It just doesn’t seem possible but the minor league baseball seasons are starting to wind down. The Dodger farm teams have not been overly successful in the win-loss columns in 2014 but as always there are players at each minor league level who have had good seasons or have had notable months. July was no exception in that regard with most of the seven minor league levels although a bit challenging to select starting pitchers at the AA and AAA levels.

Dominican Summer League Dodgers

Hitter: Nineteen year old right fielder Johan Mieses from Santo Domingo Este, Dominican Republic started slowly in June but caught fire in July and has continued to hit well into August. In his second year with the DSL Dodgers, the 6’2” 185 lb Mieses hit .378 in July with four home runs and 11 runs batted in. His OBP was .410 and his OPS was a sparkling 1.032. Possessing good speed he scored 14 runs during the month and had 12 stolen bases in 13 attempts.

Starting Pitcher: Left-hander Robert Fernandez went 2-0 with a 1.03 ERA and held opposition hitters to a .184 batting average. That is tough to beat but right-hander Hector Rodriguez had an even better month in July. He went 4-0 with a miniscule ERA of .087 in 31 innings. He struck out 20 and opposing batters hit only .159 against him. The nineteen year old from Barcelona, Venzuela topped off the month with 11 scoreless innings over two starts in which he gave up only two hits. On July 24 he pitched six hitless innings.

Relief Pitcher: Eighteen year old Dennis Santana made eight relief appearances during the month pitching a total of 9.2 innings. He gave up five hits, struck out 11 and walked five. From San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic, Santana gave up no runs in July and sports a 1.17 ERA on the season. This is his first year as a DSL Dodger.

Arizona League Dodgers

Hitter: Selected by the Dodgers in the second round of the 2014 MLB Draft out of Sahuaro High School in Tuscon, Arizona eighteen year old center fielder Alex Verdugo hit .324 in July. He had one home and drove in 11 runs while scoring 14. His OBP was .409 along with a .855 OPS. The 6’ 200 lb left-handed hitting Verdugo stuck out only eight times in 74 AB’s while walking 12 times. On the season he has struck out only nine times in 106 AB’s.

Alex Verdugo
(Photo credit – Andy Morales)

Starting Pitcher: Another 2014 Dodger draftee is a TBLA Pride Award winner with the AZL Dodgers. Eighteen year old Grant Holmes, taken in the first round of the 2014 First year Player Draft out of Conway High School in South Carolina, appeared in five games in July pitching 20 innings while giving up only 12 hits. He struck out 23, walked five and held opponents to a .174 batting average.

Relief Pitcher: Yet another player drafted in 2014 wins the TBLA Pride Award for July. Twenty-three year old Derrick Sylvester, drafted out of Southern New Hampshire University, was selected by the Dodgers with their thirty-first round pick in June. Used exclusively in relief the right-handed Sylvester had an ERA of 0.87 over 10.1 innings in July while striking out eight and walking two. He held opponents to a .179 batting average against and was actually more successful against left-handed hitters than against right-handers.

Ogden Raptors

Hitter: Devan Ahart was selected by the Dodgers in the sixteenth round of First Year Player Draft in June out of the University of Akron. He has had quite a July hitting .410 with 43 hits, scoring 28 runs and driving in 15 while hitting at the top of the order. He had an .OBP of .453 with 11 strikeouts and 10 walks while his OPS was 1.015. The twenty-one year center fielder is a left-handed hitter who had nine stolen bases in July. His .373 batting average ranks fifth in the league. On the season he has a .538 batting average with runners in scoring position with 14 hits in 26 at bats.

Starting Pitcher: Jose DeLeon, the Pioneer League Pitcher of the Week during the last week of June, is the TBLA Pride Award Winner for July. During the month the soon to be twenty-two year old went 3-0 in four starts while making one relief appearance. In 26 innings he allowed only 18 hits while recording a 1.38 ERA and a .189 batting average against by opponents. He struck out 35 and walked 10. From Isabela, Puerto Rico the 6’2” 185 lb right hander presently leads the league with 66 strikeouts and is second with a WHIP of 1.27 and an ERA of 3.04.

Jose DeLeon
Image courtesy of MiLB.com)

Relief Pitcher: Albert Vanegas, most commonly known as A.J., was drafted by the Dodgers in the eleventh round of the 2014 MLB June Amateur Draft out of Stanford University in Palo Alto California. He has previously been drafted by the San Diego Padres in 2010 (7th round) and the Oakland Athletics in 2013 (19th round). A big right-hander at 6’3” and 205 pounds, he made his first professional appearance with the Raptors on June 29th. In July he made nine appearances, all in relief, pitching 11.2 innings. He recorded two saves along with a 0.77 ERA and 15 strikeouts. He walked seven.

Great Lakes Loons

Hitter: The Great Lakes Loons have certainly struggled in 2014 but throughout those struggles Joey Curletta has maintained a relatively high profile. Although he did not finish July very strongly he did have a good month. He hit .275 with 30 hits while driving in 22. Curletta had a .333 OBP and hit only one home run during the month.

Starting Pitcher: Although the team has a collective ERA of 3.68, much of that success has been by the bull pen. Jonathan Martinez, their most effective starter all season, was recently traded to the Chicago Cubs in the Darwin Barney deal. Since none of the starters other than the departed Martinez had a very noteworthy month, I have decided to give the TBLA Pride Award to Jordan Hershiser who made one emergency start in July, his fourth of the year, and pitched three innings of one hit ball. During the month, with 24 innings, Hershiser logged more innings than any present Loons starter. He gave up only 14 hits and posted a 2.57 ERA. He struck out 24 and walked seven holding opponents to a .200 batting average against him.

Relief Pitcher: In selecting a Loons relief pitcher for July it could perhaps be done as accurately by tossing a dart at the names posted on a dart board. That is not because the relief corps is so ineffective but because it was so exceptional in July. The targets could be Victor Arujo, Jacob Rhame, previous TBLA Pride Winner Michael Johnson, Ralston Cash, Kyle Hooper the aforementioned Jordan Hershiser and Matt Campbell. The winner is – in closer than a photo finish – Jacob Rhame the Dodgers sixth round selection in the 2013 MLB June Amateur Draft out of Grayson County College. In July Rhame had 12 relief appearances, throwing 18.1 innings and allowing just five hits. He struck out 27, walked five and posted an ERA of 0.00 and a WHIP of .086. Rhame is a 6’1” 190 lb right-hander.

Rancho Cucamonga Quakes

Hitter: No question about the Quakes top hitter in the month of July. Jeremy Rathjen, the twenty-four year old right fielder, took dead aim at opposing pitchers in July and kept them in the cross hairs throughout the month. He hit .363 in July, following a June stint on the DL, and scored twenty runs as well as driving in twenty in 102 at bats. With nine doubles, one triple and six home runs he had a .393 OBP and posted a Corey Seager like 1.040 OPS. He has continued his heavy hitting in early August.

Jeremy Rathjen
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

Starting Pitcher: Is is difficult to overlook Jharel Cotton the recent California League Pitcher of the Week but it is even more difficult to overlook Lindsey Caughel. The twenty-three year old Caughel is reminiscent of Ross Stripling. That is, pitching among higher draft picks but constantly pitching at or above their level. In July he went 4-1 with a 2.25 ERA in 32 innings. He struck out 32 and walked a few more than he usually does with 11. In the second half of the season Caughel is 6-1 with an ERA of 1.80.

Relief Pitcher: The younger members of the Rancho Cucamonga bull pen did not harvest a great crop in July so the award goes to an old timer who did. Left-hander Yasmanys Fernandez turned 27 in May. He posted a 0.00 ERA in July in 10 appearances over 11.2 innings. He struck out 15 and held opposing hitters to a .220 batting average.

Chattanooga Lookouts

Hitter: One of my personal favorites, along with Darnell Sweeney is O’Koyea Dickson, the Lookouts first baseman. Just as Scott Schebler and Sweeney owned June, Dickson owned July. He hit .326 while scoring 18 runs and driving in 16. Among his 30 hits were nine doubles and four home runs resulting in a .952 OPS. He had an OBP of .398 while striking out only 12 times and walking 10 times during the month. Dickson, a right-handed hitter hits right-handed pitchers better than lefties.

Starting Pitcher: To say there has been a dearth of starting pitching in Chattanooga would be an under statement. The team is dead last in WHIP and barely second last in ERA and walks allowed. Andres Santiago had a reasonable July under those circumstances after a sizzling June. In July he posted a 3.90 ERA in 32.1 innings. He did give up only about a hit an inning by yielding 34 hits. The problem came, as it did for most Lookouts starters, with walks. Santiago walked 21 hitters while striking out 24.

Relief Pitcher: Jarret Martin had perhaps the best month for Lookouts relievers our performing the usually solid Michael Thomas. Juan Noriega pitched well in July but pitched only about one half of the innings logged by Martin with his 17.2 over 11 appearances. He had an ERA of 3.57 while striking out 17 and walking eight. His walks to strikeouts ratio was the best of any month in 2014 and he held opposing hitters to a .190 batting average against him.

Jarret Martin
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

Albuquerque Isotopes

Hitter: This one was a slam dunk – Peterson. No, not Joc Pederson, Brock Peterson. A first baseman, Peterson joined the Isotopes in early July when Isotope first baseman Clint Robinson was with the Dodgers. Peterson obviously liked to hit in the Pacific Coast League hitting equally well at home and away. He hit .379 in July with six home runs and 22 runs batted in. Among his 36 hits were 10 doubles along with his six home runs resulting in an OPS of 1.127. His OBP was .454.

Brock Peterson
(Photo credit – Adolphe Pierre-Louis)

Starting Pitcher: Like the Lookouts, the Isotopes as a team were close to bottom of the pile in ERA and WHIP as well as hits allowed. No starter in July had a good month, including Zach Lee. Only one starting pitcher has an ERA of less than 5.00. Jeff Bennett finished the month with six starts and 1-2 win-loss record while posting a 4.85 ERA. He pitched 29.2 innings and struck out 23 while walking 12. In his last two appearances in July he went 12 innings giving up 10 hits and no runs.

Relief Pitcher: The relief pitchers with the Isotopes didn’t fare much better than the starters. Perhaps unfair to name Jose Dominguez, I again turned to the forgotten man Yimi Garcia. Garcia had a difficult June but bounced back in July pitching nine innings over 10 appearances. He posted an ERA of 2.00 while striking out eight and walking four resulting in a strikeout to walk ratio which is uncharacteristically low for Garcia.