The OKC Dodgers were leading the PCL East for most of the season. But when it came time to ice the division with facing El Paso Chihuahuas (San Diego), they lost 4 of 6 in the last full week of the season to be eliminated before game 6. They ended up going 84-66 finishing 1.0 game behind El Paso.
They were a veteran offensive team to begin with, and then added some of the LAD top prospects during the season. Jason Martin, Kevin Pillar, Jake Lamb, and Eddy Alvarez were four of the veterans LAD wanted to stash down in OKC for emergency. They also had two veteran MLB catchers in Tony Wolters and Tomás Telis.
Position players added during the season:
- Hunter Feduccia – Catcher
- Jake Amaya – SS
- Michael Busch – 2B/OF
- Devin Mann – Utility
- James Outman – OF
Miguel Vargas and Ryan Noda moved up from AA last year, while Drew Avans repeated his stay with OKC. All three were very productive for OKC. Andy Burns and Omar Estévez also returned to OKC in 2022. Also Zach McKinstry spent a lot of time with OKC before moving to the Cubs in the Chris Martin trade.
LAD salted the OKC pitching corps with veteran arms. Starters Jon Duplantier, Robbie Erlin, Beau Burrows, and Mike Wright, and relievers Carson Fulmer, Sam Gaviglio, and Daniel Zamora. Ryan Pepiot and Andre Jackson returned to the OKC rotation. There were multiple relievers who returned.
Pitchers added during year were starters, Michael Grove, Bobby Miller, and Gavin Stone. Relievers promoted include Aaron Ochsenbein, Nick Robertson, Justin Hagenman, and Mark Washington.
AAA players who finished the season with OKC and in the LAD top 30 prospects (per MLB Pipeline).
- Bobby Miller (RHSP) – #2
- Michael Busch (2B/OF) – #4
- Ryan Pepiot (RHSP) – #6
- Gavin Stone (RHSP) – #7
- James Outman (OF) – #13
- Jake Amaya (SS) – #15
Two players promoted to LAD as the 27th and 28th players and also on the top 30 prospects.
- Miguel Vargas (3B/LF) – #3
- Michael Grove (RHSP) – #24
Individual PCL Leaders (Top 15) – Need 405 PA
BA:
- Miguel Vargas – #2 (.304)
- Jason Martin – #8 (.285)
- Drew Avans – #11 (.282)
OBP:
- Miguel Vargas – #2 (.404)
- Ryan Noda – #3 (.395)
- Drew Avans – #6 (.379)
- Jason Martin – #9 (.374)
SLG:
- Jason Martin – #4 (.564)
- Miguel Vargas – #6 (.511)
- Michael Busch – #12 (.480)
- Ryan Noda – #14 (.474)
OPS:
- Jason Martin – #2 (.938)
- Miguel Vargas – #3 (.915)
- Ryan Noda – #7 (.869)
- Michael Busch – #14 (.823)
Runs:
- Jason Martin – #1 (100)
- Miguel Vargas – #1 (100)
- Drew Avans – #6 (94)
- Michael Busch – #7 (87)
- Ryan Noda – #9 (86)
Hits:
- Jason Martin – #5 (134)
- Miguel Vargas – #7 (133)
- Drew Avans – #10 (122)
- Ryan Noda – #12 (120)
- Michael Busch – #15 (118)
Doubles:
- Michael Busch – #3 (32)
- Miguel Vargas – #3 (32)
Triples:
- Drew Avans – #1 (12)
- Jason Martin – #5 (5)
- Miguel Vargas – #8 (4)
HRs:
- Jason Martin – #1 (32)
- Ryan Noda – #5 (25)
- Michael Busch – #9 (21)
- Miguel Vargas – #15 (17)
RBIs:
- Jason Martin – #1 (107)
- Ryan Noda – #4 (90)
- Miguel Vargas – #8 (82)
- Michael Busch – #12 (79)
BB:
- Ryan Noda – #1 (92)
- Miguel Vargas – #5 (71)
- Drew Avans – #9 (61)
K:
- Ryan Noda – #1 (162)
- Jason Martin – #4 (135)
- Michael Busch – #5 (131)
- Drew Avans – #8 (129)
SB:
- Drew Avans – #3 (40)
- Ryan Noda – #9 (20)
- Miguel Vargas – #12 (16)
Michael Busch :
- OKC – .266/.343/.480/.823 – 21 HRs, 79 RBIs, 32 doubles
- AA/AAA – .274/.365/.516/.881 – 32 HRs, 108 RBIs, 38 doubles
Other hitters of note that did not qualify for league leaders but had very productive seasons nonetheless.
James Outman:
- OKC – .292/.390/.627/1.017 – 15 HRs, 61 RBIs, 14 doubles, and 6 triples
- AA/AAA – .294/.392/.586/.978 – 31 HRs, 106 RBIs, 31 doubles, 7 triples
Jake Amaya :
- OKC – .259/.368/.381/.749
- AA/AAA – .261/.369/.426/.795
Devin Mann :
- OKC – .258/.372/.455/.827
- AA/AAA – .264/.380/.464/.844
Hunter Feduccia :
- OKC – .240/.321/.473/.794
- AA/AAA – .238/.331/.466/.797 – 15 HRs, 36 XBH
No OKC pitcher threw 120 innings in the PCL in 2022. Here is the list of pitchers that threw more than 40 IP and their respective ERA.
Beau Burrows – 100.1 IP – 7.18 ERA
- Jon Duplantier – 93.2 IP – 4.80 ERA
- Ryan Pepiot – 91.1 IP – 2.56 ERA
- Robbie Erlin – 77.0 IP – 7.01 ERA
- Andre Jackson – 75.2 IP – 5.00 ERA
- Sam Gaviglio – 66.2 IP – 6.35 ERA
- Daniel Zamora – 63.0 IP – 3.86 ERA
- Michael Grove – 59.2 IP – 4.07 ERA
- Carson Fulmer – 56.2 IP – 2.86 ERA
- Marshall Kasowski – 56.0 IP – 3.70 ERA
- Justin Hagenman – 53.1 IP – 6.08 ERA
I was really hoping to see if Carson Fulmer, Robbie Erlin, and Jon Duplantier could provide an impetus for LAD to promote them to LAD, especially Fulmer. Erlin is the only one to get to LAD, and he did not fare well enough to get a second call.
Team rankings (10 team League) – Offense
BA – #5 – (.273)
- OBP – #1 – (.370)
- SLG – #3 – (.464)
- OPS – #3 – (.834)
- Runs – #2 – (949)
- Hits – #5 – (1385)
- DBL – #5 – (278)
- TPL – #3 – (45)
- HR – #6 – (201)
- BB – #1 – (731)
- K – #4 – (1379)
- SB – #7 – (109)
Team Rankings (10 team League) – Pitching
- ERA – #3 – (4.87)
- WHIP – #5 – (1.49)
- Hits – Least Allowed – (1245)
- Runs – 3rd lowest allowed – (793)
- HRs – 2nd lowest allowed – (165)
- BB – Most issued in League – (700)
- K – 3rd most in League – (1439)
- BAA – 2nd best in League – (.248)
Drew Avans and Ryan Noda deserve an opportunity to play on an MLB team. They did everything they needed to do get that opportunity. However, that opportunity will not come with the Dodgers. Both players have already been passed over for Rule 5 draft, but maybe somebody takes a chance this year. Devin Mann and Hunter Feduccia are also in that same situation. They are trade package material, or could end up back in OKC.
Miguel Vargas should stick with LAD in 2023. To put a stamp on his bat to ball credentials, Vargas had a 76/71 K/BB ratio.
Ryan Pepiot and Michael Grove will be auditioning for a spot in the rotation in 2023, where the one who may not get in the rotation could end up in the bullpen. Gavin Stone will probably start off in AAA and be in the same position that Pepiot and Grove were in for 2022. I fully expect Andre Jackson to either make the roster as the long man in the bullpen, or moved in a trade package.
If Jake Amaya was playing for another team, he would certainly get a long look at ST to make the 26 man. But the Dodgers are not likely to turn the SS position over to Amaya. Teams looking for a SS will be giving AF/BG a call over the winter.
Michael Busch is another who would get strong consideration to make the 26 man out of ST if he were with another organization. It is not likely he will break camp with LAD.
It is also just as conceivable that both Amaya and Busch will be returning to OKC as depth for the ML team.
I think Outman cracks the Dodger roster next season. A lot depends on what they decide to do with Bellinger. The shift being removed next season, a lot of Belli’s ground outs will now be hits. All he needs to do is make more contact. But Outman is a very good defensive outfielder, and he hits.
Someone at Fangraphs (I can’t remember who it was) did an analysis and determined that the shift being removed wouldn’t have as great an effect as we think it will. He said there will be a difference but it won’t be a lot.
I guess we’ll have to wait to find out if he’s right.
I know that Mr. Bellinger and Mr. Muncy hope he’s wrong.
Top of the morning to ya Jefe’. I read the same analysis or one that rhymed with it. It looked at historical data on who hit the ball where and predicted who might benefit the most. They subtracted the base hits that would now be outs based on where the defensive players will be and added the ones that were outs that would now be hits.
I don’t think Bellinger was one of those players predicted to do better. I always thought Bellinger had really good bat to ball skills and if anybody would have taken advantage of the open left side it would have been him. But he didn’t use those skills so now I fear he will keep on doing his thing which is not productive.
If Bellinger thought of himself as being a doubles hitter that aimed at the gaps, I think he could win a batting title and still hit 20+ home runs. It’s a $18M gamble that could be better used to extend Urias, etc. I like the $5 blackjack tables so I would rather eat some of his payroll and see what we could get back in a trade than eat all of his payroll.
Bellinger would certainly be tradeable if we ate a good portion of his 2023 salary, but I think we’d have to fork over somewhere between 8 and 12 million. Not sure what kind of trade return we could get that would be worth that much.
I still think they swallow hard and keep him around for one more year, but I could certainly understand their going the other way and either trading or non-tendering him.
https://www.mlb.com/news/dodgers-top-30-prospects-2022-midseason-rerank
This is dated in August. Is it accurate in October? Will it be markedly different in early Spring? Can you provide an updated version of our Top 10 prospects? It would be more interesting to me to see a list of players who are closest to call up, or, players who would be of interest to more teams in trade scenarios.
How likely is Outman to replace Bellinger? Exactly when does Cartaya get a Major League job? Pepiot, Miller, Stone, Grove. Of that group of names, who pitches early in the Majors next year? Who pitches for us early in the Majors next year? Who is most likely to be traded?
We see prospect lists all over the place. Is there a list in Friedman’s files that may look different? I would bet there is and we will never see it, but, if there is anyone I trust to have a best guess on it, that person would be Jeff Dominique.
Watch for Sunday’s post.
Jeff, I see on your list of PCL leaders that Vargas is #2 in BA and OBP and Martin and Vargas are numbers 2 & 3 in OPS. Do you happen to know who was #1 in those categories and which organization they play for?
Martin really had a nice year. You can add him to your mention of Avans and Noda as guys who will probably be with other organizations come spring training.
BA – #1 Wynton Bernard CF (Age 32) – .333 – Colorado
OBP – #1 – David Hensley SS (Age 26) – .420 – Houston
SLG – #1 – Matt Davidson 3B (Age 31) – .644 – A’s
SLG – #2 – Wynton Bernard CF (Age 32) – .590 – Colorado
SLG – #3 – Stone Garrett RF (Age 26) – .568 – Arizona
OPS – #1 – Wynton Bernard CF (Age 32) – .977 – Colorado
Jason Martin is 26; Miguel Vargas is 22
Davidson was with OKC in 2021.
Thanks for posting this Jeff. I don’t have any MLB Top 100 lists in front of me but I would guess that none of these guys would be on it.
Garrett has done nicely in limited at bats for the D’backs this month. They have quite a collection of interesting outfielders.
The one thing that really stands out to me on this list is Vargas’ age compared to the other guys. A good indication that we’re in for some good times when he joins the major league roster next year.
You will not find any of those names on any Top 100 list. Miguel Vargas is a ROY candidate next year.
What I like about OKC is how prospect laden it is. So many other orgs (and the Dodgers also did this under previous regimes) have AAAA players and non-prospects to a much larger degree than the Dodgers.
It’s yet another refreshing representation of the organization’s depth and talent.
To be fair, OKC did have a lot of AAAA players at the beginning of the year. As the season went on, players at Tulsa got promoted, and the AAAA players were dropping. They still had Jason Martin, Kevin Pillar, Andy Burns, Stefen Romero, and a bevy of pitchers at the conclusion of the season.