Dodgers: First Month Minor Leagues Report

OKLAHOMA CITY DODGERS – AAA

One of the most talented minor league systems in baseball is led by their most advanced team, the Oklahoma City Dodgers. This team has as much talent as some bad major league teams in years past and is a great indicator of how well the talent has developed for Los Angeles.

With Cody Bellinger’s accession to the big leagues – hopefully never to return – the star so far in the batter’s box has been 27-year-old O’Koyea Dickson.

The Sonoma State product has had a very solid minor league career but has not yet been rewarded with the call-up. So far this year, his OPS is .939 to go along with six home runs and 17 RBI. The only knock on Dickson has been his .182 average against lefties this year and is arguably the reason he has not been able to crack the top level.

Dickson has got some help from more recognizable names for Dodgers’ nerds like myself – Alex Verdugo and Willie Calhoun. As two of the top prospects in the organization, they have continued to perform, both hitting over .300 while playing nearly every day.

On the bump, the Dodgers have had a lot of success, enough so that it was hard to narrow it down to pick specific players to spotlight.

As far as short term help goes, two offseason acquisitions for the Dodgers have had a lot of success so far. Jair Jurrjens and Justin Masterson have both had success at the major league level and have dominated hitters so far in AAA, both with two wins, ERAs under 2.60 and over 25 innings pitched.

For the future, Julio Urias will be up and down between AAA and the big leagues but has been masterful in OKC. Despite being the youngest pitcher on the roster, he has thrown 14 innings and only surrendered three runs while punching out 15.

Trevor Oaks and Jacob Rhame have both pitched well, Oaks as a starter and Rhame in relief. Oaks has only allowed four runs in four starts and has a K per nine just under 10.

Rhame, one of the only 100 MPH throwers in the minor leagues, has a 2.08 ERA over 13 innings pitched.

To summarize, this team is incredibly talented, and the Dodgers have plenty of options on who to call up or trade to solidify the big league roster if they chose to do so.