Dodgers Prospect Notes: Sirota stays red hot, George runs wild, Smith breaks out, Perez adds power, Ko powers up, Root returns, more

Jared Massey 05/12/2026 Prospect Notes Leave A Comment

(Via @MLBPipeline)

Hitter of the Week

While it’s been the outfielders who have gotten the most attention so far this year, a few infielders at the lower levels have stood out. Great Lakes’ offense has been a powerhouse this season and a major cog has been second baseman Nico Perez.

Perez posted solid numbers with Rancho in 2025, including a .380 OBP and 35 stolen bases in 61 games. However, after only hitting three home runs last year, he matched that total in just five games last week with the Loons. Two of those came in Wednesday’s game, the first being a grand slam.

Nico is currently 5th in the Midwest League with a .997 OPS and he’s tied for first with 15 stolen bases. If the power continues to develop and he can maintain this success in Double A, the Dodgers might have themselves another legitimate infield prospect.

Pitcher of the Week

It’s been a long road already for Brady Smith, the 2023 third rounder who underwent Tommy John surgery shortly after being drafted. That delayed his professional debut until last year, when he struggled mightily to get the ball over the plate.

This season started in a similar fashion, as the righty issued seven walks in his first 6.1 innings. However, Smith has started throwing more strikes of late and has allowed just three in his last 12.2 frames. In his most recent outing, he struck out 9 of the 14 batters he faced and issued no walks.

Smith is extremely athletic and comes with a legit four-pitch mix. His fastball isn’t overpowering but it plays well up in the zone. He prefers his shorter, sharper slider to his bigger, slower curveball but both show good depth and bite. He may have the most confidence in his changeup, which he’ll throw to any batter in any count.

Even with his early control issues, Smith has been effective and has racked up the Ks. His 35 strikeouts is third in the California League and he’s striking out 41% of opposing batters. It’s control over command right now and he’s pitching in A-ball as a 21-year-old, so there’s a sense of urgency for him to continue to improve. Hopefully he stays on this track and is capable of reaching his potential as a mid rotation starter.

Triple-A Oklahoma City

James Tibbs III had a solid week, with a pair of doubles on Wednesday as well as adding his second stolen base of the season. Jack Suwinski also doubled twice on Wednesday and clubbed his 9th homer on Saturday. Ryan Ward added his 6th homer of the year. New guy Tyler Fitzgerald had himself a night on Friday, hitting two homers including a game-tying grand slam in the bottom of the 9th.

Jackson Ferris went three innings, allowing a pair of runs with a strikeout. Nick Frasso, a former top prospect who’s pitching out of the pen, went an inning and two thirds with three strikeouts. Reliever Carlos Duran struck out four over a pair of scoreless appearances.

Double-A Tulsa

Kendall George continues to disrupt games with his 80-grade speed. He’s at his best when he’s slapping the ball to the left side of the infield. Just look at this routine groundball that he turned into a single.

Zyhir Hope had a solid week, belting his 6th HR of the season off of Ryan Sloan, one of the top pitching prospects in all of baseball. Even though it was over a short wall, Hope has some of the best power in the system.

Josue De Paula also homered, though his power lags behind his pure hit tool. However, swings like this make it easy to project plus power down the line. Even though he turns just 21 later this month, JDP has drawn more walks than strikeouts and boasts a .408 OBP. He’s also already swiped nine bags after stealing 32 last year.

Elijah Hainline had a very productive week, going 8 for 22 with a double and a homer. Kyle Nevin was 7 for 19 and stole a base. Catcher Frank Rodriguez collected his second homer of the season.

Righty Payton Martin gave the Drillers four shutout innings on Friday with half a dozen strikeouts. Adam Serwinowski battled his control, walking four in 3.2 innings but allowed just one run. Patrick Copen had a forgettable start, surrendering nine runs in 4.2 innings.

High-A Great Lakes

Mike Sirota clubbed his 7th homer of the season on Thursday, which was his first homer of the year that he pulled to left field. As much as he loves using that right center power alley, I’m interested to see if he can pull the ball in the air more as he advances through the system. He’s currently leading the Midwest League in BA, SLG and OPS with a .333/.492/.667 slash line.

Eduardo Quintero is heating up. The 20-year-old is starting to drive the ball to the gaps with some regularity, which led to three doubles last week. He also showed off his plus speed on the basepaths with four steals. On top of that, he’s already collected five outfield assists this season to round out that five tool profile.

Charles Davalan also showed off the wheels with three steals of his own last week. Chuck went 5 for 14 with seven walks to five strikeouts. He’s walked more than he’s struck out on the year as well as hitting for power with a .223 ISO. He and Sirota probably shouldn’t be in A-ball much longer.

Jose Meza continues to hit, going 6 for 16 last week including a pair of doubles on Sunday. He’s now hitting .310 on the season. Eduardo Guerrero was 5 for 16 and is batting .299 overall.

Because of two rainouts, the Loons had to squeeze multiple starters into games last week. Zach Root finally returned from his ankle injury and pitched well in an abbreviated outing. He went 1.2 IP and didn’t allow a hit or a run, walking a pair and striking out a pair. Christian Zazueta closed out that game with 4.1 innings of his own, surrendering three runs including a homer while striking out seven.

Brooks Auger started Sunday’s game and struck out five in 2.2 scoreless innings. Jakob Wright and Aidan Foeller, both starters, followed him in the game and struggled with their control, each walking three in their respective appearances.

Single-A Ontario

Ching-Hsien Ko continues to impress with the Tower Buzzers as he added three homers last week, including a two homer performance on Saturday. The 19 year old lefty already has half a dozen homers this year after hitting four in 85 games in 2025. This is the type of power you’d expect from a guy with a 6’3 215 lbs frame.

Speaking of power, that’s what the Dodgers thought they were getting when they drafted Chase Harlan a couple years ago. And while he’ll still send some balls deep into the night sky, it’s been his plate discipline that has stood out so far this season. Harlan has walked more than he’s struck out, leading to a .468 OBP so far this year. Last week, he hit .421 with three doubles.

Emil Morales also hit three doubles last week, giving him a league-leading 14 on the year. The downside is that he struck out eight times and didn’t draw a walk. He’s struck out 40 times in 30 games so far this year and has had a lot of trouble laying off of breaking balls down and away. No need to panic, as the 19-year-old still has plenty of time to improve his plate discipline.

Jesus Tillero bookended the week, starting with an outstanding start on Tuesday, going 6.1 scoreless innings with seven strikeouts. Then he surrendered eight runs in 3.1 IP on Sunday. Peaks and valleys. 

Isaac Ayon put together a solid start on Thursday, going 5.1 IP allowing one earned run with 5 Ks. Cam Leiter allowed one earned run in two innings earlier in the week while striking out five. Hyun-Seok Jang was wild on Saturday, issuing four walks in 4.1 innings, though he did strike out a season best six batters.

Luis Carias has been the definition of effectively wild recently. The righty walked four in three innings on Friday, but didn’t allow a hit or a walk while striking out six. In his previous appearance, he went four hitless, scoreless innings as well. His fastball/breaking ball combo keeps hitters off balance and the fact that he doesn’t always know where the ball is going probably works to his advantage as well.

Rookie-Ball (Arizona Complex League)

The Arizona Complex League kicked off their festivities on the 2nd, with a number of prospects making rehab appearances. Kellon Lindsey homered in his first game with the club and went 2 for 9 last week with a stolen base.

Landyn Vidourek and Brendan Tunink made a few rehab appearances with the club before returning to Ontario. Vidourek homered twice, while Tunink collected a pair of hits Thursday. Vidourek returned to the Buzzers’ lineup on Sunday, while Tunink should rejoin the outfield this week.

Last year’s 4th rounder Aidan West made his professional debut on Thursday and doubled. 2023 6th rounder Bryan Gonzalez Garcia has gotten off to a hot start, going 5 for his first 11 with two doubles and a homer.

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About Jared Massey

Former co-host along with Dustin Nosler of the Award-eligible Dugout Blues podcast. Founder of the Greg Miller Marching and Chowder Society. Certified Prospect Hugger.
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