Four Dodger Minor Leaguers named Pitcher/Player of the Month for May
by Megan Garcia
The Dodger farm system had four standout players whose respective performances led to each being awarded with Minor League Baseball Players and Pitchers of the Month for May. The awards were announced on Thursday.
Outfielder Eduardo Quintero (Dodgers’ №8 prospect) was named the California League’s Player of the Month after he slashed .391/.477/.718/1.195 Eduardo Quinteroin May for Single-A Rancho Cucamonga. The 19-year-old led the Minor Leagues with 43 hits in 26 games during that span. Quintero, who is in his third season in the Dodgers’ farm system, led the California League in in runs (26), total bases (79), doubles (10), triples (four), RBI (28), stolen bases (15), slugging percentage (.718) and OPS (1.195).
Right-hander Christian Zazueta was also selected as the California League’s Pitcher of the Month after going 3–0 with a 1.80 ERA (six earned runs in 30 innings) in six starts in May. He ranked first in strikeout-to-walk ratio (6.2) and strikeouts per nine innings (9.3) and was second in lowest hits allowed per nine innings (6.3) in the league.
Right-hander Patrick Copen (Dodgers’ №29 prospect) was named the Midwest League’s Pitcher of the Month after he went 2–0 with a 1.59 ERA (five earned runs in 28 1/3innings) in May for High-A Great Lakes. Copen led Midwest League pitchers in strikeouts (44), WHIP (0.78), average against (.116), strikeouts per nine innings (14.0) and lowest hits allowed per nine innings (3.5).
Copen was promoted to Double-A Tulsa on Tuesday after he reached double-digit strikeouts in his three May starts for the Loons.
Outfielder Ching-Hsien Ko’s (Dodgers’ №14 prospect) .455/.548/.667/1.214 slash line in May earned him the AZL’s Player of the Month. The 18-year-old led the league in average (.455), hits (30), doubles (nine), on-base percentage (.548), slugging percentage (.667) and OPS (1.415) for the AZL Dodgers. Ko recorded 11 multi-hit games through 20 games in May, while hitting safely in 16 of them.
Four Dodger Minor Leaguers Named Pitcher/Player of the Month for May was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.