As some fans may know, the Dominican Summer League began play on Saturday, May 30th. Teams in the DSL play a 70-game schedule with six teams making the playoff round – the winner of each of the five divisions and one wild card with the best record. The DSL Dodgers play in the Boca Chica Northwest Division of the league with their home field being the historic Campo Las Palmas complex. The other teams in this division are affiliated with Houston, Cleveland, Tampa Bay, Oakland and Kansas City.

After 16 games the DSL Dodgers – managed by Pedro Mega – have an 8-8 record and are 3.5 games behind the division leading Astros. They have won four of their last six games.

Jimy Perez has been the offensive leader on the Dodgers. The 6’ 2”, 185-pound third baseman is hitting .319 with an on base percentage of .379. Now in his third year in the Dominican Summer League, Perez leads the league with six home runs and 18 runs batted in. He is tied for the league lead with eight doubles.

The highlight of the season to date has been a no-hitter fashioned by starter Leonardo Crawford and two relievers. On Thursday, June 11, Crawford went 6.1 innings striking out nine and walking one. He was followed by right-hander Wally Vrolijk who pitched 2.1 perfect innings and Johan Diaz who closed out the game in the ninth inning with a walk and a strikeout. The Dodgers won the game 7-0 with Jimy Perez and Felix Osorio hitting home runs.

As you might expect, 18-year-old Leonardo Crawford was all smiles after his no-hit performance last week. (Image courtesy of Laprensa.com.ni)

The no-hitter was the first in the DSL since former Yankees prospect Rafael De Paula threw a rain-shortened five-inning no-hitter on Aug. 7, 2012.

On Wednesday, Crawford continued his dominance pitching five scoreless innings while giving up four hits, walking two and striking out seven. The Dodgers won 6-1.

The 6’ 0”, 180-pound left-handed Crawford is from Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua. He was signed by the Dodgers in July 2014.

In this, his inaugural season in the DSL, the 18-year-old Crawford is now 4-0 having pitched 22.1 innings in his four starts. He has not allowed an earned run and has an excellent WHIP of 0.63. He has given up only nine hits and walked five while striking out 26.