Kind of a quiet week on the farm for the Dodgers affiliates. The Loons went 4-1, but the other three affiliates didn’t play .500 ball.

The pitching seemed to lack this week more than the offense, but there have been some impressive early-season performances thus far.

—–

Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes (2-5)

Player Of The Week

Scott Van Slyke – 1B

.435/.517/.957/1.474, 3 HR, 6 RBI, 3 2B, 7 R, 5 BB, 4 K

Van Slyke is on fire to start the season. Not only is he hitting the cover off the ball, he’s walking, too. He’s slimmed down and it appears to be helping him. He’s a late-bloomer for sure, but this is ridiculous — in a good way.

Pitcher Of The Week

Matt Magill – RHP

5 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 7 K

Magill’s first start wasn’t great, but his second start was much better. He has the skill set to pitch in the Pacific Coast League, especially with his ability to get the strikeout. It’ll be interesting to see how Magill fares in the extreme hitter’s league this season.

—–

Double-A Chattanooga Lookouts (2-4)

Player Of The Week

Yasiel Puig – OF

.304/.333/.609/.942, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 2 2B, 1 3B, 1 BB, 5 K

Puig wasn’t as good as last week, but he still was able to smack four extra-base hits while trying to help the mediocre-thus-far Lookouts’ offense. Joc Pederson was a close second.

Pitcher Of The Week

Zach Lee – RHP

7 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 HR, 1 BB (Intentional), 7 K

Lee pitched like the Dodgers’ best pitching prospect this week, as he spun a gem against the Tennessee Smokies. He’s off to a fast start this season, and could re-establish his prospect status (even though he didn’t do a whole lot to hurt it in 2012) with a strong performance in Double-A.

—–

High-A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (3-4)

Player Of The Week

Scott Wingo – 2B

.400/.571/.467/1.038, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 5 R, 4 BB, 3 K, 2 HBP

Wingo is an on-base machine, or at least he was this week. He gets pushed to the bottom of the lineup thanks to Darnell Sweeney and Noel Cuevas, but it’s nice to have that on-base ability to turn the lineup over.

Pitcher Of The Week

Pedro Baez – RHP

2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K

Kind of a rough week for Quakes’ pitching. Ross Stripling pitched relatively well, but still gave up three runs in five innings. Baez is not the Quakes’ closer right now, but he could be by mid-season, due to either promotions or performance.

—–

Low-A Great Lakes Loons (4-1)

Player Of The Week

Paul Hoenecke – 3B

.476/.500/1.262/1.762, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 3 2B, 7 R, 1 BB, 3 K

Hoenecke has been the Loons’ best hitter by far. He’s providing the middle-of-the-order presence Great Lakes’ terrible offense needs. Corey Seager has struggled (statistically), and the team isn’t getting much offense from anyone else.

Pitcher Of The Week

Ralston Cash – RHP

6 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K

Despite giving up six runs in his first start, none of them were earned. That explains the 0.93 ERA and 4.09 FIP this season, but still, he’s striking batters out (15 in 9 2/3 innings). This is a big year for the former second-rounder.

=====

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.

The Dodgers have officially converted former starting pitcher Chris Withrow to relief and former third baseman Pedro Baez to pitching.

FINALLY

Personally, I’ve seen both Withrow and Baez in those roles for a couple years now (maybe Baez for longer given his swing), and I think most evaluators began to agree within the last year, so it’s good to see the Dodgers follow suit.

Withrow, the Dodgers’ No. 1 pick in 2007, had early bouts with the yips and more recently chronic back problems. Withrow responded to a bullpen move late last year, and Honeycutt said it’s now permanent, hoping the role change can work Eric Gagne-like wonders for Withrow, whose electric arm is undisputed.

Maybe management recalls a hard-throwing second-rounder that struggled as a starter and was never tried as a reliever. Instead, the Dodgers let Joel Hanrahan leave as a free agent and he went on to be an All-Star closer. “Chris wanted the change,” Honeycutt said. “He likes attacking more. He reminds me a little of Gagne, somebody who might throw three or four innings as a starter but have one [bad] inning, and you can eliminate that if you’re only asking one inning of relief from him. Maybe one- or two-inning stints will be easier on his back. He’s got the arm.”

Withrow’s bouts with command and a lack of development of a solid third pitch would have led down this road eventually, so getting ahead of the curve here and giving him a chance to be a dominant back-end reliever is a positive.

Baez, a .247 hitter in six Minor League seasons, is starting over as a hard-throwing reliever a la Jansen, who came out from behind the plate to emerge as a bullpen strikeout king.

“They put him on the mound in instructional league and that fastball is really strong,” Honeycutt said of Baez, who turns 25 next month. “You talk about Kenley when you see the ball come out of his hand. He hasn’t been overwhelmed by thinking too much about pitching. He just sees the glove and throws it and that’s kind of refreshing.”

Universally, scouting reports have put Baez’s arm as plus or plus-plus, with some clocking him consistently in the low-90s across the diamond. As such, his arm strength shouldn’t be a surprise, and though he’s already 25, he now has the same chance Kenley Jansen did, which is better than languishing in A-ball as a hitter who struggled to hit.

—–

The Dodgers have 17 non-roster invitees coming to major-league camp in 2013.

The ones of note I would say are Tony Gwynn Jr., Alfredo Amezaga, and Ramon Castro, ordered in likelihood that they actually make the roster. The rest of them seem to fill positions that the Dodgers already have a backlog of, especially the relievers.

So the Arizona Fall League started yesterday, and if you don’t already know what’s going on with that, you can check out the Dodgers players who are there in this article I wrote two months ago.

One glaring difference between that list and what you’ll actually see or hear about is the absence of Yasiel Puig, as he’ll be missing the entirety of the AFL due to a staph infection in his elbow.

Top Dodgers outfield prospect Yasiel Puig will miss the Arizona Fall League because of a staph infection in his right elbow that required a surgical procedure.

Puig is expected to be fully healed in three to five weeks and will rehab at the club’s Camelback Ranch-Glendale facility.

Puig, signed this summer for a $42 million bonus, developed an infection similar to one that sidelined former Dodgers infielder Casey Blake for a month in 2011. Like Blake, Puig underwent a surgical cleaning of the infected area and his throwing elbow will remain immobilized for another week.

It’s not a gigantic deal, but I think basically everybody was looking forward to seeing how he would fare in the AFL in order to get a better read on him.

—–

Remember Pedro Baez? Yeah, the third base prospect whose career stalled due to his inability to develop as a hitter. Well he’s finally been moved to the mound for instructional league, which is basically what most of us have wanted for a while now. Mike Petriello has called for it in the past, I have for a while too, and I think Dustin Nosler has previously as well. It just made sense given the path his career was on as a field player.

The possessor of a plus-plus arm at the hot corner, Baez’s position switch gives birth to new hope for him as a prospect. Yes, his age still matters, but now it’s less about that and his performance and more about whether or not he can adjust to the mound and learn a breaking ball. Looking forward to seeing those velocity readings.

The Isotopes, Lookouts, and Raptors all made the playoffs in 2012.

The Isotopes went up against a team with the best hitter in minor league baseball in Wil Myers. It was, as expected, a slugfest, but the Omaha Stormchasers got the best of the ‘Topes, 3-2.

The Lookouts went up against one of the more stacked teams in the minors in the Jackson Generals. They, like the ‘Topes, were dispatched, 3-1. A couple of bright spots include Onelki Garcia‘s performance and the fact that Joc Pederson got his first taste of Double-A (3-for-11 with a triple).

Fortunately for the minor league system, the Raptors were able to win its first-round series 2-1 and move on to the Pioneer League championship behind some strong pitching and some timely hitting.

—–

Albuquerque Isotopes (3-5)

Runs Scored: 38
Runs Allowed: 51

Player Of The Week

Elian Herrera – OF/IF

Herrera, who had his share of success in the majors this season, closed out the final week of the minor league regular season with one of his best weeks: 12-for-25 (.480) with two doubles, two triples, five RBI, and three runs scored. He finishes the season with a .341/.381/.520 line in 64 games. Herrera should be on the Dodgers’ bench soon.

Pitcher Of The Week

Stephen Fife – RHP

Fife earned his fourth award of the season by having a nice outing for the Isotopes on Friday: 7 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K. He finishes the season at 11-7 with a 4.66 ERA, 1.48 WHIP, 10.4 H/9, 0.9 HR/9, 2.9 BB/9, and a 2.11 K/BB. He might get recalled if the Dodgers need a starter or a long man.

—–

Chattanooga Lookouts (5-2)

Runs Scored: 29
Runs Allowed: 17

Player Of The Week

Luis Nunez – 1B/OF

Once again, the Lookouts struggled to score runs this week. Nunez was the best hitter of the bunch, going 6-for-18 (.333) with a home run, two doubles, three RBI, and four runs scored. This was Nunez’s fourth award of the season. He finishes the year at .257/.319/.420.

Pitcher Of The Week

Zach Lee – RHP

Lee didn’t fare too well in the Lookouts’ second playoff game, but he had a great week prior to the postseason: 12 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 12 K. He finishes his 2012 campaign with some solid numbers: 6-6, 4.14 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, 3.76 FIP, 3.63 SIERA, 2.1 BB/9, and a 7.7 K/9. Not bad for a 20-year-old who spent the majority of his time in Double-A (62 IP vs. 55 1/3 IP).

—–

Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (3-5)

Runs Scored: 33
Runs Allowed: 60

Player Of The Week

Pedro Baez – 3B

Baez, who was demoted after making the Double-A All-Star team earlier in the season, had his best week of the season. He went 13-for-24 (.542) with two doubles and two runs scored. His arm is great and it might be about time the team gave this light-hitting third baseman a shot on the mound. Baez finishes the season with a .221/.307/.375 triple slash with 11 home runs, 27 doubles, five triples, and 58 RBI.

Pitcher Of The Week

Onelki Garcia – LHP

Garcia made his professional debut and fared quite well: 2 IP, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K. It’s a modest outing, but a nice one for a debut. How did he follow that up? With a great showing in the Double-A playoffs (3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 K). Not sure where he’s going to begin next season, but I’m hoping it’s Double-A. He could be the Dodgers’ second-best pitching prospect by this time next season.

—–

Great Lakes Loons (5-3)

Runs Scored: 35
Runs Allowed: 38

Player Of The Week

Jesus Alberto Arredondo – 2B

An early season favorite of mine, Arredondo hasn’t made an appearance on this list since I started this feature. Well, he was able to close out his 2012 campaign with a nice showing: 9-for-20 (.450), two doubles, a triple, three RBI, and three runs scored. Arredondo finishes the season with a .253/.305/.339 triple slash. After the way he began the season, I expected more from him.

Pitcher Of The Week

Joel Lima – RHP

Lima made two of his three starts for the Loons in the season’s final week, and he pitched quite well: 12 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 7 K. He threw 28 games for the Loons, but only three in the rotation. He finishes the season with a 4.52 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, and a .277 batting average against.

—–

Ogden Raptors (5-1)

Runs Scored: 53
Runs Allowed: 34

Player Of The Week

Justin Boudreaux – IF

Boudreaux, who struggled mightily in Great Lakes this season, had himself a week for the Raptors. He went 5-for-16 (.313) with a home run, four doubles, seven RBI, and four runs scored. For the season, he hit .195/.292/.305 between Ogden and Great Lakes. I rated him as a top 30 prospect prior to the season. Obviously, I missed badly on this one.

Pitcher Of The Week

Lindsey Caughel – RHP

The Dodgers’ 23rd-round pick, despite being nearly 22 in the Pioneer League, is showing he might have some ability down the road. He had a nice outing in the season’s last week: 7 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K. He followed that up with a great outing in the Pioneer League playoffs. Caughel had a nice debut season between Ogden and Arizona: 5-4, 3.32 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 3.33 FIP, 3.72 SIERA, 1.7 BB/9, and a 6.5 K/9.

—–

Arizona League Dodgers (1-3)

Runs Scored: 14
Runs Allowed: 24

Player Of The Week

Stefan Jarrin – 2B

It was hard to find an offensive star for the AZL Dodgers this week, so I went with the guy who hit a home run. He went 2-for-7 (.286) with the aforementioned home run, two RBI, and two runs scored. He finishes his second professional season much like he did his first: .209/.305/.363.

Pitcher Of The Week

Ronny Lugo – RHP

Lugo had the best appearance of the week for the pitching staff: 5 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K. It was his first and only start of the season. He finishes with an ugly 6.27 ERA, 1.93 WHIP, and a .333 BAA.

—–

Dominican Summer League Dodgers (0-0)

Season ended Aug. 25.

On Wednesday, five members of the Chattanooga Lookouts were named to the Southern League All-Star team, according to a press release from the league.

—–

Southern League North Division All-Stars

Position Players: 1B/C J.T. Wise, 3B Pedro Baez, OF Blake Smith

Pitchers: RHP Matt Magill, RHP Ethan Martin

—–

I’ve written about Magill’s and Martin’s success this season, so their selections come as no surprise. Magill hasn’t pitched as well in his last couple outings, but he’s been solid this season overall. Martin got roughed up a little on Wednesday, but he’s still the ace of the staff.

Wise is leading the team in batting average, on-base percentage (16th in league), hits, doubles (2nd in league), walks, and OPS. Smith leads the team in home runs (10th in league), RBI (10th in league), runs scored (2nd in league), and slugging percentage. Both are tied for the team lead in total bases, good for 13th in the league.

Baez is the only surprise to me. He’s having an okay season (.245/.357/.380), but those numbers don’t scream “All-Star” to me. Third base in the Southern League must be as barren as it is in the Dodgers system.

Either way, it’s nice to see the guys get well-deserved recognition.

The All-Star Game will be held on June 19th at the Tennessee Smokies park in Kodak, Tennessee.

This was an interesting week in the minors. The Isotopes actually looked like they were playing in the Pacific Coast League, scoring 45 runs in seven games (6.4 runs per game) while giving up 57 runs (8.1). Despite that, they were still be better than .500 this week. Of course, they got a little help from Matt Kemp and Juan Rivera in Sunday’s game.

The Quakes only scored 16 runs on the week, and that’s not a typo. The Lookouts gave up the fewest runs with 27. That pitching staff, despite the promotions, is really stepping up.

The Loons should get a boost this week from new additions Angelo Songco and Ralston Cash, both of whom made their season debuts Monday.

—–

Albuquerque Isotopes (4-3)

Runs Scored: 45
Runs Allowed: 57

Player Of The Week

Brian Cavazos-Galvez – OF

Despite struggling mightily in Double-A, Cavazos-Galvez, local to New Mexico, is flourishing with the Isotopes. He went 11-for-24 (.458) with a home run, seven RBI, three doubles, a triple, and six runs scored. I wouldn’t get too terribly excited; Cavazos-Galvez has done well in the hitter’s league and has struggled in the pitcher’s league this season.

Pitcher Of The Week

John Ely – RHP

Can there really be a Pitcher Of The Week when the staff allowed 57 runs in seven games? Sure. This week, it’s Ely. Elymania posted a great line this week: 14 IP, 11 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 13 K. This is his second POTW honor, and it’s really surprising to see such a good performance from him in a week the team allowed so many runs. In fact, if you take away Ely’s three runs allowed, the rest of the Isotopes staff allowed 54 runs. That’s … ugly.

After a rough start to the season, Ely has put up some great numbers in an extreme hitter’s league: 3.58 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, 0.7 HR/9, 2.2 BB/9, 9.7 K/9, 4.33 BB/K and a 1.85 groundout to flyout rate. He wouldn’t be nearly this good in the majors, but it’s nice to see him pitching well in case the Dodgers need an emergency starter later this season.

—–

Chattanooga Lookouts (4-2)

Runs Scored: 31
Runs Allowed: 27

Player Of The Week

Pedro Baez – 3B

Nick Buss pushed hard for this award, but Baez gets the nod this week. He went 8-for-20 (.400) with two home runs, six RBI, a double, and, most encouraging, five walks (against three strikeouts). I have long since given up on Baez being any kind of contributor for the Dodgers, but the talent is there, as his defensive ability at third base has never been questioned. His bat, however, hasn’t lived up to the potential. While he’s hitting just .259, he does have a .360 on-base percentage and is improving his pop a little bit.

Pitcher Of The Week

Ethan Martin – RHP

Martin’s resurgence continues, as he had a good start and a mediocre start this week: 11 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 6 BB, 12 K. The walk total was a bit high this week, but it’s still pretty good by Martin’s standards. He’s holding opposing hitters to a .190 batting average and has given up just three home runs this season.

With Nate Eovaldi‘s promotion to Los Angeles (for now), Martin is vying with Matt Magill for the role of Chattanooga‘s ace — something I bet no one was expecting coming into the season (on both accounts).

The Southern League, however, doesn’t agree with my pick as Magill was named league’s Pitcher of the Week (for the second time this season) on Tuesday. He had a fantastic outing on Thursday: 7 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 10 K.  Seems I should have gone with him instead of Martin, but I’m standing by my choice.

—–

Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (2-4)

Runs Scored: 16
Runs Allowed: 31

Player Of The Week

Austin Gallagher – 1B/DH

This was slim pickins, as the Quakes scored an unimpressive 16 runs in six games this week. Gallagher was the best of the bunch, going 7-for-22 (.318) with two doubles, two RBI, three walks, and a run scored. Like I said, slim. Gallagher, who earns his second POTW award, is still hitting with some pop, posting a .483 slugging percentage on the season. However, I’d like to see his .264 average come up substantially.

Pitcher Of The Week

Angel Sanchez – RHP

Wasn’t much to get excited about this week on the hill for the Quakes. Chris Reed made his return and Scott McGough was solid out of the bullpen, but Angel Sanchez had one of his best starts of the season, earning him this week’s honor: 6 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K. Sanchez has been a bit up and down this season, but hopefully this outing gets him going. He’s issued just two walks in his last 27 2/3 innings. Like Gallagher, this is Sanchez’s second POTW award.

—–

Great Lakes Loons (3-3)

Runs Scored: 33
Runs Allowed: 39

Player Of The Week

James Baldwin – CF

Baldwin just edges out O’Koyea Dickson for the honor this week. It would have been Dickson’s third consecutive award, but instead, this is Baldwin’s second award this season. He went 9-for-24 (.375) with two doubles, two RBI, two walks, and seven stolen bases. Baldwin did most of his damage on May 21st, going 5-for-5 on the day.

Despite the solid week, he’s struggled mightily this season. His power has completely disappeared (six doubles, no triples or home runs) and he’s still striking out far too much (35.2 percent). His potential and talent is unquestioned; the ability to harness said potential is what’s in question.

Pitcher Of The Week

Yimi Garcia – RHP

As you can probably tell from the 39 runs allowed in six games, it wasn’t a great week on the hill for the Loons. So, this award is going to the Loons’ closer this week. Garcia was decent but not great this week: 3 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 2 saves. Garcia is more than holding his own as a 21-year-old in Low-A (1.93 ERA, 12.5 K/9) and should get the call to Rancho Cucamonga soon.