Dodgers Prospect Notes: Cartaya homers in 4th straight, DeLuca powering OKC, a rare triple play

June 1st, 2023 Scoreboard

• Triple-A Oklahoma City 7, Reno 5
• Double-A Tulsa 5, Wichita 4
• High-A Great Lakes, Belot PPD (rain)
• Single-A Rancho Cucamonga 6, Inland Empire 8

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Well, well, well, how the turntables have … turned.

Just shy of three weeks ago, I was preaching patience in this space regarding the organization’s consensus number one prospect Diego Cartaya. The 21-year-old Venezuelan had gotten off to a very rough start in the Double-A Texas League, but he was showing signs of adjusting to the new level of competition and breaking out of his early season malaise. Well, he certainly appears to have done just that, as he has now homered in four consecutive games for Tulsa:

"AND HE DOES IT AGAIN‼️"

Another HR for @DCarty_17 pic.twitter.com/VJR33z30sw

— Tulsa Drillers (@TulsaDrillers) June 2, 2023

In a span of four days, Cartaya has raised his OPS by 132 points, and his wRC+ has leapt from 69 to just shy of 100. Indeed, it can happen that fast. Thing goes *click*, elite talent goes boom.

Is everything fixed? Will he have a linear ascent from here on out? Of course not. At the Double-A level, once you have made an adjustment, pitchers are good enough to adjust right back, as they are wont to do at the major league level (only quicker, the higher you ascend). But, if the previous gale could only temporarily knock him off course, I’m confident he will right the ship yet again, and sail on LA-bound at some point in late 2024 or early 2025.

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Speaking of LA-bound, Jonny DeLuca continues to put on a show for Oklahoma City, as he hit his 4th homer at the Triple-A level (14th of the season overall):

Jonny DeLuca hits a sky high fly that gets into the Budweiser Deck for a two-run homer!

OKC cuts Reno's lead to 1 run in the 5th inning. pic.twitter.com/7VKdKanb3m

— Oklahoma City Baseball Club (@okc_baseball) June 2, 2023

Before we go any farther, sports fans, your eyes aren’t deceiving you — that’s a right-handed outfield bat feasting off lefty pitching. It does exist, and it’s in this very farm system.

For the evening, DeLuca went 3/4 at the dish, tacking on a pair of singles in addition to the dinger, he scored twice, he drove in 4, and he picked up his 10th stolen base of the season. Coming into this game, in 2023 DeLuca slashed a robust .364/.429/.705 vs southpaws. It’s late and I don’t feel like doing the math, but suffice it to say, that line improved.

The Agoura native is on the 40-man roster, and in 15 games with OKC he’s slashing .323/.362/.585. He can run, he can mash lefties, he can go get it in both left and right, and he can handle center in a pinch. Sure seems like the kid’s doing a whole host of things the club could use.

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The Oklahoma City Dodgers turned their first triple play in nearly 18 years on Thursday:

https://twitter.com/okc_dodgers/status/1664478737562472450

Oklahoma City play-by-play man Alex Freedman summed up the evening’s strangeness rather well:

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say it's extremely rare for a team to commit 4 errors and turn a triple play in the same game, but that's what the OKC Dodgers did tonight.

Baseball!

(cc: @jaysonst)

— Alex Freedman (@azfreedman) June 2, 2023

I have no idea how to search for that pair of events, but I imagine it’s up there with hen’s teeth in rarity. Either way, the club is nothing if not entertaining, which is as good of a rallying cry as any.

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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 vs Reno – TBD
• Tulsa at Wichita – 4:45 PM, Nick Frasso
• Great Lakes at Beloit G1 – 2:05 PM, Justin Wrobleski
• Great Lakes at Beloit G2 – 30 mins after the end of G1, TBD
• Rancho Cucamonga vs Inland Empire – 6:30 PM, TBD

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Enjoy your Friday, folks.