DODGERS Meanwhile, Down on the Farm

Serwinowski came into today's game with an 18.00 ERA, and after surrendering 6 more runs in 3 innings... he leaves with an 18.00 ERA.

This guy had a 1.83 ERA last year for high-A Great Lakes. Something has changed, and I don't think it can all be attributed to the promotion to AA.

 

Ko with a single and double, and for Jang five innings of 2-hit ball pitched (albeit both solo HRs), with just one walk. Solid season debuts for both.

 

@FabianArdaya · 26m
The Dodgers are calling up outfielder Ryan Ward, sources tell The Athletic. The reigning PCL MVP was added to the 40-man roster over the winter. Through 81 plate appearances with OKC, he’s hitting .324 with a 1.020 OPS and four home runs.

 

Mike Sirota.

Dreadful start to the season, going 1 for 17. What was concerning was that this was his first action since July of last year, when he was shut down after hurting his knee sliding into second base. He did not require surgery. While 17 ABs is a small sample size, it was not unreasonable to wonder if the knee was still an issue.

Well, since then, he's riding an 8-game hitting streak, going 11 for 24. He's still looking for his first homer, but he did double and triple yesterday, and today he's 2 for 2 with a double (game is in the 4th inning). His average is up to .293 and OPS to .870. Definitely very good to see.

Now, if only teammate Quintero could follow suit. He's still wallowing with a .149 batting average. And third outfielder Davalan, who started hot, has slumped his avg down to .249. If all three hit at the same time, they could really feed off each other (no homo, no cannibalism).

 

Kendall George.

When I started following the Dodgers minor league teams more closely towards the end of '24, George ranked top ten in the system. However, his production stalled for the first few months of '25 after advancing to High-A and he dropped way down, barely staying in the top 30. In fact, if not for his first-round draft pedigree, he may have slipped out completely. At best, he was an afterthought as his two outfield mates, De Paula and Hope, climbed to #'s 1 and 2 in the rankings and received all the attention. But then he hit .291 in July, .378 in August, and .571 over 14 September at bats. He ended the year at .295 with 84 BBs vs 78 K's, and swiped his hundredth bag on the last game of the season. This bumped him back up to #13 in the Dodgers rankings.

Now, all three outfielders are in AA this year. George has been consistent since game 1 and is proving to be a prototypical leadoff hitter. 6 plate appearances today resulted in 2 hits and 3 walks, plus 3 steals. On the season, he's batting .408, has a .508 OBP, is already at 11 steals (just caught one time), more walks than strikeouts again, and despite not being a power hitter, his OPS is .977. To put this in perspective, compare it to De Paula and Hope. De Paula is having another fine season and his OPS is .909. Hope has been erratic but had a monster game today (4 for 5, HR), pushing his OPS up to .824. I don't think George is an afterthought anymore.

It'll be interesting to see where MLB Pipeline puts him when they redo their rankings.

 

@M_Ski22
So many love to complain about the Dodgers' spending, but let's not forget about their Scouts, Player Dev, and FO.

They turned Gavin Lux into Mike Sirota, a Top 50 prospect and Charles Davalan, who has one of the best hit tools in the Minors.

Davalan HR VIDEO

 

I was wondering if there's anyone in AAA who could hypothetically take Sasaki's spot in the rotation. I doubt the Dodgers are open to moving him to the pen yet, but just for shits and giggles I took a look. It's pretty ugly...

You have to give some leeway to adjust for the league, but even so at the moment there's nothing close to looking like a viable option. 21 games into the season and there's not an ERA lower than 4.10, a WHIP lower than 1.50, or a BA against lower than .265. The biggest names are Ryan and Ferris, neither of whom can claim any of those "lows." Ryan's ERA is 5.14 (in his defense he's only tossed 7 innings) and he's currently on the IL. Ferris, who also struggled at first last year when he went up to AA before he got it together later in the season, has a 7.84 ERA and they're hitting .333 off him. Clearly he needs more time... probably a lot more.

I wish Stone was close to a return, but from what I can tell it's still going to be a while. Next up might be Knack, who's also on the IL. Info is limited but it seems he should be off it soon. Target return for Snell remains late May. Looks like we're stuck with Roki for now, even if the team wanted him to relieve.

 

@dodger_daily
Kendall George

• .408/.508/.469/.977
• 3 2B, 11 SB (caught only once), 14 R (in 12 games), 9 RBI.
• K% is just 13%, which 3 points lower than BB%, which is 16.9%

WRC+ 176...WOW!

VIDEO

 

UPDATE

@greatlakesloons
Another 2-homer day for #Dodgers No. 8 prospect Charles Davalan.

VIDEO

 

Sirota's hitting streak ended on Sunday, but between yesterday and today he went 4 for 8 with three doubles and a home run. OPS is up to .968. I'd say he's back.

 

George walks, De Paula singles, and after a Nevin walk, Hope drives in two. Great way to open the game. Only sour note was that Hainline, who's suddenly slumping, GIDP.

Serwinowski is staked to a three-run lead. Let's see if he can exorcise some of his recent demons.

 

Well, this just happened. After getting knocked every which-way over his first three starts to the tune of an 18.00 ERA, Serwinowski threw 4.2 perfect innings today before giving up a hit. His final line: 6 IP, 2 hits, 0 runs, 0 BBs, 8 K's. Just what the doctor ordered.

 

Thought I'd do an Outfielders Only edition of an update. We all know the Dodgers system is absolutely stacked with outfield talent. Here's the latest, organized by level:

AAA
Tibbs - seems to have stabilized from his free fall. Somewhat average at the moment. Hit a HR yesterday, but then struck out to end the game representing the tying run. 1 for 3, BB, 2 K's today.
Ehrhard - has cooled some. .293/.812 on the season is respectable, but a little low for the PCL.

AA
(Hope has finally fully joined the party in Tulsa, and now all three are producing.)
George - .411 avg, .971 OPS (plus .507 OBP and 12 steals)
De Paula - .339/.898
Hope - .317/.854 (three straight multi-hit games)

High-A
Sirota - homered just a few minutes ago and is on a tear. He pulled himself from deep under the Mendoza line to .309/1.039.
Quintero - for as hot as Sirota has been, Quintero is that much cold. .138/.385 (yes, that second number is his OPS). Striking out a lot.
Davalan - .290/.937 - has adapted well to this league

Single-A
Ko - Back from injury with a vengeance. 2 doubles and 2 HRs in 23 ABs. .391/1.239
Tunink - currently injured, but was raking before. .379/1.252
Vidourek - hasn't found his stroke yet. .119/.522

 

WTG Copen! 6.1 IP today, 1 hit, 3 walks 9 K's, 0 ERs. Now 3-0, 1.23 on the season.

 

@dodger_daily
Patrick Copen...AGAIN!

6.1IP | 1H | 0R | 9Ks | 3BB

The 9 Ks is a high for Copen at the AA level, and the ONLY hit he gave up was to the 3rd hitter of the game. He also struck out 8 of the 9 hitters in the Frisco lineup, and just didn't give up much hard contact at all.

He got the W to move to 3-0, and ironically, it's his 2nd outing this year that he's gone EXACTLY 6.1 innings, given up EXACTLY 1 hit, and struck out EXACTLY 9 hitters. He did that two starts ago on April 10th as well at Springfield, against a really good Cardinals lineup.

ERA is down to 1.23, average against is .149, WHIP is 1.05, and he has 31 Ks in 22 innings. AS A STARTER!

Cutter looked great, especially to lefties to get underneath their bats. The fastball was explosive, as evidenced by the fact that it recorded his 1st 4 Ks., His breaking ball had GREAT depth, and he also landed a change for strike 1, too.

This is what you call stuff meeting execution, and when that happens, it's ADIOS! Atta Baby Cope, Keep Ringin' that Cowbell, my man!

VIDEO