Here is my Hot & Cold Minor League Player report for this week. As a reminder, this is similar to the weekly Hot Sheet on Baseball America, except that it focuses only on Dodger minor league players and will not only look at the players that are doing well, but will also feature players who are struggling. Also included in this post in the update about where each Dodger minor league team is in terms of standings and how the teams did during the past week.
Albuquerque Isotopes: 17 - 12, 2nd place in the PCL American South Division. The Topes went 4 and 3 this past week.
Chattanooga Lookouts: 16 - 14, 4th place in the SOU North Division but just 2 games out of 1st place. The Lookouts went 4 and 2 this past week.
Rancho Cucamonga Quakes: 19 - 12, 1st place in the CAL South Division. The Quakes went 5 and 2 this past week.
Great Lakes Loons: 19 - 12, 2nd place in the MID Eastern Division. The Loons went 5 and 2 this past week.
Hot Hitters:
Matt Wallach (AA): .455 average, .600 OB%, 1.418 OPS, 1 HR, 4 to 1 BB to K ratio - Wallach hasn't been mentioned much this season, and that has been for good reason since he is currently hitting just .240 for the season. Nevertheless he had a good week at the plate - albeit in limited at bats - but hopefully this will be a sign of things to come in 2011.
Blake Smith (HiA): .440 average, .481 OB%, .800 SLG, 1.218 OPS, 3 HR's, 9 RBI's, 1 SB - Smith has been streaky and didn't have a good April, but has been on a tear in May so far. He has 7 total homers for the season, which rank 2nd in the California League, and he already has 9 outfield assists which I'm sure leads the league.
Jamie Hoffmann (AAA): .417 OB%, .850 SLG, 1.267 OPS, 3 HR's, 6 RBI's - Hoffmann only had 6 hits all week, but 3 of those hits were homers. For the season Hoffmann has similar stats to Trayvon Robinson, but Jamie's stats are actually slightly better across the board. Plus, he strikes out only about half as much as Robinson does, which makes me think that Hoffmann would get a big league call up before Tray.
Griff Erickson (HiA): .483 average, .531 OB%, 1.083 OPS, 7 RBI's, 1 SB - Erickson used 5 multi-hit games this week to boost his average to a California League leading .416. The switch hitter is still looking for his first home run of the 2011 season, but he does have 11 doubles which ranks 4th in the league.
J.T. Wise (HiA): .320 average, .600 SLG, 1.014 OPS, 2 HR's, 8 RBI's - Wise had a hit in every game this week but one, and hit a couple of homers to give him 4 for the season. His big night came on Saturday when he went 4 for 5 with a double, a homer, and 4 RBI's.
Cold Hitters:
Jesse Bosnik (LoA): .067 average, .192 OPS, 1 to 7 BB to K ratio - Bosnik has struggled mightily all season, and this week was no exception. The 3rd baseman has a season OPS of just .492, and if he keeps this up he could find himself back in extended spring training soon.
Jaime Pedroza (AA): .059 average, .200 OB%, .318 OPS - Pedroza had a solid April, but so far in 20 May at bats he has just one base hit. This is probably a make it or break it year for Jaime, so he'll need to turn things back around soon.
Alfredo Silverio - .176 average, .176 OB%, .412 OPS, 0 to 4 BB to K ratio - After a hot start to the 2011 season, Silverio has come back down to earth and is now batting just .247 for the year. One of his biggest problems is that he has only walked 3 times so far this season.
Hot Pitchers:
Garrett Gould (LoA): 12 IP, 0.75 ERA, 0.50 WHIP, 9.75 K/9, 1.53 FIP - Gould had two beautiful 6 inning starts this week, allowing just 5 total base hits and walking just 1. In addition, after a slow start in the strikeout department, Garrett is proving doubters wrong by K'ing 19 batters in his last 17 innings.
Ryan Christenson (LoA): 12.2 IP, 0.71 ERA, 0.55 WHIP, 9.24 K/9, 1.86 FIP - Christenson had eerily similar stats to Gould, with 6 hits and 1 walk allowed for the week. The lefty really turned some heads early in the week when he struck out 9 batters over 6 strong innings, and while his season ERA is 3.77, his FIP for the year is just 2.10.
Rubby De La Rosa (AA): 6 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.67 WHIP, 10.50 K/9, 1.87 FIP - Rubby made just one start this week, but it was another gem. He also showed the ability to rebound from his previous start, in which he had allowed 9 hits and 4 runs. Rubby's FIP for the season is 2.13, and his K/9 is 11.85.
Steven Ames (HiA): 3.1 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.30 WHIP, 18.90 K/9, -1.00 FIP, 2 saves - Ames continues to dominate batters in the California League, and allowed just 1 base runner in 3 appearances this week. He struck out 7 of the 11 batters he faced, has a FIP of 1.00 for the season, and a strike to walk ratio of 12.5 to 1.
Shawn Tolleson (LoA): 3.1 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.30 WHIP, 21.60 K/9, -1.60 FIP, 1 save - Tolleson again stole the spotlight from Ames with another outstanding week. He pitched in just 2 games, but one of those outings was the now famous appearance in which he struck out all 6 batters he faced. His season K/9 is 20.77, and his FIP for the year is negative 0.49
Cold Pitchers:
Greg Wilborn -1 IP, 8 ER, 72.00 ERA, 10.00 WHIP, 23.20 FIP - Wilborn lasted just 1+ inning in his start this week, and hitters had a batting average against of .778 during that outing. That skyrocketed his season ERA to 5.81, but I wouldn't read too much into this because Wilborn has pitched in some tough ballparks so far, and I'm sure he is still adjusting to life in the California League.
Josh Wall -1.2 IP, 4 ER, 21.60 ERA, 4.80 WHIP, 9.20 FIP - With the success of Guerra, St. Clair, and Lindblom in the Lookouts bullpen, it's easy to overlook the fact that Josh Wall has been struggling in his new role as a reliever. Wall has allowed runs in his last 3 appearances, and has an ERA of 6.39 for the season.
Ramon Troncoso - 4.1 IP, 6.23 ERA, 7.58 FIP, 0.00 K/9 - Troncoso wasn't terrible this week, but he did allow runs in 2 of his 3 outings and didn't strike out a single batter in 4.1 innings of work. Dating back to the beginning of the season, Ramon has given up at least 1 run in 5 of his 8 minor league appearances.