Dodgers Minor League Baseball Blog

Coming in at number five is right handed pitcher John Meloan.  Drafted in the fifth round of 2005 draft, Meloan flew through the system in 2006, making three different stops and throwing well at all three.  He finished things up at Double A as a reliever and he struck out 23 batters in 10  2/3 innings.  In his seson and a half in the minors, he has a very impressive 145/34 strikeout to walk ratio and he’s given up less then a batter per inning.  He then had a very impressive AFL season.

John Sickels projects him as a reliever and if this guy pans out, he could be yet another stud in the Dodgers pen.  With guys like Saito and Broxton, it’s going to be hard for a guy like Meloan to find time but you hope they will.  He was only given six innings in major league spring training games and earlier this week, he was reassigned to the minors.  I’m not sure whether he’ll start in Double A or Triple A but this is a guy who could be up later in the season if some bullpen arms go down.

Coming in at number six is second baseman Blake DeWitt. who was the Dodgers first round draft pick back in 2004.  His best showing was on John Sickels list where he was seventh and he was eighth on the other two.  I know you’re wondering why he’s sixth on my list and that’s because most of the guys below him only showed up on one or two lists, even if they were ahead of DeWitt when they showed up.

DeWitt made his minor league debut in 2004 at Ogden where he showed some decent pop and finished with a .284/.350/488 line.  He had a solid season with plenty of doubles in Charlotte in 2005 and he finished with a nice .283/.333/.428 line.  He then got promoted to Vero Beach in 2006 where he hit okay (.268/.339/.442) but then he bombed when he got promoted to Double A.

DeWitt is a converted third baseman so he’ll get a repeat of Double A where he’ll work on his hitting and his fielding.  Regardless, you could be looking at a guy who could replace Jeff Kent when he decides to hang it up.

Coming in at number seven is third base prospect Josh Bell.  Bell was the team’s fourth round pick back in 2005 and he his best showing was on Kevin Goldstein’s list, where he came in at sixth place.  He finished ninth on both John Sickels and Baseball America’s list.

He had a solid minor league debut in 2005 in the Gulf Coast League but he didn’t show off his power until 2006 when he got to Ogden.  He finished 2006 with a promising .308/.367/.544 line.  He just turned 21 and it’s expected that he’ll play his first “full” minor league season this year when he debuts most like at Vero Beach.  If he can shave those strikeouts down and show a little more consistency at third base, he’s definitely a keeper.

Preston Mattingly comes in as the Dodgers eighth best prospect and he’s the first guy I’ve wrote up that showed up on all three listsd.  His best showing was on Kevin Goldstein’s list where he finished seventh.  John Sickels indicated that he was drafted as a shortstop out of high school in the supplemental first round last year, but odds are he could turn out to be an outfielder.  He’s also the son of Don Mattingly so he has hitter in his blood.

Mattingly made his pro debut in the Gulf Coast League last year and in 186 at bats, he racked up an unspectacular .290/.322/.403 line.  Keep in mind though, he just turned 19 last August.  Baseball America thinks he’ll start the season at extended spring training then head to Ogden.  This is definitely a guy to keep an eye on, especially if the homeruns start coming.

Like Tony Abreu and Ivan DeJesus, shortstop prospect Chin-lung Hu was across the board.  He didn’t show up at all on Baseball America’s list and he just made Kevin Goldstein’s at number ten.  John Sickels likes him the most though and actually had him all the way up at number five with a B rating.

Hu was signed out of Taiwan in early 2003 and he made his minor league debut at Ogden in that year.  A very good fielding shortstop (potential gold glove), Hu hit a solid .305 and while he didn’t steal a lot of bases, he legged out nine doubles and five triples and that resulted in an okay but not horrible .432 slugging.  He followed that up in 2004 with good season with stops at both Columbus and Vero Beach where once again he kept his batting average right around .300 with a slugging percentage in the low .400s between both stops.  In 2005, he got a full season at Vero Beach where he had his best season yet with a .313/.347/.430 line.  He didn’t draw a lot of walks (19 in 470 at bats) but he didn’t strke out to often either.

Then came 2006 and he appeared to take a step back in Double A.  There he managed a pretty poor .254/.326/336 line.  The good news is, he drew a lot more walks and while he struck out more, it wasn’t at the same pace as that walk increase. 

The good news is, he just turned 23 so even if he repeats Double A it wouldn’t be that huge of a deal although I expect to see him at Triple A Las Vegas at some point in the year.  Regardless, he’ll be an interesting guy to keep an eye on.

Coming in tied with Ivan DeJesus is Tony Abreu, the second baseman who the Dodgers signed out of the Dominican Republic back in 2002.  He showed up on only one of the three lists, but Baseball America had him as the fifth best prospect so here he is.

He made his minor league debut in the Gulf Coast League in 2003 where he showed he can make decent contact with the ball but hit for almost no power.  His batting average was a solid .294 but he had only seven doubles and five triples with no homeruns so it was somewhat punchless.  He found some power when he got promoted to Columbus in 2004 where he hit an even more solid .301/.326/.474.  In 2005 e split time between Vero Beach and Jacksonville where he showed more doubles power with a little more patience at the plate.  He was pushed up to Double A where he struggled but he repeated at that level in 2006 and had a nice showing (.287/.343/.392).  He doesn’t strike out a lot but he doesn’t walk much either so unless he shows he can hit a little better, he might not pan out to be more then just utility infielder.  If some of those doubles turn into homeruns now that he’s getting older (he turned 22 in November) then he could replace Jeff Kent at second base when he decides to retire.

Baseball America recently unveiled their Top 100 prospect list and four Dodgers made the cut.  Andy LaRoche topped the Dodgers and came in at number 19 and Clayton Kershaw wasn’t too far behind at number 24.  Scott Elbert was 31 and James Looney was at 44.  Four guys in the top fifty is definitely a good thing.