One fairly tough decision down, two to go
The Dodgers activated Franklyn Gutierrez off the DL and sent Scott Van Slyke to AAA. Van Slyke will join Trayce Thompson in an effort to find his swing with full-time at-bats. The last time Scott Van Slyke was in the minors that did not involve a rehab assignment was 2013.
This seemed like the obvious move. Just like Josh Fields, Scott Van Slyke should walk to his flight because it would not surprise me if Guiterrez gets hurts before the game is over.
If Guiterrez can stay healthy and hit, it could be a long AAA summer for Van Slyke/Eibner/Thompson.
Later on this week the Dodgers will be activating Logan Forsythe and have to make a decision on who gets sent down. Chris Taylor has to be the favorite to get sent to AAA even though he has been very productive while Forsythe was on the disabled list. If it was only about production, Chase Utley would be waived but I’m sure he’ll bounce out of his slump. Though as Chase has aged and Taylor has improved, it is very possible that having Chris Taylor on the 25-man roster is best for the team, even accounting for all the good teamwork stuff that Chase is reportedly good at.
On Friday Joc Pederson is due back. At that point, the Dodgers have to make a huge decision. For me, the decision is obvious, put Adrian on the DL and install Bellinger as your everyday 1st baseman while Adrian heals. I don’t expect the Dodgers to make that decision.
If the Dodgers do what I expect they will do, the team will look the same as the opening day positional roster except without Scott Van Slyke. This would leave them with only one left-handed pinch hitter (Chase Utley), and one first baseman when Toles/Pederson start against RHP. On the days that Adrian sits, I would expect Logan Forsythe to play 1st base.
That doesn’t look to me like the best use of the Dodger roster so here is hoping they surprise me.
Give the people what they want
Ha ha, yesterday someone started following me on twitter for the simple reason I had made a reference to Dennis Santana. That got me one of my best responses to a farm report so in that vein here is an in depth report on Dennis Santana the best pitching prospect in the system that no one has heard of.
The only reason I’ve paid attention to Santana is because of Nate Purcell who comments over at TBLA. He usually has a good read on prospects and even though David Hood didn’t put Santana in his top 60 that didn’t mean that Santana was not a prospect. MLB has Santana as the Dodgers 27th top prospect.
Fangraphs didn’t rank him but gave him a shout-out on their top 21:
Dennis Santana, RHP, 1.7 KATOH+ WAR – A converted shortstop, Santana throws a future plus-plus sinker and has a potential plus slider. The command is well below average but Santana is a solid athlete and his walk rate dropped this year. He’s a potential late-inning arm.
For detail about Dennis Santana, Dustin Nosler is the man. Dustin based his scouting report on a game he saw in person on April 7th.
Future: At 21, there’s no need to rush Santana. He’s in his third season of pitching, so there isn’t a lot of mileage on his arm. And the Dodgers have been pretty solid at converting position players to the mound in recent years (Kenley Jansen, Pedro Baez, Blake Smith — yes, he made it to the majors with the White Sox) and it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Santana make it to the bigs as a reliever. His fastball could play up, and if he tightens the slider there’s an outside chance of him being a late-inning, high-leverage reliever because of his poise. If not, he should be a solid middle relief-type. His improved command/control (while still not plus) has increased his chances of reaching the majors. I ranked him No. 33 coming into the season, and he’s enjoying success in the California League so far. I’d expect him to make a not-insignificant jump up the rankings come midseason.
The key takeaway I have of Santana is that he’s a converted shortstop who has only been pitching a few years. Maybe everyone is underselling his upside because his stats in the offensive minded California League have been outstanding. With each outing he has increased his strike-out totals.
Date IP H ER BB SO HR 2017-04-08 3.2 3 0 0 3 0 2017-04-14 4.0 1 0 1 4 0 2017-04-20 4.1 8 2 0 4 1 2017-04-25 6.0 6 1 0 7 0 2017-04-30 5.2 4 0 2 8 0
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 5/2/2017.
If command was an issue it certainly has not been in 2017 with only three walks in twenty-three innings. The last time someone was pitching like this in the Cal League that no one had heard of was last year when Brock Stewart did it, and he eventually went from an unranked Dodger prospect to pitching for the Dodgers. And oh yeah, he was a converted 3rd baseman.
Should I stay or should I go?
The Dodgers are coming up upon a moment of decision. They brought up their best prospect Cody Bellinger to fill the void of Joc Pederson who hit the ten day DL. The first few games saw Bellinger struggle which led to Dave Roberts proclaiming that no matter what Bellinger did he was going back to AAA when Joc was eligible to come off the DL.
Before Bellinger got the call three Dodgers were struggling. Joc Pederson, Andrew Toles, and Adrian Gonzalez. It just so happens that Bellinger could play any of those positions. Toles got the message and went on a tear putting up a .942 OPS since being asked to play CF. Adrian didn’t get the message.
I don’t know if Dave Roberts said what he said in earnest or not. Maybe he was being the player psychologist trying to take all the pressure off of Bellinger. Whatever the reason, Bellinger himself has been on a tear, and now posts a .993 OPS in limited at-bats. Bellinger has shown all his skills, power, speed, and the ability to play a good left field.
The one skill he has yet to show is if he can play 1st base.
Adrian Gonzalez has never gone on the DL in his major league career. If he really is a team player it is time he did, and get that elbow cleared up, because right now the best option for the Dodgers to win, is a healthy Bellinger at 1st base and Adrian getting healthy. That could change quickly, but you’d be hard-pressed to convince me that Bellinger shouldn’t be on this team come Friday.
Dodgers aren’t cleaning up
Many things are going right for the Dodgers but the number one problem for the Dodgers in 2017 is the lack of production from the clean-up spot.
The numbers don’t lie, the LAD are 25th in wRC+ out of 30 teams. The Angels are right below the Dodgers, maybe something in the water in Los Angeles?
| Team | PA | HR | R | RBI | w OBA | wRC+ |
| WSN | 116 | 9 | 24 | 29 | 0.48 | 193.38 |
| OAK | 103 | 10 | 19 | 17 | 0.43 | 187.29 |
| SEA | 112 | 7 | 14 | 23 | 0.41 | 177.13 |
| NYY | 105 | 4 | 16 | 17 | 0.40 | 163.95 |
| ATL | 105 | 7 | 14 | 22 | 0.41 | 152.90 |
| STL | 108 | 5 | 14 | 18 | 0.41 | 152.82 |
| CIN | 109 | 9 | 20 | 21 | 0.39 | 140.13 |
| TBR | 118 | 2 | 15 | 11 | 0.36 | 139.50 |
| CHW | 101 | 4 | 14 | 16 | 0.36 | 135.57 |
| MIA | 107 | 7 | 14 | 16 | 0.35 | 118.47 |
| BOS | 109 | 3 | 14 | 13 | 0.34 | 115.62 |
| NYM | 109 | 9 | 14 | 20 | 0.35 | 115.36 |
| BAL | 104 | 3 | 12 | 11 | 0.33 | 110.90 |
| CLE | 110 | 4 | 9 | 10 | 0.32 | 105.73 |
| MIN | 100 | 2 | 11 | 14 | 0.32 | 105.46 |
| ARI | 119 | 5 | 19 | 22 | 0.34 | 105.15 |
| SDP | 112 | 3 | 8 | 16 | 0.32 | 97.85 |
| CHC | 116 | 5 | 16 | 16 | 0.32 | 97.10 |
| SFG | 114 | 2 | 11 | 6 | 0.31 | 96.31 |
| DET | 109 | 1 | 8 | 14 | 0.30 | 91.75 |
| MIL | 116 | 5 | 16 | 16 | 0.32 | 90.03 |
| PHI | 103 | 4 | 8 | 22 | 0.29 | 79.58 |
| HOU | 113 | 3 | 12 | 12 | 0.28 | 79.18 |
| COL | 110 | 3 | 14 | 11 | 0.31 | 72.32 |
| PIT | 106 | 1 | 11 | 5 | 0.27 | 68.08 |
| TOR | 115 | 3 | 6 | 16 | 0.27 | 67.85 |
| LAD | 116 | 1 | 7 | 12 | 0.27 | 66.65 |
| LAA | 115 | 3 | 6 | 21 | 0.24 | 53.90 |
| KCR | 100 | 1 | 5 | 8 | 0.23 | 39.16 |
| TEX | 111 | 4 | 9 | 11 | 0.23 | 37.62 |
This lack of production lies on the feet of Adrian Gonzalez, Yazmani Grandal, and Yusiel Puig
| Name | PA | HR | RBI | SLG | OPS | w OBA | wRC+ |
| Adrian Gonzalez | 55 | 0 | 6 | 0.35 | 0.692 | 0.303 | 89.27 |
| Yasiel Puig | 36 | 1 | 5 | 0.34 | 0.706 | 0.318 | 98.89 |
| Yasmani Grandal | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0.00 | 0.000 | 0.000 | -100.00 |
| Franklin Gutierrez | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0.38 | 0.708 | 0.313 | 95.74 |
| Scott Van Slyke | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.000 | 0.000 | -100.00 |
| Chase Utley | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.000 | 0.000 | -100.00 |
Ryan Zimmerman owns April
Last year Ryan Zimmerman looked like a 1st baseman who needed to find a bench. He was the weakest link on the Nationals but his manager continued to bat him 4th or 5th in the lineup. Does that sound familiar?
Fast forward to May 1st, 2017, and you will find that Ryan Zimmerman just had the best March/April OPS split over the past three years based on a minimum of 50 plate appearances.
Player Split Year OPS PA HR RBI Ryan Zimmerman April/March 2017 1.345 96 11 29 Freddie Freeman April/March 2017 1.283 101 9 14 Bryce Harper April/March 2017 1.281 114 9 26 Eric Thames April/March 2017 1.276 103 11 19 Adrian Gonzalez April/March 2015 1.222 88 8 19
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 5/2/2017.
As you can see, 2017 had a quite a few noteworthy performances. Only the 2015 performance by Adrian Gonzalez can crack the top five. It was just two years ago that Adrian was smoking when the gate opened.
The Nationals have three of the best hitters going right now as the clock turns to May. The Dodgers have two in Turner and Seager but neither are close to doing the lofty work of Zimmerman/Harper. They are more in line with Daniel Murphy.
I love these lists. The Brewers have two catchers on the list in Bandy/Pina and they are right next to each other otherwise I’d never have noticed.
Player Split Year Onbase_plus_slugging_vs_split PA OPS Ryan Zimmerman April/March 2017 262 96 1.345 Bryce Harper April/March 2017 250 114 1.281 Freddie Freeman April/March 2017 249 101 1.283 Eric Thames April/March 2017 246 103 1.276 Aaron Judge April/March 2017 214 90 1.161 Mike Trout April/March 2017 213 115 1.151 Miguel Sano April/March 2017 208 97 1.127 Mitch Haniger April/March 2017 190 95 1.054 Zack Cozart April/March 2017 190 85 1.053 Matt Kemp April/March 2017 189 58 1.077 Jedd Gyorko April/March 2017 187 67 1.053 Michael Conforto April/March 2017 187 66 1.055 Aaron Hicks April/March 2017 186 57 1.042 Justin Turner April/March 2017 185 99 1.026 Avisail Garcia April/March 2017 182 93 1.029 Eugenio Suarez April/March 2017 181 94 1.025 Nelson Cruz April/March 2017 180 108 1.025 Khris Davis April/March 2017 180 99 1.032 Francisco Lindor April/March 2017 177 109 1.018 Corey Dickerson April/March 2017 176 96 1.015 Paul Goldschmidt April/March 2017 174 117 .983 Jett Bandy April/March 2017 174 53 1.010 Manny Pina April/March 2017 172 52 .986 Yoenis Cespedes April/March 2017 170 75 .992 Jose Ramirez April/March 2017 168 103 .982 Justin Upton April/March 2017 166 82 .968 Daniel Murphy April/March 2017 164 111 .969 David Freese April/March 2017 164 67 .954 Corey Seager April/March 2017 164 107 .961 Steven Souza April/March 2017 163 108 .954 Mark Reynolds April/March 2017 163 105 .968 Nolan Arenado April/March 2017 163 110 .971 Ryan Braun April/March 2017 162 99 .960 Starlin Castro April/March 2017 160 98 .947 Jay Bruce April/March 2017 160 100 .954 Tyler Flowers April/March 2017 159 54 .916 Matt Wieters April/March 2017 157 85 .934 Matt Davidson April/March 2017 155 54 .946 Evan Gattis April/March 2017 154 65 .918 Lucas Duda April/March 2017 154 50 .931 Charlie Blackmon April/March 2017 151 118 .925 Michael Brantley April/March 2017 150 85 .916 Kris Bryant April/March 2017 150 115 .907
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 5/2/2017.
LAD Minor league roundup week ending 4/30/17
Weekly Farm Factory award goes to………..Edwin Rios who hit in every game last week, including going 5 for 5 on Monday. Rios ended up the week with thirteen hits, four doubles, and only struck out five times. Rios now leads the Texas League with eight doubles. His TSL can be found in the monthly breakdown where he was the best 3rd baseman in the system for April.
Baseball Prospectus weighs on Yadier Alvarez:
Yadier Alvarez, RHP, Los Angeles Dodgers (High-A Rancho Cucamonga): 4 IP, 2 H, BB, 7 K
I was at this game, and Alvarez was straight-up dealing. For the second consecutive start he worked 96-98 with ease, and this time he commanded the fastball much more consistently. His off-speed stuff all blends together, with cut changeups, and sliders, and hard curveballs – all of which feature some primary manner of downer action and wear velocity readings that start with eight. He’ll add, subtract, and manipulate movement at will, and nobody came close to squaring him up in this one. He remains on a 60-pitch limit for the time being, and perhaps most importantly, this start marker a really nice step forward in him moving through a lineup for a second time. It remains relatively early in his development, but this is one of the premier pitching prospects in minor league basebal
AJ Alexy put up another gem for the Loons. Alexy struck out seven of his 10 outs, giving up only one hit. Alexy has not walked anyone since his first start and now has 19/1 KK/BB.
Dennis Santana is doing great work for Rancho. The just turned 21-year-old is getting deeper into his games then the terrific trio of Buehler/Alvarez/White. Last week Santana got 17 outs, gave up only four hits, zero runs, two walks, and eight punchouts. He is sporting a ridiculous 26 /3 KK/BB.
Yusniel Diaz:
Dodgers close out April with a sweep
The in an out of April ended with the Dodgers sweeping a three game set from the Phillies giving them a winning record for April at 14 – 12 and a nice four game winning streak to take into May.
The offense basically did it on the backs of Justin Turner and Corey Seager with alot of help from the bench. No other regular had an OPS over .800 besides the two mentioned. Joc Pederson and Adrian Gonzalez were particularly non-offensive. Grandal hit two home runs on opening day and drew eleven walks, and that was about the extent of his offensive contributions. Has to be noted that Gonzalez and Grandal made up the bulk of cleanup at-bats in April. Those cleanup combined for a .619 OPS and one home run.
Chase Utley and Scott Van Slyke were the two bench pieces that struggled mightily in April. I’d like to see Adrian sitting against LHP but if the only option is Scott Van Slyke the Dodgers might want to see if other options are available. Chris Taylor completely outplayed Chase Utley after he replaced Logan Forsythe on the roster but I’m sure he will be sent back down to AAA when Logan is activated later this week.
Cody Bellinger gave the team a shot in the arm after being recalled last week and even though Dave Roberts has said he’s headed back to AAA when Joc Pederson gets activated, I wonder if they won’t be re-thinking that strategy come Friday.
Using Fangraph metrics the Dodgers rank 3rd in wRC+ in the NL at 102. They are just one point off of the Brewers at 102. The Nationals are crushing the NL in offense at 128. Thanks to the recent power surge over the weekend the Dodgers ended with 28 home runs for the month good for 9th in the league. They were probably 13th before Bellinger joined the team.
Rk Pos Name PA 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO OPS
1 3B Justin Turner 99 11 0 1 12 5 9 1.026
2 SS Corey Seager* 107 6 0 5 17 15 21 .961
3 LF Cody Bellinger* 24 0 0 2 2 3 5 .946
4 IF Chris Taylor 29 2 0 2 5 2 9 .937
5 UT Enrique Hernandez 52 6 1 2 7 4 7 .820
6 C Austin Barnes 29 2 1 1 2 3 8 .810
7 RF Yasiel Puig 104 3 0 5 13 13 18 .765
8 LF Andrew Toles* 76 1 0 5 13 4 12 .754
9 IF Logan Forsythe (10-day dl) 54 2 0 0 3 6 16 .748
10 C Yasmani Grandal# 84 4 0 3 7 11 19 .734
12 LF Franklin Gutierrez (10-day dl) 14 2 0 0 0 1 4 .670
13 CF Joc Pederson* (10-day dl) 59 3 0 1 7 7 18 .662
14 1B Adrian Gonzalez* 96 5 0 0 10 10 14 .654
15 UT Scott Van Slyke 36 1 0 1 2 5 12 .508
16 1B Rob Segedin (10-day dl) 4 0 0 0 0 0 2 .500
19 OF Brett Eibner (40-man) 5 0 0 0 0 0 3 .400
20 2B Chase Utley* 46 1 0 0 1 5 6 .364
22 OF Trayce Thompson (40-man) 8 0 0 0 0 0 3 .000
Rank in 15 NL teams 5 15 8 2 9 7
Non-Pitcher Totals 926 49 2 28 101 94 186 .767
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 5/1/2017.
Early on the starting pitching relied on Clayton Kershaw and Brandon McCarthy but as the month was coming to an end everyone in the rotation was pitching in. Ryu/Kenta/Wood all made quality starts and with the addition of Urias the rotation has more depth than the Golden State Warriors. Rich Hill took his blister to the DL twice but no one noticed he was missing. How they manage this in May in going to be an interesting story. Will arms start to fail making the decisions easy? or will some very competent arms be sent to the bullpen?
For one of the few times in his career, Kenley Jansen had a great April. Ross Stripling and Chris Hatcher led the bullpen in innings. Josh Fields who is already back in AAA probably had the best April of the bunch.
Name IP ERA+ FIP WHIP H9 HR9 BB9 SO9 SO/W Clayton Kershaw* 35.1 176 2.54 0.792 6.4 1.0 0.8 9.9 13.00 Brandon McCarthy 29.0 130 3.57 1.207 8.1 0.9 2.8 7.8 2.78 Hyun-Jin Ryu* 26.2 100 4.90 1.313 9.1 2.0 2.7 9.8 3.63 Kenta Maeda 26.0 62 5.14 1.346 10.0 2.4 2.1 9.3 4.50 Alex Wood* 19.2 178 2.97 0.966 5.0 0.5 3.7 8.7 2.38 Ross Stripling 14.0 106 1.52 1.500 11.6 0.0 1.9 9.6 5.00 Chris Hatcher 13.2 104 3.61 1.317 9.2 1.3 2.6 9.9 3.75 Kenley Jansen 9.2 223 -0.50 0.828 7.4 0.0 0.0 15.8 Pedro Baez 9.1 430 4.52 0.964 1.9 1.0 6.8 9.6 1.43 Sergio Romo 8.1 43 4.94 2.040 10.8 1.1 7.6 9.7 1.29 Luis Avilan* 8.1 193 2.54 1.320 7.6 0.0 4.3 8.6 2.00 Rich Hill* (10-day dl) 8.0 124 6.40 1.500 7.9 2.3 5.6 7.9 1.40 Grant Dayton* 8.0 186 4.27 0.875 4.5 1.1 3.4 6.8 2.00 Josh Fields (40-man) 7.0 327 0.02 1.000 7.7 0.0 1.3 15.4 12.00 Julio Urias* 5.2 268 3.73 1.412 6.4 0.0 6.4 6.4 1.00 Adam Liberatore* (40-man) 0.1 32 12.02 6.000 27.0 0.0 27.0 0.0 0.00 Team Totals 229.0 117 3.48 1.188 7.8 1.1 2.9 9.5 3.32 Rank in 15 NL teams 6
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 5/1/2017.
All Justin Turner, all the time
The LAD April leaderboard is loaded with Justin Turner.
Hits:
Player Split Year H PA Rafael Furcal April/March 2008 43 130 Andre Ethier April/March 2011 41 121 Mike Piazza April/March 1996 40 118 Matt Kemp April/March 2011 39 121 Steve Garvey April/March 1975 37 108 Justin Turner April/March 2017 36 99 Matt Kemp April/March 2012 35 98 Cesar Izturis April/March 2005 34 109
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 4/30/2017.
Doubles:
Player Split Year 2B PA OPS Rafael Furcal April/March 2008 12 130 1.063 Justin Turner April/March 2017 11 99 1.026 Hanley Ramirez April/March 2014 11 110 .834 Cesar Izturis April/March 2002 10 107 .708 Shawn Green April/March 2003 10 127 .794 Andre Ethier April/March 2011 10 121 1.002
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 4/30/2017.
Batting Average:
Player Split Year BA PA H OPS Ron Cey April/March 1977 .425 94 31 1.433 Matt Kemp April/March 2012 .417 98 35 1.383 Paul Lo Duca April/March 2004 .416 85 32 .993 Justin Turner April/March 2017 .404 99 36 1.026 Reggie Smith April/March 1980 .387 87 29 1.037 Frank Howard April/March 1963 .384 83 28 1.061 Adrian Gonzalez April/March 2015 .383 88 31 1.222 Rafael Furcal April/March 2008 .381 130 43 1.063 Andre Ethier April/March 2011 .380 121 41 1.002
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 4/30/2017.
He cracks the top 20 in OPS which just goes to show the amazing April’s the LAD have had. I can still remember the crazy month that Ron Cey. Yutes should be able to remember Rafy Furcal in 2008 and the great starts that Matt Kemp got when he was at the top of his game. Matt Kemp is on the top 25 three times.
Player Split Year OPS PA HR RBI BB Ron Cey April/March 1977 1.433 94 9 29 20 Matt Kemp April/March 2012 1.383 98 12 25 13 Gary Sheffield April/March 2000 1.255 100 10 22 15 Adrian Gonzalez April/March 2015 1.222 88 8 19 7 Rick Monday April/March 1978 1.202 80 8 22 11 Tim Wallach April/March 1994 1.175 97 8 23 13 Manny Ramirez April/March 2009 1.154 98 5 15 20 Jeff Kent April/March 2005 1.100 105 6 18 17 Rafael Furcal April/March 2008 1.063 130 3 11 16 Pedro Guerrero April/March 1987 1.062 83 5 18 9 Frank Howard April/March 1963 1.061 83 4 14 8 Jim Wynn April/March 1975 1.059 80 4 16 15 Matt Kemp April/March 2011 1.059 121 6 19 15 Joe Ferguson April/March 1973 1.050 92 5 15 14 Reggie Smith April/March 1980 1.037 87 4 17 9 Justin Turner April/March 2017 1.026 99 1 12 5 Gary Sheffield April/March 2001 1.025 90 7 15 19 Pedro Guerrero April/March 1983 1.024 87 6 15 8 Mike Piazza April/March 1998 1.022 105 8 26 10 Adrian Gonzalez April/March 2014 1.021 114 8 24 11 Adrian Beltre April/March 2004 1.014 90 7 20 2 Andre Ethier April/March 2011 1.002 121 3 16 13 Andre Ethier April/March 2010 .999 86 6 19 10 Adrian Beltre April/March 1999 .993 93 1 13 13 Paul Lo Duca April/March 2004 .993 85 1 10 6 Matt Kemp April/March 2009 .990 92 3 16 10
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 4/30/2017.
April Farm Factory awards
For fun here are the LAD positional awards for the month of April:
Catcher – Will Smith is playing all over the field but is still mostly a catcher. He crushed it in April and is doing everything with the bat.
1st Base -it is always nice when the top prospect plays like a top prospect. Cody Bellinger hit his way to the Dodgers before April was up, but before the promotion, he was clearly the best 1st baseman and prospect in the system. Ibandel Isabel gets honorable mention.
2nd Base – This comes down to Willie Calhoun or Jose Miguel Fernandez. Willie hasn’t really lit it up yet, so I’m going with Jose.
Shortstop – Brendon Davis wins over Drew Jackson mainly because of age and the fact that Drew is repeating the Cal League. Drew has shown some nice power, but Brendon Davis gets the nod for April.
3rd – Edwin Rios wins this easily and is probably the prospect of the month.
Right Field – Carlos Rincon slugged his way to this one. Verdugo has been playing more RF and gets honorable mention but he needs to pick up his game if he wants to take May away from Rincon.
Center Field – DJ Peters got off to a slow start but has picked it up. I was surprised to see he has played more CF than Diaz or Verdugo.
Left Field – O’Koyea Dickson gets the nod but he had very little competition. Not really a prospect but he is still rookie eligible and he’s done nothing but hit for over a year now.
Left Handed Pitcher – Devin Smeltzer had a solid month, while the major league team is loaded with left-hand pitchers, the farm system is fairly barren of them.
Right Handed Pitcher – You would have thought that one of Walker Buehler / Alvarez / Mitchell White would be able to win this award but only Buehler put up a fight against the eventual winner AJ Alexy. The 19-year-od Alexy was brilliant albeit it was only thirteen innings. Honorable mention goes to Trevor Oaks.
| Position | Player | Avg | OBP | Slug% | OPS |
| Catcher | Will Smith | 0.319 | 0.435 | 0.609 | 1.044 |
| 1st | Cody Bellinger | 0.343 | 0.429 | 0.627 | 1.055 |
| 2nd | Jose Miguel Fernandez | 0.301 | 0.342 | 0.466 | 0.808 |
| SS | Brendon Davis | 0.303 | 0.418 | 0.487 | 0.904 |
| 3rd | Edwin Rios | 376 | 0.393 | 0.576 | 0.97 |
| RF | Carlos Rincon | 343 | 0.41 | 0.657 | 1.067 |
| CF | DJ Peters | 0.309 | 0.441 | 0.543 | 0.984 |
| LF | O’Koyea Dickson | 0.324 | 0.35 | 0.662 | 1.012 |
| IP | HitsAllowed | ER | KK/BB | ||
| LH Pitcher | Devin Smeltzer | 18 | 9 | 3 | 21/2 |
Dodgers, Yesterday and Today 