While following the minor league teams during the past season I naturally followed the high draft picks that the Dodgers have made in the last three years or so. It was relatively easy to see why their farm system is now ranked at or near the top of the pack. There is a new wave of young pitchers that would be the envy of any MLB team as well as young hitters emerging and players getting near major league ready.

However, as I followed games at the various levels within the Dodgers minor league system I noticed that there were players who had not been high draft picks who were offensive stalwarts in their own rights. I suppose in boxing we might say they were punching above their weight class. I am not sure if that is an apt metaphor in baseball but they were definitely hitting very well within their class, perhaps unexpectedly.

I have selected one player from each of the teams above the Arizona League level that stood out, especially in the second half of the season, in their respective leagues. There were other options but I am selecting those players that caught my attention.

Ogden Raptors – Brandon Montgomery

Brandon Montgomery

The 20-year-old Montgomery actually only played one-half of a season with the Raptors making his debut with the Ogden squad on July 28 after a successful 23 game stint with the Arizona League Dodgers.

Montgomery was selected by the Dodgers in the 26th round of the 2016 First-Year Player Draft out of San Jacinto Community College North in the greater Houston area.

In his 35 games with the Raptors the 6’0”/180 pound second baseman hit .329 with an OBP of .377. He drove in 29 runs while recording seven home runs, eight triples, seven doubles and scoring 31 runs. His eight triples tied him for the league lead in that department. He stole nine bases and made 12 starts at third base as well as a few appearances in the outfield.

Offensively Montgomery was a model of consistency as only once during his entire season did he go more than one game without a hit. He had a three-game drought in early September. On the season, he had 24 multiple-hit games, eight of them with three hits.

Great Lakes Loons – Logan Landon

Logan Landon

Logan Landon was selected by the Dodgers in the 10th round of the 2015 First-Year player draft as a senior out of the University of Texas–Pan American in Edinburg, Texas.

He returned to the Loons for the 2016 season having played 54 games with the Great Lakes squad in 2015. Over the past season, although he had a slow start to the season because of spending most of June on the DL, he was perhaps the Loons most consistent hitter and a go-to guy in the clutch as the season progressed.

During the second half of the season he hit .304 with an OBP of .371 along with seven home runs and 31 runs batted in.

With two outs and runners in scoring position Landon hit .288 with one home run and 23 runs batted in along with a .380 OBP.

His value was clearly evident in post season play as he and fellow outfielder Saige Jenco led the Loons to their first ever Midwest League championship. In 10 playoff games the 6’2”/180 pound Landon hit .351 with 13 hits along with seven walks, six runs and seven runs batted in.

Perhaps Landon’s biggest hit was a two-run double in the sixth inning of the championship game leading the Loons to a 9-8 win over the Clinton LumberKings on Sunday.

He played a superb outfield for the Loons and actually made it to the SportsCenter Top-10 on May 6 with a full out diving catch.

Rancho Cucamonga Quakes – Matt Beaty

Matt Beaty was selected by the Dodgers in the 12th round of the 2015 First-Year Player Draft out of Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee.

Matt Beaty

In his first professional season in 2015 with the Great Lakes Loons the 6’0”/210 pound Beaty hit .297 with an OBP of .353. In 124 games with the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes in 2016 he hit – believe it or not – .297 with an OBP of .352.

While other hitters moved on to the Tulsa Drillers Beaty remained behind and became the Quakes most reliable hitter. On the season, he hit 11 home runs and drove in 88 runs which tied him for the third most in the league.

The 23-year-old left-handed hitter was guilty of another anomaly. He hit right-handed pitching at a .289 clip and stung left-hander pitching with a .330 batting average. A quick check to 2015 indicates he hit .426 against left-handers in 68 at bats in 2015 with the Great Lakes Loons.

With the Quakes Beaty hit .346 with two outs and runners in scoring position along with three home runs and 31 runs batted in. After the All-Star break in 2016 he hit .314 in 62 games with eight home runs and 49 runs batted in.

Although he flew under the radar for most of the season, Beaty was a big part of the Quakes success in 2016. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

Beaty started 50 games at third base in 2016 and 65 at first base and was selected as a California League post season All-Star at third base.

Kyle Garlick – Tulsa Drillers

Kyle Garlick

Kyle Garlick was selected by the Dodgers in the 28th round of the 2015 First-year Player Draft out of Cal Poly in Pomona, California.

Since he began his professional career Garlick has done nothing but hit. In 2015 over four levels – AZL Dodgers, Ogden Raptors, Great Lakes Loons and Rancho Cucamonga Quakes – the 24-year-old outfielder hit .349 with his lowest average at .329 with the AZL Dodgers.

He again started his 2016 with the Quakes and soon hit his way out Rancho Cucamonga with a .306 batting average and an OBP of .367 along with 11 home runs and 37 runs batted in.

Along the way, on Monday, April 18, the 6’1”/210-pound right-handed hitter had a rare three-home-run game against the Lancaster JetHawks.

Garlick hit three home runs against the JetHawks on April 18, 2016 at the Hangar in Lancaster.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

Garlick made his debut with AA Tulsa Drillers on June 1 and continued to hit. In 79 games with the Drillers he hit .284 with eight home runs and 39 runs batted in. During the months of July and August he hit .308 with seven home runs and 36 runs batted in while posting a .353 OBP.

With two out and runners in scoring position he hit .284 with four home runs and 33 runs batted in.

Oklahoma City Dodgers – O’Koyea Dickson

O’Koyea Dickson

O’Koyea Dickson was selected by the Dodgers in the 12th round of the 2011 First-Year Player Draft out of Sonoma State University in Rohnert Park, California.

During his six-year minor league career he has posted a .285 batting average and a .353 OBP.

Although he has been very consistent during those six year, 2016 was a break out year for him. Unfortunately, injuries limited him to 101 games but did not limit his production. On the season with the OKC Dodgers he hit a team leading .328 with 18 home runs and 64 runs batted in along with a .398 OBP.

In post All-Star play he carried the team with a .341 batting average and nine home runs with 35 runs batted in and an amazing .422 OBP. The right-handed hitting Dickson hit left-hand and right-hand pitching equally well with a .327 and .329 batting average respectively.

Even more impressively, with two outs and runners in scoring position, he hit .344 with a .432 OBP along with six home runs and 30 runs batted in.

The 5’11”/220 pound Dickson played about two-thirds of his games in the outfield where he played errorless ball. Prior to the 2016 season he had primarily played at first base.

One of his biggest hits of the season came on September 8 when he cranked a go-ahead three-run homer in the eighth inning to propel Oklahoma City into the Pacific Coast League Finals with a thrilling 10-9 win over the Nashville Sounds.

I expect these young men stood out for me as the season progressed because of their relative anonymity, their play in the second half of the season and their uncanny ability to produce with two outs and runners in scoring position.

These guys definitely came to play.