2012 Fish Watch: Los Angeles Dodgers Final Update

The first thing you need to know about The Fish Watch is that it’s not a list of sleepers. It is instead a list of players at various points in their respective minor league journeys that for one reason or another have piqued my interest enough that I am watching their development more closely than the bulk of prospects out there. To read more about this project, check out the introduction and master list.

Obviously since the season is over and some teams have had two updates, some have only had one and the NL West teams have had zero coverage thus far, this project did not work out as I had planned on many levels. Undeterred I’m going to sally forth and finish off this round of updates and call it good. Next season if I attempt this again I’m going to have to make some major changes to the structure, plan and concept of this series.

Feel free to check out the category archive to read previous installments of the series.

Los Angeles Dodgers (S2S 2012 Dodgers Team Prospect List)

1B – O’Koyea Dickson (22) – Dodgers 2011 12th Round Pick

Reasoning – Dickson was selected out of Division II Sonoma State and proceeded to pace the Pioneer League in slugging after he signed. There is no shortage of guys who turn in solid-to-great debut performances in rookie ball but Dickson really stood out, and I was anxious to see how he’d handle a full season assignment.

2011 – Ogden (Rk): 0.333/.402/.603, 10 2B, 1 3B, 13 HR, 1 SB, 19 BB and 44 SO in 215 PA
2012 – Great Lakes (A): 0.272/.366/.479, 27 2B, 1 3B, 17 HR, 11 SB, 46 BB and 65 SO in 451 PA

Dickson didn’t make his Loons debut until May due to a hand injury he suffered in spring training but took little time to get up to speed. He hit 0.333/.441/.595 in his first 24 games and also slugged 0.593 during the month of August. Of course he had his valleys in terms of production hitting just 0.224 in June and July with a SLG below 0.400 both months. Overall, Dickson showed off a sound approach at the plate with a 14.4 K% and 10.2 BB% while flashing more power than expected.

RHP – Garrett Gould (21) – Dodgers 2009 2nd Round Pick

Reasoning – One of the few top-10 prospects to be included in this series, Gould made the cut for two primary reasons. He attended high school in Maize, Kansas and featured an already plus curveball at the time he was drafted.

2011 – Great Lakes: 2.40 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, 102 H, 37 BB and 104 SO in 123.2 IP
2012 – Rancho Cucamonga (A+): 5.75 ERA, 1.49 WHIP, 140 H, 54 BB and 123 SO in 130.0 IP

Coming off a fantastic season with Great Lakes in 2011, the California League did not exactly agree with Gould. However, there is reason to expect that he will “bounce back” once he makes his way to Double-A and gets away from the thin air that reduced the effectiveness of his best pitch.

After allowing 13 HR in 184.0 innings heading into the season, he surrendered 19 while pitching with the Quakes. Even though he gave up a pile of longballs and finished with a bloated ERA, he improved his strikeout rate from the previous two seasons. With three quality pitches Gould should remain on everyone’s radar despite how his 2012 season played out.

3B – Alex Santana (19) – Dodgers 2011 2nd Round Pick

Reasoning – Santana found his way onto the Fish Watch list thanks to his big league bloodlines and his youth – he was one of the youngest players in the 2011 draft class. Of course the combination of potential plus power and already present plus bat speed didn’t hurt either.

2011 – AZL Dodgers (Rk): 0.238/.298/.339, 10 2B, 3 3B, 1 HR, 8 SB, 10 BB and 64 SO in 205 PA
2012 – AZL Dodgers (Rk): 0.240/.315/.323, 3 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 4 SB, 11 BB and 41 SO in 108 PA
2012 – Ogden (Rk): 0.269/.297/.409, 8 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 1 SB, 4 BB and 29 SO in 102 PA

Just 18 years old when the season started, the Dodgers had him open with Ogden in June and he hit at a decent 0.269 clip but after racking up 29 SO and just 4 BB in 24 games he returned to his 2011 haunt in the AZL. The demotion helped Santana nearly triple his walk rate from 3.9% to 10.2% but his troubles making contact persisted. Against Arizona League pitching he struck out in 38.0% of his plate appearances this season which is an alarming rate regardless of context. Adding more concern to the fire, when he did make contact he didn’t hit the ball with much authority and continued to struggle in the field as well with 24 errors in 48 games at 3B (0.802 FLD%).

Santana just turned 19 in August so he still has youth and time on his side but despite his age the team surely expected more from him than what he’s shown. There’s no need to give up on him, and was very raw coming out of high school, but optimism should be tempered a bit until we see some evidence that he can handle pro ball.

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For more on the Los Angeles Dodgers, check out Lasorda’s Lair!