Dodgers minor league prospects shine in May

May was quite a productive month for many top Dodgers prospects, with several heating up in the season's second month. Here is an overview of the highlights of the last 31 days on the farm, with the players in alphabetical order.

Scott Barlow

The 23-year-old has seemingly been around forever, drafted out of high school in the sixth round in 2011, but Barlow has been coming into his own the last two seasons. In May he put up a 0.72 ERA with 20 strikeouts and five walks in five starts for Double-A Tulsa, including three straight starts from May 9-19 allowing zero earned runs.

Austin Barnes

The Dodgers' third-string catcher hit .299 with a .389 on-base percentage in May, but what stood out was his eight stolen bases in 10 attempts in 25 games. Barnes' career high in steals is 13, set last year, and he already has 11 so far in 2016.

Matt Beaty

The Dodgers' 12th-round pick in 2015 out of Belmont has split time this year between third base and first base for Class-A Rancho Cucamonga. The left-handed hitter was red hot in May, hitting .356/.412/.467 with four doubles, two home runs and 18 RBI in 26 games.

Beaty, 23, has an active nine-game hitting streak, hitting .414 (12-for-29) during that span, with a pair of doubles and four walks.

Cody Bellinger

The 20-year-old Bellinger didn't even start his season until April 30, out with a hip injury, and then began the year 4-for-37 (.108) with no extra base hits. But after that, Bellinger settled in and has hit .308/.392/.646 with six home runs, four doubles and 17 RBI in 18 games.

Joe Broussard

The right-hander struck out 18 against just one walk in nine games and 14⅔ innings in May. He earned a promotion to Double-A Tulsa on May 26, and pitched his final game of the month at the higher level. On the season, the 15th-round pick in 2014 out of LSU has 29 strikeouts and five walks to go with his 1.33 ERA.

Willie Calhoun

The Dodgers' fourth-round pick in 2015 delivered his self-patented laser show quite often in May, with eight doubles, five home runs and a triple in 27 games. Calhoun hit .284/.345/.529 with 22 RBI and 17 runs scored in 27 games during the month for Double-A Tulsa.

He won Texas League player of the week for the week of May 23-29 after going 11-for-26 (.423) with three home runs and three doubles.

Calhoun also showed off his arm earlier in the month.

Grant Dayton

Sure, he's 28 and not really a prospect, but the left arm the Dodgers got from Miami for Chris Reed last season has excelled in relief in 2016, and was especially lights out in May. He was promoted from Double-A mid-month and had six appearances each with Tulsa and Oklahoma City during the month, putting up a 0.00 ERA in 16⅓ innings, with only four walks (one intentional), and struck out 32 of his 61 batters faced in May.

Chase De Jong

The 22-year-old won four of his five May starts with Double-A Tulsa, posting a 1.20 ERA with 30 strikeouts and nine walks in 30 innings, lasting at least seven innings in three of his five outings.

Paul Hoenecke

The 25-year-old caught four games last season, but has mixed in more games behind the plate this season, playing both third base and catcher between Rancho Cucamonga and Tulsa. Hoenecke in May after his promotion to Double-A hit .310/.329/.507 with four home runs in 21 games during the month.

Scott Griggs

The former UCLA closer earned a promotion to Double-A Tulsa near the end of the month, and between Class-A Rancho Cucamonga and Tulsa the right-hander pitched nine scoreless innings in May, with six strikeouts, one walk and three hits allowed.

Alex Hermeling

The 23-year-old right-hander put up a 0.69 ERA in eight games with Class-A Great Lakes, with 16 strikeouts and three walks in 13 innings in May.

Grant Holmes

The 2014 first-round pick had three quality starts in five outings for Class-A Rancho Cucamonga and a 2.67 ERA. The ERA was a bit misleading since Holmes allowed eight unearned runs in addition to his eight earned runs, but the key was his 34 strikeouts against only seven walks in 27 innings, after 24 strikeouts and 12 walks in 27 innings in April.

Holmes' strikeout rate in May was 28.6 percent, up from 20.7 percent in April.

Edwin Rios

He hit just .227 with a .292 on-base percentage, but Rios also added six home runs and slugged .500 in the offensively-tough environment that is the Midwest League. The Dodgers' sixth-round pick in 2015 has played mostly third base, some first base for Class-A Great Lakes.

Brock Stewart

The 6'3 right-hander out of Illinois State continued his strong season, putting up a 1.39 ERA in five May starts for Double-A Tulsa, with 39 strikeouts against only five walks in 32⅓ innings, including nine strikeouts in each of his last two starts.

The 24-year-old Stewart, drafted by the Dodgers in the sixth round in 2014, has yet to give up a home run in nine starts, putting up a 1.16 ERA with 62 strikeouts and 11 walks in 54⅓ innings. He has allowed zero or one run in seven of his nine starts, including five of his seven starts since getting promoted from Class-A Rancho Cucamonga, and has been turning some heads.

Sounds like the Dodgers had a nice find in 2014's 6th round with RHP Brock Stewart, now 92-97 with an avg CH, pitching well for AA Tulsa

— keithlaw (@keithlaw) May 24, 2016

Julio Urias

Sure, his major league debut was shaky and only lasted eight outs, but the fact that the 19-year-old was called up to the majors validating his month and season as it were. The left-hander in May had a 1.05 ERA between the majors and minors, and that includes his bad MLB debut. With Triple-A Oklahoma City, Urias had 22 scoreless innings in May, with 21 strikeouts and five walks, extending his Triple-A scoreless streak to 27 consecutive innings.

Alex Verdugo

Like most of his young teammates on offense with Tulsa, Verdugo got off to a slow start in 2016, but in May he took off. The Dodgers' second-round pick in 2014 hit .309/.375/.532 with five home runs, six doubles, nine walks, 16 RBI and 15 runs scored in 25 games in May.

You might have noticed several Tulsa players on this list, which makes it no surprise the Drillers ended their May by winning 17 of their last 24 games.