Dodgers Prospect Notes: De Paula’s weekend power surge, Jang’s dazzling Loons debut, Gelof’s 3-homer game, Shelton belts #32, Davalan ready for promotion, more

Jared Massey 08/04/2026 Prospect Notes Leave A Comment

Hitter of the Week

It’s getting harder and harder to find superlatives to describe Josue De Paula, but I’ll try. The 21-year-old had another fantastic week, batting .391 with a double and four home runs, putting his season total at 20. He reaches the 20-20 milestone for the first time in his career, as he’s also stolen 28 bases.

De Paula’s power developing this well as he ascends the prospect ladder is very encouraging, given that he only hit 12 homers last year in over 100 games. All that’s left is improving his defense to be playable at the major league level and the Dodgers will have no choice but to call him up.

Pitcher of the Week

It’s been a rough week or two for some top pitching prospects in the system, with a handful of guys struggling after being promoted. However, Hyun-Seok Jang was one of the bright spots after he was pushed to Great Lakes.

The 22-year-old righty struggled a bit in his time with Ontario, posting a 5.91 ERA in 16 appearances with the Tower Buzzers. However, he handled his Loons debut with aplomb, going six shutout innings, allowing just three hits with no walks while striking out eight.

Jang has developed his changeup into a very reliable offering this season and couples it with his mid-90s fastball well. He also throws a big breaking curveball and a tighter slider. The main question has been his strike-throwing ability but he’s improved that last year. Hopefully this start is the launching pad for him to take another step in his developmental process.

Triple-A Oklahoma City

Zach Ehrhard had another strong week, batting .429 with a pair of doubles, a pair of stolen bases and seven walks. He’s now sporting an OBP of .404 with a 15% walk rate.

Hyeseong Kim is still figuring things out with the bat, but every week he’s making defensive plays like this one.

James Tibbs III hit .350 with two doubles and a triple, even stealing a base. However, he’s in the midst of another home run drought, having gone through July without launching one. Even with the slumps, Tibbs III is still slashing .288/.409/.539 with 21 homers through 100 games.

Ryan Ward went deep twice, while Alek Thomas homered and added four doubles. Alex Freeland rejoined OKC after being optioned for Keekay and went 4 for 9 over the weekend.

Jackson Ferris went 5 ⅔ innings, allowing two earned runs with six strikeouts on Saturday. Landon Knack allowed just one run on one hit on Wednesday, striking out five and lowering his ERA in four starts with OKC to 3.00. Seth Halvorsen made two appearances for the Comets, recording four strikeouts and no walks while topping out at 102 mph.

Double-A Tulsa

The best individual game of the week goes to Jake Gelof, who hit three home runs on Wednesday, giving him 21 on the season. With the trade of Zyhir Hope, Gelof now leads the Drillers in longballs.

Mike Sirota ended a homer drought of his own last week, clobbering two taters to push him up to 16 on the season between Great Lakes and Tulsa. After seeing his 72 game on-base streak end last month, he’s started a new one that goes to 11.

Kendall George was scratched from the lineup on Saturday, leading to #hugwatch but he’s still in the org. He doubled twice on Thursday, the only day he played last week.

Zach Root made his Double-A debut and … it was rough. After two relatively painless innings, Root got shelled in the third and ended up allowing four runs on four hits and three walks. 

Christian Zazueta also struggled in his outing, giving up seven runs in three innings, including a pair of homers. Aidan Foeller didn’t fare much better, giving up six runs (two earned) over 2 ⅓ innings.

Adam Serwinowski, on the other hand, allowed just one run on one hit over six innings with six strikeouts. He leads all prospects with 116 strikeouts this year.

High-A Great Lakes

Charles Davalan is on a tear, with 10 straight multi-hit games, including four last week. He hit .500 with a pair of doubles, a homer and a stolen base. He’s also the only minor leaguer with 15 homers, 15 stolen bases and more walks than strikeouts. I wonder if he spends the final month or so of the minor league season in Tulsa now that there’s a spot available.

Emil Morales had an interesting line last week, with three singles and five walks, compared to just two strikeouts. Hopefully he doesn’t have to sacrifice his massive power for more contact.

Eduardo Quintero went 5 for 14 and walked twice. He’s now batting .301/.424/.476 with 19 doubles, 9 home runs and 36 stolen bases. Check out his speed on this hustle double.

Jaron Elkins debuted for the Loons last week and batted .333. Chase Harlan is still struggling, going 2 for 15. 

On the mound, Tyler Gough was effectively wild, allowing just one hit and no runs over four innings while striking out six, though he also walked three batters.

Low-A Ontario

Easton Shelton extended his organizational and Cal League lead with his 32nd home run on Sunday. It was a relatively quiet week for the slugger but he still managed to get one over the fence for the first time since July 24th.

Kellon Lindsey batted .294 with a double, a triple, two steals and seven walks for the Tower Buzzers. On the year, he’s slashing .336/.463/.550 in 38 games between the Complex League and Single-A.

21-year-old Oswaldo Osorio had a big day on Saturday, homering twice and singling. He hit .333 on the week and also doubled. Joendry Vargas batted .393 with a pair of doubles. Mairoshendrick Martinus batted .417 with two doubles and an inside-the-park home run.

Will Gagnon bounced back from a difficult relief outing by going four innings, allowing two runs and striking out seven. 22-year-old righty Joel Cruz pitched a combined 9 ⅔ innings over two games, striking out 11.

Blake Snell made what was penultimate rehab start before rejoining the Dodgers next week and already looked ready, giving up just one hit over four scoreless and striking out nine.

Rookie Leagues

In the DSL, All-Star outfielder Helvin Mendoza had a big day last Monday with four hits and a home run. He finished July with a .305/.468/.542 line. Top international signee Ezequiel Melburne also homered, going 4-for-12 on the week.

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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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