It’s that time of the year again when we start looking at the playoff prospects of the Dodgers minor league teams. Today we check in on the short season affiliates.

DSL Dodgers1

The Dodgers have two teams in the Dominican Summer League along with the Mets, Rangers, Cubs, Diamondbacks and Rays. The playoff contingent in the DSL is made up of the five division winners plus the best runner up.

The DSL Dodgers1 currently have a 32-17 record leaving them one-half game behind the DSL Red Sox. The Dodgers have won eight of their last nine games including taking two of their three games with the division leading Red Sox. They have 23 games left to play with two more against the Red Sox.

It is indeed interesting that the Dodgers are challenging for the division lead as their .222 team batting average is near the bottom of the league. However, the pitching staff has produced a different story with a 2.66 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP both good for third place in the league. With 326 hits allowed the Dodgers staff has allowed the third fewest hits in the league.

The offense has been led by catcher Marco Hernandez who is hitting .309 with an OBP of .392 along with two home runs and 15 runs batted in over 44 games played.

On the mound left-hander Jose Hernandez has posted a 6-1 record in 51 innings pitched along with a 1.94 ERA and a 1.12 WHIP. He has struck out 41 and walked 18.

DSL Dodgers2

The DSL Dodgers2 have posted a 30-22 record during the current campaign slowing down a bit after winning 13 of their first 14 games. They currently stand one-half game behind the DSL Rangers1 and tied with the DSL Rays2. They have 21 games left in their schedule, four each with the Rangers and Rays.

As with their DSL Dodgers1 counterparts, they have had trouble at the plate posting a .232 team batting average which is in the lower quarter of the league. On the hill, the team has done well enough to stay in contention with a 3.52 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP.

Right fielder Rolando Lebron is the only member of the team to crack the .300 barrier with his .364 batting average in 32 games along with his .446 OBP.

Seventeen-year-old right-hander Aldry Acosta has had a strong start to his professional career posting a 1.64 ERA and a minuscule WHIP of 0.89 in 38.1 innings. He has struck out 30 and walked eight.

DSL Dodgers2
(Photo courtesy of dominicansummerleague.com)

Arizona League Dodgers

In the Arizona League six teams qualify for the playoffs. Those six teams come from the first and second half winners in each of the three divisions. In the first half of the season the AZL Dodgers finished with an 18-10 record leaving them one and one-half games out of a play-off spot behind the AZL Brewers.

Thus far in the second half of the season the Dodgers are 2-2 and one game behind both the AZL Reds and AZL White Sox.

On the season, the Dodgers are in the middle of the pack offensively with a .255 batting average but have hit productively. They are third with 22 home runs, third with 176 runs batted in and second with 64 doubles.

The AZL teams have a roster that is in a state of flux with a number of playing coming and going on rehab assignments from higher minor league levels or the MLB level. The Dodgers are no exception.

One constant for the Dodgers offensively has been 20-year-old Jefrey Souffront, a second baseman from Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic. He is currently hitting .311 with a .417 OBP. He has 18 runs batted in and has walked 10 times while striking out 11.

The pitching staff as a group has performed very well during the 2017 season. Their ERA of 3.64 ranks third in the league while their WHIP of 1.14 leads the league. They are also league leaders in allowing the fewest hits with 233 and fewest walks with 78.

Eighteen-year-old Jesus Vargas from Macuto in Venezuela leads the pitching staff with 32 innings pitched over which he has posted a 3.38 ERA and a 0.97 WHIP. He has struck out 24 and walked three while allowing no earned runs in his last two appearances over 11 innings.

Ogden Raptors

The Raptors finished with a 23-15 record in the first half of the 2017 season. They finished three and one-half games behind the Orem Owlz in the Southern Division of the Pioneer League.

The playoff procedure in the Pioneer League includes the winner of each division in the first and second half of the season. The Raptors are now 3-0 in the second half since the All-Star break. They have 34 games to play before wrapping up their regular season on September 9.

Offensively the Ogden squad has been a bit of a juggernaut. The are currently second behind the Orem Owlz with a .313 batting average and in base hits with 480 as well as in runs scored with .306. They lead the league in home runs (57), total bases (744), OPS (.902) and slugging percentage (.509).

The roster has changed considerably in the past few weeks with the following players promoted to the Great Lakes Loons: Cristian Santana, Jared Walker, Jeren Kendall, Starling Heredia, Zach Reks, Nick Yarnall, Moises Perez. All-star catcher, Hendrik Clementina, was traded to the Cincinnati Reds on July 31.

Outfielder Tyler Adkison who was selected by the Dodgers in the 32nd round of the 2017 First-Year Player Draft has been a constant in the Raptors lineup. He has posted a triple slash of .385/.474/.564 with an OPS of 1.038 in 23 games.

The pitching staff has settled in much better recently after some high scoring games. The team ERA of 4.77 ranks third in the league as does the WHIP of 1.55. The Raptors staff leads the league with 361 strikeouts and has allowed 28 home runs which is the fewest allowed by any team in the league.

Right-hander Carlos Felix was a mainstay of the staff until his recent promotion to the Loons along with All-Star reliever James Carter. Left-hander Christian Stolo has stepped in to fill the void left by Felix while former outfielder/first baseman Matt Jones has excelled in relief. The right-handed Jones has posted a 1.50 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP over 12 appearances.

Let the playoff runs begin.