When prospects were named to the 2019 Arizona Fall League, the Los Angeles Dodgers were represented on the Glendale Desert Dogs roster by Gerardo Carrillo, Brett de Geus, Marshall Kasowski and Mitchell White, Omar Estevez, Jeren Kendall and Devin Mann.
That expanded to eight prospects when Justin Yurchak was a later add to the taxi squad. As for the league’s 14th annual Fall Stars Game, the Dodgers had de Geus named to the West roster, while Estevez was up for fan vote to earn the final spot.
Both wound up participating in the Fall Stars Game, though had nondescript showings in a 4-2 win for the East team. Royce Lewis’ two-run home run gave the East team a lead in the second inning, and they scored two more runs in the fourth to break a tie and take the decided lead.
Estevez entered the game at second base in the bottom of the sixth inning and grounded out in his lone at-bat. de Geus appeared out of the bullpen in the seventh and recorded the final out of the inning.
de Geus has built off a strong 2019 season with Low-A Great Lakes and High-A Rancho Cucamonga during his time in the Arizona Fall League. He’s pitched 6.1 scoreless innings thus far for the Glendale team, collecting one save, seven strikeouts and allowing one hit during that span.
Upon converting to a relief pitcher this year, de Geus made the Midwest League All-Star team prior to being promoted to High-A Rancho Cucamonga. He threw 30.2 innings for Low-A Great Lakes, pitching to a 2.35 ERA (1.88 FIP), 10.57 strikeouts per nine innings and 1.76 walks per nine.
He didn’t miss a beat after earning the promotion, logging 31 innings for the Quakes with a 1.16 ERA (2.21 FIP), 10.45 K/9, and 2.03 BB/9.
Estevez has cooled off some and is batting .275/.345/.294 with one double and six RBI through 13 games in the AFL. Like de Geus, Estevez is also coming off his best pro-season, as he was a mainstay in Double-A Tulsa’s lineup, aside from a one month stint on the injured list.
In 336 plate appearances this season, Estevez hit .291/.352/.431 (119 wRC+) with six home runs, a 20.8% strikeout rate and 9.2% walk rate. He potentially could be in line to begin next season with Triple-A Oklahoma City or join the Dodgers’ top affiliate at some point in 2020.
Estevez could make a play for some time in the big leagues if he performs well, but he’s currently blocked from any starting position in the middle infield without some type of injury. Estevez doesn’t need a 40-man roster spot until 2020.
