Minor League Week In Review: Jose De Leon Promoted To Double-A

Headliners in the Los Angeles Dodgers farm system Corey Seager and Julio Urias trended in different directions. Meanwhile, Jose De Leon continued to put together a strong season with High-A Rancho Cucamonga and earned a much-deserved promotion to Double-A Tulsa.

Hitter of the Week – O’Koyea Dickson

Dickson hasn’t ever been considered a top prospect, despite his ability to consistently produce wherever he’s been. The Los Angeles Dodgers attempted to add some versatility to his profile this spring, trying him in left field. The experiment was going well until he injured himself diving for a ball in April.

Dickson is back now, with Triple-A Oklahoma City, and doing what he’s always done — hitting. This month he’s batting .327/.353/.490 and had a pair of doubles and a home run last week. The 25-year-old San Francisco native reminds me of Olmedo Saenz, as a stocky right-handed hitter who could land a platoon role with the right club.

Pitcher of the Week – Grant Holmes

The 2014 first-rounder didn’t come out of the gates hot, mostly due to the cold weather in Michigan. However, in watching some of his starts, I noticed that his rhythm in his delivery wasn’t consistent, which led to erratic command. Recently, he’s seemed to have remedied the issue.

Holmes has strung together three solid starts, with his most recent outing the best to date. On Friday he went six shutout innings, allowing just two hits and issuing two walks while striking out seven. His final pitch was a 97 mph fastball that resulted in a strikeout.

Holmes is still showing the same power breaking ball, which is a swing-and-miss pitch, as well as a surprisingly effective changeup that he uses against lefties. Let’s hope he can ride this momentum to High-A Rancho Cucamonga.

Top 10 Update

Julio Urias: Urias had a rough outing last Tuesday, lasting just 3.1 innings while allowing three earned runs on four hits and walking four. He did strike out seven, but simply did not command his offerings. He’s now expected to miss the next month of the season after electing for cosmetic surgery.

Corey Seager: After a slow start in OKC, Seager is beginning to turn things around. He hit .324 over the past week, though he didn’t draw any walks or collect any extra base hits.

The 21 year old remains an option for the big league club, though he wouldn’t likely make his Major-League debut until late in the season.

Alex Verdugo: Verdugo came off the disabled list last week and had a hit in his return to the Loons’ lineup.

Jose De Leon: De Leon had another strong start on Sunday, allowing just one run in 5.2 innings while striking out eight. His 58 strikeouts on the season ties him for the Minor-League lead. After the game, it was announced that he is being promoted to Double-A Tulsa, where he’ll join Julio Urias and Chris Anderson in the rotation.

Julian Leon: Leon is in extended spring training.

Chris Anderson: Anderson bounced back from a pair of rough starts to post two solid outings last week. In the first, he did walk fave batters in five innings but allowed just one run. In the second, he looked more like himself with a six-inning, one-run, one-walk performance. Hopefully he’s turned things around.

Zach Lee: Lee posted a quality start in his only appearance last week, allowing three runs in six innings while striking out five. Hopefully Lee is the next guy in line to take a shot at a Major League start.

Popup Player – Scott Barlow

The former sixth-rounder has struggled with injuries during his career, but is healthy and pitching well for the Quakes. On the year, he’s posted a 2.17 ERA in seven games and striking out nearly a batter an inning. The 22-year-old righty features a good breaking ball but must improve his control.

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