PROSPECTS Meanwhile, Down on the Farm

So now that Lindsey is healthy (and raking by the way), Ontario has three shortstops on the roster that rank in the Dodgers top 20. With Morales at short, Vargas had been playing 2B. Today though, it was Lindsey at 2B, Vargas at SS, and Morales slid over to 3B. And it worked out just fine. On the day they combined 8-for-14, double, home run (Morales), 5 RBIs, and a steal. It's good to see both Vargas and Lindsey back, as they each missed most of 2025.

 

Some of them pronounced it "Jo-sway," some said "Ho-sway." Not sure now which is accurate.

 

There's a lot to be excited about and there's a reason why the Dodgers system is ranked near the top. That said, until it happens you never know which prospects will be able to make that final jump and which will cap out in the minors.

 

For every Corey Seager there's an Andy LaRoache. For every Will Smith a Diego Cartaya.

 

great stuff
seems very grounded

mlb network needs to work on their acoustics
depaula sounds (and looks) trike he’s speaking from a bomb shelter
the only thing worse is that whiny nasally bkitch

 

@dodger_daily
Congrats to Emil Morales for getting promoted to High A Great Lakes, in what is the most deserved promotion in the history of baseball.

Dude is ELITE...Point Blank...Period...End of Discussion. He hit one yesterday that Madison Bumgarner would have had to retrieve out of the ocean if a human wanted to ever see that ball again. Dude has some SERIOUS power, but also, like yesterday, he's shown that he can shorten his swing too, and take his hits to ALL fields. He hit the pullside home run, then had the maturity to go around the world getting a base hit to center, then one to the opposite field in right field.

Elite human, elite work process, elite talent, elite results, again, just ELITE! Put this dude at the FRONT of your Rolodex, I'm SO pumped about him. #dodgers • #dodgers prospects • #emilmorales

 

One thing that my post last night neglected to mention is that the Buzzers also have a legit prospect at 3B -- Chase Harlan is ranked #16 (the only natural third baseman in the Dodgers top 30). Harlan was a 2024 third round pick out of high school, so he's still just 19. His numbers last year between rookie and A ball were solid, but this year are a couple notches more impressive. He's batting .336 with a .955 OPS. Only 2 HRs so far, so the power isn't showing yet, but it's good to see him getting on base with regularity (.486 OBP).

So the manager at Ontario is going to have to get creative to continue getting all four of these guys playing time. Or maybe one or two will get bumped up to Great Lakes soon.

Here is Harlan's 2026 Scouting Report:

Scouting grades: Hit: 40 | Power: 55 | Run: 45 | Arm: 55 | Field: 45 | Overall: 45

One of the more physical sluggers in the 2024 high school class, Harlan put on an impressive show during batting practice at the Draft Combine that June. The Dodgers signed him for a well-over-slot $1,747,500 in the third round and then put his pro debut on hold so he could have surgery to repair the labrum in his right hip, an injury that had nagged him for two years. He split his first pro season between Rookie ball and Single-A last summer, homering nine times in 68 games.

With a strong 6-foot-3, 205-pound frame and a quick right-handed swing, Harlan creates at least double-plus raw power. He lets his pop come naturally as he doesn't chase excessively or sell out to pull balls in the air, though he has trouble making contact against non-fastballs. He posted an .886 OPS vs. heaters, compared to .376 with a 52 percent swing-and-miss rate against all other types of pitches.

Harlan moved better with a healthy hip, displaying fringy speed, though he's not much of a factor on the bases. He has enough range and the solid arm strength to get the job done at third base but needs more consistency after making 14 errors in 52 games there. If he has to move off the hot corner, his other options would be right and left field as well as first base.

 

I JUST posted that one of the Ontario infielders should get promoted soon. I should have read this first, haha!

 

@dodger_daily
Joe Vetrano had two hits yesterday for AA Tulsa and had one of his "trademark" throw-the-hands opposite field hits. Then he stayed very connected for his pullside single.

Lots to like with Vetrano. GREAT hands, and he's VERY strong, so he creates a tremendous amount of "buggy whip" in his swing, and, although he hasn't gotten it going the way he's totally capable of for the most part, when he does, he can gather just about any type of hit. Oppo power, oppo parachutes when behind in the count, pullside power, pullside base hits, gap to gap hitting, he has the setup to do it all.
#dodgers #dodgers prospects

 

Looking at the Great Lakes roster, this is going to be an exciting team to watch. With Sirota, Quintero, and Davalan in the OF, Morales at short while Nico Perez at 2B and Logan Wagner at third are having good seasons, it almost feels like a high-A All-Star team. There should be no problem slotting Emil in at SS - the guy who was manning that position has career minor leaguer written all over him. The Loons already have the best record in the Midwest League - and they just got better. It's almost not fair to the opposition.

 

I thought on this No-Minors Monday I'd run a sorting of top run-producers so far this season. I know RBIs aren't the end-all stat. There's a big difference between teams and leagues, and where one bats in the order (i.e. George at lead-off vs Nevin at clean up). Still, it shows which are the guys that are cashing-in on opportunities to knock runners in. Just keep in mind that a lot of runs score in the PCL, and also AAA started a week earlier than the other three levels. I added the at bats late so to add more context. The first column is their MLB Pipeline system ranking. I included all top-30 position players and anyone else with 20+ RBIs (and threw-in Freeland for good measure based on his last week). Sorry about the formatting - hopefully it's not too hard to read.

n/a OF Suwinski AAA 38 (145 ABs)
n/a 3B Fitzgerald AAA 37 (187 ABs)
5 SS Morales A 35 (158 ABs)
10 OF Tibbs AAA 35 (172 ABs)
1 OF De Paula AA 32 (147 ABs)
2 OF Hope AA 32 (147 ABs)
n/a 3B Nevin AA 31 (141 ABs)
19 1B Ward AAA 30 (148 ABs)
n/a 2B Perez Hi-A 30 (131 ABs)
27 SS Miller AAA 29 (163 ABs)
17 OF Ehrhard AAA 27 (152 ABs)
n/a 1B Shelton A 26 (119 ABs)
20 SS Vargas A 25 (159 ABs)
14 OF Ko A 24 (98 ABs)
n/a OF Elkins A 23 (123 ABs)
4 OF Sirota Hi-A 22 (123 ABs)
n/a 1B Meza Hi-A 21 (105 ABs)
n/a 3B Wagner Hi-A 21 (114 ABs)
7 OF Davalan Hi-A 20 (130 ABs)
16 3B Harlan A 20 (113 ABs)
24 SS Hainline AA 20 (109 ABs)
n/a 1B Vetrano AA 20 (120 ABs)
3 OF Quintero Hi-A 17 (121 ABs)
13 OF George AA 16 (147 ABs)
n/a 3B Freeland AAA 11 (25 ABs)
26 OF Tunink A 9 (41 ABs)
25 OF Vidourek A 6 (63 ABs)
15 SS Lindsey A 2 (14 ABs)

 

Two homer game for Hope yesterday.

Video here: https://www.mlb.com/news/dodgers-zyhir-hope-logs-first-double-a-multihomer-game

 

Copen sparkled in April... 3 ER over 28 innings in his 5 starts.

But it's a tale of two cities.

In two May starts, he's been drilled for 15 ER in just nine innings. BBs, Hits, and HRs allowed have all spiked. Is this just like last year when later in the season either he lost his control or teams figured him out? Or just a fluke? He takes the mound tonight for Tulsa and hopefully gets back on track.

 

Sirota has been promoted to AA!

High-A Great Lakes is playing right now. I checked to see how Morales is faring in his first game (0-2 so far, actually the team only has one hit through four and it's a double by Quintero). I noticed Sirota wasn't in the lineup or listed on the bench, and then I found this: https://www.truebluela.com/los-angeles-dodgers-prospects/116294/mike-sirota-double-a-tulsa

Now Tulsa gets to figure out how to allocate playing time among De Paula, Hope, Sirota and George. Will there be more promotions coming?

 

Interesting Great Lakes game today. The Loons offense was stymied through seven innings. In the eighth, down 5-0, Nico Perez got things started with a walk. Quintero and Davalan followed with walks, and then Morales got his first high-A hit and RBI with an infield single. The Loons continued to play Pass the Bat, and eventually all four scored. Down one now going to the ninth. Good to see Emil get that first hit, and Perez and Quintero continue to impress. Perez is not ranked in the top-30, but with 6 HRs and a .321 batting average, I could see that changing the next time they rework the rankings. Quintero's OPS was in the mid-300's seemingly three weeks ago... he now has it up to .718.

 

De Paula, Hope, and George played the three OF positions tonight and each had 2 hits, including a HR and 4 ribbies for De Paula. Sirota DH'd and picked up his first AA hit.

Copen gave up 4 runs in 4 innings with 4 walks/3 hits. Whatever momentum he started the season with is completely gone.