Kyle Garlick
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Garlick had a career night on April 18, when he homered three times and plated six runs for Rancho Cucamonga. It was the first multi-homer game of Garlick’s career and it was the first three-homer game in the Cal League since 2014. Garlick, a 2015 28th-round pick out of Cal Poly-Pomona, played at three levels in his debut season last year. He is 24, and could be in-line for a promotion to Double-A as soon as the Dodgers have an opening in Tulsa. For the year, he is hitting .297 with a .375 OBP over his first 71 PAs. Garlick has continued to impress coaches in 2016; he followed up his three-homer performance with a 1-for-4 night, but that one hit was a ringing double in his first at-bat. He is an athletic kid, but was 4.50 down the line and could find himself relegated to a corner-outfield spot. Garlick shows hand speed, and has hit the ball hard at every level he’s played, but there is some serious swing-and-miss there with 20 punchouts already in 64 at-bats. He will need the power display to continue, a la Scott Schebler (OF, Reds) in 2013, in order for him to continue climbing the minor league ladder. — Dave DeFreitas |