Minor League Notes -- July 13

With minor league all-star games over and done with, the clubs settle in to the final six weeks of the season. The Dodger Publicity Department's notes highlight a few of the players.

BLAKE’S RAKIN’--  Single-A Inland Empire third baseman Blake DeWitt has heated up with summer, earning a promotion to Double-A Jacksonville as a reward. In June, Dewitt batted .390 with four home runs and 25 RBI. Additionally, he hit safely in 20 of 24 games played in the month, and put together an 11-game hitting streak from June 13-26 in which he batted .535 (23-for-43). In his season debut for the Suns, Dewitt started at third base and went 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored.  

Prior to the season, Baseball America ranked DeWitt the eighth-best overall prospect in the Dodger organization and was recognized by milb.com as the 43rd overall top prospect in the minor leagues.   

TWICE IS NICE-- In his second trip to the MLB Futures Game, Double-A Jacksonville shortstop Chin-lung Hu took home the Larry Doby MVP award in the World team’s victory over the United States squad on July 8. Hu went 2-for-2 with two RBI and also stole third base in the first inning. Hu was also recognized as a 2007 Southern League All-Star, but did not participate in the game due to his selection to the Futures game in San Francisco.  

Following the game, Hu was notified that he had been promoted to Triple-A Las Vegas after his impressive stint at Jacksonville. In 86 games for the Suns, Hu has hit .329 with six homers, 56 runs scored and 12 stolen bases. Hu’s 107 hits and 30 doubles top all Southern League batters.   

YOUNG IS RESTLESS-- Triple-A Las Vegas outfielder Delwyn Young is showing no signs of slowing down after a rough April (.245). Young went on to hit .315 in May, .400 in June, and .394 in eight games thus far in July. His resurgence earned him a spot on the Pacific Coast League All-Star team at the Triple-A All-Star game held on July 11 in Albuquerque, NM.  

Young went 0-for-3 in the game, but robbed an extra-base hit from Buffalo Bison second baseman Luis Rivas with a leaping grab against the left-field wall in the seventh inning.   

Young is currently tied for the Pacific Coast League lead with 68 runs scored, is fifth in batting (.336), first in extra-base hits (52) and first in doubles (35). Additionally, Young put together a 15-game hitting streak from June 23-July 7 in which he batted .441 (30-for-68), drove in 18 runs, scored 15 runs and hit 13 doubles.   

NOT A BUSTA-BAD START-- The Rookie-level Gulf Coast Dodgers hit the ground running to start their season after capturing the GCL Eastern Division title (33-22) in 2006. Juan Bustabad managed the Dodgers to an undefeated record through the first nine games to begin the 2007 season, outscoring their opponents 64-33.  

Currently they stand in first place with a 12-3 record and a 3.0 game lead in the GCL Eastern Division. The team is looking to get back to the GCL finals once again this season after falling to the GCL Red Sox in Game 3 of a best-of-three series in 2006.   

CYCLE OF A SUN-- On July 7, Double-A Jacksonville catcher Alberto Concepcion became the second Southern League batter to hit for the cycle this season and the first member of the Suns to accomplish the feat since Carlos Villalobos in 1998. The achievement was not an aberration since he has batted .467 (14-for-30) in his last eight games and his 4-for-5 effort on July 7 marked his second consecutive four-hit game.  

Concepcion’s hot hitting helped him earn the Southern League’s Player of the Week for the week of July 2-8, in which he tied for the league lead with nine runs scored despite playing in just four games. He also led the league with a .684 on-base percentage and a 1.250 slugging percentage.  

A resident of El Segundo, CA, Concepcion has shown the ability to play four different positions in the field (catcher, first base, third base, and left field) and is in his first year in the Dodger organization after five seasons with the Red Sox organization. On the season, he is hitting .294 with nine home runs and his 42 RBI rank third on the Jacksonville squad.