PROSPECTS Meanwhile, Down on the Farm

Sirota is hit by the pitch in his first AB tonight. 72 straight. Two to tie, three to beat the record.

 

@SleeperDodgers
The Dodgers selected 6-foot-5 high school shortstop Bo Lowrance with the 40th overall pick in the 2026 MLB Draft. ⭐️

He was ranked No. 21 by MLB Pipeline and No. 7 by FanGraphs.

Some scouts have even compared his offensive profile to Freddie Freeman.

 

A few notes related to Tulsa. First of all, I'm in Vegas and on a schedule so I can't do I deep dive on this, maybe someone else can, but at first glance...

1. Mike Sirota is not in the lineup. He was plunked in the shoulder in the first inning yesterday, then went 0-3 before getting pinch hit for late in the game so may be sore today. His streak remains active. What's interesting is that the box score doesn't show him active on the bench.

2. De Paula is also not playing nor showing on the bench. Could just be bad data as the bench only shows two. No news of a promotion as far as I can see.

 

Mystery solved. Both Sirota and De Paula left the team yesterday to play in the Futures Game today.

In other news, Easton Shelton hit his 25th home run, ten more than the second most in the Cal League, which happens to belong to his teammate Ko.

Davalan's 2-run jack in the 8th flipped the lead and resulted in a win for the Loons.

 

We got to see Kenny Chesney's last night at the Sphere yesterday. What a different concert experience. If anyone hasn't seen a concert or show there yet, you have to put it on your list. It was very cool.

May dabble at the tables tonight, but I hate giving the casinos any more money than I have to - they already gouge us with prices.

 

@fsudog21 We're at Palazzo. Wife wants to see Wizard tonight. May pivot to that last minute if we find a deal on Stub Hub. You'd recommend I take it?

@LAdiablo Thanks for the rec, sounds really good, but we want to stay within the Palazzo/Venetian footprint.

 

Two Dodgers non top-30 prospects have an OPS over 1.000 for Ontario. The Cal League is considered hitter-friendly, and they'll still have to prove they can succeed at the higher levels, but the Dodgers have to be happy with what they see.

OF Jaron Elkins was picked in the 8th round in 2023 - out of high school so he's still only 21. In '24 his OPS was a respectable .869 in rookie ball. Last year at single-A it was a ho-hum .764. But this year he's tearing it up. His .335 average is second best in the league. He's fourth in HRs with 13, and his 1.015 OPS ranks second. It would lead the league if not for...

Corner IF Easton Shelton, the undrafted FA, hit his 26th round tripper today. In addition to HRs, the 20 year old is also #1 in RBIs (81) and OPS (1.037). Unfortunately he also has the most strikeouts, and as they mentioned in the video that bdk recently posted, he'll need to pare back that number to make his way up through the system.

 

The remainder of the Dodgers 2026 draft picks after Bo Lowrance:

https://share.google/ey1ndMrZqsSfIHXbb

 

Quiet week with no games until Friday. Here are all Dodger minor leaguers with double-digits in HRs at the break. Bold signifies top-30.

Shelton 1B/3B A 26
Tibbs OF AAA 21
Suwinski OF AAA 19
Hope OF AA 19
Gelof 2B AA 17
Morales SS A+/A 17
Newell OF AA 16
De Paula OF AA 15
Ko OF A 15
Ehrhard OF AAA 14
Sirota OF AA/A+ 14
Elkins OF A 13
Harlan 3B A+/A 13
Davalan OF A+ 12
Wagner 3B A+ 12
Martinus 2B A 12
Miller SS AAA 10
Meza DH A+ 10

 

Watched some clips and read up a bit on the Dodgers first pick, Bo Lowrance. Seems like he has a pretty good head on his shoulders for an 18-year old. Nice smooth swing. Says he tries to emulate Matt Olson's swing and Freddie's approach of hitting to all fields. Also gives the impression that he's fully locked-in on baseball and improving his game - little risk of getting distracted by the limelight is what I'm seeing. Also seems stoked to get to go through the Dodgers vaunted player development system. I don't expect there to be much risk of him not signing.

With Morales in high-A, West in the Arizona rookie league, and now Lowrance, Dodgers are stocking up higher level prospects at the SS position... plus others like Miller, Hainline, Vargas, and Lindsey (currently playing 2B). Will be interesting to watch this all play out. Who will progress? Who will get traded? Will Morales stay at short? Will Lowrance move to another position as he fills out? Time will tell.

 

Here's every Dodger minor leaguer with an OPS of .800+ (min 100 ABs) at the break.

For perspective, I added ages (in parenthesis). This helps to show which players have perhaps had their opportunity come and go and are now either playing for the love of the game, or the possibility that an injury or two at the major league level might provide them with one more shot. Players like Suwinski, Thomas, and Fitzgerald (and now maybe even Ward) fit into that camp.

Also makes one wonder which of the top prospects are most likely to get the call up first. While a case could be made that #1 prospect De Paula or RBI-leader Hope are ready now to face major league pitching, players drafted out of college like Sirota, Tibbs, and Ehrhard are going to be a couple of years older and possibly may have more developed games at this point.

Lastly, it allows for a greater appreciation for what the youngest of the group have accomplished - Quintero, Morales, Harlan, Ko, Shelton, etc.

Sirota OF A+/AA 1.037 (23)
Shelton 1B/3B A 1.036 (20)
Elkins OF A 1.015 (21)
Harlan 3B A/A+ 0.983 (20)
Suwinski OF AAA 0.966 (27)
De Paula OF AA 0.964 (21)
Tibbs OF AAA 0.959 (23)
Morales SS A/A+ 0.906 (19)
Ko OF A 0.904 (19)
Martinus 2B A 0.901 (21)
Perez 2B A+ 0.900 (21)
Soldra OF A 0.886 (22)
Hope OF AA 0.885 (21)
Quintero OF A+ 0.884 (20)
Wagner 3B A+ 0.880 (22)
Ehrhard OF AAA 0.879 (23)
Thomas OF AAA 0.870 (26)
Davalan OF A+ 0.849 (22)
Gelof 2B AA 0.844 (24)
George OF AA/A 0.833 (21)
Ward 1B AAA 0.830 (28)
Meza DH A+ 0.827 (23)
Fitzgerald 3B AAA 0.822 (32)
Alfonzo C AAA 0.814 (26)
Hainline SS AA 0.806 (23)

 

It appears Sirota's streak is over. He had 2 RBIs tonight on a groundout and sac fly, but he went 0-4 with no walks, no HBP. First game since April 8 that he didn't get on base.

72 is where it ends, two short of the record. What impressed me the most is that he went up a level during the streak and didn't miss a beat. No adjustment needed.

It will be interesting to see if his production changes at all with this no longer being a thing.

 

in theory he could do even better with all the attention/pressure now off
or he might be one of those rare players who does better when there’s more at stake
either way, win/win for LAD

* side note, i saw a post on X where some clown suggested wrobo and sirota for skubal
i responded that i wouldn’t include either in a trade for a rental and i got slammed
clearly others don’t value either guy or the team’s future