Dodgers Prospect Notes: De Paula at 25 homers, Shelton shatters Bellinger’s record, Gamez dominant, Tibbs on a heater, Leiter’s great Loons debut, more

Jared Massey 08/25/2026 Prospect Notes Leave A Comment

Hitter of the Week

There really isn’t much more left for Josue De Paula to accomplish in Double-A. The 21-year-old lefty slugger is leading the league in hits, runs, RBI, batting average and on-base percentage. This past week, he achieved a new milestone in his very young career.

De Paula hit .375 with a double and three home runs, including a walk-off shot on Tuesday. He’s now hit 25 home runs in 2026 after belting just 12 last year and 24 over the previous three seasons. He’s one stolen base away from a 30 double, 25 homer, 30 stolen base season.

Will Josue get a late-season promotion to Triple-A? That remains to be seen. Tulsa has already clinched a playoff spot while Oklahoma City is 4.5 games back. However, the Triple-A season runs a few weeks longer than other affiliates so De Paula would probably end up playing more even if the Comets don’t advance to the postseason.

Pitcher of the Week

Luis Gamez made a name for himself with the Complex League club earlier this year by spinning back to back 11 strikeout performances while allowing no hits over a combined nine innings. After a few more appearances, he was promoted to Ontario and greeted rudely. But the 19-year-old Mexico native has bounced back nicely.

Gamez was roughed up in his first two games with the Tower Buzzers, allowing 12 runs in seven innings while recording just six strikeouts. Since then, he’s posted an ERA of 1.50 in 18 innings, including nine innings last week in which he surrendered just two runs on five hits and three walks while striking out 12. His relief outing on Sunday saw him pitch four scoreless, allowing just two baserunners, with nine Ks.

He’ll celebrate his 20th birthday at the end of the month but it’s impressive what he’s accomplished as a teenager with a full season affiliate. A strong finish could propel him up prospect charts and make Gamez a name to watch next year.

Triple-A Oklahoma City

James Tibbs III has had quite the up and down season, but he’s back up with a strong showing in August. Tibbs III batted .400 last week with three homers and seven walks, including a two-homer performance on Tuesday.

On the other hand, Zach Ehrhard has cooled off, going 4 for 23 last week with a double and a steal. Hyeseong Kim had just three hits last week, though one of them was his 3rd HR of the season. 

The pitching staff was strong, led by Emmet Sheehan’s outing on Sunday. He allowed one hit over six scoreless with nine strikeouts. Gavin Stone went three hitless innings with five Ks.

Tyler Glasnow looked great in his final tune-up before rejoining the big club, giving up just one run on one hit in five innings with nine strikeouts. Landon Knack went six, allowed one run and struck out six.

Double-A Tulsa

A welcomed sight on Sunday was Mike Sirota back in center field for the Drillers. He’d been out for nine days after being hit by a pitch on his arm. He walked and struck out in his first game back.

Kole Myers had a huge week, batting .478 with four doubles and three homers. The 2024 9th rounder is getting more playing time now after Zyhir Hope was dealt to Detroit.

Taylor Young, who’s taken over as the team’s leadoff hitter, hit .417 with five walks last week. Chris Newell had only four hits last week, but three of them were homers, giving him 21 on the season.

Zach Root gave up just one run over four innings while striking out three on Wednesday. A nice bounceback after his previous start where he surrendered six runs in 3 â…” innings.

Christian Zazueta struggled in his start on Friday, allowing five runs in five innings. He did strike out nine and only walked one. Adam Serwinowski gave up four runs on three hits and five walks in his start, though he did strike out seven and increased his org lead in Ks to 137.

Aidan Foeller allowed one run over five innings with six strikeouts. He’s allowed just three earned runs in his first five games in Double-A. Jacob Kmatz finally allowed a run, surrendering a solo homer on Saturday. He worked two scoreless on Wednesday.

High-A Great Lakes

Emil Morales is finishing the season strong, hitting .333 last week with a double and two home runs, including his 4th career grand slam. He now has 24 taters on the season and won’t turn 20 until next month.

Mairoshendrick Martinus just keeps hitting, batting .308 last week with a pair of longballs. He now has 19 home runs on the season. He also hasn’t drawn a walk since July 30th.

Eduardo Quintero and Charles Davalan both struggled last week. Quintero hit .158 with a double and a pair of steals. Davalan batted .143 with no extra base hits.

Cam Leiter made his High-A debut and was dominant. He touched 100 mph with his fastball, sat around 98 and generated 13 whiffs while facing just 14 hitters. If he can stay healthy and hone his command, he’s going to skyrocket up prospect rankings. Unfortunately, the corresponding move to Leiter’s debut was Hyun-Seok Jang going on the injured list.

Will Gagnon also had a strong showing, going five innings while allowing just one unearned run on four hits and striking out seven. The 2024 14th rounder has 102 strikeouts in 64 â…” innings this season.

Tyler Gough labored through two innings of work on Sunday, making 45 pitches in an abbreviated outing. He did manage to strike out four of the nine hitters he faced. Brooks Auger went three innings, didn’t allow a run and struck out four.

The biggest surprise of the week came when former first rounder Maddux Bruns appeared for Great Lakes on Sunday. Bruns hadn’t appeared in a game since June 5th with Tulsa. In his Loons appearance, the lefty struck out a pair over two scoreless innings and was around the strike zone more than usual. Hopefully it’s a sign of things to come.

Low-A Ontario

Kellon Lindsey finished last week on a high note, with four hits including his 10th HR of the season while adding a pair of steals. He’s slashing .304/.424/.529 overall and looking to ride this hot streak to a strong finish to the season.

Speaking of hot finishes, Joendry Vargas has been one of the hottest hitters in the org over the past month. He hit .400 last week with three doubles and a homer. He’s hitting .395 in August and .364 since July 1st.

Easton Shelton smashed a pair of longballs last week to give him 35 on the season. He also broke Cody Bellinger’s RBI mark for Dodgers’ prospects in the Cal League and has 106 on the season. Truly one of the most surprising performances of the year.

Marlon Nieves allowed one run over 3 ⅓ innings with four strikeouts on Friday. Camden Wimbish, this year’s 17th rounder, followed Nieves and picked up his first professional win with a scoreless 1 ⅔ innings.

Mason Estrada came out of the pen on Wednesday and was pumping upper 90s gas, touching 99. He struck out five over two innings.

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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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