Dodgers minor league news

Alex Verdugo powers up, Ike Davis continues pitching quest

By Eric Stephen@ericstephen Aug 15, 2017, 6:00am PDT

MLB: Spring Training-Los Angeles Dodgers at Texas Rangers — Ike Davis has a 107 OPS+ in seven major league seasons, but at age 30 is giving pitching a try in the lower minors.

Monday night was busy on the Dodgers farm, with major leaguers galore, some notable teenagers, and an MLB-ready prospect hitting a pair of extra-base hits.

Player of the day

Alex Verdugo hit a two-run double in the second inning, then homered in the fourth in Triple-A Oklahoma City’s win. Verdugo has five extra-base hits in his last five starts.

Pitching in

Over in the Arizona rookie league, 30-year-old longtime first baseman Ike Davis, on a minor league deal with the Dodgers, continued his transition to pitching. He walked two and allowed a single to his five batters faced, but allowed no runs and struck out one.

Davis has 2⅔ scoreless innings in his three appearances in the AZL, which was chronicled nicely by Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times:

“He had a lot of success in his amateur career off the mound, and it had gotten to a point where he wanted to dust off the cobwebs and see what it looks like,” said Andrew Friedman, the Dodgers’ president of baseball operations. “The early reviews have been really good.”

Rehabbers

Andre Ethier played the field for the first time this season, logging five in left field for Class-A Rancho Cucamonga in the second game of his rehab assignment. Ethier was 2-for-3 with an RBI.

Adrian Gonzalez was 0-for-5 and played nine innings at first base for the Quakes in the seventh game of his rehab assignment.

Rob Segedin continued his rehab with Triple-A Oklahoma City, going 1-for-3 with an RBI as the designated hitter. His night was a short one, pinch hit for in the sixth inning.

Segedin began his rehab assignment on July 30 in the Arizona rookie league, and the 20 days allotted for rehab by the collective bargaining agreement ends on Friday. After that the Dodgers will need to activate Segedin from the 60-day disabled list, which would require a corresponding roster move, though the club does currently have one open spot on the 40-man roster.

The Segedin move could happen earlier, especially if the Dodgers decide against a three-man bench in the bridge between now and when Gonzalez is expected to be activated on the upcoming road trip.

Triple-A Oklahoma City

Verdugo wasn’t alone on offense in OKC’s 9-4 win over the Round Rock Express (Rangers). Bobby Wilson hit a three-run double, O`Koyea Dickson had three hits including a double, and Tim Locastro was 2-for-5 with a double and two RBI from the leadoff spot.

The 24-year-old Locastro, acquired from Toronto in 2015 for international bonus slots, is hitting .375/.438/.536 in 19 games since getting promoted to Triple-A. Between Double-A Tulsa and OKC this season, Locastro has played second base, shortstop, left field and right field.

Double-A Tulsa

The Drillers were off Monday after a 10-game road trip. They open a six-game homestand on Tuesday night against the Corpus Christi Hooks (Astros).

Injury note: I have received a lot of questions about infielder Jose Miguel Fernandez, who hasn’t played since July 29. He is currently on the disabled list recovering from hamate surgery.

Class-A Rancho Cucamonga

D.J. Peters homered, and Keibert Ruiz had two singles and a double, but the Quakes allowed single runs in the eighth, ninth and 10th innings in a 7-6 loss to the Stockton Ports (A’s).

Devin Smeltzer overcame a four-run second inning to last six innings, and struck out seven in a no-decision.

Class-A Great Lakes

The Loons were shutout by the Lansing Lugnuts (Blue Jays), and managed just four hits. Gavin Lux singled twice in defeat.

Melvin Jimenez took the loss by allowing four fifth-inning runs to break a scoreless tie. Those were the first runs allowed with the Loons by Jimenez, who has 19 strikeouts and nine walks in his 17⅓ innings with Great Lakes. The right-hander is just 18 years, 22 days old, the second-youngest player in Loons history, and was signed out of the Dominican Republic as an amateur free agent in December 2015.

Growing pains: Starling Heredia, also just 18, has reached his first slump as a pro. Up with the bases loaded and one out in the fourth inning, the outfielder popped up weakly to shortstop. He later doubled for his first extra-base hit with Great Lakes, but in 10 since his promotion, Heredia is just 6-for-36 (.167) with 15 strikeouts.

Rookie-level Ogden

A four-run first inning was enough for the Raptors to defeat the Great Falls Voyagers (White Sox), 5-2. First baseman Brock Carpenter hit a three-run home run, while right fielder Romer Cuadrado and third baseman Rylan Bannon each hit solo shots in the win.

Transactions

Class-A: In a convenient paper move, Quakes Sunday starter Adam Bray was placed on the seven-day disabled list, making room for the activation of Monday starter Devin Smeltzer from the DL.

Class-A: Right-handed pitcher Ivan Vieitez, who on July 21 was suspended 50 games for testing positive for the stimulant ritalinic acid, was released. The Dodgers drafted Vieitez in the 27th round in 2015.