Zack Greinke appears to be ahead of schedule in his recovery from a broken collarbone.

The original diagnosis after the surgery was for Greinke to return to pitching for the Dodgers in eight weeks after the Apr. 13 procedure, which would put him in line for a return around June 8. But given that Greinke is already throwing bullpen sessions, his return could come sooner than that.

Ken Gurnick has the details:

Greinke threw all of his pitches and said he had no discomfort. Original recovery estimate was eight weeks, but he’s ahead of that.

While I’m thrilled with this news, and it is a positive to counter all the bad, I would encourage them to take as much time as he needs to get back.

Besides being worried about him rushing it to help a struggling team, I would hope he’s given the time to adequately build his arm strength. Also, that he feels truly normal so that he’s not altering his mechanics. This is due to both injury and performance concerns.

—–

Adrian Gonzalez has been down and out for the past few days with a neck injury, and while there hasn’t been any indication that it’s serious enough to require a DL stint, it certainly doesn’t sound good.

Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez tried to play on Saturday night after sitting out Friday with a pain in his neck, but for the second consecutive night he was scratched from the starting lineup on Saturday against the Giants. Jerry Hairston will play first base in place of Gonzalez, and bat second.

Things figured to be bad for Gonzalez, who after Friday’s game told reporters, “I can’t turn my neck right now,” per Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times.

Even on Saturday, though he was originally penciled into the lineup, Gonzalez spent the bulk of pregame getting treatment on his neck, and per Ken Gurnick of MLB.com was walking around the clubhouse wearing a soft neck brace. I’m no doctor, but that is almost never a good sign for anyone, let alone a professional athlete.

The weird part? On the play he was hurt, there’s barely any direct contact with his head/neck and the umpire at all.

Via Mike Petriello

I’m not sure his head/neck area even make direct contact. Not questioning his injury in any way, just mentioning it to point out how unlucky this team has been so far in 2013.

This injury sort of sums it up.

—–

Hanley Ramirez was placed on the 15-day DL with his hamstring injury, which seems as serious as it looked.

Ramirez led off the sixth inning with a walk against Barry Zito, then tried to advance to third base on a single to right field by A.J. Ellis. But between second and third base, Ramirez pulled up and slowed down, and appeared to favor his left leg.

Ramirez was helped off the field by team trainers, and replaced in the bottom of the inning by Justin Sellers at shortstop.

Early reports have the injury being compared to Matt Kemp‘s injury from 2012, and we know how that derailed his year.

—–

Chris Capuano is on pace to join the rotation this coming week.

Chris Capuano pitched into the sixth inning Wednesday night in his minor league rehab start with Triple-A Albuquerque, and remains in line to join the Dodgers when they open a series next week at Dodger Stadium against the Diamondbacks.

Capuano allowed two runs on seven hits in his 5⅓ innings, and struck out four with just one walk against Memphis. He had a bit of a scare in the third inning when he knocked down a comebacker with his bare hand, per Isotopes beat writer Chris Jackson, but Capuano was no worse for wear and remained in the game.

Capuano was removed after 76 pitches, presumably after hitting a prescribed pitch count limit. For what it’s worth, Isotopes play-by-play announcer Josh Suchon described Capuano’s outing as “solid” and said the left-hander “looks ready.”

Capuano and Greinke figure to come back soon, one after the other, so the rotation hopefully won’t be in shambles like it is now.

—–

Mark Ellis continues to make improvements, but how much longer can they wait?

Ellis said Wednesday that he was feeling better and was able to field, throw, hit and move laterally with no issue. But he was still unable to run at full speed.

The Dodgers need to open a roster spot for Clayton Kershaw to return from the bereavement list and make his scheduled start Friday at San Francisco.

Does Ellis believe he will be healthy enough to play Friday?

“We’ll see; I won’t know until Friday,” Ellis said before Wednesday’s game against the Rockies. “If it progresses every day like it has, I’d be optimistic. But it’s early in the season still, so we’ll see.”

If Ellis is unavailable again Friday, the Dodgers would most likely place the veteran on the disabled list.

Great that he’s not in the “gonna miss a month” territory with this, but they need to make a decision. The bench is terrible as it is, and they can’t just keep them a man down.

Given his age and injury history, I honestly don’t see why they don’t just play it safe.

—–

Carl Crawford (hamstring) isn’t a DL situation yet, Don Mattingly says.

— J.P. Hoornstra (@jphoornstra) May 1, 2013

Fortunately it seems like he’s about ready, as he pinch-hit yesterday.

—–

Jerry Hairston Jr. seems to think he’s okay after pulling up a bit lame while scoring last night.

Jerry Hairston, starting at first base Saturday night in place of the injured Adrian Gonzalez, was removed in the fifth inning in a double-switch, although he confirmed he “felt a little bit of a tweak in the groin” to explain why he was limping while scoring on Matt Kemp’s two-run single.

“I felt fine and could have stayed in the game. It was very minor,” Hairston said. “It was just a natural double-switch but I could have played. It’s really a non-issue. I hit the bag funny rounding third and I just wanted to make sure I didn’t overextend.”

Mattingly said he was told that Hairston was OK, “but I’m not sure what that means. We’ll see tomorrow.”

Again, this doesn’t seem major, but if this many guys are unavailable or borderline unavailable, it eats into an already weak and decimated bench.

—–

As you guys know, Ted Lilly was put on the DL with a rib cage strain.

—–

Down in the minors, it’s been a busy week:

Placed on 7-day DL: RHP Gustavo Gomez, RHP JonMichael Redding, LHP Onelki Garcia, C Jan Vazquez, 1B Chris Jacobs, 2B Rafael Ynoa

Reinstated from DL: RHP Matt Palmer, SS Ozzie Martinez, OF Yasiel Puig

Would like to know what Onelki Garcia‘s ailment is, since he’s the top prospect in the group. Rafael Ynoa is a potential contributor as well.

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.

—–

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.

—–

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.

—–

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.

—–

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.

—–

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.

—–

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.

—–

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).

—–

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.

Quakes 3B C.J. Retherford hits against the Stockton Ports on June 5th. Photo: Dustin Nosler

Someone break up the Quakes. Rancho Cucamonga went 7-0 this week, thanks largely in part to my attendance on Tuesday and Wednesday. All kidding aside, the Quakes got some great pitching and some timely hitting to catapult them into a first place tie in their division with the Lake Elsinore Storm (San Diego Padres) at 34-30. With six games left in the first half, the Quakes are in a good position to win the division. They have the Lancaster Jethawks (Houston Astros) and High Desert Mavericks (Seattle Mariners) this week.

The Isotopes great week is overshadowed by the Quakes performance. The team hit well and pitched exceptionally well (until giving up 11 runs yesterday). Still, 25 runs allowed in seven games in the Pacific Coast League? Yeah, I’ll take that.

The Lookouts were shortened this week by rain. They were rained out on Saturday and a Sunday doubleheader was also rained out.

The Loons allowed the fewest runs this week at 18. The ‘Topes scored the most at 44.

—–

Albuquerque Isotopes (5-1)

Runs Scored: 44
Runs Allowed: 25

Player Of The Week

Brian Cavazos Galvez – OF

The Isotopes had a nice week at the plate, but no one was hotter than Cavazos-Galvez: 9-for-16 (.562) with a double, a triple, three RBI, and two runs scored. He struggled so much in the Southern League (.167/.233/.359), it’s almost amazing to see him tearing up PCL pitching (.364/.397/.622). This is Cavazos-Galvez’s second award in the last three weeks.

Pitcher Of The Week

John Ely  – RHP

Ely takes his third POTW award by throwing the ball well in one appearance: 6 2/3 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 8 K. Ely has been fantastic for the Isotopes this season, as he’s fourth in the PCL in ERA (3.22, among pitchers with at least 50 IP), leads in strikeouts (78), and is third in K/9 among starting pitchers (9.7).

I wouldn’t be surprised to see him back in the majors sometime this season.

—–

Chattanooga Lookouts (2-3)

Runs Scored: 20
Runs Allowed: 22

Player Of The Week

Brahiam Maldonado – OF

Signed as a free agent earlier this season, Maldonado just barely beat out Blake Smith for this week’s award by going 7-for-16 (.437) with two doubles, two triples, four RBI, and four runs scored. The 26-year-old is hitting significantly better with the Lookouts (.364/.435/.628) than he did with the New York Mets Double-A affiliate (.094/.147/.094).

Pitcher Of The Week

Aaron Miller – LHP

Miller had the best outing of any Lookouts pitcher this week: 5 IP, 6 , 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K. While his WHIP wasn’t great, he did strikeout more batters than he pitched innings.

Miller has been up and down this season for the Lookouts, but there’s obviously still potential in his left arm. He needs to start throwing more innings per start (only 5 IP in five of his last six starts).

—–

Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (7-0)

Runs Scored: 39
Runs Allowed: 19

Player Of The Week

C.J. Retherford – 3B

Retherford had perhaps the best week of anyone not named Alex Castellanos this season. He went 13-for-28 (.464) with six home runs, 11 RBI, eight runs scored, and two stolen bases. His triple slash has skyrocketed in the last 10 games and now sits at .337/.369/.631. He was named the California League‘s Player Of The Week. It marks the second week in a row a Quake has won it, as Michael Pericht won it last week.

The only bad thing about this is the fact Retherford is 26 years old in the Cal League, but he hit the cover off the ball this week, regardless. This is Retherford’s second award.

Pitcher Of The Week

Jon Michael Redding – RHP

Redding started on Tuesday and had a fantastic outing. He retired 17 hitters in a row at one point. Redding’s numbers for the week were solid: 14 IP, 11 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 3 BB, 14 K. As a 24-year-old in High-A, he isn’t much of a prospect. He is what he is — a soft-tossing righty who relies on control to be successful.

—–

Great Lakes Loons (2-4)

Runs Scored: 18
Runs Allowed: 18

Player Of The Week

O’Koyea Dickson – 1B/DH

It was another off week offensively for the Loons, but Dickson managed to put up decent numbers in five games: 6-for-18 (.333), one home run, four RBI, three runs scored, two walks, and one strikeout. On the season, the slugging first baseman is up to .325/.428/.561 on the year. He should get a promotion soon — perhaps after the All-Star break. This is Dickson’s third award.

Pitcher Of The Week

Ryan O’Sullivan – RHP

Last year’s fourth-round pick topped Ralston Cash for this week’s award with two stellar outings: 15 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 9 K.  As a groundball pitcher, he isn’t going to get a lot of strikeouts — and hasn’t this season (6.4 K/9). But he’s been effective against Midwest League hitters and might get a look in Rancho before the season is out.

His 2.77 ERA, 1.05 WHIP .199 BAA lead the team (among starting pitchers with enough innings) and is second to Jarret Martin in innings pitched (65 1/3 to 65). This is O’Sullivan’s second award.

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.

—–

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.

—–

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.

—–

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.

—–

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.

—–

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.

—–

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.

Dominican Summer League Dodgers: Pitchers
Dominican Summer League Dodgers: Hitters
Arizona League Dodgers: Pitchers
Arizona League Dodgers: Hitters
Ogden Raptors: Pitchers
Ogden Raptors: Hitters
Great Lakes Loons: Pitchers
Great Lakes Loons: Hitters

=====

Today I continue my off-season recap of the Los Angeles Dodgers minor league affiliates, moving on to the pitchers of the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes.

—

I’ll be picking the prospects for the 2012 Prospective Prospect Profiles list from these reviews, so it might be worth reading. Or not.

=====

Jon Michael Redding – 23 – RHP

Jon Michael Redding Statistics

Way older than his competition in the California League, Redding turned in a solid season, posting a 3.66 ERA and a 3.53 FIP. Seemingly average numbers, but made all the better when considering league average was a 4.90 ERA and a 4.13 FIP.

He missed bats and prevented walks at league average rates, so it’s not like he set the world on fire, but he could be solid AAA rotation depth, much like Jesus Castillo was for the Dodgers a couple years ago. A solid frame, a low-90s fastball, and a sharp slider also make him a candidate for relief, but the Dodgers are stock full of those types with superior stuff.

He’ll need to prove himself at AA in 2012 to have a shot.

—–

Allen Webster – 21 – RHP

Allen Webster Statistics

Posting a 2.33 ERA and 2.77 FIP in high-A, Webster struck out 27.2% of batters (League Average=20.0%) and issued free passes to 9.2% (League Average=8.9%). Based on his stuff and his performance there alone, I would have felt comfortable putting him in the same league as Zach Lee. Unfortunately, that’s not the whole story for Webster, as he struggled in AA, posting a 5.04 ERA. However, he was nowhere near that bad, with an FIP clocking in at 3.98.

Normally that’s enough of a disparity for me to dismiss, and his control was about the same as ever, but the area of concern is that his strikeout rate dipped to 17.9%, almost 10% lower than in high-A. I hate that number because it gives me pause as to whether or not his stuff is good enough to dominate advanced hitters.

It’s an odd question to ask considering Webster’s fastball sits 92-93, touches 96, and has both sink and tail. A rarity in the Dodgers system, Webster’s changeup is probably his best off-speed offering, whereas his slurve/slider struggles to find two-plane depth.

Webster has come a long way since I first saw him in 2009. I loved him then and I still do. Webster doesn’t have the projection and potential that Lee does, but in their respective current states, I don’t think they’re that far apart despite Lee being infinitely more touted. Webster will have to prove he can handle advanced bats in 2012 to ease concerns, but if he does so, he could be fighting for a September call.

—–

Matt Magill – 21 – RHP

Matt Magill Statistics

Solid but not spectacular, Magill posted league average strikeout and walk rates while scoring a 4.33 ERA and 3.93 FIP.

I observed that his stuff took an uptick last year, following through on his projectability, moving from 87-89 up to 89-91 or so. I was hoping that the progress continued, but his stuff stalled a bit, and if he doesn’t continue to develop, he could be in the same boat as Jon Michael Redding. Neither his slider nor change are knockout pitches against advanced bats, and with only an average fastball, I’m curious to see how he performs in 2012 if the Dodgers move him up to AA.

—–

Aaron Miller – 23 – LHP

Aaron Miller Statistics

Unfortunately, there’s not much to say here because he only threw 36 innings on the year (3.97 ERA/3.88 FIP) due to a groin injury.

That’s not the worst part though, as his stuff took yet another step backwards, going from 91-94 in college to 89-92 in 2010 to 87-90 in 2011. Due to injury? Perhaps, but it’s certainly not a positive.

He’s going to be 24 next year and he still doesn’t have a ton of experience on the mound, so he might be one of those late bloomers. However, he’ll have to actually stay healthy, regain his stuff of old, and show well in high-A at the minimum, if not moving up to AA.

—–

Ethan Martin – 22 – RHP

Ethan Martin Statistics

It’s never a good thing when a former first rounder has to move to the bullpen just to find the plate, but Martin found himself shifting roles in 2011, a sign the Dodgers don’t quite know what to do with him anymore.

In 95.3 innings between high-A and AA, Martin put up a 5.95 ERA and 4.75 FIP. The stuff is still there, the 23.5% strikeout rate shows that, but the problem remains his terrible 14.9% walk rate, which the Dodgers coaches can’t seem to solve.

Will he try starting again in 2012 or will the Dodgers convert him to relief? I’m not sure which they choose, but finding a role won’t matter if he can’t find his release point.

—–

Steven Ames – 23 – RHP

Steven Ames Statistics

Put up a 1.17 ERA and 0.59 FIP in high-A before moving up to AA and still doing work with a 2.48 ERA and 2.53 FIP. Given those numbers, it shouldn’t surprise that he had a 34.8% strikeout rate and a 6.6% walk rate between levels.

His velocity took a tick upwards from what I had last year when he sat around 89-91, as he was generally around 91-93 this year. His secondary pitches are a slider and a change, but both suffer due to his tendency to fly out with his lead shoulder. The slider is his strikeout pitch but it has inconsistent sharpness. He doesn’t use his change in the game often, but it flashes solid fading movement.

I expected him to have more dominating stuff after looking at the numbers, but he has solid command and isn’t afraid of mixing sequences. Should be interesting to see where the Dodgers put him to begin 2012, as he could be at AAA to start the year and a candidate for the Dodgers squad if he gets off the mark quickly.

—–

Chris Reed – 21 – LHP

Chris Reed Statistics

Reed only threw seven innings as a professional, so his performance isn’t worth noting. However, his stuff is enough to make him a good prospect alone, as he has a low-90s fastball, a slider, and a change for three legitimate pitches.

The Dodgers seem confident that his stuff will translate to his new role as a starter after being a closer in college, but it’s no sure thing. Needless to say, he’ll be one to monitor closely as 2012 progresses, and his immediate results probably won’t be as important as how his stuff grades out.

—–

Javier Solano – 21 – RHP

Javier Solano Statistics

Solano’s ERA in high-A was a mediocre 4.09, but his FIP was 2.59 on the strength of a 23.8 K% and 4.8 BB%. He also proved his mettle in AA, putting up a 3.03 ERA and 3.23 FIP. However, his peripherals sunk to 19.7 K% and 11.7 BB%, not doing much to allay fears that his prospect potential was built on good statistics but a shaky foundation of tools.

From my view though, it’s hard to complain too much, and he at least deserves to be in the conversation with the rest of the relief prospects considering he held his own at AA at 21. Solano sits 89-92 with a solid breaking ball and controls the strike zone well, so it’s not as if he doesn’t have potential major league grade stuff either.

2012 will be a big year for him as far as proving his prospect status, as he’ll likely tackle AA.

—–

Carlos Frias – 21 – RHP

Carlos Frias Statistics

Once dubbed a sleeper prospect with the potential to breakthrough into the top 25 or even top 10, Frias posted a 6.19 ERA with a 7.45 FIP thanks to an unbelievably terrible 14.5 K% and 22.4 BB% ratio.

That’s two years of cringe worthy performances in a row with serious peripheral regression in 2011, so it’s going to take a good 2012 just to keep him relevant. Throwing in the mid-90s can only take one so far.