Dodgers Minor Leaguer Named Player Of The Month
Dodgers’ outfield prospect Niko Hulsizer was named the Uncle Ray’s Player of the Month award winner for the month of May.
Midwest League All-Star has a nice ring to it. But, so does MWL Player of the Month! ? #NestLevelFun
Niko Hulsizer was mashing baseballs all month long in May & now he's the #UncleRaysPOM! ? pic.twitter.com/spyCovwoOs
— Great Lakes Loons (@greatlakesloons) June 5, 2019
The award is given monthly to the top minor leaguer in each of the 10 leagues. He is the recipient for the Midwest League as he is currently with the Great Lakes Loons, the single-A affiliate of the Dodgers.
During the month of May, the 22-year-old Hulsizer hit .330/.446/.720 and lead the Midwest League in home runs (10), RBI (26), total bases (72), slugging (.720) and OPS (1.166) and finished second in runs scored (24).
He also had a 10 game hitting streak from May 20-30 and posted 10 multi-hit games.
On the season, Hulsizer is hitting .274/.385/.592 with 13 home runs, 44 RBI, 37 runs, and three stolen bases over 213 plate appearances.
Hulsizer is known for his power, which helped him win the Division-1 College Home Run Derby in 2017. He hit 44 home runs over three college seasons before being selected by the Dodgers in the 18th round of the 2018 MLB draft out of Morehead State University.
His biggest problem is 31 percent strikeout rate against lower-level pitchers. He will need to cut that down if he wants to move up the prospect rankings and make it to the show.
If he keeps up his hot hitting, he will likely earn a promotion to the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes so the Dodgers can see how he does against better pitching.
Long way to go from the Great Lakes Loons.
If he’s striking out at a 30% rate at the lower levels of the minor leagues,what will it be if progresses at the higher levels? A lot of work to do here.