While the Los Angeles Dodgers are gearing up for the home stretch of the 2016 season, their Minor League affiliates are winding the year down. Though, for Triple-A Oklahoma City, they’ve clinched a second consecutive trip to the playoffs as American Northern Division champions.
However, Oklahoma City is facing the prospect of being without multiple key contributors when postseason play begins. Yasiel Puig, optioned to OKC in early August, was among the players recalled by the Dodgers on Friday.
Trevor Oaks isn’t expected to return after being removed from his start last in the first inning because of a groin injury.
And Oklahoma City is also without Jose De Leon, the Dodgers’ top pitching prospect, as he’s en route to Los Angeles for his Major League debut on Sunday.
But the organization is doing some late-season shuffling between their Minor League affiliates, with Cody Bellinger and Chase De Jong among three players promoted from Double-A Tulsa to Oklahoma City, per OKC media relations director Alex Freedman:
Tulsa trio of Cody Bellinger, Chase De Jong, and Joe Broussard all en route to Omaha and will join @okc_dodgers today. #Dodgers
— Alex Freedman (@azfreedman) September 3, 2016
Bellinger was recently named to the Glendale Desert Dogs roster for the Arizona Fall League. He hit .263/.359/.484 with 17 doubles, 23 home runs and 65 RBI over 114 games with the Drillers.
Bellinger’s highlights in Double-A include hitting a home run out of ONEOK Field, and recently going 4-for-4 with a pair of homers and a career-high six RBI.
De Jong went 14-5 with a 2.86 ERA, 1.02 WHIP and 125 strikeouts in 141.2 innings pitched over 25 starts for the Drillers. This season marked his first experience in the Texas League. De Jong leads the league in wins and WHIP, and his ERA ranks second.
For right-handed reliever Joe Broussard, Oklahoma City becomes the third affiliate he’s playing for this season. Broussard sported a 1.93 ERA in 33 games with the Drillers, and a 1.38 ERA over 15 games with High-A Rancho Cucamonga.
