The Los Angeles Dodgers again had a trio of Minor Leaguers honored with weekly awards for games played July 18-24. Rancho Cucamonga Quakes outfielder Joey Curletta was named the California Player of the Week, Tulsa Drillers righty Chase De Jong won Texas League Pitcher of the Week, and Ogden Raptors outfielder D.J. Peters was named Pioneer League Player of the Week.
Curletta went 9-for-24 with one double, three home runs and nine RBIs in six games for the Quakes; one of the homers was a grand slam on Sunday. He hit .375/.444/.792 over the stretch and also scored three runs.
Overall in 2016, the 22-year-old is batting .272/.345/.510 with 13 doubles, 13 home runs and 53 RBIs, and has a nine-game hitting streak.
Curletta, who is in his second season with the Quakes, was selected by the Dodgers in the sixth round of the 2012 Draft. Michael Ahmed was the last Quakes player to be named Cal League Player of the Week.
De Jong went 1-0 with a 1.93 ERA, 14 strikeouts, and held opponents to a .146 batting average in 14 innings pitched across his two starts during the time period.
He was nothing if not balanced in the two outings, throwing seven innings each time out with seven strikeouts. On the season he’s 10-4 with a 2.59 ERA, 0.94 WHIP and is averaging 8.1 strikeouts per nine innings.
Last July the Dodgers acquired De Jong and Tim Locastro from the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for three international bonus slots. De Jong joins Willie Calhoun (twice), Trevor Oaks, Andrew Toles and Alex Verdugo as Drillers who have received weekly Texas League honors this season.
Peters, the Dodgers’ fourth-round pick in the 2016 Draft, was 13-for-23 with two home runs, seven RBIs and six walks over six games. He hit a blistering .565/.655.826 in 23 at-bats during the stretch.
In his first professional season, Peters is batting .391/.485/.643 with 12 doubles, five home runs and 19 RBIs over 29 games with the Raptors.
