Power through this: Power in the Dodger organization

Tyler Ogle, seen here in the 2013 Midwest League All-Star Game, provides intrigue as a catcher/first baseman with some pop. Photo: Great Lakes Loons

Tyler Ogle, seen here in the 2013 Midwest League All-Star Game, provides intrigue as a catcher/first baseman with some pop. Photo: Great Lakes Loons

By Cary Osborne

At the lower levels, there are a handful of guys who showed power potential last season and have built a little history in hitting a little ball a long ways. Here’s a look at 10 guys (in alphabetical order) who will likely start the season in the minor leagues and are power guys to watch for 2014:

1. Cody Bellinger — One home run in 162 at-bats won’t wow you, but it’s about projectability for the son of former Yankee infielder Clay Bellinger. At 6-4 and 180 pounds and just 18 years old, the infielder is expected to put on size. Scouts say the fourth-round pick from the 2013 draft has a power-potential stroke from the left side.

2. Justin Chigbogu – It is way early, but the left-handed hitting, 6-1, 240-pound first baseman had an eye-opening 2013 in which he hit 14 home runs in 235 combined at-bats with the Arizona Rookie League Dodgers and Rookie League Ogden. The 19-year-old’s Isolated Power (ISO = extra bases per at-bat, according to Fangraphs) dropped from .435 to .201 after an early promotion from the Rookie League Arizona Dodgers to Rookie League Ogden. The former three-sport athlete and all-state defensive end was a fourth-round pick in 2012 out of Raytown South (MO) High School.

Fangraphs ISO chart

Rating

ISO

Excellent

0.250

Great

0.200

Above Average

0.180

Average

0.145

Below Average

0.120

Poor

0.100

Awful

0.080

3. O’Koyea Dickson – Dickson’s power numbers have been steady in three minor league seasons (13, 17 and 15 home runs). The outfielder’s biggest blast thus far came in the 2012 Midwest League All-Star Game. He hit a two-run homer in the game and was selected its Most Valuable Player. However, the 24-year-old’s ISO dropped in 2013 in a full season with High-A Rancho Cucamonga to .177 from .270 in Low-A Great Lakes.

4. Jon Garcia – Prior to a power outage in Chattanooga in which he hit one homer in 185 at-bats, the 22-year-old Puerto Rican outfielder hit 17 home runs in 258 at-bats at Rancho Cucamonga last season with a .287 ISO. Garcia hit 19 home runs in 2011 and 12 in 2012.

5. Michael Medina – The 17-year-old Dominican outfielder led the Dominican Summer League Dodgers with 10 home runs in 192 at-bats. However, the 6-2, 190-pounder is extremely young and was all-or-nothing with 94 strikeouts and a .198 batting average. Nineteen of his 38 hits were for extra bases.

6. Tyler Ogle – Ogle hit 20 home runs in 364 at-bats in his final two seasons as the University of Oklahoma’s starting catcher (2010-2011) before being selected by the Dodgers in the ninth round of the First-Year Player Draft in 2011. The 23-year-old first baseman/catcher hit 12 home runs in 437 ABs last season in Great Lakes, and was a Midwest League All-Star, but dipped to a .137 ISO in large part to hitting just three home runs after the All-Star Game.

7. Joc Pederson – Los Angeles fans got their first good look at Pederson in Cactus League play this year and could see how the ball jumps off his bat. Pederson hit 22 home runs last season in Double-A Chattanooga and had a .219 ISO, up from 18 and .203 the year before in Rancho Cucamonga. He’s not your pure power guy, but the 21-year-old is in the mold of the pure-hitter Andre Ethier-type.

Jacob Scavuzzo was a three-sport athlete at Villa Park High in Villa Park, Ca. Photo: Ogden Raptors

Jacob Scavuzzo was a three-sport athlete at Villa Park High in Villa Park, Ca. Photo: Ogden Raptors

8. Corey Seager – Again, not your big bopper, but Seager has some impressive power for a shortstop. He was promoted from Great Lakes (.221 ISO, 12 home runs in 272 ABs) to Rancho last season (.160 ISO, four home runs in 100 ABs). At 6-4 and 215 pounds, and just 19 years old, Seager’s ceiling appears very high.

9. Jacob Scavuzzo – A 21st rounder from the 2012 draft and a former three-sport athlete out of Villa Park High in Orange County. The 20-year-old wasn’t much of a power threat in high school, but the 6-4, 195-pound outfielder found his stroke last season in Ogden with 14 home runs in 244 at-bats and a .270 ISO.

10. Scott Schebler  – Schebler, 23, led all Dodger minor leaguers in home runs last season with 27 at Single-A Rancho Cucamonga. It was a big jump from six the previous season at Great Lakes. The difference was Schebler, an outfielder and former five-star athlete in high school, used a different timing mechanism at the plate, ditching a toe tap for a more conventional half-step to the pitcher. The result was a jump from .128 ISO in 2012 to .285 in 2013.

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