Dodgers Prospect Notes: Zyhir Hope’s big weekend, Andy Pages homers, Jared Karros & Peter Heubeck excellent, more

Bruce Kuntz 04/09/2024 Prospect Notes Leave A Comment

Top Farm Batter

Zyhir Hope has started his Dodger minor league career on a tear. The 19-year-old outfielder, who was acquired in the Michael Busch/Yency Almonte trade this offseason, hit three home runs in the opening weekend of the Single-A season.

Exit velocities that high shows serious raw power potential for the teenager. He fell to the 11th round of the draft last year due to concerns over his hitting ability, which will continue to be the potential drawback in his profile. But with great speed to combine with a strong throwing arm in the outfield and the ability to mash the ball, Hope has multiple tools worth watching.

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Top Farm Pitcher

Jared Karros was fantastic in his first start of the year, tossing five one-run innings for High-A Great Lakes. The only run he allowed came on a solo home run and he was in control of the count throughout the day, landing 53 of his 73 pitches for strikes. The 16 swings and misses against Karros are also a noteworthy total.

The son of former Dodgers slugger Eric, Karros has had a spotlight on him since being drafted in the 16th round in 2022, but he has handled it well. He posted a 3.44 ERA in 22 games last year, with his 6-foot-7 frame providing big extension to help his low-90s fastball play up. Karros has solid command and could develop into a back-end starter.

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Triple-A Oklahoma City Baseball Club

Andy Pages hit his first home run of the season on Sunday and has an .804 OPS through his first nine games of the season. Pages should be expected to reach the Majors sometime this year, where he may have a chance to become an immediate contributor in the outfield, especially against left-handed pitching.

Miguel Vargas and Trey Sweeney are both slugging to begin the Triple-A season. Vargas has homered three times in nine games, and Sweeney has gotten on base at a .538 clip to start the year.

Veteran starter Eduardo Salazar has pitched to a 2.70 ERA across 10 innings in his first two starts. Salazar made eight relief appearances for Cincinnati last year which did not go well, and he struggled in the minor leagues as a reliever as well. The Dodgers signed the 25-year-old to a minor league deal and moved him back to a starter, which he last was in 2022.

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Double-A Tulsa Drillers

Diego Cartaya has started the season well. He started two of the three games over the weekend, one at DH and one at catcher, and went 3-for-7 at the plate. Cartaya is looking to become the same threat at the plate that he was in 2022.

A pair of older prospects in Double-A, Brendon Davis and Taylor Young, each had great weekends. Davis, 26, was originally a Dodger draftee back in 2015, and he slashed .333/.500/.778 in 14 plate appearances. Young, 25, stole 56 bases in High-A last year, and he posted a 1.167 OPS in his first series as a Driller.

Reliever prospect Ryan Sublette faced the minimum over two innings while getting the win on Sunday. Despite an ERA north of 6.00 in Tulsa last year, Sublette found success in the Arizona Fall League and has stuff that could make him a Major League reliever at some point.

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High-A Great Lakes Loons

Peter Heubeck is one of multiple young Dodgers pitching prospects that could take a big step in their development this season. He made his first start over the weekend, allowing only two hits and one run over 3 2/3 good innings. Heubeck has been streaky through two full years since being drafted, with some starts looking dominant and others struggling badly.

Canadian reliever prospect Lucas Wepf was excellent in his first appearance of the year, throwing three shutout innings and only allowing one hit. Wepf needed just 32 pitches and he struck out three. Standing 6-foot-5, the right-hander has emerged as a solid prospect despite going undrafted out of college.

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Single-A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes

Edgardo Henriquez and Carlos Duran both made their first starts coming off of elbow surgery that held them out in 2023. They each threw two innings and allowed zero earned runs, although one unearned run crossed against Duran. Henriquez was up to 102 mph on his fastball this spring and Duran is still 6-foot-7 with a wipeout slider, so they both have a ton of potential now that they are healthy again.

Rancho Cucamonga’s offense is stacked with young talent, and another teenager besides Hope also homered this weekend. Oswaldo Osorio, who was making his Single-A debut, went yard as part of a 2-for-3 day. Osorio has a sweet left-handed swing that put up nice numbers in rookie ball great plate discipline that should make him a fun watch as he gets his full-season feet under him.

Catcher Jesus Galiz returned to Single-A to start the year due to the influx of catching depth above him in the organization, but he made the most of his at-bats over the weekend. Galiz, 20, picked up six total bases in 11 plate appearances, tallying a homer and a double as his first two hits of the year.

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About Bruce Kuntz

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I'm a Long Beach State journalism student and I've been writing about the Dodgers and their farm system since I was in high school.
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