4/23/11 Minor League Report - Tray's Day
All four Dodger minor league affiliate picked up wins on Saturday, and there was plenty of offense to go around with 38 runs scored for the day.
Minor League Player of the Day – Trayvon Robinson - 3 for 4, 1 3B, 5 RBI's, 1 SB. Maybe I'm a little biased because I saw this performance in person, but anyway you look at it Robinson had an excellent day on Saturday. The 3 RBI triple was a long fly ball to a deep part of right-center, and he really just looked locked in all game long.
AAA – The Albuquerque offense started off the day slow, but eventually put on a show for me in a game they won 12 to 8 against the New Orleans Zephyrs (Marlins). I was in attendance at this game, and will have a more detailed post about my experience within the next few days, but what I can tell you here is that Trayvon Robinson looked great at the plate. Robinson went 3 for 4 with 5 RBI's, including a bases clearing triple in the 7th that really solidified the win for the Isotopes. Jaime Hoffmann also went 3 for 4, although all of his hits were singles, while Corey Smith and Jay Gibbons had two singles apiece. Russ Mitchell had the only Tope homer in the game, a line drive shot to left. Starter Alberto Bastardo was sharp early and had 7 strikeouts in the game, and was able to pick up the win despite allowing 9 hits and 4 runs in the middle innings. Merkin Valdez threw two innings of one-hit relief, and Ramon Colon made the game seem a lot closer than it really was by giving up 4 runs in the 9th.
AA – Chattanooga starter Nate Eovaldi continues to impress as he allowed just 1 unearned run over 5 innings in the Lookouts 8 - 5 victory over the Carolina Mudcats (Reds). Eovaldi struck out 4 and allowed 4 hits, but also walked 3 which led to his high pitch count by inning #5 (96 pitches). Cole St. Clair was excellent in relief, facing just 1 batter over the minimum in 2 innings to lower his ERA to 0.96 for the season, and Javy Guerra threw a hitless 9th. At the plate, Pedro Baez hit his 1st homer of the season and singled twice in what was probably his best game of the young season. Scott Van Slyke also stayed hot with a double and a triple in 4 plate appearances.
HiA – Rancho Cucamonga erupted for 15 runs on 21 hits to give starter Allen Webster plenty of support in the Quakes 15 - 4 victory over the Modesto Nuts (Rockies) on Saturday. Griff Erickson led the attack in terms of hits with 4 base knocks in 6 at bats, picking up 2 doubles and 3 RBI's in the process. Jake Lemmerman, Angelo Songco, and Tony Delmonico all had 3 hits apiece and combined for 4 doubles and 7 RBI's. Blake Smith hit the only homer of the night, but also recorded the Golden Sombrero with 4 K's. Webster scattered 5 hits over 7 solid innings, allowing just 1 run and striking out 5. It was his second 7 inning/5 hit performance in a row, so he's really heating up after a couple of mediocre starts at the beginning of the season. Reliever Andres Santiago was greeted with 3 runs in his season debut, and Javier Solano allowed 1 hit in a shutout 9th.
LoA – The Loons were down 2 to 1 after 6 innings, but the team clawed back for a run in the 7th then won the game on a walk-off single by Jessie Bosnik in the 9th for a 3 to 2 win over the Dayton Dragons (Reds). The big hit for Bosnik was definitely the highlight of the 3rd baseman's young season as he is hitting just .156 for the year. Other than that the offense was pretty quite, with catcher Michael Pericht picking up the other two RBI's on a double and groundout. Great Lakes pitching was solid all night, with starter Red Patterson working around 4 walks to allow just 2 runs over 5 innings. Pete Budkevics was outstanding in relief, allowing just a single hit while striking out 4 over three innings of work. That lowered his ERA to 1.38 and his batting average against to .182 for the season. Shawn Tolleson picked up the win in relief with a perfect 9th, although he only picked up one strikeout in the process.
Albuquerque Isotopes Box Score (AAA)
Chattanooga Lookouts Box Score (AA)
Rancho Cucamonga Quakes Box Score (HiA)
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repeating Cubs lineup
Fukudome RF
Barney 2B
Castro SS
Ramirez 3B
Peña 1B
Byrd CF
Soriano LF
Soto C
Zambrano P
by the way the only reason i'm posting on here on Easter
is because I’m in the Albuquerque airport waiting for my flight home. earliest flight out is 10:50 am and my friends who are driving home and dropped me off here wanted to leave at 7 am so I’ve got lots of time. Luckily internet in the airport is free
I grew up in Santa Fe,
the ABQ airport is ok.
I admire your optimism, but this is over. RLB 2/5/11
by BetterDeadThanRed on Apr 24, 2011 8:05 AM PDT up reply actions
yeah not much too it
seems clean though and I love the free internet
by Brandon Lennox on Apr 24, 2011 8:14 AM PDT up reply actions
Webster
Very impressive w/ back-to-back excellent 7 inning starts in the CAL league. Would love to see him tested in AA at some point in 2011.
according to Ken Gurnick
Juan Uribe is out of the Dodgers lineup again Sunday with a tight thigh muscle.
Thought Gwynn would get a start today
I admire your optimism, but this is over. RLB 2/5/11
by BetterDeadThanRed on Apr 24, 2011 8:21 AM PDT up reply actions
Prospect Movement
When can we expect to see movement of prospects such as Gould, Lee, Eovaldi, De la rosa, Gallagher, Garcia, Robinson, etc? Who are most likely to move up the system the soonest?
I would say that unless injuries force the Dodgers hand
mid May would be the absolute earliest we see promotions, with mid to late June being more likely. Robinson has nowhere to go except to the big leagues, so his situation is a little different that the others you mentioned. I would say the same thing goes for De La Rosa because I think he’ll make the jump straight to the big leagues from AA since I don’t think the Dodgers will want to expose him to AAA. So for those two, it really comes down to injuries at the big league level and/or if players are struggling and the team needs some new blood..similar to what happened with Sands.
Eovalid is still quite young and will almost certainly stay in AA all season since again the Dodgers probably don’t want him in AAA, and there is almost no way he’ll make it to the majors this year
Gould, Lee, and Garcia are all 19 years old and my feeling is that they will stay in LoA all year. Lee and Gould need to get their innings up and LoA is the right place to do it, and Garcia will probably level out eventually. If all three continue to be on fire through July, I could see Garcia maybe moving to HiA and Lee going to AA, but I think Gould will stay in LoA no matter what
Gallagher is a guy that could definitely get promoted to AA sooner rather than later, so he could make it there by late May/early June. He’s played in class A for so many years that he does need a new challenge if he keeps up his hot streak.
Other guys you didn’t mention – Josh Lindblom, Scott Van Slyke, and Kyle Russell are candidates to move up to AAA by midseason, Allen Webster and Steven Ames especially I could see moving up to AA sometime this year, and Shawn Tolleson could make the jump from LoA to AA by mid to late May if he keeps it up
by Brandon Lennox on Apr 24, 2011 8:38 AM PDT up reply actions
sorry that got pretty long
but another guy i want to mention is that Ethan Martin could potentially make it up to AA this year if he figures things out and hits a hot streak. I was told he’d stay in HiA until he can dominate the league, so if that happens by June or July I could see him going up to AA for the last part of 2011
by Brandon Lennox on Apr 24, 2011 8:40 AM PDT up reply actions
Thanks for the excellent analysis!
One question – if Lee continues to look consistently good this season, might a late season (maybe first of August) promotion to AA be in order? A short look (4-5 starts)?
by wonderphenom on Apr 24, 2011 8:43 AM PDT up reply actions
yeah i think so
although you also have to take into account if the Loons are in the Midwest League playoff hunt. The Dodgers like to keep their LoA teams together as much as possible for the entire season, so that comes into play. Of course player development comes first and if Lee really is great all season and the Dodgers want to see what he can do in AA, they won’t hesitate to promote him. but if they are on the fence about it, the playoff race can be a factor
by Brandon Lennox on Apr 24, 2011 8:54 AM PDT up reply actions
Forgot about the playoffs...
…I know the Dodgers have tried to be more sensitive in that area with the Loons the past couple of years.
by wonderphenom on Apr 24, 2011 9:21 AM PDT up reply actions
so you would guess that Robinson and De La Rosa would be the only likely reinforcements if the Dodgers needed any?
I admire your optimism, but this is over. RLB 2/5/11
by BetterDeadThanRed on Apr 24, 2011 8:44 AM PDT up reply actions
of the players with no major league experience
I’d say yes, along with Lindblom like silverwidow said. Guys like Trent Oeltjen or any other player on the 40 man roster could also get the call at some point, except for probably Luis Vasquez
by Brandon Lennox on Apr 24, 2011 8:57 AM PDT up reply actions
Thanks for the remarkably thorough response!
might want to consider putting it in a more visible and permanent place on the blog as its really informative!
AAA and some specifics on Eovaldi and Gould
whats the reasoning behind keeping de la rosa and eovaldi from AAA? Is eovaldi just too early in his development process? Didn’t they take Kershaw directly from AA?
Any insight on why Gould’s k-rate is down?
Kershaw went directly from AA
and the Dodgers try to keep their top pitching prospects from AAA because it is a very hitter friendly environment…the parks are hitter friendly, a lot of the parks are at higher altitudes, and many also have strong winds. The could inflate a pitcher’s stats, to the point where many could even lose confidence in themselves. AA is much more pitcher friendly. Josh Lindblom is an example as he was terrible at AAA last year, now he’s back in AA to get his confidence back
by Brandon Lennox on Apr 24, 2011 9:30 AM PDT up reply actions
forgot about Gould
I’m not sure why his K rate is down. as i wrote below he’s throwing in the low 90’s and he still has a strong curve, so it could be that he’s simply playing against older/more advanced competition. I expect that K rate to go back up as he makes adjustments…he is still just 19 so he has a lot of learning to do and adjustments to make
by Brandon Lennox on Apr 24, 2011 9:32 AM PDT up reply actions
Allen Webster
You know, this kid continues to perform and yet still continues to be a bit under the radar in the Dodgers system. What kind of pitching prospect is he? Any grasp on his ceiling yet or is it still too early to give an assessment?
I don't have my notes in front of me
But from what I know off the top of my head some scouts love him while others aren’t as impressed. I think his ceiling is probably a solid #3 starter…some say #2 but I think #3 is more realistic. You can see full scouting report on him in my top 10 prospect ranking I did prior to the season
by Brandon Lennox on Apr 24, 2011 12:32 PM PDT via mobile up reply actions
Last nights Quake game was cool. They showed good vision and good hitting. Aldo a bit if sportsmanship. Late in the game eith a giant lead, a Quakes batter smashed one to the fence. Instead of legging out a triple, he stopped at second. Stay classy Rancho Cucamunga.
by Skunkburner on Apr 24, 2011 8:44 AM PDT via mobile reply actions
Brandon, I have only one criticism. I believe that Blake’s 4 K’s qualifies as a ‘Platinum Sombrero’, not a ‘Golden Sombrero’: That is 3 K’s in a game. :)
Baseball is a game, and games are supposed to be fun.
Actually platinum sombrero is 5 k's in a game
It rarely happens but that’s the name…golden sombrero is 4 k’s and I believe a simple hat trick is 3 k’s
by Brandon Lennox on Apr 24, 2011 9:19 AM PDT via mobile up reply actions
Gould...
Brandon did you ever find out how fast Gould is throwing FB.
.i watched the game the other day…announcer did not say…his curve ball was nasty and hitters were overmatched aagainst it..
Hitter missed FB many times but not sure of Mph..
curious if he is back to 90-94 or 88-92 mph?
I got confirmation he was between 89 - 92
For the game, and reached 94 on occasion
by Brandon Lennox on Apr 24, 2011 9:20 AM PDT via mobile up reply actions
His name is...
Roman Colon.
Just bugged me enough to log in and post
Thanks again Brandon..
Good to see Webster get back on track. He was dominant last year, and it looks like he is getting back in a groove this year, against some tougher hitters. Im pretty excited about Cole St.Clair as well. I have been watching out for him since he was drafted, and he put up really good numbers last year, other than ERA.. Do you think he is a guy who could make the jump from AA? We could use a big strong lefty in the Dodgers pen right now. What’s happened to Nick Akins? He sure is struggling, striking out, more than every 3 ab’s. Ouch!
From what I can tell, Nik has legit ML power…but like Russell he tends to fall in love with the HR approach a little too much, exposing himself to a steady diet of breaking balls and racking up a ridiculously large amount of Ks in the process. If he’s lucky, he could reach the bigs in a Glenallen Hill/Marcus Thames capacity: part-time players who’re more than capable of hitting one out in a pinch if called on. Obviously still a ways off for him, but the power’s clearly there.
Cole could possibly make the jump
But I don’t see it happening until late this year at the earliest. Akins just needs to adjust and he should be fine…still not sure if he’ll ever make it to the bigs…this year will be s big test
by Brandon Lennox on Apr 24, 2011 12:38 PM PDT via mobile up reply actions

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