Mike Salas
Sunday June 23rd ends the first half of the season for all Dodger Affiliate teams. Let’s take a look at the first half team leaders for OKC, Tulsa Drillers, Great Lake Loons, and Rancho Cucamonga Quakes.
After posting a 50-23 first half season in 2023, Oklahoma finishes the first half of 2024 40-35 / .527PCT. and second place in Pacific Coast Legue East. Ryan Ward and Andre Lipcius battles for the HR lead of the team. Kyle Hurt, Landon Knack, Andy Pages, and Miguel Vargas all got called up to the Dodgers to fill in for pitching and player injuries. Pitchers Christian Romero and Justin Wrobleski got promoted to Triple-A from Tulsa. OKC fans got to watch Walker Buehler and Bobby Miller complete re-hab assignments and will get to see Clayton Kershaw this coming Tuesday.
OKC batting first half Leaders: Andre Lipcius 284AB / 54R / 87H / 18HR / 58RBI / 6SB / .306AVG / .377OBP / .574SLG / .951OPS. In Lipcius first year with OKC, he has career highs in homeruns, AVG, SLG, and OPS. Ryan Ward 212AB / 44R / 62H / 21HR / 58RBI / 4SB / .292AVG / .346OBP / .689SLG / 1.035OPS. Ward has career low in strike outs, Leads the PCL in HR, career high in SLG and OPS. Drew Avans 279AB / 63R / 83H / 5HR / 28RBI / 24SB / .297AVG / .386OBP / .459SLG / .845OPS. Note all numbers in bold lead the team in the first half.
OKC Pitching first half leaders: Elieser Hernandez 4W / 1L / 2.83ERA / 34SO / 1.05WHIP. In June, the Dodgers’ picked up Hernandez who was DFA by the Milwaukee Brewers. Ricky Vanasco 0W / 2L / 3.89ERA / 21G / 5SV / 24SO / 1.72WHIP. Vanasco has career highs in saves and WHIP. Landon Knack, OKC – 3W / 2L / 3.54ERA / 52SO / 1.20 Dodgers – 1W / 1L / 2.10ERA / 18SO / 0.94WHIP. In the second half of the season, fans will see Justin Wrobleski and River Ryan on the second half leader board for OKC. Note all numbers in bold lead the team in the first half.
Tulsa Drillers: Had a bit of struggle staying above .500 the first half of the season finishing fourth in the Texas League North with 34W / 35L .493PCT. It’s a bit surprising with all the talent the team has. Tulsa lost their best pitcher Justin Wrobleski to a promotion to OKC with reliever Sauryn Lao. But received RHP Lucas Wepf, RHP Jacob Meador, and RHP Jerming Rosario from the Great Lake Loons.
Drillers first half batter leaders: Austin Beck 165AB / 24R / 41H / 11HR / 39RBI / .248AVG / .319OBP / .509SLG / .828OPS. Beck has career highs in homeruns, SLG, and OPS. Dalton Rushing 190AB / 32R / 49H / 9HR / 39RBI / .258AVG / .374OBP / .468SLG / .842OPS. Taylor Young 235AB / 45R / 59H / 4HR / 27RBI / 25SB / .251AVG / .349OBP / .374SLG / .723OPS. Note all numbers in bold lead the team in the first half.
Drillers first half pitcher leader: Justin Wrobleski 5W / 3L / 3.06ERA / 73SO / 1.06WHIP. Note all numbers in bold lead the team in the first half.
Great Lake Loons: The Loons started the first half of the season in the Midwest League East on a terror, then hit a losing streak that they never recovered from. Loons finished the first half tied for second place with 34W / 32L .515PCT. The Loons acquired four good pitchers from Rancho who should be good contributors in the second half, RHP Jose Rodriguez, RHP Payton Martin, RHP Carson Hobbs, and RHP Jesus Luna.
Loons first half batter leaders: Chris Newell 232AB / 48R / 54H / 19HR / 51RBI / 18SB / .233AVG / .373OBP / .539SLG / .912OPS. Newell led the MLE in homeruns and the team in all but one stat for batting. Dylan Cambell 220AB / 36R / 59H / 2HR / 28RBI / 22SB / .268AVG / .351OBP / .368SLG / .719OPS. Cambell had career highs in hits and stolen bases. Note all numbers in bold lead the team in the first half.
Loons first half pitching leaders: Jackson Ferris 2W / 3L / 4.24ERA / 81SO / 1.32WHIP. Ferris led all pitchers in stats. Note all numbers in bold lead the team in the first half.
Like the Great Lake Loons, Rancho got off to a hot start and could not recover from a losing streak. Rancho Cucamonga Quakes finished the first half second place in California League South with 30W – 34L .469PCT. Rancho fans got to watch re-hab assignments from Clayton Kershaw, Walker Buehler, Bobby Miller, and Evan Phillips.
Quakes first half batter leaders: Josue De Paula 203AB / 37R / 58H / 6HR / 41RBI / 14SB / .286AVG / .393OBP / .458SLG / .851OPS. De Paula in playing his second season with Rancho and has improved all of his numbers from last year. Jordan Thompson and Jeral Perez tied with 8 homeruns apiece to lead the team. Kendall George led the team with 42R and 20SB. Note all numbers in bold lead the team in the first half.
Quakes first half pitcher leaders: Patrick Copen 5W / 2L / 3.15ERA / 60SO / 1.20WHIP. Jose Rodriguez tied Copen with 5 wins while Reynaldo Yean and Noah Ruen tied with five saves apiece. Note all numbers in bold lead the team in the first half.
With the first half of minor league baseball complete, I look forward to seeing the Dodgers Affiliates improve and make the playoffs in the second half. Rancho has a talented bunched and I see De Paula being moved up sometime in the second half. Other players I see moving up is Chris Newell, Jackson Ferris, and Jordan Thompson. Dodger fans don’t be surprised if you see Justin Wrobleski and River Ryan making their debut with the Dodgers sometime after the All-Star break. We could also lose players like Andre Lipcius and Miguel Vargas to fill a much-needed short-stop, bats, and possibly frontline pitching by the end of the trade deadline in July.
