Dodgers Prospect Notes: Quintero one of MiLB’s best, Ferris’ best start, Tibbs & Davalan 2-homer games, Lindsey shows power/speed combo, more

Hitter of the Week

While other outfielders in the system have gotten more attention, Eduardo Quintero is having a sensational season with Great Lakes. The Michigan cold held him to a .585 OPS in April, but since then he’s been one of the best hitters in the minors.

Since May 1st, Quintero is sporting a .355/.485/.575 line with a 175 wRC+. He’s second in the league in batting average and on-base percentage, and stole his 40th base of the season on Sunday. For the week, Eduardo hit .563 with a double, five walks and three steals.

The Loons are fighting for a playoff spot and Quintero will be an integral part of that run. His top-of-the-order offensive value and outstanding outfield defense will surely help Great Lakes reach the postseason.

Pitcher of the Week

It’s been a trying season for Jackson Ferris. Two years after being acquired from the Cubs for Michael Busch, Ferris has struggled mightily in his first taste of Triple-A. Entering Sunday’s game, he was coming off a start in which he allowed nine runs and was sporting a season ERA of 7.15.

So, all Ferris did in his last start was toss five shutout innings. He added nine strikeouts, his highest mark since 2024. While one start does not a season make, it was clearly a step in the right direction and, hopefully, a sign of things to come.

Triple-A Oklahoma City

Zach Ehrhard continues to dominate for the Comets. Like Quintero, Ehrhard got off to a slow start but has been outstanding since May. Last week, Zach hit .348 with a double, two homers, five walks and six stolen bases.

James Tibbs III smacked two homers on Thursday, bringing his season total to 24. He hit .333 last week and is up to .365 in August.

Ryan Ward went deep three times last week while hitting .391. Noah Miller batted .368 with a double and a steal. Hyeseong Kim added his second homer of the season with OKC.

Tyler Glasnow inched closer to his major league return with 3 ⅔ innings of no-hit ball, recording all outs by strikeout. 

Emmet Sheehan was dominant for 5 ⅔ shutout innings with eight Ks. Cole Irvin took a no-hitter into the sixth inning. Bobby Miller worked three scoreless innings of relief on Sunday. Seth Halvorsen recorded his 6th save.

Double-A Tulsa

Josue De Paula was having a fairly quiet week until Saturday, when he had a pair of hits. He followed that with his 22nd homer on Sunday. However, the most notable development for JDP last week was him working with Jason Heyward on his defense. I can think of few better teachers than one of the best defensive outfielders of all time. Hopefully this instruction gets De Paula to where he needs to be in order to man an outfield corner in the majors.

Mike Sirota also had a fairly quiet week, going 3 for 14 with a double and a walk. On Friday, he was hit by a pitch on the arm and later left the game. He didn’t play the rest of the weekend, so that’s something to keep an eye on.

Jake Gelof had a big week with three homers, pushing him to 25 on the year. Joe Vetrano hit four homers last week, nearly doubling his season total at nine. 

Like Ferris, Patrick Copen has had a really tough season. From May through July, his ERA was 10.48 and he walked 43 batters in 50 ⅔ innings. However, he’s turned things around in August and was stellar on Sunday, going 6 ⅔ innings and allowing just one run while striking out a season-high 10. He’s only allowed one earned run in 15 ⅓ innings this month.

Christian Zazueta went four scoreless with six strikeouts on Saturday. He walked two batters for the first time since June 12th. Aidan Foeller pitched five shutout innings in relief on Friday, striking out six. Adam Serwinowski struck out seven in 4 ⅔ innings on Wednesday, pushing his organizational lead in strikeouts to 130.

Jacob Kmatz made two appearances, going 3 ⅔ innings of scoreless ball with six strikeouts. Cam Day had a pair of two inning outings, striking out six as well.

High-A Great Lakes

Charles Davalan had a two-homer game on Thursday but went hitless over the weekend, though he was plunked twice on Sunday. He’s now been hit by pitch 19 times this season.

Emil Morales hit .313 with two doubles and six walks last week. He’s now sporting a .269/.379/.529 line in High-A as a 19-year-old.

Nico Perez also slugged a pair of homers in one game on Tuesday and has nine on the year. Eduardo Guerrero hit .381 with a triple and a steal last week. Jaron Elkins batted .333 with a double, a steal and four walks.

On Sunday, Tyler Gough was cruising through six scoreless innings but went back out for the seventh, allowed two baserunners and was pulled. Both inherited runners scored but he still made a quality start with six strikeouts. He’s been one of the Dodgers’ most productive pitching prospects since joining the organization, with an ERA of just 2.02, allowing only 29 hits in 58 innings and striking out 74.

Lefty Sterling Patick also pitched into the 7th, allowing two earned runs with seven strikeouts. Hyun-Seok Jang had an abbreviated outing on Tuesday, giving up two runs in two innings. Will Gagnon made his High-A debut and allowed five runs (two earned) over four innings with seven strikeouts.

Single-A Ontario

Joendry Vargas has been red hot in August, batting .393 in 14 games this month. Last week, he went 9 for 26 with three doubles, a triple, a homer and a stolen base.

Kellon Lindsey is breaking out of a mid-season slump, hitting .304 last week with two doubles, a triple and a pair of homers. He was credited with an inside-the-park home run on Friday on a ball that ricocheted off the left fielder’s chest.

Ching-Hsien Ko also hit .304 last week and added his 17th homer of the season. He also had the game-tying hit in the Tower Buzzers’ comeback win on Sunday.

But the big hit in last night’s game came from this year’s 13th round pick Caleb Johnson. Ontario had already rallied from down 5-1 in the 9th to take a 6-5 lead and Johnson put an exclamation mark on the comeback with his first professional home run, a grand slam.

Cam Leiter pitched twice for the Buzzers and the stuff looked as good as ever. With River Ryan’s trade, Leiter may have the best raw stuff in the system. He struck out five over three hitless innings on Tuesday, then added five more strikeouts on Sunday while allowing one earned run.

19-year-old righty Luis Gamez, who struggled in his first two High-A appearances, has settled in in his last two. On Wednesday, Gamez went four shutout innings with six strikeouts.

Marlon Nieves was the definition of effectively wild on Saturday, surrendering just one hit over five scoreless while striking out seven. He did have to pitch around five walks but kept the runners at bay.

Reliever Jecsua Liborius retired the final four batters in Sunday’s game by strikeout and has now K’d 70 batters in just 47 innings this year. This year’s 17th rounder Camden Wimbish made his pro debut on Saturday and struck out a pair in a scoreless inning. UDFA Brady Pendley also made his debut, working a scoreless 9th inning on Saturday.

Rookie Leagues

18-year-old infielder Luis Luna hit safely in all five games last week. Fellow 18-year-old Luis Tovar went 9 for 13 and was batting .500 in August heading into Monday’s penultimate game. Fran-Jean Haseth had a pair of hits last Wednesday, while Helvin Mendoza bookended his week with mulit-hit games.

The Dominican Summer League regular season ends this Tuesday and, with a lockout looming, it could be a while before we see any of these players in action again. Hopefully guys like Haseth and Mendoza make it stateside before the end of the year.

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.