Dodgers Minor League Baseball Blog

This is a hitters league but the Lookouts did have some standouts on the mound.  Here’s a look at some of the better hurlers in 2011.

Chris Withrow – He only went 6-6 but he had one of the better strikeout rates amongst starters with 130 strikeouts in 128 2/3 innings.  Walks are a concern (75) but he only gave up eight home runs in 128 2/3 innings.  One nice thing about this is 22 year old is he doesn’t have much of a platoon split so while he’s not death on righties, he’s better then usual against lefties.

Nathan Eovaldi – Eovaldi had a solid 2.62 ERA and a batting average against  of .203 in 103 innings.  He finished 6-5 with a 99/46 strikeout to walk ratio and this earned him a big league call up where he logged 34 2/3 innings.

Scott Rice – With a 1.95 ERA, it’s hard to argue Rice’s effectiveness.  He had a 4/1 ground ball to fly ball ratio and that definitely helped but he still struck out 42 and walked 17 in 50 2/3 innings.  He’s 30 so he’s hardly a prospect but this big left hander definitely got it done this season.

The Lookouts won their division and with that, they had their share of hitting stars.  Here are the best players on the team this past season.

Scott Van Slyke – Van Slyke led the team in home runs (20), RBIs (92), walks (65) and OPS (1.022).  He’s struggling in the Venezuelan Summer League though and he’s now 25 so his prospect status isn’t quite clear. Still, he had an awesome season and if he can replicate it in 2012, he might see some time with the Dodgers next year.

Alfredo Silverio – Silverio was an extra base machine and he finished with 42 doubles, 18 triples and 16 home runs.  He hit .306 and he finished with a team high 90 runs.  He only walked 30 times though and that suppressed his .883 OPS. Don’t get me wrong, that’s a good number but it could be better if he works on his plate discipline.

Kyle Russell – Russell was second in home runs with 19 but he hit only .259 so his OPS was .840.  He had a decent enough showing in the Arizona Fall League but he’s already 25 so we’ll see how much more time Russell has.

John Sickels penned his list of the top 20 Dodgers prospects and it’s been a while since the Dodgers had a top notch farm system.  Ther’e some talent at the top but no longer any blue chip guys.  Topping the list is right handed pitcher Zach Lee.  He had a solid season for the Loons but Sickels still thinks he could be a future number two starter.  Number two is another right hander, Nate Eovaldi.  Sickels thinks he’d be better coming out of the pen so we’ll see what the Dodgers end up doing with him.

Number three is another right hander, Allen Webster.  Webster had a tough time in Double-A but Sickels thinks he could be a middle of the rotation guy.  Rounding out the top five are Garrett Gould (RHP) and Alfredo Silverio (OF).

Baseball America put out their top ten Dodgers prospect lists.  Here’s the players that made the cut.

1)  Zach Lee  RHP
2)  Allen Webster  RHP
3)  Nate Eovaldi  RHP
4)  Alfredo Silverio  OF
5)  Chris Reed  LHP
6)  Garrett Gould  RHP
7)  Chris Winthrow  RHP
8)  Josh Lindblom  RHP
9)  Joc Pederson  OF
10)  Tim Federowicz  C