DODGERS Meanwhile, Down on the Farm

Hopefully today was Quintero's 2026 coming out party.

3 for 5
Double
HR
Walk
4 runs
4 RBIs
2 SBs

 

The Tulsa trio had a game today.

George + De Paula + Hope =

7 for 15 (3 for George)
Double
2 HRs (1 each for De Paula and Hope)
2 Walks
5 Runs
4 RBIs
1 SB


Unfortunately, Serwinowski shit his pants again. Five starts - 1 gem, 4 flops. It sucks... but I expect him to drop way down from his #11 prospect spot when the new rankings come out.

 

The Great Lakes group said, "Hold our beer."

Davalan + Sirota + Quintero =

7 for 13 (3 for Quintero)
2 Doubles
2 Walks
6 Runs
2 RBIs

 

Quiet day on DSP with the Dodgers off, so let's take a look at their affiliates.

Oklahoma City - The best thing to report from here is that Ferris finally had an okay game. He went five innings, allowing 4 hits and 2 ER, with 2 walks vs 4 K's. His ERA is "down" to 7.65. Tibbs was 1 for 4. He actually has warmed back up some, getting on more consistently. We're not seeing the round-trippers like at the beginning of the season, but he has a five game hitting streak during which he's collected 9 hits. Ehrhard is mired in a 1-for-18 slump. And Miller who was hitting in the mid 300's for most of the month is now down to .273. By the way, Brock Stewart has pitched in 7 games now for the Comets, and he's yet to allow a run. 6 innings, 3 hits, 2 walks, 12 K's.

Tulsa - The best thing to report from here is that Copen is still on. 6 innings today, 3 hits, 2 walks, 6 K's and 2 unearned runs (0 earned). His ERA drops to 0.96. He really seems to have reigned in his control this year. 14 walks over 28 innings isn't great, but when coupled with only 14 hits, that equals a WHIP of 1.00, which I'm sure the team will take, especially since he's K'd 37 during those innings. Not a great day for the big 3 hitters at the top of the lineup. With the game going 12 innings, they combined for 1-for-16, with George getting the hit (plus a walk and a SB). The Drillers finish April with a 16-8 record.

Great Lakes - The best thing to report from here is that Sirota is a damn good hitter. I say that because he's now completely erased a slow start to the season and he's simply en fuego. Today they played two 7-inning games to make up for a rain out yesterday. Sirota went 4-for-6 with 3 HRs, 4 runs, 5 RBIs. It's crazy that he has rocketed his OPS up to 1.113 so quickly. Davalan also had 2 home runs and 4 hits over the two games. Quintero only played in the first game, going 1 for 2 and a walk, and he continues to slowly come to life after a miserable first couple of weeks. The Loons also have a 16-8 record.

Ontario - The best thing to report from here is that Morales remains a model of consistency with at least one hit in 17 of his 22 games this year. He went 2-for-4 in this one and recorded his 10th double and 25th RBI of the season, good enough for 2nd and 3rd in the California League, respectively. Vargas sat this one out, and Nieves pitched but got roughed up a bit.

 

Snell gets his 3rd rehab start today.

Brusdar pitched a perfect inning yesterday.

Sirota hit a HR and double and remains on a tear.

 

These are my exact sentiments on Ward. Trade the kid, let him have his chance. He has nothing left to prove in AAA and he's earned a real shot at playing in the majors. Barring an injury to Ohtani, there's no spot for him in this organization, and frankly, holding him just in case Sho gets hurt while his peak years are withering away is cruel and selfish. His glove in the outfield is not going to improve at this point. Besides, Dodgers have a slew of outfielders making their way up the system plus, more immediately, Kike and Edman are back soon. Something just feels sleazy about stashing a 28-year old in the minors who swings a MLB-caliber bat.

https://dodgersway.com/dodgers-might-ve-gotten-perfect-leverage-to-trade-ryan-ward-to-al-contender

 

Yes, and in the next year or two one or some of Tibbs, Ehrhard, De Paula, Hope, and George (with more to follow) may be in that same predicament.

Maybe as with Busch, Dodgers can get a younger prospect or two.

 

Busch... the name that keeps on giving.

 

It’s no-game Monday in the minors, so let’s take a glance at how Dodger pitching prospects have started the season. Top-30 only (mostly).

AAA

Ryan (prospect #6) – 5.14 ERA. But only two starts. 7-day IL, hamstring. Has resumed throwing.

Ferris (7) – 7.65 ERA. Five starts. Ugly WHIP of 2.05. More walks than K’s. But his last game was his best, 2 ER over 5 IP.


AA

Serwinowski (11) – 10.71 ERA in 6 starts. Stratospheric WHIP of 2.14 to match that ERA. 3.30 batting average against him. One great start, drilled in the other five.

Copen (29) – 0.96 ERA in 5 starts. Dodgers best minor league pitcher so far in ’26. 14 hits and 14 walks in 28 innings, 37 strikeouts. Gave up 3 runs in one game, no runners have crossed the plate in the other four.


High-A

Zazueta (9) – 4.18 ERA. 5 starts. Great WHIP: 1.01. 6 K’s per walk. 3 gems and 2 duds.

Root (12) – 7.20 ERA. 3 starts but only 5 IP. Hasn’t pitched since 4/18. No word of injury.

Patick (22) – 3.86 ERA. 5 starts. 5 shutout innings to start season but has surrendered 2 or more in the next four.


Single-A

Nieves (18) – 5.17 ERA. 4 starts. Pitcher of the Week after his first start, has struggled since.

Leiter (21) – 3.12 ERA in his 4 starts. Only 8.2 IP but 13 K’s, just 3 BBs. 1.04 WHIP.

Jang (--) – 3.24 ERA – 4 games (2 starts). 15 K’s vs 3 walks. 0.96 WHIP.


Not Rostered

Heubeck (30) – hasn’t pitched due to 2025 rotator-cuff injury. Was Rule 5 eligible but no team selected him. Likely rehabbing before Dodgers give him a team assignment.

 

It was a little disconcerting to see the Dodgers top four prospects all start the season slow. I guess De Paula was okay over the first week, but not great. Hope, Sirota, and Quintero had frigid starts to their seasons, and Sirota and Quintero stayed cold into week two... into week three for Quintero. I was a little apprehensive about Sirota's start because he was coming off the injury that ended his season last June or July.

Now, all four are hitting, and as you can see in BDK's graphic, Sirota is playing out of his mind. De Paula is excelling in the two-hole for Tulsa, and Hope is picking up RBIs by the boatload in the cleanup spot - it seems that with George, De Paula, and even Nevin having a pretty good season, Hope almost always come up with runners on and he's been cashing them in. In Great Lakes, it's usually Davalan, Sirota, and Quintero batting 1-2-3, and now they're all clicking. You may remember one of my updates from a couple of weeks back that showed Quintero hitting barely above .100 with an OPS barely over .300. Well, he's now at .211/.617, so he's definitely trending in the right direction.

It's great to see the top four meeting the expectations that come with their rankings, as well as others like Morales, Davalan, Tibbs, George... and more.

 

One more thought on Sirota, and this cannot yet be said about his teammates Quintero and Davalan: They can't keep him in High-A for this whole season.

2025 was his first in the minors. He opened at Single-A, and after 24 games his OPS was 1.130. Clearly he was too advanced for that league and got promoted to High-A. There he played 35 games before his season ended prematurely with injury. In those games, his OPS was 1.014.

So far this season, he's played 24 games with an OPS of 1.164 (and that's with the slow start). Combining last year and this year's numbers at Great Lakes, he's now played 59 games and has OPS'd close to 1.100. I'm not his manager or the Dodgers director of player development, nor do I watch his mechanics every day, but I don't think those numbers are lying. He is now too good for this level.

The problem is, Tulsa's outfield is already full of highly-ranked prospects. I don't think it would be good for Sirota to get called up and then be in a four-player/three-position platoon. One of De Paula, Hope, or George need to go up to AAA.

However, that's not an easy fit either. OKC is currently rotating four outfielders. Tibbs plays almost every game, but the team still gives ample PT to Ehrhard, Suwinski, and Siani. One of them needs to go. Siani is on the Dodgers 40-man, a move I still don't get. I suppose they're holding him as a potential defensive replacement option in October. I think they should cut ties with him. Or Suwinski, who's 27 and a career .199 MLB hitter (Pirates), but he's actually one of the team's offensive leaders. He's not on the 40-man, and I can't see him getting added before Tibbs, but how to you cut a player hitting .301 and with a 1.038 OPS? Ehrhard, sadly, has cooled off greatly from an impressive start in the organization both last year and the beginning of this season... he's currently mired in a 5-for-48 slump. He's still young, though, and with time still has value as a prospect.

The bottom line is, the Dodgers are going to need to do some trades or cut players that have no real future with the team, otherwise the logjam is just going to get worse. I say see if there are any takers for Siani or Suwinski, get a pitching prospect... maybe just a reliever since I doubt either would warrant an innings guy.

 

Kike with a ground rule double for OKC, scores on a Ryan Ward HR.

 

have to say…
i was naive and drank the spring training espinal kool aid
but yeah… he’s definitely garbage
sure he’ll be gone once kiké and/or edman are ready, hopefully sooner
just worried kim will get sent down too due to roberts’ asian/asian hate; japanese no like koreans

 

Nice 4-for-5 day for Tibbs. 2 singles and 2 doubles.

This is just my impression, but it seems that he hit all the home runs early and then the league adjusted to him, and he went through the cold spell. He then made his own adjustments and even though not homering at the same rate, he's getting hits more consistently.

15 for his last 39, 6 doubles and 1 HR.