The Ontario Tower Buzzers have their first-ever award winner, as Dodgers minor league right-hander Marlon Nieves was named California League pitcher of the week for the week of April 6-12.
Nieves last Tuesday struck out six in six scoreless innings in a road win over the Inland Empire 66ers in San Bernardino, the longest outing of his professional career.
Nieves last Tuesday against Inland Empire retired his first six batters faced, then allowed a walk in the third inning that was erased by a double play. He allowed a leadoff double in the fourth inning, but retired the next three batters and his final nine batters faced to complete his gem.
The 20-year-old right-hander faced only one batter over the minimum in the victory.
Signed out of the Dominican Republic in May 2023, Nieves made his Class-A debut last season with Rancho Cucamonga, putting up a 2.21 ERA in eight starts, with 37 strikeouts and 19 walks in 36 2/3 innings, with only one home run allowed.
Heading into this season, Nieves was ranked the Dodgers’ 12th-best prospect by FanGraphs, and was No. 24 in the system at Baseball America.
“Pitching is risky and there’s work to do ahead, both in terms of Nieves’ physical development and in the consistency of his execution. But there’s a pretty high ceiling here,” wrote Eric Longenhagen, Brendan Gawlowski, and James Fegan at FanGraphs. “Nieves has the physical traits and pitch shape characteristics to justify a mid-rotation future grade.”
Said Baseball America: “He has the upside of a rotation piece but will need to up his command and control in a big way to reach that ceiling.”
Nieves is the second award-winning Dodgers minor leaguer this season, after Triple-A Oklahoma City first baseman/outfielder James Tibbs III winning Pacific Coast League player of the week for March 30-April 5.
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