HITTERS

Dominican Summer League Dodgers

Carlos Aquino: Aquino has quietly progressed well this summer. He started with a .167 batting average in June and improved significantly in both July and August. The eighteen year old second baseman hit .353 in August from the lead off spot while scoring 12 runs in 16 games. He stole seven bases and walked seven times. His OBP was a lofty .452. From Villa Gonzalez, Dominican Republic, Aquino is a switch hitter.

Arizona League Dodgers

Brant Whiting: Besides catching the no-hitter on the final game of the regular season, Whiting has been a model of consistency at the plate during the season. Sharing catching duties did limit his at bats but he hit consistently in all situations. In August he hit .345 and had an OBP of .525. He walks more than he strikes out . A left-handed hitter he was drafted by the Dodgers in the 30th round of the 2014 First Year Player Draft.

Ogden Raptors

Cody Bellinger: The 6’4’’ Bellinger was drafted by the Dodgers in the fourth round of the 2013 First Year Player Draft out of Hamilton High School in Arizona. He hit .317 for the year and .282 in August with good production. He scored 23 runs during the month and drove in 22. He stole five bases without being caught and had 12 extra base hits among his 33 hits. During the final two must win games with the Grand Junction Rockies, he went six for eleven, scored four runs and drove in two. Bellinger has a sweet swing as a lefty and a very solid glove at first base.

Great Lakes Loons

Joey Curletta: The Loons had a very difficult time at the plate is 2014 which got even more dificult when Kyle Farmer was promoted to the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes and Jesmuel Valentin was traded in the Roberto Hernandez deal. Devan Ahart provided some spark after he was promoted from the Ogden Raptors but had only 69 at bats in August with the Loons. Although it was below his usual standard, Joey Curletta may have had the most productive August with the Loons with 27 hits, 10 runs, and 13 runs batted in. Curletta, 20,was a sixth round selection by the Dodgers in the 2012 June draft.

Joey Curletta
(Photo courtesy of MiLB.com)

Rancho Cucamonga Quakes

Pratt Maynard: Among bigger names during the season – Corey Seager, Jeremy Rathjen, Chris Jacobs, Aaron Miller – Maynard put together a very productive August which was nice to see. He hit .329 in 85 AB’s and drove in 16 runs. He struck out 15 times but walked nine times giving him a .394 OBP for the month. The Dodgers selected him in the third round of the 2011 June draft.

Chattanooga Lookouts

Daniel Mayora: It was difficult to look past Corey Seager and Scott Schebler but Mayora contributed as much as or more than Seager or Schebler in August. He hit .364 while scoring 22 and driving in 22 runs in August. He had a .417 OBP for the month. He is perhaps the MVP on the Lookouts hitting .429 with runners on second and third base. Mayora was signed as a minor league free agent by the Dodgers.

Albuquerque Isotopes

Tim Federowicz: Once again it is difficult to look past Joc Pederson but bigger awards await him. Federowicz hit .347 in August while scoring 19 runs and driving in 11. He had four home runs and an OBP of .396 along with a team high 35 hits during the month. FedEx, as he is known, was acquired by the Dodgers in a trade involving the Red Sox and Mariners in 2011 and is one of four Dodgers farm hand called up to the Dodgers on September 1.

Tim Federowicz
(Photo credit – Kirby Lee)

RELIEF PITCHERS

Dominican Summer League Dodgers

Johan Diaz: The DSL Dodgers had four young relievers who certainly could be candidates for the August award – Dennis Santana, July’s award winner, Angel Bautista, Johan Diaz and Edward Perez. Diaz gets the nod with his 0.71 ERA and 0.55 WHIP in August. From San Antonio de Guerra, Dominican Republic, he pitched 12.2 innings in six appearances. He gave up three hits, struck out nine and walked four while limiting the opposition hitters to a .077 batting average against him.

Arizona League Dodgers

Carson Baranik: Derrick Sylvester, the July TBLA award winner, had an outstanding August with the AZL Dodgers and was rewarded with a promotion to the Ogden Raptors to help them in their play-off run. Carson Baranik is next in line having pitched 16.1 inning with the Dodgers during the month. He actually had a five inning start in which he gave up only two earned runs. His ERA in August was 2.20 while he had a WHIP of 1.29. He struck out 16 and walked seven. Barabik was selected by the Dodgers in the thirty-third round of the 2014 First Year Player Draft.

Ogden Raptors

Joe Broussard: He was joined by a bevy of relievers who had a productive August helping the Raptors clinch a play-off berth, including Brock Stewart, Billy Flamion, Albert Vanagas and Ryan Taylor. Vanagas was promoted to the Great Lakes Loons and has found success there. Joe Broussard, the Dodgers fifteenth round selection in the 2014 June draft, made one slip on August 1st resulting in three earned runs. Following that he got into a grove and ended the month with a 3.00 ERA and 0.89 WHIP in 18 innings along with 27 strikeouts and three walks. He had one stretch of nine innings over four appearances in which he allowed only two hits. Although not the designated closer he had three saves in August in three save opportunities.

Great Lakes loons

Jacob Rhame: The Great Lakes relief corps was a story in itself in 2014 in which the team had eight quality relievers and late in August was joined by a ninth, Albert Vanagas from the Ogden Raptors. Ralston Cash was promoted directly to the Chattanooga Lookouts and Victor Araujo to the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes during the month. The August relief pitcher award again goes to Jacob Rhame, no doubt the Dodgers minor league relief pitcher of the year. In August the 21 year old Rhame pitched 15 innings punctuated with a 0.60 ERA and a 0.80 WHIP. He struck out 25 and did not walk a hitter during the month. He had five saves in five save opportunities. He was drafted by the Dodgers in the sixth round of the 2013 First Year Player Draft.

Jacob Rhame
(Photo courtesy of Dodger Insider)

Rancho Cucamonga Quakes

Luis Meza: I recall watching Meza pitch for the Loons in 2013 and I also remember how versatile he was with the Great Lakes team. With the Quakes in 2014 he seemed to nose dive perhaps due to a stint on the DL early in the season. In August Meza pulled out of the nose dive and is easily the TBLA selection for reliever of the month for ther last month of the 2014 season. In ten appearances over 16.2 innings he had an ERA of 2.16 and a WHIP of 1.02. He struck out 10 and walked three. He finished his season with two strong innings in the last game of the regular schedule on September 1st. He was rewarded with a win. Meza, 24, is from Coro, Falcon, Venezuela.

Chattanooga Lookouts

Michael Thomas: Daniel Coloumbe and Freddie Cabrera who were promoted from the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes made significant contributions with the Lookouts during the season. Left-hander Jarret Martin continued to keep himself on the Dodgers’ radar. However, it was difficult to top Michael Thomas’ month. Thomas had a knack of stranding inherited runners and over nine appearances during the month he pitched 10 innings limiting the opposition to two hits. He struck out 15 and walked two. He did not allow a run and had a WHIP of 0.50. Thomas was drafted in the thirty-fifth round in the 2011 June Draft. Walks may well have been a reason why Michael Thomas has not progressed beyond AA. Thomas will represent the Dodgers in the upcoming 2014 Arizona Fall League.

Michael Thomas
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

Albuquerque Isotopes

Yimi Garcia: Isotopes Park has not been kind to Isotope pitchers in 2014, including relief pitchers. The assault on pitchers continued in August. Yimi Garcia was the only relief pitcher to escape the month although almost unscathed. He posted a respectable ERA of 3.00 and a WHIP of 1.07 over 15 innings in which he struck out 16 and walked four. Save opportunities were a rarity but he was three for three in that category. From Moca, Dominican Republic, the 24 year old Garcia made his Dodger debut on September 1st allowing one hit over two innings and striking out one.