Two Dodgers prospects spent August turning heads, and on Thursday the awards followed.
Emmet Sheehan was named Pacific Coast League pitcher of the month after a dominant stretch for Triple-A Oklahoma City, while Class-A Ontario infielder Joendry Vargas took home California League player of the month honors.
Sheehan’s month began with a move down to Oklahoma City on August 3, and he spent the rest of August working for the Comets. The Dodgers brought him up as a just-in-case arm for the August 18-19 trip to Coors Field, but he never got into a game. Once back in Triple-A, he logged a short relief outing and then strung together three strong starts in a row, finishing with 24 strikeouts, six walks, and only one run allowed across 17 1/3 innings.
His strong run also earned him PCL pitcher of the week for August 17-23.
Vargas, meanwhile, kept building momentum at the plate. After a quiet first few months, he started to click in the final week of June and followed that with a productive July.
August was the real breakthrough. In 23 games, the 20-year-old hit .396/.417/.646 with a 159 wRC+, piling up 11 doubles, three home runs, two triples, 20 RBI, and 18 runs scored.
He finished the month leading the California League in hits with 38, total bases with 62, doubles, and slugging percentage.
Vargas has mostly handled shortstop, though he has also gotten work at second and third. That kind of movement has been familiar for Ontario this season, with Emil Morales and Mairo Martinus on the roster before their promotions, along with recent draft picks Aiden West, Caleb Johnson, and Kellon Lindsey. Lindsey, the former first-rounder, has spent most of this season at second base.
In Other News...
Dodgers Lose Two Bats Late And Suddenly Face A Bigger Concern
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Rushings situation is the one that naturally carries the bigger worry, because elbow trouble connected to a UCL is never the kind of detail a club wants to hear around a young bat. Muncy being sidelined by illness is more routine, and Ohtanis absence was already part of the picture, but losing another hitter right before a game forces the Dodgers to keep one eye on the scoreboard and another on the trainers room. [Read more 🡒]
Dodgers Could Get An Important Outfield Boost At The Perfect Time
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Tommy Edman has handled most of the center-field work in Pages absence, giving the Dodgers a steady stopgap while they wait for more clarity on Pages timeline. The encouraging part for Los Angeles is that a return before the postseason still appears to be in play, which would give the club another option in the outfield right when October decisions start to matter most. [Read more 🡒]
Dodgers Suddenly Have A Rotation Problem They Can't Ignore
Eric Lauers rough outing against the St. Louis Cardinals turned into something more than just a bad night, as the Dodgers placed the left-hander on the 15-day injured list because of left elbow inflammation. Dave Roberts said Lauer was not feeling well during the start, and the timing leaves Los Angeles with a rotation issue it cant really brush aside for long.
The Dodgers are now down to four starters and have to sort through internal options while they wait on Lauers status. Emmet Sheehan, Roki Sasaki and Gavin Stone are among the names in the mix, which gives the club some possibilities, but also underscores how quickly one injury can put added pressure on a staff that was supposed to have more stability. [Read more 🡒]