The Dodgers are facing an interesting situation heading into the 2013 season — at least, the Albuquerque Isotopes and Chattanooga Lookouts are.

Following a Twitter exchange with Chris Jackson (@TopesWriter) and Evan Chavez (@newmexicofan), it occurred to me: The Isotopes and Lookouts are going to have some awfully crowded outfields — especially the ‘Topes.

The following outfielders are, at this point, slated to begin the 2013 season in Albuquerque:

Alex Castellanos: Could play second or third base.
Brian Cavazos-Galvez: Left fielder with some experience at first base.
Scott Van Slyke: Corner outfielder who the Dodgers don’t view as a 1B anymore (h/t to Jackson).
Kyle Russell: Corner outfielder who could fill in at center field in a pinch.
Blake Smith: Same as Russell, but better defensively.

Those guys are all but certain to be ‘Topes in 2013. Castellanos and Van Slyke have a chance to be on the Dodgers bench, but I’ll believe that when I see it. Nick Buss, who spent the entire 2012 season in Chattanooga, is another guy, and if things fall his way he could actually be the Isotopes starting center fielder. Of the guys listed above, Buss is the only true center fielder.

Then there are the players who aren’t even members of the Dodgers yet. Perennially, those are the likes of Trent Oeltjen and Matt Angle. Hell, Tony Gywnn Jr. is still under contract and could find himself back in New Mexico as well.

Bottom line is, the Isotopes are going to be jam-packed in the outfield.

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Including all of the guys above doesn’t even take into account players who could be promoted during the season based on performance — mainly, Bobby Coyle, Joc Pederson, and Yasiel Puig.

Coyle was a late-season call-up to Chattanooga and I think he’d have the best chance of playing in Albuquerque in 2013. Pederson is only 20 and should be with the Lookouts for the entire season (save perhaps a playoff call-up, as he was this past season for Chattanooga).

The wild card though is Puig. There’s no telling where he’ll begin, but it won’t be any lower than High-A Rancho Cucamonga. If he makes it to Double-A and flourishes, I could see him don an Isotopes uniform before the conclusion of the 2013 season.

Any of the trio being promoted quickly would make for even more of a mess than it already appears to be.

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Heading into last season, the Dodgers minor-league depth came in the form of right-handed pitchers and outfielders. They’ve already traded away a lot of the RHP depth and now it looks like the OF surplus could be next.

Too much of one position isn’t usually a bad thing, but the concern is that it could stunt the development of a few players, so it’ll be interesting to monitor the situation and see how it plays out.

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Dustin Nosler is the founder of the site Feelin’ Kinda Blue. He also co-hosts the weekly podcast Dugout Blues. Follow him on Twitter @FeelinKindaBlue or like his site on Facebook.

Matt Kemp left Tuesday’s game in Colorado after smashing into the center field wall, somehow managing to stay in, and soon thereafter diving for a ball and landing awkwardly. If you’re so inclined, GIFs of the collision can be seen here. Tests revealed no concussion or concussion symptoms, and Matt walked away from the incident with nothing more than a bruised left knee. He returned to the lineup a few days after the frightening incident.

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Kenley Jansen was unavailable for the series in Colorado after experiencing recurring issues with his heart, which felled him for a month or so in 2011 and earlier in 2012 during Spring Training. These new issues are related to the old ones, reports Dylan Hernandez. The Dodgers and Jansen await test results, as his season could be over.

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Chad Billingsley‘s season also hangs in the balance as he awaits what could be season-ending surgery. These fears were expressed earlier in the week by Stan Kasten. Bills’ right elbow was treated with an injection of platelet-rich plasma in an effort to avoid missing the stretch run. Tommy John surgery seems like a possibility if our worst fears come to fruition.

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Scott Elbert was placed on the 15-day DL once again with left elbow inflammation. Shawn Tolleson was recalled to take his place. Don Mattingly is cautiously optimistic that Elbert could return when the 15-day period concludes.

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Matt Guerrier was activated from the 60-day DL, sending Josh Wall back to AAA and Dee Gordon from the 15-day DL to the 60-day DL in the process. Gordon won’t be gone for long though, as he is eligible to return now that rosters have expanded.

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Alfredo Silverio was transferred to the 60-day DL in order to free up a spot on the 40-man roster to allow for John Ely‘s call-up. Silverio is on the DL after suffering multiple injuries in a car crash earlier this year.

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In minor league injury news, Arismendy Ozoria, Luis Vasquez, Mike Antonini, Jarret Martin, Aaron Miller, Greg Wilborn, Casio Grider, Charlie Mirabal, Bobby Coyle, and Tyler Henson were all placed on the 7-day DL, while a host of others – most notably Chris Reed and Bobby Abreu – were activated from the 7-day DL.

Man, I’m never going two weeks between these posts again. Anyway, most of the Dodger minor-league affiliates were mediocre the last two weeks. The Ogden Raptors scored the most runs this week with 83, thanks to Jeremy Rathjen, Corey Seager and Eric Smith. They also gave up the most runs this week at 94.

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Albuquerque Isotopes (7-8)

Runs Scored: 81
Runs Allowed: 69

Players Of The Week

July 23: Jerry Sands – OF/1B
July 30: Jerry Sands – OF/1B

Sands has been one of the hottest hitters in the minor leagues for the past couple weeks. For the week of July 23, he went 12-for-34 (.353) with three home runs, 11 RBI, a double, and five runs scored. He earned the Pacific Coast League Player Of The Week, as Sands hit two grand slams in the second game of the July 29 doubleheader. For the week of July 30, he went 11-for-25 (.440) with three home runs, 10 RBI, and three runs scored. His hot hitting earned him a call-up to Los Angeles.

Pitchers Of The Week

July 23: John Ely – RHP
July 30:  Josh Wall – RHP

Ely had a couple solid outings for the Isotopes: 13 1/3 IP, 10 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 11 K. He has a 3.42 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, and a 9.2 K/9 on the season. Wall made three appearances last week and saved two games for the Isotopes: 2 2/3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K.

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Chattanooga Lookouts (7-6)

Runs Scored: 65
Runs Allowed: 54

Players Of The Week

July 23: Rafael Ynoa – 2B
July 30: J.T. Wise – 1B

Ynoa won his fourth award of the season, but his numbers were less than impressive: 5-for-20 (.250) with two doubles, two RBI, and seven walks. The Lookouts were one-hit twice and no-hit once in the week of July 23, so that accounts for the poor offensive week. Wise had a much better week: 10-for-23 (.435) with a home run, 10 RBI, three doubles, six runs scored, and seven walks.

Pitchers Of The Week

July 23: Zach Lee – RHP
July 30: Matt Magill – RHP

Lee had a nice outing on July 27 to earn just his second award of the season: 5 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 4 K. He hasn’t fared well in Double-A thus far, but he is just 20 years old. Next season will be the true test of his prospect status. Magill had one of his best outings of the season despite giving up three runs: 7 1/3 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 12 K. This is Magill’s fourth honor of the year.

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Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (6-6)

Runs Scored: 81
Runs Allowed: 75

Players Of The Week

July 23: Leon Landry – OF
July 30: Bobby Coyle – OF & Joc Pederson – OF

Landry had a fantastic week before being traded to Seattle with Logan Bawcom for Brandon League: 14-for-30 (.467) with two home runs, five (!) triples, a double, six RBI, and nine runs scored. That performance earned him California League Player Of The Week honors. He finishes his Quake career with a .328/.358/.559 triple slash with eight home runs, 51 RBI, 26 doubles, 15 triples, 63 runs scored, and 20 stolen bases. The next week, Coyle and Pederson carried the Quakes offense. Coyle went 10-for-25 (.400), with a home run, double, triple, and four RBI. Pederson didn’t get many hits, but he walked a bunch: 5-for-20 (.250) with a home run, double, triple, five RBI, eight runs scored, nine walks, and three stolen bases.

Pitchers Of The Week

July 23: Rubby De La Rosa – RHP
July 30: Andres Santiago – RHP

Well, well, well, Mr. De La Rosa, so nice to see you. De La Rosa made his season debut with the Quakes and showed no ill effects from his Tommy John surgery: 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K. He also had a fine performance in his second appearance, but it was cut short because of discomfort in his groin (thankfully it wasn’t his elbow). Santiago had a great outing for the Quakes — and it’d be his last at the level because he was promoted to Double-A Chattanooga: 7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 10 K. Santiago has taken the award four of the last five weeks and has won it five times overall this season.

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Great Lakes Loons (3-10)

Runs Scored: 58
Runs Allowed: 78

Players Of The Week

July 23: Pratt Maynard – C
July 30: O’Koyea Dickson – 1B/DH

Maynard, who started the season in a terrible slump, has picked it up of late. For the week of July 23, he went 6-for-20 (.300) with three doubles, two RBI, and three walks. Dickson has been mired in a slump for most of the second half, but he had a nice week: 8-for-26 (.308) with three home runs, five RBI, and three runs scored.

Pitchers Of The Week

July 23: Duke Von Schamann – RHP
July 30: Greg Wilborn – LHP

The Dodgers might have found themselves a gem in Von Schamann, who earns his third award of the season — all since being promoted to Great Lakes. He had his best outing of the season so far during the week of July 23: 8 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K. He doesn’t strike guys out, but he gets them out. He’ll have to miss more bats as he moves up the ladder, but it’s hard to argue with what he’s doing at the moment. Wilborn had a nice week for the Loons in the following period: 11 2/3 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 5 BB, 12 K. Wilborn has been all around the minors this season, and he’s not a prospect at this point.

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Ogden Raptors (7-6)

Runs Scored: 83
Runs Allowed: 94

Players Of The Week

July 23: Jeremy Rathjen – OF
July 30: Corey Seager – SS

Rathjen, who fell in the draft because of injury concerns, continues to mash for the Raptors. For the week of July 23, he went 10-for-21 (.476) with three RBI, seven runs scored, and eight walks. Seager hit his first professional home runs last week, as he went 8-for-24 (.333) with three home runs, nine RBI, five runs scored, and seven walks. Jesus Valdez (.346, four home runs) and Eric Smith (.455, 10 walks) were the runners-up.

Pitchers Of The Week

July 23: Ross Stripling – RHP
July 30: Owen Jones – RHP

Stripling is having no problems with the Pioneer League, but the Dodgers are limiting his innings. He had a short but effective outing: 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K. Jones, the Dodgers 19th-round draft pick in 2012, had a solid week coming out of the bullpen for the Raptors: 3 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K.

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Arizona League Dodgers (3-6)

Runs Scored: 47
Runs Allowed: 54

Players Of The Week

July 23: Cory Embree – OF
July 30: Yasiel Puig – OF

Embree had a modest week for the AZL Dodgers: 5-for-12 (.417) with a double, four RBI, and three walks. Puig, making his professional debut, went 5-for-16 (.313) with two home runs, five RBI, two triples, and four runs scored.

Pitchers Of The Week

July 23: Jonathan Martinez – RHP
July 30: Zachary Bird – RHP

Martinez had a fantastic outing on July 24: 5 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 9 K. The 18-year-old is having a lot of success in the Arizona League and is someone to keep an eye on going forward. Bird, the Dodgers ninth-round pick this year, had the best outing of his young career: 5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K.

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Dominican Summer League Dodgers (3-7)

Runs Scored: 48
Runs Allowed: 61

Players Of The Week

July 23: Jeffry Rojas – SS
July 30: Melvin Santana – 2B

Rojas only played three games, but he made them count by going 6-for-10 (.600) with a double and an RBI. Santana, making his fourth appearance on this list, went 6-for-17 (.353) with a home run, a double, four RBI, three runs scored, and two stolen bases.

Pitchers Of The Week

July 23: Jose Agusto Diaz – RHP
July 30: Wascar Teodo – RHP

Diaz, 21, earned his first award of the season by throwing six quality innings on July 27: 6 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K. Teodo did just a little better than Diaz this past week: 6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 7 K. The 18-year-old is throwing well for the DSL Dodgers.

With the Dodgers signing all of the players they drafted in the first 10 rounds, the minor league rosters have received ample reinforcements. The latest to sign: Paco Rodriguez. He was assigned to the Great Lakes Loons.

As for on-field performance, the Arizona League Dodgers are on fire. The team is 13-2 on the season and ahead of the second-place AZL Indians by 6 1/2 games. Aside from the Albuquerque Isotopes, the rest of the teams had mediocre weeks.

The ‘Topes led the system in scoring this week with 56 runs. The Dominican Summer League Dodgers gave up the fewest runs (12) in the fewest games played (five).

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Notes: Angelo Songco was promoted to the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes. He’s one step closer to being where he needs to be after having offseason surgery. This year’s 13th-round pick Darnell Sweeney joined Rodriguez and Duke Von Schamann as the only 2012 draftees to play at a level higher than rookie ball so far. Matt Kemp finished his rehab stint with the Quakes and Isotopes.

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Albuquerque Isotopes (5-2)

Runs Scored: 56
Runs Allowed: 40

Player Of The Week

Josh Fields – 3B

Fields had a great week, even by Pacific Coast League standards. He went 17-for-31 (.548) with three doubles, 10 RBI, and seven runs scored. He had at least two hits in every game this week. He isn’t hitting for much power, despite a .515 slugging percentage, but at least he’s putting the bat on the ball. He’s fifth in the PCL in hits (112).

Pitcher Of The Week

John Ely – RHP

Yeah, you’re not surprised. This is the sixth time Ely has won this award and he did so by having another fantastic week: 13 IP, 11 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 14 K. There’s not really much more to say about Ely’s performance this season, so I won’t.

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Chattanooga Lookouts (3-4)

Runs Scored: 35
Runs Allowed: 32

Player Of The Week

Nick Buss – CF

The 2008 eighth-rounder out of USC had a great week for the Lookouts: 14-for-30 (.467) with two doubles, a triple, six RBI, and four runs scored. Buss, 25, isn’t much of a prospect, but it’s nice to see him have a solid week. He’s struggling against Southern League pitching (.740 OPS) compared to the California League pitching he faced last season (.880 OPS).

Pitcher Of The Week

Matt Magill – RHP

Magill just edged out Ethan Martin to his second award of the season. He had a great outing this week: 6 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K. Magill struggled mightily in June (7.46 ERA, .377 batting average against), but has started July off on the right track. Hopefully he’s a little more consistent for the rest of the season.

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Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (4-3)

Runs Scored: 44
Runs Allowed: 35

Player Of The Week

Bobby Coyle – OF/DH

Coyle, despite getting limited playing, is making it count. This week was no different: 8-for-19 with two home runs, four doubles, six RBI, and four runs scored. The 2010 10th-round pick has a .413/.455/.641 triple slash in 29 games with the Quakes. Joc Pederson (12-for-32) earns another honorable mention.

Pitcher Of The Week

Andres Santiago – RHP

Santiago, 22, has been inconsistent this season, but he’s also had two of the better performances by a Dodger minor league pitcher this season. He had a couple good outings this week: 14 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 19 K. That 19:2 K:BB ratio looks awfully nice. On the season, Santiago has a 5.01 ERA (bad), but his peripherals are pretty solid otherwise: 3.39 FIP, 1.28 WHIP, 8.5 H/9, 0.8 HR/9, 3.0 BB/9, 10.2 K/9, and a 3.35 K/BB.

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Great Lakes Loons (2-5)

Runs Scored: 23
Runs Allowed: 44

Player Of The Week

Jesse Bosnik – 3B/1B

It was a down week for the Loons on both sides of the ball. Bosnik just edged out Pedro Guerrero for this week’s award. He went 8-for-20 (.400) with a home runs, double, four RBI, and four runs scored. He’s hitting just .256/.294/.390 on the season. Bosnik, 24 in two weeks, isn’t a prospect at this point.

Pitcher Of The Week

Raydel Sanchez – RHP

On the strength of seven no-hit innings on July 2nd, Sanchez wins this week’s award. Last year’s biggest Dodger international signing, Sanchez had the following line: 13 1/3 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 10 K. The 22-year-old is having some success in Midland and is finally in the starting rotation after beginning the season in the bullpen.

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Ogden Raptors (3-4)

Runs Scored: 42
Runs Allowed: 50

Player Of The Week

Justin Boudreaux – IF

Boudreaux is having a much easier time with Ogden than he did with Great Lakes. This week, he went 9-for-21 (.429) with two doubles, two RBI, and four runs scored. The 2011 14th-rounder was somewhat of a sleeper in my eyes coming into the season, but he’s fallen and is a fringe prospect at best right now.

Pitcher Of The Week

Jake Hermsen – LHP

Hermsen earns his second straight award by having a couple solid outings: 11 IP, 10 H, 6 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 7 K. The lefty is having a relatively easy go of it for the Raptors thus far, posting a 2.50 ERA, .236 BAA, and a great 2.36 groundout rate.

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Arizona League Dodgers (5-1)

Runs Scored: 42
Runs Allowed: 32

Player Of The Week

Tyler Ogle – C

Ogle picks up the award for the second straight week by, once again, mashing: 10-for-23 (.435) with two home runs, 10 RBI, three doubles, and three walks. The soon-to-be 22-year-old has no issues handling Arizona League pitching and should be promoted sooner rather than later.

Pitcher Of The Week

Jonathan Martinez – RHP

Martinez had another stellar week to earn his second award in three weeks: 10 IP, 9 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 9 K. The 18-year-old is having an impressive showing in the AZL and could be a guy to watch in the coming years.

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Dominican Summer League Dodgers (3-2)

Runs Scored: 24
Runs Allowed: 12

Player Of The Week

Melvin Santana – 2B

It was an abbreviated week for the DSL Dodgers, but Santana managed to have the best week of the bunch. He went 6-for-17 (.352) with two triples, two RBI, four runs scored, and four stolen bases. The 20-year-old played in the Dominican Summer League last year and hit .249/.344/.344 with 10 stolen bases. He’s already matched his triple total from last season (four) and has seven doubles (had 11 last year). He’s made some improvements and it will be interesting to see if he can keep it up.

Pitcher Of The Week

Wander Beras – LHP

Beras had one of the best outings — if not the best — of any Dodger minor leaguer this week: 8 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 10 K. He’s been a little inconsistent in the DSL so far, but the 23-year-old is on his fourth stint in the league and isn’t much to get excited about. He did not play in 2011.

The Chattanooga Lookouts were the system’s best team this week, going a perfect 7-0 by allowing just nine runs — the entire week. That’s by far the fewest number of runs allowed by a Dodger minor league team this season, and part of the reason for their success were the reinforcements from Rancho Cucamonga Quakes in the form of Chris Reed and Zach Lee (who had a great Double-A debut).

The Quakes scored the most runs this week at 50, including 17 on Sunday night.

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Notes: Corey Seager signed his contract with the Dodgers and will report to the Ogden Raptors this week. Yasiel Puig also signed and will get acclimated to professional ball in Arizona to start.

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Albuquerque Isotopes (3-4)

Runs Scored: 42
Runs Allowed: 46

Player Of The Week

Josh Fields – 3B

Fields takes home his second award of the season by going 8-for-27 (.296) with a home run, four RBI, two doubles, and four runs scored. Fields has been hitting the ball well, as he posted a 1.010 OPS in June. On the season, he has a .329/.397/.503 line with eight home runs, 38 RBI, and 56 runs scored.

Pitcher Of The Week

John Ely – RHP

I’m really thinking about renaming this the “John Ely Award” because he seemingly wins it every week. This is the fifth time he’s won it (most by any Dodgers minor leaguer), and he did it by posting the following line: 7 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 9 K. Not his best work, but still good enough. An interesting note: all three runs he gave up were via solo home run.

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Chattanooga Lookouts (7-0)

Runs Scored: 24
Runs Allowed: 9

Player Of The Week

Blake Smith – OF

Smith takes home his fourth award of the season by going 8-for-27 (.296) with one home run, four RBI one double, one triple, and four walks. There wasn’t much going on offensively in Chattanooga this week. Rafael Ynoa went 10-for-28, but all 10 hits were singles. Smith is up to .294/.386/.498 on the season and is establishing himself as one of the Dodgers best positional prospects.

Pitcher Of The Week

Ethan Martin – RHP

Martin had a fantastic outing this week for the Lookouts to earn his third POTW award of the season. He’s been the most consistently good pitcher for the Lookouts this season and I’m more than happy to say I was wrong about him. There is still plenty of hope for the power right-hander.

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Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (3-4)

Runs Scored: 50
Runs Allowed: 45

Player Of The Week

C.J. Retherford – 3B

I’m tired of giving this award to a 26-year-old in High-A, but he’s absolutely mashing, and this week was no exception: 17-for-29 (.586) with two home runs, four doubles, two triples, and 10 RBI. He’s at .368/.425/.676 with 18 home runs on the season.

Honorable mentions go to Joc Pederson and Bobby Coyle. Pederson had one of the best games of any Dodgers minor leaguer this season, going 3-for-6 with three home runs, four RBI, and four runs scored on Sunday. Coyle, on the strength of a 5-for-5 game, also Sunday, received consideration this week.

Pitcher Of The Week

Jon Michael Redding – RHP

Redding had another solid week for the suddenly pitching-thin Quakes: 12 IP, 12 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 7 BB, 9 K. Redding had a better season with Rancho last season and was demoted from Chattanooga earlier in the year. He isn’t much of a prospect these days, but he’s a decent pitcher for a team looking to make a playoff push in the second half.

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Great Lakes Loons (3-4)

Runs Scored: 31
Runs Allowed: 35

Player Of The Week

Pratt Maynard – C

Maynard has been disappointing this season, but the man with the 80 name had a solid week, including some surprising speed: 5-for-13 with a home run, three walks, four runs scored, and three stolen bases. I’m not sure where the speed burst came from, but I wouldn’t expect it to last.

Pitcher Of The Week

Duke Von Schamann – RHP

Schamann, the Dodgers 15th-round pick out of Texas Tech, made his debut with the Loons this week: 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. Not bad for a guy who was a college student a month ago.

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Ogden Raptors (4-3)

Runs Scored: 42
Runs Allowed: 39

Player Of The Week

Alex Santana – 3B

The Dodgers 2011 second-round pick makes his first appearance of this season after going 10-for-20 (.500) with one home run, one double, seven RBI, and two runs scored. Santana has gotten off to a good start in the Pioneer League at .370/.354/.565. You’ll notice his on-base percentage is lower than his batting average — well, that’s because he’s yet to draw a walk this season. Now, he’s just 18 years old, but it’d be nice to see him show a little patience at the plate. He has 13 strikeouts to accompany those zero walks.

Pitcher Of The Week

Jake Hermsen – LHP

Hermsen, the Dodgers 28th-round pick this year, had a good outing to earn this week’s award: 5 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K. He’s thrown a solid 12 innings for Ogden so far, posting a 2.25 ERA and allowing just one walk.

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Arizona League Dodgers (4-1)

Runs Scored: 40
Runs Allowed: 34

Player Of The Week

Tyler Ogle – C

Ogle, the Dodgers ninth-round pick in 2011, went 10-for-18 (.556) this week with four doubles, four RBI, and, you guessed it, four walks. He played just six games for the AZL Dodgers last year and is up to nine so far this season. He’s listed as a catcher, but he’s caught just two games this season.

Pitcher Of The Week

Miguel Sulbaran – LHP

Sulbaran had a great week as an 18-year-old in the Arizona League: 11 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 12 K. He’s one of the better pitchers there and pitched with the DSL Dodgers last year (6-1, 2.81 ERA, .179 BAA).

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Dominican Summer League Dodgers (5-1)

Runs Scored: 39
Runs Allowed: 23

Player Of The Week

Josmar Cordero – 1B/C

Again, Gerson Nunez fell short this week (8-for-12). If he had more at-bats, I probably would have gone with him. Instead, Cordero wins his third consecutive award by going 10-for-25 (.400) with two doubles, a triple, five RBI, two walks (against zero strikeouts), and seven runs scored. He really can’t do much more in this league (.453/.491/.679) and should be promoted.

Pitcher Of The Week

Jose Agusto Diaz – RHP

Diaz made one relief appearance and one start this week: 7 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 3 K. The 21-year-old is in his second stint with the DSL Dodgers. Last season, he had a 0.67 ERA in 27 innings.

While the Dodgers minor league teams didn’t do well in the win-loss column, there were some solid performances this week. The Isotopes tied with the Lookouts for fewest runs allowed at 28. The ‘Topes also had trouble scoring though, averaging just three runs per game this week.

The Quakes, after scoring just 16 runs last week, exploded for 51 runs this week. They also had the most wins for the week (four). Then again, they also allowed 44 runs — most in the system.

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Ethan Martin is on the list for the second consecutive week, while Josh Fields, Michael Pericht, Zach Lee, and Scott Schebler are all making their first appearance on the POTW list.

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I’ll be seeing the Quakes live on Tuesday and Wednesday as they come up my way to face the Stockton Ports (Oakland Athletics affiliate). Unfortunately, with Chris Reed‘s promotion, I won’t get to see him (wasn’t scheduled to pitch anyway). The projected starters, if things stay the way they are right now, are Jon Michael Redding (whom I saw last year) on Tuesday and Lee on Wednesday. Garrett Gould also relieved Lee in his last appearance, so maybe I’ll get to see him pitch, too.

Follow me on Twitter (@FeelinKindaBlue) for updates and photos from the games.

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Albuquerque Isotopes (2-5)

Runs Scored: 21
Runs Allowed: 28

Player Of The Week

Josh Fields – 3B

I’d have thought Fields would have made this list sooner, but this is his first honor of the season. He went 8-for-25 (.32o) with a home run, two doubles, three RBI, and five runs scored. Take the next sentence with a grain of salt: Fields has a nice on-base percentage, but his .454 slugging percentage leaves a little to be desired.

Pitcher Of The Week

Stephen Fife – RHP

Fife takes home the POTW award for the second time in three weeks by having his best outing of the season: 6 IP, 7 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K. After a horrendous start to the season (a one-time owner of a 9.92 ERA), Fife has a 5.43 ERA in 11 starts — roughly 0.80 points more than league-average. So, that’s progress … I suppose.

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Chattanooga Lookouts (3-4)

Runs Scored: 28
Runs Allowed: 28

Player Of The Week

Luis Nunez – INF

This is Nunez’s second award, and he picked it up in a week where no one really impressed at the plate for the Lookouts. Nunez went 9-for-30 (.300) with four doubles, a triple, four RBI, and three runs scored. The 25-year-old is getting a lot of the playing time over a guy like Jake Lemmerman (for some reason) and is not exactly tearing the cover off the ball: .274/.316/.411.

Pitcher Of The Week

Ethan Martin – RHP

Martin takes home this honor for the second consecutive week by having a really good performance against Birmingham: 7 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 7 K. He’s allowed four runs in his last three outings and has given up just three home runs this season (all in the same game). He’s easily the most surprising prospect in the Dodgers system and has definitely restored my faith in him.

I’m looking forward to doing midseason prospect rankings on my blog. I had him slotted in at No. 37 to start the season. Let’s just say he could easily be 20 spots higher than that come later in the month.

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Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (4-3)

Runs Scored: 51
Runs Allowed: 44

Player Of The Week

Michael Pericht – C

It’s hard to overlook a 10-for-20 week for Bobby Coyle or a 12-for-27 week by Chris Retheford, but Pericht’s hits had more substance than Coyle and his week was slightly better than Retheford’s.

Pericht, the subject of my most recent post, went 12-for-23 (.522) with three home runs, two doubles, 10 RBI, and six runs scored. The big catcher is hitting .337/.409/.704 this season in 98 at-bats. His playing time should increase in the coming weeks.

Pitcher Of The Week

Zach Lee – RHP

This could have gone to Jordan Roberts, but Lee’s outing — short as it was — was masterful: 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K. That’s the Zach Lee we all know and love.

He appears to be 100 percent after spending some time in Arizona for Extended Spring Training. Now that he’s back (hopefully for the rest of the season), and with Chris Reed getting promoted to Double-A, he’s the unquestioned ace of the staff. But most importantly, he needs to stay healthy. I assume he’s on target for about 130 innings this season after throwing 109 in his debut campaign.

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Great Lakes Loons (2-4)

Runs Scored: 25
Runs Allowed: 33

Player Of The Week

Scott Schebler – OF

Schebler had a great week for the Loons, going 10-for-28 (.357) with a home run, four doubles, seven RBI, and four runs scored. Schebler has been hot and cold this season, so this is just a typical hot streak for him. He’s hitting .261/.298/.441 on the season.

As you can probably tell by the OBP, he doesn’t draw any walks — eight in 222 at-bats. That rate isn’t going to get it done. However, 26 of his 58 hits have gone for extra bases, so the ability is there. He’s just 21, but it’s hard to teach plate discipline.

Pitcher Of The Week

Joel Lima – RHP

This is Lima’s second award, and he picked it up by pitching two games in long relief: 6 1/3 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 4 K. It wasn’t a great week for the Loons on the mound, so that’s why a reliever gets the award for the third consecutive week. On the season, Lima has a 1.33 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, .203 BAA in 20 1/3 innings. The 22-year-old is one of the Loons’ go-to guys out of the bullpen when a starting pitcher falters in an appearance.