Dodgers Shortstop Prospect Has Historic Performance in Triple-A

Los Angeles Dodgers prospect Trey Sweeney had a career night for Triple-A Oklahoma City on Wednesday, finishing with four hits and five runs batted while leading the team to a 6-1 win over Albuquerque. His game began with an inside-the-park home run followed up with two more home runs for his first multi-homer game in his professional career. When asked after the game if he had a hit an inside-the-park before, he had to go all the way back to his early days in Little League.

“Yeah, it’s been a long time since I hit one of those,” Sweeney said. “I figured I worked so hard to get the first one that I’d just go the easier route for the next two.”

In his first at-bat, Sweeney hit a 409-foot drive off the center field wall that bounced into right field, allowing Sweeney to race around the bases without a throw. He explained the hit after the game.

“When I first hit it, I knew I got a hold of it good,” Sweeney said. “But I also thought he might track it down. Center field here is a long ways away [428 feet]. I was hitting second when I noticed it kicked away and sort of rolled into no-man’s land and that’s when I realized I had a good shot at [the inside-the-park home run].”

His next two home runs were more traditional, going over the wall.

His four hits and five RBIs were both career highs. He now has hit four home runs in five games and 14 at-bats. He entered the game with two long balls in his previous 44 games and 185 at-bats.

What’s the reason for the recent uptick for Sweeney?

“Just making some small adjustments,” Sweeney said. “I was missing a lot of hittable pitches early on and swinging at pitches I should not have been. I just wasn’t seeing the ball really well. It’s all about finding something you’re confident and comfortable with and I’ve done that recently.”