PROSPECTS Meanwhile, Down on the Farm

and a great catch

 

So with Hope's departure creating an OF vacancy in Tulsa, will Quintero get promoted? Or Davalan?

 

With the trade removing three prospects out of the Dodgers top 30 ranking, here are the guys that MLB Pipeline has added to the list:

20. Logan Wagner, 3B/2B

25. Adam Foeller, P

26. Nico Perez, 2B/3B

Wagner is 22 and still in high-A due to injuries since being drafted in 2022. Switch hitter had 15 HRs last year, already at 16 this year with a .880 OPS. Strikes out a lot though and doesn't walk much... needs to improve on both.

Foeller was just promoted to AA. After 8 strong starts in high-A this season, he got hit around a little in his first 2 Tulsa games. Has a great fastball that reaches 99 with spin and carry, but needs to improve his secondary pitches.

Perez is someone I've mentioned at times and predicted he'd be on this list. Oblique injuries two straight years have prevented him from advancing higher than A+ after getting drafted in 2022, but he's still only 21. His numbers have jumped this year, batting .290 with an .879 OPS and 29 steals.

Next week I'll be traveling but will try to keep an eye out for the main post-draft re-ranking. I expect Tunink, Copen, and Heubeck, at a minimum, to drop off and be replaced by Lowrance, Shelton, and this year's 4th round pitcher whose name escapes me (edit: Sandefer).

 

A couple promotions on the blotter today, but not the ones I was hoping for with the trade-created outfield vacancies in OKC and Tulsa.

Logan Wagner (listed as a SS but mostly playing 2B/3B) was bumped from Great Lakes to Tulsa. This is a day after being added to the Dodgers top-30 list, so it's an eventful week for him already and only Tuesday.

Mairoshindrick Martinus (listed as a SS, but plays almost every position) takes Wagner's vacancy at Great Lakes, moving up from Ontario. I wouldn't be surprised to see him on the top-30 next week when they rework the list.


With Suwinki's departure, OKC currently has four OFers -- Ehrhard, Tibbs, Ward, and Alek Thomas (and one of Tibbs/Ward usually plays 1B). Still waiting to see if it will be JDP or Sirota that gets called up. Tulsa, meanwhile, still has 6 OFers after Hope's departure, so maybe the Wagner move is in lieu of Quintero or Davalan getting promoted.


On a different note, Hyun-Seok Jang, who had that surprise dominant start last week after being promoted despite less-than-stellar numbers in the lower league, was named the Midwest League pitcher of the week. Would be great to see him follow that up with another gem.

Snell and Glassdoll get rehab starts today.

 

@Bnicklaus7
NEW ARTICLE: What the #Dodgers farm system lost (and gained) at the 2026 trade deadline I gave my full scouting reports including tool grades for the three prospects in the Skubal deal and broke down new Dodgers prospect Jacob Kmatz ⬇️
dodgersdigest

 

Good writeup. Sounds like this Kmatz reliever that I initially thought was just a throw-in to get Feduccia may actually make Top-30.

 

With his minor-league leading 33rd HR today, Shelton reached 100 RBIs, also tops in all of the minor leagues (next best is 90).

I know that 100 RBIs is less impressive in a league where 10-7 scores are commonplace. Still a cool milestone to hit though, especially being the first to do so this season.

 

more impressive that he’s only the second LAD prospect to do it

@Bnicklaus7
#Dodgers 1B/3B prospect Easton Shelton hit his 33rd home run of the season.

The two-run shot brought him to 100 RBI on the season, joining Cody Bellinger in 2015 as the only two Dodger farmhands to reach that threshold in the California League.

 

Well that's cool!

 

Even with Wagner being promoted off the team, when you look at Great Lake's lineup, you have Dodgers top prospect number...

6 batting leadoff (Davalan)
3 batting second (Quintero)
4 batting third (Morales)
14 batting fourth (Harlan)
26 batting fifth (Perez)
and 24 batting sixth (Elkins)

That's a pretty interesting stretch of talent for their fans to watch.

 

De Paula is on a tear. Home run #21 on the first pitch of the game. Fifth in 3 games plus one inning.

 

A few pitching items of interest, yesterday and today, both good and bad:

Snell did not look good for OKC in what was supposed to be his final rehab start... 3.2 IP, 5H 4 BB, 2K, 3 ER, 2 HR. Actually, maybe serving up the two long balls is his way of showing he'll fit right in.

Payton Martin (prospect #22) downright stunk. 11 hits and 7 ERs over his 3.1 innings for Tulsa. However, then Copen relieved him and gave up only 1 hit and no runs, striking out 8 in his 3.2 innings. Go figure. Maybe long relief is his thing.

Great Lakes has this 22-year old named Tyler Gough. He went 5.2 innings yesterday, 1 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 11 K's. He's killing it this season: 3-0, 1.80 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, 67 K's vs 22 BBs over 50 innings. Here's the best part of the story: Gough was a 9th round HS pick in the '22 draft by Seattle, acquired by the Dodgers in an under-the-radar trade this past winter. Gough missed last year due to injury, but the year before had a respectable 4.33 ERA for their low-A team. Still early, but could it be that LAD discovered another diamond in the rough? Who'd they give up to get him? Some AAA pitcher named Ortiz who so far for Seattle's AAA affiliate has posted a 5.73 ERA and a 1.57 WHIP. Could this be Zach Lee for Chris Taylor, part 2? Time will tell.

As previously mentioned, Glasnow looked pretty good for Ontario over his 16 pitches thrown, getting him through 2 innings. 1 H, 1 K, no runs. Nieves (prospect #16) relieved and got roughed up, and with a 7.39 ERA is unfortunately going the wrong direction this year.


A pitcher of interest is starting in all four games today:

OKC - How's this for an old name? Booby Miller gets his first start and first action of the season.

Tulsa - Serwinowski (prospect #10) is on the bump. 8-4, 5.23.

Great Lakes - Jang gets his second start since his promotion, and looks to reconfirm his Pitcher of the Week status from last week.

Ontario - Cam Leiter (prospect #19). 0-0, 3.53. Was on the IL for a couple weeks... first start since July 11.


Last item to note: Jacob Kmatz, acquired on Monday in the Feduccia trade, slots in at Dodger prospect #27 in the MLB Pipeline ranking. Not bad considering the main get in that deal was Feduccia and the Dodgers gave up an older outfielder who was never going to be part of their major league plans. Peter Heubeck drops off the bottom of the list and frankly, I wouldn't care if I never see him mentioned again (injuries and ineffectiveness have made him a 3rd round bust).

 

I kind of addressed this in one of my long-worded posts a couple of weeks ago - I think more talking 2028, though. While you and I know it's not going to happen, I always enjoy playing a good game of What If?.

Teo has one more year on his contract, but I really, really, really hope they can accept him in the role of seasoned bench bat. Dodgers desperately need to get some young blood in the everyday lineup, and in my mind LF is the first spot in which to make a change.

So who would it be? Hose Sway (great porn name!) would seem to be the logical choice, as they say his bat would play in the majors today. The question is, is he there defensively? If not, then Sirota would be my next choice, but I might give Ehrhard some consideration only because of Mike's injury last year which set his advancement back (would probably be in AAA otherwise).

In RF, we're unfortunately stuck with Tucker. If I'm dreaming though, Dodgers eat a chunk of his salary and re-home him, much like a pet that can't stay in your house anymore. Seriously, his lack of production at the plate is bad enough, but this recent emergence of instances where he doesn't go all out for flies at the wall is alarming. It's a far cry from Mookie going over the fence to bring back would-be homers.

Lastly, I hate to think of replacing Pages in CF. He's an outstanding defensive fielder - leads the majors in runs saved by a CFer. And he hits, albeit it in streaks. The thing is that I'm not convinced that he's a perpetual AS. What if the Dodgers decide his mental blunders are becoming too frequent, and they choose to cash-in on his AS appearance this year to fill other needs or restock the farm? I bet he'd fetch quite a haul, and with the Dodgers talent evaluation and development strengths, that could be huge. Again, I don't expect or necessarily want that to happen, but what if?

So to answer your question as you posed it, if the Dodgers were to start an all-rookie OF next year, I think it would be JPD in left, Mike in right, and Ehrhard in center. Tibbs may be an option but when you include defensive skills, Ehrhard is the better option. Then you also have Davalan and Quintero moving up to AA and/or AAA and possibly ready for the following year, with Ko and Elkins as longer-shots.

 

On the nextdoor app, there are always neighbors looking to rehome pets that aren't a good fit. That's Tucker!