DODGERS Meanwhile, Down on the Farm

Wow, Copen, have yourself a game!

6 IP
0 Hits
0 Runs
4 Walks
9 Strikeouts

This on the heels of 5 scoreless in his season debut.

 

Other than the Copen gem, it was a pretty ho-hum day in the Dodgers minors. There were a lot of O-fers among the players to watch. Probably the biggest offensive output was a two-double, 3-RBI game from Emil Morales. George and Hainline had run-scoring doubles. Sirota was on base three times with a single, walk, and HBP. A Tibbs single broke-up a perfect game in the fifth, but he only got 3 ABs as the Comets could only get three on base. They had more errors (4) than base runners, yet somehow managed to eke out a 1-0 win. Go figure. And then Cam Leiter must've read my post yesterday because he did his best to kill any optimism I had after his debut. This time he gave up 3 runs and was pulled after two innings, allowing 4 hits and 2 walks. Oh look, Ontario just gave up three in the bottom of the ninth to lose. Fitting.

I've got a full weekend so won't be following prospects, but I hope more of these guys get it going.

 

@dodger_daily
Jesús Tillero...Dayum!

• 6IP | 2H | 0R | 5Ks | 2BB

Big fastball thrown to good locations and a BIG bender of a breaking ball. I'll work to get a full mix and report back when I get it.

Tillero has yet to allow a run in 5 innings so far this year, 8 Ks, and a WHIP of 0.40.

 

Venezuelan signed as a free agent. Not familiar with this guy, but he's only 19 yet this is his fourth season in the Dodgers system?!? 2023-25 in rookie ball. Moved up to A last season and continues there now. Young enough to be able to climb the prospect list. 6 scoreless innings of relief is a great start.

 

@dodger_daily
Emil Morales had 2 doubles tonight for Ontario and 3 RBIs. Morales has looked GREAT so far for the Tower Buzzers, hitting .367, with an OPS of .944.

Morales has hits in 6 games in a row, which is every game this year, except for the very first one. He also has 3 multi-hit games and extra base hits in 3 games in a row. Atta Baby Emil, keep climbin' my man!

VIDEO

 

@dodgerslite · 2h
Jescua Liborius is ridiculous.

• 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 17 PC (64.7% SR)

Liborius continued his dominance by striking out the side in the ninth, notching his second save of the season.

In 3.1 innings, not only has he yet to allow a baserunner to reach, but he also struck out eight batters. Currently, his K/9 is a ridiculous 21.60.

 

@gingersnaphyde
Ken Rosenthal is saying the Red Sox dangled James Tibbs for a CBP prior to the Draft before trading him for Dustin May.

Keith Law is also saying the Red Sox tried tweaking his swing, but the Dodgers ultimately changed it back.

The whole thing feels very botched to me.

 

Very brief update on how the Top 30 have started the season.

1. De Paula – slow first few games, then heated up. .939 OPS

2. Hope – very slow start, but a grand slam on Sunday. .797 OPS

3. Quintero – ice cold. .121 avg, .292 OPS. 4 hits, none for extra bases.

4. Sirota – also slow start but starting to get on base more. .382 OBP, .613 OPS.

5. Morales – great start. Not much power yet but 4 doubles. .367 avg, .944 OPS.

6. Ryan – 5.14 ERA a little worrisome, but some of it is the league. 10 K’s vs 2 BBs 7 IP.

7. Ferris – 8.53 ERA. Not a great start to AAA. More walks than K’s.

8. Davalan – 2 HRs, .986 OPS. Not bad for first season in high-A.

9. Zazueta – another high ERA at 4.70. But 14 K’s vs 2 walks over 7.2 IP is impressive.

10.Tibbs – blazing start, then fell flat. Heating up again with HR on Sun? 1.321 OPS.

11.Serwinowski – Two terrible starts. ERA sitting at 18.00. Just atrocious.

12.Root – what’s up with our pitchers??? 9.82 ERA over 2 starts. 7 K’s tho in 3.2 IP.

13.George – .371 AVG., .920 OPS, 6 steals. Continuing how he ended last season.

14.Ko – has not played due to quads injury

15.Lindsey – has not played. Recovering from 2025 shoulder impingement.

16.Harlan – nice start in Ontario. .391 avg and 1.142 OPS.

17.Ehrhard – 2nd fiddle to Tibbs but producing. 15 hits, 3 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR. .879 OPS.

18.Nieves – his one start was a gem… 1 hit over 6 IP. Cal league Pitcher of the Week.

19.Ward – started cold, but took over when Tibbs slowed. 3 HRs, .922 OPS.

20.Vargas – meh start. .241 avg, .781 OPS. 10 strikeouts in 29 ABs is too high.

21.Leiter – good first start, not-so-good second. 5.40 ERA.

22.Patick – 2 starts, 1.86 ERA. 14 K’s vs 4 BBs in 9.2 IP. 0.83 WHIP is promising.

23.Hurt – again, hitter’s league, but 5.79 ERA. Called up since Casparius went to IL.

24.Martin – 10.13 ERA over two starts. Averaging a walk an inning – not good.

25.Hainline – continues to impress. .333 avg. 1.029 OPS.

26.Vidourek – 2 HRs, but only 3 hits and 0.97 avg. 2025 draftee is struggling.

27.Tunink - 2024 draftee is getting it done. .357 avg, 1.192 OPS. 3 HRs.

28.Miller - .314 avg best of his minor league career. Can he keep it up?

29.Copen – phenomenal start. 2-0, 0.00 ERA, 11 IP, 3 hits, 17 K’s. 7 BBs tho is his M.O.

30.Heubeck – has not played due to injury



Overall, probably not the start the organization wanted to see. Hitters in the top-10 mostly took a while to get going, with the exception of Tibbs and Morales... actually, Davalan too. In the second 10 they’ve fared better, with George, Ehrhard and Harlan showing consistency, and Ward heating up. In the third ten, Hainline, Miller and Tunink show promise and any or all could round out trade packages as their path to the majors will likely be blocked.

Pitchers, with the exception of Nieves, Patick, and Copen, have mostly been a disaster. Some are adjusting to new leagues… Ferris for example took a while to figure out AA last year, and AAA - particularly the PCL - is that much harder. Some have just outright looked like they don’t belong. It’s still early though.

 

I'm convinced, watch the minor leagues long enough and eventually you'll see it all. OKC has only one hit, but they lead 5-0. It happened like this: walk, walk, walk, walk, inside-the-park grand slam by Ehrhard.

Tibbs has struck out in both of his at bats.

 

@EricCrossMLB
James Tibbs...
• 1st 8 Games: 18/35 (.514), 7 HR, 7 K
• Last 8 Games: 3/30 (.100), 1 HR, 16 K

 

0 for 3, 1 BB tonight, and now his batting average has dropped to .309, which is lower than Noah Miller's (.333) who came to the Dodgers with a reputation of all glove, no bat.

 

so boston won the trade after all…

 

Offloading May alone was a win for the Dodgers.

 

The top four Dodger prospects all started slowly. First De Paula seemed to find his stroke. Then Hope had a couple good games and has bumped his numbers up. (Tulsa was rained out today). Tonight, Sirota got a hit extending his streak to five games, moving his average from .059 to .219. And Quintero notched two hits, including his first HR of the year. Hoping these guys have all settled down and ready to rake the rest of the year.

#5 prospect Morales did not start slow, but hadn't hit a home run all season. Well, he went yard twice today, pushing his OPS over 1.000.

 

@MLBPipeline
Bottom 2: Solo homer to right-center Bottom 4: Two-run homer to left!

Top 100 prospect Emil Morales (@Dodgers) is up to 7 XBH and 10 RBIs in his past 5 games for the Single-A @towerbuzzers.

Video HERE

 

OKC is in the 7th inning.

I was getting really down on Tibbs as he's struck out twice more in this game (plus a walk), but he just lessened the concerns slightly by going deep in the 7th. Really want to see him snap out of this strikeout funk. Obviously I don't expect him to hit home runs by the bucket load as he did earlier, but more contact and more consistency would be good.

Noah Miller continues to hit (at what point will I stop being surprised?). Two more singles and a walk, 2 RBIs, and his batting average is up to .349.

Also, two hits for Ehrhard and a home run by Ward.

 

@Bnicklaus7 · 14m
#Dodgers prospects OF Ching-Hsien Ko and RHP Hyun-Seok Jang were both assigned to Single-A Ontario to make their season debuts today.

Ko ranked No. 18 and Jang ranked No. 32 on my preseason Dodgers prospects list.

 

Nice. Ko slipped down the rankings a bit from last year, partly because of new player acquisitions, and partly due to getting injured. Would be good to see him continue progressing. They've treated Jang with kid gloves since landing him almost three years ago. He's had some injuries, but hopefully they can unleash him now so we see what he has.