Dodgers Prospect Notes: Zazueta’s perfection prompts promotion, Ko knows ball, Sirota’s extra special streak, Jang Ks career high, more

Jared Massey 06/22/2026 Prospect Notes Leave A Comment

Hitter of the Week

It seems like it’s been a while since Ching-Hsien Ko has been featured. The 19-year-old outfielder hit well in May, but wasn’t overpowering. He’s been heating up in June and was dominant last week on his way to garnering this week’s recognition.

Like other young hitters this season, Ko found himself in a bit of a homer drought, having not gone deep since May 20. That changed last week, as the lefty clubbed a pair of taters, his second coming on Sunday that gives him double digits on the season. He batted .429 with five walks and a double as well.

It’s easy to get lost in the shuffle in a system flush with outfield prospects, but Ko is making it hard to ignore with his combination of power and on-base ability. He’s sporting a .417 OBP, good for 6th in the California League. While there’s no need to rush him, this continued production could be grounds for a late-season promotion.

Pitcher of the Week

At first glance, a 3.88 ERA may not stand out, but Christian Zazueta has had a very strong first half of his minor league season. The 21-year-old righty has been on a fairly strict pitch count, reaching five innings pitched just four times, but that last five-inning start stands out.

On Thursday, Zazueta faced 15 batters and retired all of them, including seven by strikeout. He now has 66 Ks on the season, good for seventh in the Midwest League. He leaned heavily on his fastball and changeup to overwhelm Lake County hitters.

That start was so good, it seems, that the Dodgers felt a change of scenery was needed. Kiley McDaniel of ESPN reported on Sunday that the Dodgers plan to promote Zazueta to Double-A Tulsa. This will be a huge test for the righty, bolstering a rotation that’s already booked a ticket to the post-season.

Triple-A Oklahoma City

Zach Ehrhard continues to show off his newly-found power. The outfielder smacked two more home runs last week to push his season total to 11 in 67 games, after hitting 14 in 123 games last year.

James Tibbs III had just two hits last week, though one of them was his 20th homer of the season which also walked off the win for OKC.

Austin Gauthier celebrated the weekend with three straight multi-hit efforts, batting .563 on the week with five walks. Alek Thomas belted his second homer with the org. 

Noah Miller hit .304 with two doubles and a triple. Eliezer Alfonzo had four doubles last week, including three on Wednesday. Griffin Lockwood-Powell hit his first Triple-A home run on Saturday.

River Ryan got roughed up in his start on Wednesday, allowing a season high eight runs on 10 hits over 4 ⅓ innings. It was the first real bump on the road in the 27-year-old’s journey back to the majors.

Double-A Tulsa

Mike Sirota extended his on-base streak to 58 games with a little luck. On Tuesday, after going 0 for 4 through nine innings, Sirota hit a two-run double in the 10th inning that ended up winning the game for the Drillers. Then on Thursday, he’d again wait til the 10th to reach base, this time drawing a walk.

Josue De Paula only had four hits last week, though two were homers and the last one was a game-tying, ninth-inning, two-out single that led to the Drillers mounting a comeback win. Zyhir Hope had a rough one, going just 2 for 21.

Chris Newell started the week by going 1 for 14, then finished with homers in four straight at bats over the weekend. The 25-year-old is looking for his 5th straight season with at least 20 homers, which seems likely given that he already has 13 in 55 games.

Jake Gelof smacked two more homers to give him a team-leading 14 on the season. Catcher Frank Rodriguez batted .333 with two doubles and two homers. 

On the bump, southpaw Wyatt Crowell went five hitless innings with a pair of walks and half a dozen strikeouts on Friday. Payton Martin allowed a run over four innings with four strikeouts. Adam Serwinowski went six scoreless on Saturday before allowing three runs (one earned) in the 7th.

High-A Great Lakes

Eduardo Quintero hit .250 with two doubles and three stolen bases. Charles Davalan batted .333 with a pair of doubles and a pair of steals. Emil Morales slugged his 11th homer of the season, his 5th with the Loons.

Logan Wagner returned from injury on Sunday and homered in his third at bat, a two-run shot that put the Loons ahead for good. Eduardo Guerrero hit .286 with a triple and his first home run of the season on Friday. Samuel Munoz batted .364 with a double.

Zazueta wasn’t the only Loons’ pitcher to put up a standout performance last week. Brooks Auger allowed one run in four innings while striking out a career-high nine batters. Aidan Foeller retired the first 14 batters he faced before surrendering a two-out single in the 4th.

Zach Root was on the other end of the spectrum. The lefty allowed seven runs (five earned) on 10 hits while striking out just two batters. His ERA rose from 1.55 to 2.73 on the year.

Low-A Ontario

Chase Harlan smacked a pair of doubles and a pair of homers last week while batting .273. Uncharacteristically, he didn’t draw a walk and struck out eight times. Still, the teenager is batting .329/.438/.571 with strong Statcast data, including exceptional exit velos and whiff rates for such a young hitter.

Mairoshendrick Martinus filled up the box score, hitting .286 with two doubles, two triples, a homer and a stolen base last week. He also played first, second, short and right field. Easton Shelton added to his Cal League and organizational home run lead with #21.

Cam Leiter continues to shine for the Tower Buzzers. Fresh off of 2 ⅔ innings of no-hit ball, he went three innings for just the second time this season while matching his season-high with his second straight seven strikeout effort. He now sports a strikeout rate just shy of 40%.

Speaking of strikeouts, Hyun-seok Jang set a career-high with nine punchouts in his 4 ⅔ inning effort on Friday. The 22-year-old bounced back nicely after he struggled last week.

Trade acquisition Tyler Gough continues to perform and was recently promoted a level after spinning 4 ⅔ innings of one run ball with three Ks. Reliever Jecsua Liborius faced 10 batters last week and struck out seven of them.

Rookie Leagues

19-year-old catcher Eduardo Rojas was 6 for 12 last week with a double, a triple and his first homer of the season at the Complex. Righty Marlon Nieves started a rehab assignment in Arizona, surrendering a pair of runs in his inning of work on Friday while striking out the side.

In the DSL, Rubel Arias went 7 for 22 with a triple and his second homer. 17-year-old Russian catcher Ricardo Pulles went 4 for 12. Curacaoan outfielder Fran-Jean Haseth was 6 for 15 with a double and his third homer. Panamanian shortstop Adrian Del Cid hit safely in all six games for the DSL Bautista club.

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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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