PROSPECTS Meanwhile, Down on the Farm

... And Chase Harlan was named the California League player of the month. He batted .388 with a .481 OBP and .694 slugging , leading the entire league in both batting average and slugging.

Crazy how much the system is flourishing right now.

 

Zach Ehrhard, who's not known for his power, went yard twice yesterday (5 on the season) and now has his OPS back up to .825. I've been following his on-base streak which he extended to 25 games -- I thought that was pretty impressive.

But I just read that Sirota currently is on a 44-game on-base streak. I had no idea.

 

A few weeks ago, I posted a list of prospects and how many RBIs they had recorded. Here's an update. For this one, the cutoff was 30 RBIs, and everyone in the Dodgers minors was eligible, not just Top 30 prospects.

Same disclaimers. RBI's are not the most important stat, but they do show who's taking advantage of opportunities to drive in runs for their team. Also, OKC has played more games and is in a more hitter-friendly league. And lastly, where they bat in the order is relevant too.

Top 30 prospects are in bold.

52 Tibbs AAA 2nd most in PCL
51 Morales A+ split time between 2 teams/leagues
50 De Paula AA 2nd most in Texas League
49 Hope AA 3rd most in Texas League
44 Suwinski AAA
43 Shelton A
42 Fitzgerald AAA
40 Miller AAA glove-first shortstop???
39 Hainline AA
38 Ehrhard AAA usually bats leadoff
38 Harlan A
37 Ko A missed the first couple of weeks
34 Nevin AA
33 Vargas A
32 Sirota AA Tibbs, as an example, has 50 more ABs
32 Perez A+
31 Ward AAA
31 Meza A+
31 Elkins A

 

Those are the reasons why I have him 1 and De Paula 2 (wow, racist). Seems everyone - Josue included - moves up a level and there's a production lull until they acclimate to the better competition. Sirota moves up and performs at the same rate as at the level he just left (case in point , his current on base streak didn't get snapped making the move from Great Lakes). I don't know, maybe the next one or two moves will prove more challenging, but I truly believe he has all the tools including the head on his shoulders.

 

Sirota playing the hero role today when all hope seemed lost.

https://x.com/i/status/2063730321158471895

 

Check out this double play in OKC... LF to SS (Noah Miller) to 1B (Tibbs). Always heard that Miller is gold in the field.

https://x.com/i/status/2063733932735013262

 

Pitcher Nick Frasso is now on the 40-man after exercising his upward mobility clause.

https://dodgersway.com/dodgers-make...e-after-predictable-tyler-glasnow-injury-news

 

Both on-base streaks are still intact. Ehrhard is at 28, Sirota at 47.

 

miller has an amazing arm
just a matter if he can hit at the big league level

 

Exactly. Doubt there will be room for him either way on the Dodgers roster, between Mookie, Freeland, Kim, and then at some point Morales, Lindsey, Vargas, Hainline... possibly Nico Perez. But if he hits he could be a nice trade piece. His batting average at OKC isn't all that high but he's 3rd on the team in HRs with eight. Good get and all it cost was a Margot.

 

It's another no-game Monday, so I thought I would rework the RBI ranking from last week into another stat. This time I'm going with OBP, so that we don't have to account for some leagues having more at bats. Who is finding ways to get on base and at what level? To make this list, one has to have at least 100 ABs and the cutoff is 0.375. Top 30 Prospects are in bold.

0.488 Sirota, OF AA/A+
0.450 Harlan, 3B A
0.430 Lockwood-Powell, C AA
0.421 Tibbs, OF AAA
0.420 De Paula, OF AA
0.417 George, OF AA
0.417 Hainline, SS AA
0.415 Ko, OF A
0.412 Meza, DH A+
0.403 Davalan, OF A+
0.399 Guerrero, 3B A+
0.396 Alonzo, C AAA
0.396 Elkins, OF A
0.392 Quintero, OF A+
0.390 Ehrhard, OF AAA
0.389 Perez, 2B A+
0.386 Suwinski, OF AAA
0.383 RFitzgerald, 3B AAA
0.379 Ward. OF/1B AAA

Others of note:

Hope is at .351. Interestingly, he's powering up more this, his fourth minor league season. He's already tied for his career high in HRs. He also has his highest batting average at .294, but this is his lowest OBP by far. The walks aren't there, but with highs in HRs and likely hits and RBIs, I doubt anyone is complaining.

Lindsey is at .464 which would be second highest in the system, but he only has 52 ABs due to getting a late start on the season.

Morales is only at .357, but that's combined between his two teams. He did have .385 in single-A, but got a slow start at Great Lakes and is building his numbers back up.

Note on Sirota: The highest in the Texas league where he's at now among players with 100+ ABs is .454. Sirota is currently at .506 in his first 63 ABs. The highest in the Midwest Leauge from where he started the season is .478, and that's him, so he's truly been league-irrelevant in his performance.

 

Whoa, didn't realize this was happening...

Sandwiched between Ehrhard's and Sirota's streaks, Quintero has been on in 32 straight, which is a Great Lakes team record. The previous high was 30, shared by Miguel Vargas and Sirota (as part of his 47 straight before he got promoted).

You may recall that Quintero got off to a downright miserable start to this season. His low point was probably mid-April when he was batting .111 and his OPS was .290. For April in whole, he hit .195/.585.

But in May his bat came alive and he hit .372/.941. So far in June he's at .333/.915. He's worked his season-to-date numbers up to .287/.779... and climbing. The only thing that's really lacking at this point is his power - only 2 HRs so far compared to 19 last season, but I expect those will come soon enough. He's also on pace for a career high in stolen bases - has 24 thefts in 28 tries so far.

 

Zach Root was named the Midwest League Pitcher of the Week.

He takes the mound tonight for Great Lakes with a 19-inning scoreless streak going. During that span, he's allowed only 4 hits, with 30 strikeouts vs 8 walks.

Ferris and Serwinowski also pitch tonight.

 

@Bnicklaus7
Circling back on the #Dodgers’ decision to add RHP Nick Frasso back to the 40-man:

In 11 games, Frasso has looked much closer to the guy who once was one of LA’s best pitching prospects. He’s got a 39% strikeout rate and has not allowed a single barrel in 13 innings.

A lot of rebound on his fastball. He’s gained 1.2 mph and 1.7” IVB compared to last year. Sitting at 96 with 7.1’ of extension and having regained the carry that once projected his fastball at double-plus has helped Frasso’s in-zone contact rate drop from 85% last year to 72% in 2026.

Also, Frasso has gotten back to his bread and butter of keeping the ball on the ground. He’s got a minuscule 18% fly ball rate and has forced ground balls at a 54% clip. He hasn’t allowed a home run so far this season.

With the Dodgers having seemingly committed to using Frasso in relief, he looks ready to be part of LA’s bullpen mix at any time. He’s effective against both handiness of hitters and has actually had reverse-splits through much of his career thanks to his changeup. His gyro slider is more of a contact manager than two-strike wipeout offering but still gets the job done against righties.

I expect to see Frasso make his MLB debut soon, and it’s been great to see him rebound after a rough season last year returning from labrum surgery.

 

The "lesser" two as well.