July 22nd, 2016 at 6:00 am 
by Ron Cervenka Let’s face it, the chances of us ever again seeing a group of Dodgers minor league prospects like the famed “Jacksonville Five” – Chad Billingsley, Andy LaRoche, Joel Guzman, Russell Martin, and Jonathan Broxton – are extremely remote. They were five of the Dodgers top prospects who came up together through the franchise’s farm system and given that appropriate (and awesome) nickname when they played together with the Jacksonville Suns, the Dodgers Double-A affiliate in 2005. All five eventually made it under the lights at Dodger Stadium, albeit at different times and some longer than others. Simply put, the way that the farm system was handled then and the way it works today are as different as night and day.
Although the premise under which young players were drafted back then and today has remained relatively unchanged, that is, that those drafted will hopefully develop within the system and eventually make it to the major leagues as Dodgers, the reality is that this very rarely happens; in fact, it never happens. Somewhere along the way most of these kids either get traded, get released or simply quit when the dream that they have been chasing their entire lives is no longer attainable.
But every now and then the stars align just right and the drafting gurus put their collective heads together, and a group of kids are selected from the same draft class that are destined to succeed together as a group. Apparently those stars did just that this past June when the Dodgers selected 20-year-old D.J. Peters in the 4th round and 21-year-old Cody Thomas in the 13th round.
After a very brief two-week cup of coffee with the Arizona Rookie League Dodgers, Thomas was promoted to the Ogden Raptors of the short-season Pioneer Rookie League on July 5 where he joined Peters and 20-year-old Dodgers 2015 second-round draft pick Mitch Hansen. The three immediately clicked and now make up the Raptors (almost) everyday outfield with Hansen in left, Thomas in center and Peters in right and, by all appearances, the three will be playing together for the next several seasons as they make their way through the Dodgers minor league system.
The Ogden Raptors outfielders have good reason to celebrate – they are very good.
(Photo credit – Kevin Johnson)
Through his first professional season in 2015 and thus far in 2016, Mitch Hansen has amassed a (brief) career slash-line of .270 / .334 / .404 for an OPS of .738 – certainly nothing to get overly excited about. However, through his first 29 games this season in Ogden, the Plano, Texas native has a slash-line of .355 / .400 / .554 for a very respectable OPS of .954. He has also slugged seven home runs and driven in 22 runs.
And then there’s Cody Thomas. In his combined 20 games between the AZL Dodgers and Ogden Raptors, the Colleyville, Texas native is 34 for 76 (.443) with a .517 on-base percentage and remarkable .921 slugging percentage to give him an alien-like 1.438 OPS. He has hit a total of seven home runs (three in Arizona and four in Ogden) and has a combined 22 RBIs.
Last but not least is D.J. Peters. The Glendora, California native, who grew up a die-hard Dodger fan, is killing it with the Raptors. He has appeared in 26 of the Raptors 32 games, is 40 for 104 (.385) with a .475 OBP and .663 SLG for an excellent 1.139 OPS. He has hit five home runs, one triple and 12 doubles while driving in 17 runs.
Although it is highly unlikely that the circumstances will allow for all three of these young guns to come up through the Dodgers minor league system as a single unit at the same time, it is very likely that we will be hearing a great deal about the Ogden Three collectively and individually over the next several years.
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How much fun is it for the Ogden fans now? Last night the three outfielders – hitting 1,2,3 in the lineup – went a combined nine for 14 with two home runs, eight RBI and eight runs scored, five by Peters. The Raptors have won eight of their last nine games.
Hansen’s seven home runs leads the league.
Might be too soon to call them the Ogden Four but first baseman Ibandel Isabel is raking right along with the Ogden Three. He is hitting .379 with five home runs and 29 RBI. His RBI total is just three behind league leader Meibrys Viloria of the Idaho Falls Chukars.
Isabel’s OPS of 1.115 is fourth in the league while his .644 slugging percentage ranks third. He has hit safely in 20 of 25 games in 2016 and in nine of his last ten games, with five multiple hit games during those ten games.
Maybe an Ogden Five – keep an eye on 20-yera-old catcher Luis Paz and 18 – year-old catcher Keibert Ruiz.
The next challenge for Ogden’s young guns will be the challenge of hitting in a more pitcher friendly Midwest League with the Great lakes Loons.
I am at work by 5:00 AM. The 1st thing I do is look at the previous day minor league play/box scores. The 1st team I look at is Ogden. It started out that I was following Ogden because of Mitch Hansen, but now I look for DJ and Cody as well. And as you noted, they all had a great day yesterday. But it seems like it is like that every day with those three. With Tubbs/Raley/Jenco at Great Lakes, Diaz starting to heat up at Rancho, and Verdugo/Bellinger/Scavuzzo at Tulsa there could be some very good OFs coming up. Bellinger is probably more projected at 1B, but he has been playing a lot more OF.
I have also been watching the 18 year old Venezuelan catcher, Keibert Ruiz. I always look for catchers. If you Harold, or Ron have written anything on him, I would sure like to be directed to it. If not, I hope that one of you can in the future. The same with Ibandel Isabel. It looks like I am going to need to start following the DSL teams a little more closely.
I am not that far from Ogden, I just might have to make it out to watch these guys before the summer is over.
AC – that’s great. Go there as soon as you can. A wonderful venue and the Raptors hot as pistols.
Haven’t written anything about those catchers. It is difficult to write when they are still low in the system as the info on DSL players is extremely limited. However, stay tuned.
I also like 19 – year-old Gersel Pitre – catcher in Ogden – who is not hitting all that well but has thrown out 17 of 30 base runners attempting to steal.
Pitching is a bit of an issue with the Raptors I was hoping Alexy and May would soon get bumped up to the Raptors. May hit a bit of a bump in the road on Tuesday.
I see 18-year-old outfielder Carlos Rincon has been promoted to the AZL Dodgers from the DSL Dodgers.
Harold,
I think that RIGHT NOW the Dodgers have more prospects, deeper into the system than at any other time I remember. Am I wrong?
I would agree with that assessment Mark. The beauty of it is that it gives them the ability to hang on to their best prospects while still having enough good prospects to use as trade chips.
I don’t think you are wrong Mark. There were times when they seemed to have a group of prospects at one level or another but often concentrated at the lower levels. Now they are getting them spread out at different levels meaning they have a pipeline of prospects developing to continuously feed the parent team and be available for trade without depleting a given level. It is fun to tune in to a minor league game at any level because there is so much to watch.
I think FAZ deserves credit for this. They trade for prospects, draft well, sign them internationally and uncover good farm system products in other places such as undrafted free agents and independent leagues. They have traded minor league players but to date have done so judiciously without giving up good prospects.
There will come a time – maybe this year – when they may have to trade a blue chip prospect(s) but now can get value for value without sinking the ship. I think they have immunized themselves against the tendency to make short term desperation moves and instead play on for the longer game.
I think they do a great job of moving pieces around to keep that ship afloat by securing players who can contribute in a variety of ways at different levels, including at the MLB level. With what has gone on in 2016, the Dodgers most likely at this point should already be floating belly up and they aren’t.
I like their quick promotion policy within the minor league system.
Perhaps I missed his name while scanning the comments, but 21 year old, 6′ 4″ first baseman Ibandel Isabel should be included in this group of prospects; .379/.471/.644/1.155
I made mention of Isabel in my first comment. He is on fire right now.
Maybe should be Ogden Four but I do like the Ogden Three with the three outfielders.
thanks. And 2 OF’ers, Raley and Senco, along with pitcher Caleb Ferguson recently promoted to Great Lakes.
Also Darien Tubbs to the Loons. Tubbs, Jenco and Raley all finding the going a bit tougher with the Loons.