By Cary Osborne

In the Dodger organization, if you’re fast, Godfather of Speed Maury Wills will dub you a “burner.” Here’s a look at 10 guys (in no particular order) who will likely start the season in the minor leagues, but are earning that burner label.

 1. James Baldwin – The son of the former Major League pitcher with the same name has been rated by Baseball America as the organization’s fastest runner two years in a row. This year, he was also picked as its best athlete. Baldwin was 42 of 53 in stolen bases (79 percent). The 22-year-old outfielder had a Speed Score (from Fangraphs) of 8.3 last season in Single-A Great Lakes. That rates him at excellent on a scale that goes from 0.0 to 10.0. In four professional seasons he has swiped 134 bags and has been successful 83 percent of the time.

Bill James’ Speed Score (a measurement developed the renowned sabermetrician, statistician and writer which is an average of stolen base percentage, frequency of stolen base attempts, percentage of triples and runs scored percentage)

 

2. Noel Cuevas — Cuevas put a jolt into a pitch on Tuesday, homering in his first Cactus League at-bat. He’s a toolsy player — 22 with the organization’s best outfield arm, according to Baseball America. But he has some wheels, too. He was 38 of 53 (72 percent) in stolen base attempts last season in Rancho Cucamonga and had an 8.3 Speed Score. The Puerto Rican stole 35 bases the season prior.

3. Joc Pederson — Pederson’s bat is the first thing that stands out — as people are learning this spring. But young Joc can run. The 21-year-old was 31 of 39 in stolen base attempts (79 percent) last season for Double-A Chattanooga. The 31 steals were tied for third in the Southern League. Pederson had a Speed Score of 6.4 last season.

4. Darnell Sweeney – The comparisons to Dee Gordon will be inevitable — both are skinny, speedy shortstops from Florida. Sweeney, 23, was 48 of 68 (70 percent) last season in stolen base attempts for High-A Rancho Cucamonga.  Sweeney has appeared in seven Cactus League games this year for the Dodgers.

5. Adam Law – The son of former Major Leaguer Vance Law and grandson of 1960 Cy Young Award winner Vernon Law was selected by the Dodgers in the 12th round of the 2013 draft and shot out like a rocket in his first pro season. The 24-year-old third baseman was 40 of 44 in stolen base attempts in just 58 games split between the AZL Dodgers and Rookie League Ogden last season

6. Scott Schebler – Power-hitting, 23-year-old outfielder and Branch Rickey Minor League Player of the Year was 16 of 21 in SBA for Rancho last season. He also had 13 triples.

7. Jeremy Rathjen – Outfielder, 24, and 2012 11th-rounder was 33 of 39 in steals last season for Great Lakes in his second pro season.

8. Jose Luis Javier – Infielder, 21, was 23 of 30 stealing for the Dominican Summer League Dodgers and had a Speed Score of 8.1.

9. Malcolm Holland – The 21-year-old infielder/outfielder ranked second among all Dodger minor leaguers with 44 steals in 2012. He followed that up by stealing 27 of 43 bags for Great Lakes in 2013.

10. Robbie Garvey – Outfielder, 24, holds College of Southern Nevada single-season stolen base record (52). He was 34 of 53 in steals last year for Great Lakes and Rancho Cucamonga. And no relation to Steve Garvey.