OFFSEASON Meanwhile, Down on the Farm

A couple of notes from yesterday.

Patrick Copen had a bit of a rocky start to his game. Walked the first two batters and one scored on a passed ball. In the second inning, he gave up a hit and after a couple of stolen bases, the run scored on a sac fly. But he settled down and ended up going four with just the one earned run. Two hits, three walks, but struck out five. His ERA actually dropped by 0.01 runs to 2.28. Closing his July stats, he pitched an even 20 innings over four starts, giving up 13 hits, 5 runs, 9 walks vs 20 K's, and had a 2.25 ERA and 1.10 WHIP. Solid numbers and showing consistency. He's now had nine starts for Tulsa, and the most runs he's surrendered is two. You'd have to go all the way back to April 30 when he was at Great Lakes to see a three run outing.

Ching-Hsien Ko played his third game for Rancho. Small sample, but so far hasn't missed a beat after his promotion, going 4 for 9 (all singles). Just 18 so he has a ways to go, but definitely showing his potential. I've posted his scouting report before, but here it is again:

Scouting grades: Hit: 55 | Power: 50 | Run: 50 | Arm: 55 | Field: 50 | Overall: 45

Ko excelled at the 18-and-under World Cup in his native Taiwan in September 2023, going 11-for-20 with seven walks while winning a silver medal. When the Dodgers signed him nine months later for $650,000, director of Pacific Rim scouting Jon Deeble compared him to Cody Bellinger. Ko made a brief pro debut in the Rookie-level Dominican Summer League, reaching base 18 times in nine games as a DH.

Ko has all the ingredients to hit for average and power. He has a quality left-handed swing with a mature approach, showing the ability to draw walks without becoming too passive at the plate. With his bat speed, present strength with the room to add more and aptitude for pulling balls in the air, he offers plus raw pop and should have the hitting ability to get to most of it.

Though he already carries 215 pounds on his 6-foot-3 frame, Ko moves well for his size and should settle in as an average runner once he's physically developed. Los Angeles will give him the opportunity to show what he can do in center field, though he'll probably end up in a corner in the long run. With his offensive upside and solid arm, he profiles well in right field.

 

per dogshitnation…

• The Los Angeles Dodgers are calling up top prospect Alex Freeland, per The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya.

 

Muncy got three ABs in for OKC yesterday. 0-3 with 2 K's, but at least he's out there.

 

There are different prospect ranking lists out there. Baseball America, Keith Law, etc. I primarily reference the one on the milb site. And I noticed the Dodgers top-30 was just updated. Going somewhat off memory and somewhat off my previous posts, here are changes and what sticks out to me:

#'s 1-3 - De Paula, Hope, Freeland - no change. De Paula is on 7-day IL, Hope is on a mini-tear, and Freeland is in LA.

#4 Quintero moves up one spot, with his promotion from A to High-A. I don't remember for sure who was #4 before, might have been Ferris who's now #6

#5 Sirota moves up one spot (great stats, but now injured, likely done for the year)

#6 Ferris - rough start to the season but strong July

#7 SS Emil Morales, down one spot. Just three games into Rancho after promotion from rookie ball, where he hit .300/.881.

#8 River Ryan - no news, for obvious reasons

#9 SS Kellon Lindsey drops two spots. Last year's first round pick is not exactly tearing it up at Rancho - .274/.779/3 HRs - but just 19 years old.

#10 SS Joendry Vargas moves down one spot. Worse than Lindsey at Rancho - .260/.702/2 HRs - also just 19. (7-day IL)

#11 Kendall George - Moves up one spot. His hit stats (.256/.716/ 3 HRs) don't jump out at you like his three higher-profile outfield mates at Great Lakes, but he's playing that leadoff batter role well. 58 walks, 57 steals, 66 runs.

#12 Ko - up one spot and so far no adjustment period needed following his promotion to Rancho.

#13 P Hyun-Seok Jang - You may recall this being the Korean kid the Dodgers signed mid-season a couple years ago. He only pitched 11 games this season for Rancho (4.54 ERA), then on June 1 was put on the Development List - hasn't pitched since.

#14 Henriquez - he's been bouncing around this list all year. Finally back with the big league team. OKC numbers weren't great, but so far so good for LA.

#15 P Eriq Swan - no change

#16 3B Chase Harlan - no change

#17 P Christian Zaxueta - moves up a few spots. 2.45 ERA/ 1.06 WHIP this year at Rancho. It's refreshing to see only 16 BBs vs 73 K's in 62.1 IP. Next Dodger star pitcher out of Mexico?

#18 Patrick Copen - moves up 10 spots and finally is being recognized as a legitimate prospect

#19 P Sean Linan - new to the list. 2.78 ERA/1.09 WHIP at Great Lakes. 20 year old out of Colombia.

#20 OF Brendan Tunick - new to the list and new to me. 8th round pick out of HS last year, he's hit .300/.967 so far in the Arizona Complex League. No scouting report available.

#21 P Payton Martin - new to the list and to me. 2022 17th round pick (525 overall), he's posted a 3.30 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP between rookie ball and high-A this year.

#22 Kyle Hurt -- see Ryan, above.

#23 OF Jaron Elkins - moves down two spots. .270/.781 at Rancho.

#24 SS Noah Miller - moves down two spots, despite his promotion to OKC last month and a .309/.783 batting average there

#25 1B/3B Logan Wagner - underwhelming at the plate so far

#'s 26-30 all pitchers - Heubeck dropped two spots. Ho-hum season with highs and lows, although his June and July numbers are pretty good. Jose Rodriguez somehow has an 8-1 record for OKC despite a 6.05 ERA. Nick Frasso dropped like a lead ball down this list... 5.98 ERA at OKC. Jacob Wright was a fourth round pick last year and has an impressive 1.10 ERA over 7 starts with Rancho, but he's been on-and-off the IL three times this season. Maddux Bruns value has also plummeted with a 9.82 ERA this year, and suffice it to say that the Dodgers 2021 first round pick has not panned out, although he's coming off a back injury last year. His minor league career has showcased a fastball that blows away hitters, but is littered with bouts of no control and injuries.

 

The deadline to sign 2025 draft picks was Monday this week. Dodgers signed 18 of their 21 selections, including all six players drafted in the first five rounds. The only ones that didn't were 6th round high schooler Mason Ligenza and then their 18th and 20th round picks. Ligenza has opted to attend U of Pittsburgh instead. He is one of only two of the first 315 players picked to not sign.

 

Following the Ferris game online. I'm assuming his night is done, since he's at 82 pitches. For the second game in a row, it was "bend but don't break." Honestly don't know how he pitched 5 scoreless - there was traffic every inning. Five hits and four walks in those 5 innings, with 4 K's. He's now allowed only 2 runs in his last 24 innings, which makes for a great ERA, but he's not Molly Hatchett, so he needs to stop flirtin with disaster.

Edit: I was wrong. He went out for a sixth inning, got two outs and then hit the third batter (and was pulled, runner didn't score). 100 pitches, 58 for strikes. His ERA is now 4.25, and what's impressive about that is that on June 15 it was 6.58.

 

James Tibbs slots in at #7 on our prospect list and is assigned to AA Tulsa. Serwinowski is prospect #14 and goes to Hi-A Great Lakes. Ehrhard is #25 and also will be in Tulsa. Swan and Linan are gone via trade, and Bruns drops off the bottom of the list.

 

#12 prospect Kendall George had 5 steals yesterday and is running away with (pun intended) the Midwest League lead. He's at 63 now and as impressive as 5 in one game sounds, he swiped 6 bags earlier in the season. July was the former first round pick's best month yet at Great Lakes, hitting .291 with an OBP of .408. He often gets overshadowed by teammates De Paula and Hope, but good to see him trending in the right direction.

File this under super small sample size, but in 4 total innings pitched after being moved to the pen, Bobby Miller has only walked one and allowed one run.

 

Some much needed good news

@azfreeman

After an 0-for-9 start to his rehab assignment, Max Muncy went 3-for-3 tonight in OKC.

https://x.com/azfreedman/status/1951822385008853392?s=46

 

A HR and a double for Max tonight

5-6 last two nights

 

@Bnicklaus7
Top #Dodgers OF prospect James Tibbs III has homered twice so far today for Double-A Tulsa. He was drafted 13th overall last year by the Giants before getting traded to Boston in the Rafael Devers package and recently to L.A. in the Dustin May deal

 

Bobby Miller just pitched an inning. Routinely was at 100-101 with his fastball.

In six innings since being moved to the pen, he's allowed 3 hits, just one walk, and one run. Still too soon to say, but maybe this is his role.

 

the one walk might be the most impressive stat