation, Hyun-il Choi made his long-awaited return to regular season ball for Great Lakes on Thursday, and he did so showing a good bit of progress with what was previously deemed an absolute necessity: a reliable breaking ball.
There was no velo available for the outing, and Peoria’s pxp mentions it but sparingly, but to this #notascout, the slider seemed to have ticked up during his time away. In the past the pitch was often quite loopy, but yesterday’s better offerings, like the last one in the video above, showed sharp, diving break.
Unfortunately, Great Lakes stays on the road next week as well, as they travel to Beloit, who also does not have velo on their scorebug. The next opportunity to find out where Choi’s pitches are sitting will be some time after June 6th, when the Loons return home to play the Lake County Captains. This is the kind of stuff that a nerd like me sets a reminder in my phone to track, so that you don’t have to. Who am I kidding, I live for this.
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The Tulsa Drillers walked off Northwest Arkansas for a third night in a row on Thursday:
That’s Yusniel Diaz launching a barrels-are-overrated lawn dart into shallow center, showing that you can indeed come home again.
As can likely be imagined, walking it off three days in a row can be a little euphoric. Getting walked off three days in a row, on the other hand … after the Drillers jovially chased Diaz around with water bottles and such, some words were exchanged between the two clubs. I can only imagine that something like “act like you’ve been there before” (though perhaps delivered with a bit more spice to it) is what interrupted the celebration. Ultimately, cooler heads prevailed, and both clubs headed into their respective clubhouses. Hopefully, the frustrations were fully vented, and a relatively uneventful ballgame can be played on Friday evening.
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In addition to Choi’s activation, several other moves were announced on Wednesday.
After posting a 2.68 ERA in 37.0 IP, with 10.7 K/9, 24-year-old Ben Casparius, whom the Dodgers drafted in the 5th round back in 2021, was promoted from Great Lakes to Tulsa, for whom he had a solid opening act:
Joining Casparius in Drillville is fellow 2021 draftee Antonio Knowles. The 23-year-old cleaned house in the Midwest League this year, posting an ERA of 1.53 and a K/9 of 12.7 in 17.2 IP. Knowles’ success was driven by his best pitch, a slider, which he hucked more than 70% of the time.
To make room for the aforementioned pair, Trevor Bettencourt, a mustachioed 28-year-old former farmhand of the Phillies, was promoted to Oklahoma City after posting a 2.81 ERA and a 9.6 K/9 in 16.0 IP Tulsa. Additionally, Lael Lockhart was moved to the developmental list.
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Here’s Friday’s start times for the minor-league clubs (all times Pacific), along with the Dodger affiliate’s starting pitcher:
- Oklahoma City at Sacramento – 6:45 PM, William Cuevas
- Tulsa vs Northwest Arkansas – 5:05 PM, Nick Nastrini
- Great Lakes at Peoria – 4:35 PM, Jerming Rosario
- Rancho Cucamonga vs Lake Elsinore – 6:30 PM, Payton Martin
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Enjoy your Friday, folks.
