Dodgers minor league news

Connor Joe drives in four in Tulsa loss

Joe hit his tenth home run and has .964 OPS this season

By Craig Minami Jun 9, 2018, 6:00am PDT

Minor League Baseball: Arizona Fall League-Fall Stars Game — Connor Joe

Not a great day for the Dodger affiliates as three of the four full season teams lost. Great Lakes won by one and one of two Dominican Summer League teams won.

Player of the day

Connor Joe is becoming another prospect to watch on the Tulsa Drillers. In a lineup with top Dodger prospects like Keibert Ruiz, DJ Peters, and Will Smith, Joe is arguably playing the best of the group right now.

Now, you do have to qualify this because he is a 25-year old playing in the Texas League but his .964 OPS and good idea of the strike zone could make him interesting to keep an eye this season.

Triple-A Oklahoma City

The Dodgers have watched several players go back and forth from Oklahoma City and Los Angeles in the last month or so. So on Friday, they started Emmanuel De Leon against the Fresno Grizzlies (Astros) and he gave up five runs while recording one out.

That deficit proved too much as the Grizzlies won 8-5 over the Dodgers. The Dodgers did outscore the Grizzlies 5-2 after trailing by six.

De Leon did strike out the first batter he faced but then he walked two and gave up a three-run homer to AJ Reed. De Leon followed that with a walk and two-run homer to Derek Fisher.

One Dodger pitcher did have a good outing, Josh Sborz pitched the last two innings and struck out five.

Alex Verdugo and Travis Taijeron each had two doubles among their three hits apiece.

Double-A Tulsa

The Drillers also trailed by six runs at point as they fell short in their 8-6 loss to the Arkansas Travelers (Mariners). Justin DeFratus gave up all eight runs in 5⅓ innings pitched.

Connor Joe drove in four runs in his 3-for-5 night. Joe singled in Drew Jackson in Tulsa’s two run fifth inning. In the ninth inning, Joe hit his tenth home run of the season, a three-run shot.

The ten home runs almost equal his career total going into the 2018 season as Joe now has 21 career home runs.

Class-A Rancho Cucamonga

The Quakes lost 7-1 to the Inland Empire 66ers (Angels). The South Division of the California League mirrors the National League West as the Quakes are one of three teams tied for second trailing first place Lake Elsinore by one game.

The California League first half ends on Father’s Day so the next nine days will tell the tale of this division battle.

As for the game Isaac Anderson gave up one run in the first and then five runs in the second making the Quakes the third Dodger affiliate to trail by six runs on Friday night. Anderson would pitch four innings and along with the six runs, he gave up nine hits and two walks while striking out three.

2017 draftee Marshall Kasowski was one of the relievers and he gave up a run in two innings pitched but he also struck out five. Kasowski has struck out 57 in 32 innings pitched in 2018. That is 16 strikeouts per nine innings. His command is still something to consider as he has walked 19 in those same 32 innings.

Cristian Santana had two hits including a double and he scored the Quakes lone run.

Class-A Great Lakes

The Loons held on to their 5-4 win over Lake County Captains (Indians) despite having the tying run in scoring position with one out in the ninth. Connor Strain picked up the win in relief while Andre Scrubb recorded his second save.

Despite going 0-for-1, Moises Perez scored twice, Brayan Morales had two hits including a triple. Romer Cuadrado had key two-run double in the fifth.

Transactions

Triple-A: Los Angeles recalled ambidextrous pitcher Pat Venditte and left-handed pitcher Adam Liberatore; Los Angeles optioned right-handed pitcher Brock Stewart to Oklahoma City; Oklahoma City activated infielder Rob Segedin and placed utility player Tim Locastro on the 7-day disabled list; right-handed pitcher Sven Schueller assigned to Oklahoma City from Rancho Cucamonga; left-handed pitcher Michael Johnson assigned to Oklahoma City from Tulsa.

Double-A: Tulsa activated right-handed Karch Kowalczyk from the 7-day disabled list.

Class-A: Great Lakes activated right-handed pitchers Aneurys Zabala and Edwin Uceta from the 7-day disabled list.