DSL Dodgers — DSL (Rookie)

A split day in the Dominican Summer League. Our guys dropped the first game 0-5 against the DSL Royals Ventura — a shutout loss where the bats simply never showed up. Not much to dissect there. Sometimes a young lineup just runs into a pitcher who has it working, and that appears to be what happened. We move on.

The second game was a different story entirely, and the reason we’re here. The DSL Dodgers edged the DSL Orioles Black 7-6 in a game that required a little late-inning stress management. Erny Orellana was the offensive catalyst out of the right field spot, going 3-for-5 with a double and two RBI. That’s the kind of line you want to see from a young bat in the DSL — putting the ball in play consistently, driving runners in, and showing some extra-base pop. He was locked in all afternoon.

Ezequiel Aparicio had a productive day at first base even though the box score only shows 1-for-3. He doubled, drew a walk, swiped a bag, and came around to score twice. That’s a guy who found ways to impact the game beyond the hit column, and the stolen base from a first baseman is a nice little athletic flash worth noting.

The most intriguing line of the day might belong to Antoni Urena at shortstop. He went 0-for-2 — but drew three walks and scored a run. Three walks in a DSL game is genuinely impressive plate discipline for a teenager. Is he seeing pitches well? Is the zone just working in his favor? Either way, making pitchers throw five at-bats’ worth of pitches without giving away a single cheap out is mature stuff at this level. Keep an eye on this one.

On the mound, Logan Tinkam picked up the win in relief despite also taking a blown save — which tells you the game had some twists. He went 1.2 innings and didn’t allow an earned run, though two walks kept things interesting. No strikeouts in that outing, so he was leaning on contact and his defense to get outs. For a reliever picking up the win at 2-0 on the season, the results are there even if the command still needs tightening. That’s the whole point of the DSL — figure it out in games that count.