Another Dodgers outfielder found himself in a bizarre minor league moment on Saturday, when Alek Thomas was run into by the Sacramento River Cats mascot on a scooter before Triple-A Oklahoma City’s game.
Thomas was coming out of the dugout ahead of the matchup when the mascot, riding around the field, collided with him. The outfielder was fine afterward, went 0-for-4 in the game, and did not play Sunday.
It was the kind of oddball accident that has already become a theme for Dodgers minor leaguers this season. In May, Kendall George, one of the organization’s top prospects, injured his knee while trying to avoid a bat dog after scoring and heading back to the dugout. The Double-A Tulsa Drillers outfielder ended up missing more than a month with a patellar tendon injury, though he returned earlier this month after healing faster than expected.
Thomas, 26, came to the Dodgers in mid-May in a trade with the division-rival Arizona Diamondbacks. A second-round pick by Arizona in 2018, he had spent his entire career there before the deal. He made his big league debut in 2022 and played 448 games over parts of five seasons with the Diamondbacks, batting .230 with 31 home runs, 143 RBIs and a .634 OPS.
The Dodgers have viewed him as more than just a glove-first outfielder. In May, president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman told the Los Angeles Times, “A lot of the swing components have looked the same for a long, extended period of time, and we feel like there are some levers in there to partner with [Thomas] and potentially unlock a little bit more,” Friedman said. “But even as is, we feel like he’s a good extra outfielder, with the upside for even more than that.”
Through 35 games with Triple-A Oklahoma City, Thomas is hitting .263 with five home runs, 21 RBIs and an .766 OPS, along with 23 strikeouts and 15 walks.
A call-up doesn’t appear likely unless the big league club runs into injuries, and even then the Dodgers could lean toward promoting one of their younger outfield prospects instead. For now, Thomas remains in Oklahoma City, continuing his development and potentially giving the Dodgers another trade chip if his offense keeps trending in the right direction.
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For Arizona fans, the frustration comes from where this trail leads. The same player at the center of the Alabama State case later became part of the Wildcats roster conversation, and the eligibility questions surrounding him helped turn a records issue into a much broader debate about how the NCAA weighs responsibility from one school to the next. Alabama States acceptance closes one chapter, but it also leaves Arizona supporters staring at a double standard they are unlikely to forget anytime soon. [Read more 🡒]
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The intrigue starts right away with that UCLA matchup, which lands as the final game in a three-game series that has already swung both ways. Auburn also comes back onto the schedule in November as the return leg of a home-and-home, adding another measuring-stick game for a team that will not be able to hide from quality competition. By the time Arizona closes nonconference play at home against Northern Illinois and Incarnate Word, the debate will not just be about who the Wildcats played, but what all of it revealed about how ready they are. [Read more 🡒]
Arizona Just Unveiled A Brutal Nonconference Path For Another Deep Run
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The real value of a slate like this is that it gives Arizona very little room to coast before league play begins. The Maui field alone can shape the early tone of the season, and the Wildcats will also get three exhibition games against Division I opponents, a wrinkle made possible by a recent NCAA rule change. For a team with postseason expectations, the schedule is less about easing in and more about finding out quickly whether it has the depth and toughness to handle another long winter. [Read more 🡒]