Dodger Thoughts

Jon Weisman's outlet for dealing psychologically with the Los Angeles Dodgers, baseball and life

Tag: D.J. Peters

Dodgers poised to reboot
Sweet Life of Zach and Cody

Though Corey Seager is still sidelined for weeks thanks to the hand that rocked the baseball, within a week the Dodgers are expecting to get a major reinforcement with the return of Cody Bellinger, not to mention a key boost from Zack McKinstry. 

For a team that has struggled to get production from the back end of its roster, these infusions will have a major impact. Bellinger has played in only four of the team’s 45 games this season, and even while establishing himself as an early season sensation (142 OPS+), McKinstry has only appeared in 17. 

Always a streaky hitter, Bellinger might require time to get back into the groove, while the promising McKinstry still needs to prove how productive he can be over the long term. Nevertheless, here’s a quick look at how this revival of the Suite Life of Zach and Cody will transform the Dodger squad we’ve been watching the past month.

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Farm Fresh: Hicks, Peters each slug a pair of homers

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By Miranda Perez

Highlights from the Dodger minor leagues from September 5, including a pair of two-homer games …

  • Triple-A Oklahoma City used the same winning formula as the big league club yesterday, belting four home runs in its 10-8 win over Omaha in the final game of the regular season. Brandon Hicks had two homers of his own, while Cody Bellinger hit his third home run in two days and Corey Brown hit a solo shot.
  • O’Koyea Dickson was named the Pacific Coast League Player of the Week for August 29-September 5. Dickson went 13-for-26 (.500) with seven extra-base hits, including three doubles, a triple, three home runs and 10 RBI.
  • Activated from the disabled list before the game, Victor Gonzalez struck out eight in five innings with no walks, allowing only a solo home run as Single-A Great Lakes closed out its regular season with a 5-1 win against West Michigan. Infielder Matt Jones went 2 for 4 with a home run and three RBI in the season finale. The Loons will go on to the first round of playoffs and face the Bowling Green Hot Rods at home Wednesday to start in a best-of-three series.
  • DJ Peters did his part to help Rookie League Odgen stay in the playoff race, launching two home runs and driving in four in the Raptors’ 6-2 win over Grand Junction. Peters, Keibert Ruiz and Brock Carpenter each tallied three hits, while Rob McDonnell hurled five solid innings, allowing two runs on three hits and earning the win. With three games left, Odgen is only a half a game behind Grand Junction in the Pioneer League South.

 

Farm Fresh: August 18 minors highlights

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Jared Ravich/MiLB.com

By Miranda Perez

Here are the highlights from the Dodger farm system for August 18, including twin bases-clearing feats …

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Farm Fresh: Three Dodger minor-leaguers win weekly awards

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By Bart Harvey

The Dodgers had three players in their farm system earn top honors for July 18-24:

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Farm Fresh: Top pick Gavin Lux makes debut

By Jon Weisman

Newly signed Dodger first-round pick Gavin Lux has reported to Camelback Ranch, where he will play in the Arizona Fall League, as several members of the 2016 draft class got into their first action as pros Monday.

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The Dodgers’ take on Day 2 of the 2016 draft

Eighth-round draft pick Andre Scrubb of High Point University (High Point Athletics)

Eighth-round draft pick Andre Scrubb of High Point University (High Point Athletics)

By Jon Weisman

As the Dodgers completed the first 10 rounds of the 2016 MLB draft, some fans scratched their heads over the selection of three shortstops, considering that the team has a 22-year-old future All-Star at the position.

But in discussing the Dodgers’ selections today, director of amateur scouting Billy Gasparino explained the thinking — and no, it’s not that the Dodgers have forgotten about Corey Seager.

“The theory is that looking throughout the history of the draft and how athletes develop and age, when they’re athletic enough to play shortstop, it’s a pretty good recipe — as they age and get older and their skills develop and their bodies go forward or backwards — they can usually play other positions,” Gasparino said. “So many players today who are left fielders or right fielders, third basemen, second basemen, started out as shortstops. If you can start there, it’s a lot easier to transition to other places on the field, and gives you more avenues of versatility that way.”

In other words, this isn’t the NBA. With development such a long, protracted process in baseball — and almost no such thing as a quick fix — the overwhelming tendency is to take the player with the greatest potential, regardless of what the current Major League roster looks like. If the worst-case scenario is the Dodgers have multiple quality shortstops, they’ll live with that.

Gasparino also said that the drafting of several players from smaller four-year or community colleges illustrates an attempt to find value within a draft landscape where so few rocks go unturned.

“The depth of the draft is a priority and something we preach,” he said, “so in many ways it leads you to go look for those players, and you kind of think you have value there, whereas (for example) the junior center fielder from the University of Georgia has been well seen.”

Though players at different levels — or even at the same level but from different regions — obviously don’t face the same level of competition, the Dodgers are confident in their ability to translate performance.

“That’s why we have the tool grades, and you just look at the physical tools,” Gasparino said. “And I think our analytical staff does a very good job of analyzing the numbers and trying to correlate different levels of competition with a lot of different factors. And just our scouts’ experience: We have a lot of experience on the staff, and they seem to have a very good knack of trying to cipher through that stuff and figure out who the better players are.”

Gasparino said that advanced scouting stats such as exit velocity and spin rate have migrated to the Division I colleges and high-school summer showcases, further enhancing their ability to evaluate.

And with that, here are quick thoughts from Gasparino on each of the Dodgers’ draft picks today:

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D.J. Peters, 6-foot-6 outfielder, taken in fourth round by Dodgers

PetersBy Jon Weisman

With their fourth-round pick and the 131st taken overall in the MLB draft, the Dodgers selected their second 6-foot-6 player in a row: 20-year-old right-handed outfielder D.J. Peters, from Glendora High School by way of Western Nevada Community College.

Peters had a .519 on-base percentage and .734 slugging percentage in 2016 for the Wildcats, with 31 extra-base hits and 34 walks compared with 33 strikeouts. For context, his .419 batting average and 16 home runs in 2016 set school records. (He also had a 1.35 ERA in 6 2/3 innings)

As this Western Nevada story notes, Peters was taken in the 36th round twice before, by the Texas Rangers last year and by the Cubs after his senior year at Glendora.

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