Saturday in the Dodgers minors was headlined by a flirtation with a no-hitter in Triple-A.
Player of the day
Hyun-il Choi hadn’t pitched above High-A before this season, and has already been called up twice from Tulsa to Oklahoma City to fill in for a depleted Triple-A rotation. In just his third Triple-A start, Choi did not allow a hit in six innings on Saturday. He walked four and allowed a run, but also struck out three in his best of his five total starts this season.
Triple-A Oklahoma City
OKC didn’t allow a hit until the ninth inning, then beat the Salt Lake Bees (Angels) in 11 innings. Miguel Vargas homered earlier in the game, then scored the winning run on a fielder’s choice.
Left-hander Matt Gage made his season debut with a scoreless seventh inning, with a walk and a strikeout.
Catcher Chris Okey singled home the tying run in the 10th inning and also walked. He stole two bases as well. Okey has three steals on the season, his most since five in rookie ball in 2016, and now 14 steals in his eight minor league seasons.
Double-A Tulsa
The Drillers tied the game in the ninth inning to force extras, but lost in the 10th to the Springfield Cardinals.
Left fielder Chris Alleyne hit a three-run home run. Shortstop Taylor Young had three hits, including a home run.
Jack Dreyer struck out three in two innings of relief. He allowed a run, but it was unearned, keeping his ERA at 0.00. Dreyer on the season has 20 strikeouts and a 3.7.7-percent strikeout rate in 14⅔ innings. His unearned run Saturday was his only run allowed in nine appearances this season.
High-A Great Lakes
Loons starter Jacob Meador allowed five runs in his 2⅔ innings in Great Lakes’ loss to the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (Brewers).
Right fielder Jake Vogel had two hits, including a two-run home run. Shortstop Noah Miller had two hits and drove in a run.
Low-A Rancho Cucamonga
Rain washed away Saturday’s game against the Modesto Nuts (Mariners). The two teams will attempt a doubleheader on Sunday.
Arizona Complex League
We don’t have the bandwidth to fully cover every game in the ACL, other than to note some things from time to time as they come up. But with the ACL season starting on Saturday — the Dodgers beat the Brewers, 9-2 — here are the Dodgers prospects who were ranked on at least one team top-30 prospect list entering 2024 who are on the Arizona Complex League roster:
- Joendry Vargas, shortstop: ranked sixth by FanGraphs, seventh by ESPN
- Eduardo Quintero, center fielder: ranked eighth by ESPN
- Hyun-Seok Jang, pitcher: signed out of South Korea last August for $900,000
- Alexander Albertus: played third base Saturday, doubled
- Jesus Tillero, pitcher
Also of note, left fielder Jaron Elkins — drafted in the eighth round last year — walked twice, singled, and stole three bases in his second professional game. Christian Zazueta, acquired with Matt Gage in February in the Caleb Ferguson trade, struck out three in three innings, and allowed a run.
Saturday scores
- Oklahoma City 5, Salt Lake 4 (11 innings)
- Springfield 6, Tulsa 5 (10 innings)
- Wisconsin 6, Great Lakes 3
- Rancho Cucamonga at Modesto, postponed (rain)
Sunday schedule
- 11 a.m. PT: Tulsa (Justin Wrobleski) vs. Springfield (Tink Hence)
- 11:10 a.m.: Great Lakes (Jackson Ferris) at Wisconsin (Edwin Jimenez)
- 12:05 p.m.: Oklahoma City (Landon Knack) vs. Salt Lake (TBA)
- 2:05 p.m.: Rancho Cucamonga (Edgardo Henriquez & Carlos Duran) at Modesto (Elijah Dale & Brody Hopkins)
