Dodgers top pitching prospect Jose De Leon has made nine starts this season – seven with the Advanced Single-A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes and two with the Double-A Tulsa Drillers. In those nine starts he is 4-2 with a remarkable 1.95 ERA. But that’s not even the best news. The best news is that in those nine starts, De Leon has struck out 10 or more batters in four of them – three times with the Quakes and once with the Drillers.

With his 11 strikeouts on Friday night, De Leon now has 77 on the season – tops in the minor leagues. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

On Friday night in only his second start since being promoted to the Drillers, De Leon struck out the first Frisco Rough Riders (Rangers) batter he faced. He then gave up a solo home run to Riders catcher Jorge Alfaro. After that, De Leon allowed only one other batter to reach second base – a second inning double by Riders left fielder Preston Beck – while giving up a total of three hits, two walks and 11 strikeouts in his seven innings of work.

Unfortunately for the hard-throwing 22-year-old Isabela, Puerto Rico native, he received zero run support from his teammates. Fortunately, the Drillers rallied for three runs in the top of the ninth on singles by second baseman Brandon Dixon, first baseman Lars Anderson, right fielder Yadir Drake and third baseman Daniel Mayora to beat the Rough Riders by a score of 3-1.

The win wasn’t without its tense moments, however. The Riders managed to load the bases in their half of the ninth off of Drillers right-hander Juan Gonzalez on a lead-off single by first baseman Trever Adams, a one out single by Beck and a walk to second baseman Luis Mendez, forcing Drillers manager Razor Shines to bring in left-hander Jeremy Horst. Horst promptly struck out center fielder Jake Scole swinging on a 1-2 count and then designated hitter Nick Williams swinging on a 3-2 count after Williams fouled off two pitches with the runners going.

Drillers left-hander Ryan Dennick (2-0) picked up the win, with Horst earning his third save of the season. Riders right-hander David Martinez (1-2) suffered both the blown save and the loss.

With his 11 strikeouts on Friday night, De Leon now has 77 on the season while allowing only 12 walks in his 50.2 innings of work. Just last week ESPN’s Keith Law ranked De Leon as the 24th best prospect in the minors while MLB.com has him ranked as the 6th best Dodgers prospect. It appears that both may want to re-evaluate their respective rankings.