PROSPECTS Meanwhile, Down on the Farm

You're right. Six hits, 4 walks, 3 ERs, only 1 K over five innings. Wrong direction.

 

wish i were wrong

 

I'm trying to pare back on my posts in this thread - save it for more noteworthy updates. I know odds are a lot of these guys will hit their ceiling at some level before majors. So I'll try to refrain from spamming with daily updates. That said, I was glad to see Sirota return to the Great Lakes lineup yesterday. He had gone on the 7-day IL and it's hard to get news from that level on severity of injuries. So yesterday he played for the first time in a couple of weeks and promptly hit another HR. In 38 ABs now since his call-up from RC, he's hitting .395 with a 1.202 OPS. Remember, this is the prospect that the Dodgers got for Lux, so I'm interested to see how far he gets.

 

Planning to catch my first minor league game later this month when OKC comes to Sacramento. The cool thing is that it's a six-game series and there are plenty of tickets available, all-in at $22.95. Choice of noon games or evenings. Right now the 12:05 Wine Wednesday is mostly piquing my interest (more to do with the time than wine), but the 6:45 Thirsty Thursday is in the running too. I might hold out to see if a rehabbing Sheehan, Snell or Glassarm is pitching one of the games.

Same stadium that the A's are in for 3 years. Unfortunately Dodgers are not coming this season, but hopefully in '26.

 

Yeah, but the nooner gives me an excuse to skip work. Although you're right, I'd fry out there. Guess I'll just douse myself with Off and pick an evening - the bloodsuckers are brutal this year.

 

Patrick Copen (the kid who took a liner to the face last year) got promoted to AA Tulsa! The Midwest League leader in K's while at Great Lakes picked up 9 in his Texas League debut, against 3 hits and 3 walks. He went 5.1 innings allowing 5 runs, but only one earned, as Tulsa committed 3 errors. Overall a solid debut.

A couple weeks ago I had little interest in Tulsa, but he joins Jackson Ferris on the Drillers staff, and suddenly I'm following this team more closely, especially because SS Noah Davis continues to hit. Known as all glove, no bat when the Dodgers acquired him for Margot, they have him batting third and he's currently the team's top bat, hitting .407/1.004.

 

Sheehan continues to ramp up. In his third rehab start, he threw 57 pitches. His line: 3 IP, 2 H, 1 BB, 1 ER, 4 Ks.

 

Nothing new here that I haven't already posted about Sirota, except video of his first HR after his promotion to Great Lakes (he has 3 now) and mention that he's moved into Baseball America's top 100 list.

https://dodgersway.com/dodgers-pros...list-is-latest-knife-twist-in-gavin-lux-trade

 

I haven't mentioned Peter Heubeck much. He's a pitcher in AA and is in the mid-20's on the Dodgers prospect hierarchy. Drafted in 2021 out of high school in the third round by the Dodgers, he's still only 22. He had a good season last year even while navigating some control issues. He got bumped up to AA in the offseason, and the reason he hasn't really been on my radar so far this year is that his stats through most of May were not at all impressive. That said, he may have turned a corner. Two starts ago he dealt 5.2 hitless innings, and followed it up with 9 K's over 6 shutout innings. His numbers in June are 11.2 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 4 BB, 16 K's, and was named the Texas League Pitcher of the Week.

With him on the Tulsa staff that also features Ferris and Copen, I'm starting to view them like the Great Lakes outfield... full of potential that hopefully will continue making the climb.

Here's a scouting report if you're interested:

Scouting grades: Fastball: 60 | Curveball: 55 | Slider: 55 | Changeup: 45 | Control: 40 | Overall: 40

Gatorade's Maryland high school player of the year in 2021, Heubeck stood out with one of the best curveballs and some of the best polish in that year's prep class. Since signing for an over-slot $1,269,500 as a third-rounder, he has retained his feel for spin while adding velocity and losing control. He posted a 3.05 ERA at High-A last year with the best average-against (.181) and second-highest strikeout percentage (30 percent) among Midwest League pitchers with at least 90 innings, but he also had the worst walk percentage (17 percent).

Heubeck now operates with a 92-95 mph fastball that reaches 97 with huge induced vertical break that creates significant carry. Both his upper-70s downer curveball and his tighter mid-80s slider can be plus pitches that work against both lefties and righties when he lands them for strikes, which he hasn't done consistently in pro ball. He also has a mid-80s changeup with fade and sink that could be an average pitch if he learns to harness it.

Heubeck has a clean arm action and an athletic delivery that should be conducive to at least average control. He sometimes overspins his breaking balls and needs to find a better balance between trying to create nasty stuff and throwing strikes. The Dodgers still think he could develop into a No. 3 or 4 starter, even if takes longer than they expected.

 

60 is above average. The 40 overall is not that good and probably due to his wildness. Also in a different report from when he was drafted there was a concern that his frame was too lanky and that he might not be able to add weight for strength and durability. This is probably why he's ranked 25th in the Dodgers system.

His curve was rated 60 coming out of high school so somehow he lost five there.

Anyhow, here's how the scale works: https://www.mlb.com/glossary/miscellaneous/scouting-grades

 

Sheehan's rehab has so far consisted of three starts: 29, 39, and 57 pitches. He's scheduled for his fourth game tonight. Assuming he gets near 70 pitches in, would he get the call-up for his next start? That could put him in the middle of the Padres series, but it's borderline whether he could take one of the two bullpen-game spots in that series. Right now the Dodgers schedule has bullpen games on Monday and Tuesday, with Yamamoto and Kershaw pitching games 3 and 4. Tuesday would be the fifth day after Sheehan's start tonight. He rested an extra day between his second and third starts, but tonight is just five days after his last start, so conceivably he could go next Tuesday and then settle into the Dodgers six-man rotation. Anyhow, I've already put more thought into this than is rational, so let's just hope he has a good game tonight, stays healthy, and can provide some help soon.