On January 3, 2025, the Dodgers signed KBO middle infielder Hyeseong Kim to a three year contract for $12.5MM. The Dodgers have two club option years that could raise the contract amount to $22MM.
The whispers were deafening. Gavin Lux’s days as a LAD were numbered. Three days later, Lux was traded to Cincinnati for 2024. The return was Mike Sirota, Cincinnati’s 3rd round pick in 2024 out of Northeastern. He entered the spring season as a first-round talent and arguable top 10 overall pick but had a poor platform season, hitting below . 300 for the first time in his career and struggling to repeat the power surge he managed as a sophomore. Thus a 3rd round pick.
The Dodgers drafted Sirota in the 16th round in 2021, but he chose to honor his commitment to Northeastern. The Dodgers did their homework for two drafts, and believe they have a potential CF prospect. The Dodgers who are often devoid of draft picks also acquired a compensating balance pick which turns out to be the 41st pick in the 2025 draft. The Dodgers now have the 40th and 41st picks in the July draft. Based on prior years’ drafts, do I feel comfortable that the Dodgers will get a player as good as Gavin Lux? Track record is not promising.
The negative comments about Gavin Lux were very prominent. And yet a fan base who says the Dodgers need to get younger saw many support the trade. For the record, Hyeseong Kim is 14 months younger than Lux. Then again, Kim did not make the LAD roster, while 3 other much older utility players, Chris Taylor (34), Kiké Hernández (33), and Miguel Rojas (36) made the active roster.
We learned early on that Tito Francona wanted Lux to play LF for Cincinnati. Lux has played LF before, and it wasn’t always pretty. AF/BG believing Lux was not a 2B, and did not want to bring up Dalton Rushing or Ryan Ward (both LH hitters) to play LF. Instead they paid $17MM for LH hitting LF Michael Conforto. Conforto is the poster child for the Dodgers preferring veteran players over younger unproven prospects, even homegrown prospects.
Don’t get me wrong, I was for the Conforto signing. And I still believe Conforto will find his stroke. Who will ultimately have the better offensive numbers for the year, we will have to wait and see. For right now, I am more than leaning to Lux.
In addition, Conforto is not a good defensive LF, and not as good per defensive metrics as Lux. Both Conforto and Lux have a +1 DRS, Lux has -2 OAA (8th percentile) while Conforto has a -3 (4th percentile). Lux is in the 95th percentile for his arm, while Conforto is in the 78th percentile.
How much better would the bottom 3 or 4 batters in the LAD lineup if Lux were there? Lux did very well batting 9th for LAD. Shohei had more RBI opportunities with Lux batting 9th than Andy Pages has provided this year. Do you think Lux’s fifth-in-National League .419 on-base percentage would be nice in the Dodger nine-hole? Certainly better than Pages’ .274 OBP (good for 67th). Would Lux have duplicated that with LAD? We will never know.
I like the Sirota acquisition, but I am a little dismayed that while he is thus far showing excellent offensive skills in the California League, that he is still in the California League. He is slashing .343/.425/.571/.996. He has 7 XBH in his 12 hits. He has struck out 20% of his plate appearances and walked 10%. His XBH did not include a HR. He is a below average power bat, so I do not expect Sirota to show much raw power. Doubles and triple power? Sure.
Of course, Sirota needs an opening at Great Lakes. How about the Dodgers promote Zyhir Hope to AA.
Zyhir Hope had 2 more hits today for Great Lakes, and now has the most hits in the Midwest League (20), the most RBIs in the League (19), is tied for 2nd in HRs (4), and is 3rd in the League in OPS (1.162(
Hope is hitting .339 & has 6 multi-hit games & has at least 1 extra base… pic.twitter.com/B4OR3BjFDc
— Dodgers Daily (@dodger_daily) April 21, 2025
That would open a spot for Sirota on the Great Lakes roster. Maybe it is not so bad being aggressive with the players and taking a chance to push them.
Hyeseong Kim is showing some signs of offensive life in the very hitter friendly PCL, but unless there is an injury, it sure does not appear that the Dodgers will make the changes to get Kim to LAD. Kim does not have the offensive number in AAA that Lux has at MLB. But Kim is needed more for his defense. That would work as long as the other 8 hitters were producing. They are not…yet.
Then there is another OKC player who just might warrant a longer look and potential promotion to LAD…SS/3B Alex Freeland.
Alex Freeland had a hit in each game yesterday for AAA OKC, and is tied for 2nd in the PCL in hits with 28. He's hitting .329, OPS .906, and is 24 for his last 62 (.387), and he has 9 multi-hit games in his last 15 games. #dodgers pic.twitter.com/yPlty907rv
— Dodgers Daily (@dodger_daily) April 21, 2025
Here Alex is with a play on a sacrifice bunt while playing 3B:
#Dodgers top Prospect Alex Freeland handles a sacrifice bunt with a strong throw to first base. @DodgersBeat pic.twitter.com/nkGjZ9gXe3
— 🇺🇸 DooM_Sal (@msalas24) April 21, 2025
We will not know if the long term advantage of this trade will be with LAD or Cincinnati for several years. But I think it is clear that the 2025 Dodgers would have been better with Lux than without.
Lux’s time here was done. He’s back home in the Midwest with a fresh start in a smaller fish tank. If he were still here I believe we would see more of the same. I wish him well, to a point.
As you say Kim’s value is defense at several positions and speed. If he can OPS at or near league average he is an asset. I expect him to do so eventually.
“How about the Dodgers promote Zyhir Hope to AA.”
In a word, hell yes.
Freeland. He’s blocked. He needs to play every day and that ain’t happening in LA. We may see him later but unless someone is sent packing his time is ‘26.
I’m guessing if the Dodgers had not traded Lux they would not have signed Conforto. Maybe they traded Lux too soon with the idea of putting Rushing in LF after the eventual trade of Lux.
Who knows. They certainly didn’t telegraph any of their moves at the time. I personally thought acquiring Conforto [for what seemed like a lot of money at the time] might’ve been a hedge against losing Teoscar.
I don’t consider Freeland blocked. He began last season at High A and ended it with 39 games at AAA. Now, he is a 23 year old playing his first full season at an advanced level with multiple opportunities for a roster spot next year [3B, 2B, SS, Utilility?].
His timeline is right where it should be. If he can help us this year we’ll use him; otherwise, he’s primed for a debut next season.
His situation is the definition for blocked.
I liked Gavn, but thought he under-performed as a Dodger. I was not really surprised when he was traded, but I was surprised when with Kim on the roster, they re-signed Kike. Made the bench too RH heavy and Kike has never been a great regular season guy.
This is all well said and a fitting epitaph for the Gavin Lux Experience.
Lux hit the sac fly. I give him that.
His last at bat as a Dodger.
Two factors, I think, prompted the Dodgers to deal Lux.
First is the likelihood that Mookie will in due course take over 2B. (He’d be there now if he hadn’t asked to play SS.)
Second is that Lux had proven that he lacks the UT chops of guys like Kike, Taylor and especially Edman.
While we tend to frame this question as a choice between Lux and Kim, we shouldn’t ignore Edman. The Dodgers had coveted him and rewarded him with a multiyear deal.
As a lefty-swinging platoon second baseman, Lux may be close to Edman’s equal—high praise considering that Edman won a gold glove at 2B. But Edman is a far more valuable player who is in the lineup every day.
Kim is making progress in OKC. So is Freeland. But it will probably take an injury before either is summoned to LA.
No doubt Taylor is the 26th man on the roster. Even so, he’s seeing action as a pinch runner and a late defensive replacement for Conforto. He also did some pinch-running for Lux during the playoffs.
BTW, I’m not pessimistic at all about the return for Lux. Sirota is another guy the Dodgers had coveted, and the draft pick could be a winner. Far too early to judge which team “won” this deal.
A little context: the Dodgers landed both Lux and Will Smith in the 2016 draft. Lux was the high schooler chosen with the 20th pick, and Smith was the Louisville catcher chosen at 32–which was far ahead of his 110th position in one prospect ranking.
Any fan who reviews that first round today, I think, would conclude that Smith was actually the most successful player chosen–and that Lux has out-performed most of the others. A damn fine draft.
Over the years the Dodgers have made some poor choices in the draft, but the track record is pretty good. Sirota plus a Player To Be Drafted Later seems like a decent return for a platoon second baseman who maybe should have been given a chance to play left field.
It’s still too early to evaluate the Lux trade. Lets see what he’s doing at the all star break
Liked Lux hope he has a monster year with Reds.
I tend to concur.
I really liked Lux, but the writing was on the wall that the Dodgers wanted to move on. Hopefully this trade is an unequivocal win-win for both sides.
Lux is the type of player that could get a better player but at a lower level in the system. I’m good with that except for, as it may be turning out, Lux looks like a better player than Conforto and Conforto has significant payroll and tax cost.
Let’s not overlook a few other picks in the 2016 draft: Dustin May in the 3rd round, 101 player chosen; Tony Gonsolin in the 9th round, 281 overall; ; Mitchell White in 2nd round, 65th overall; Luke Raley in 7th round, 221 overall…. also future major leaguers Dean Kremer, Bailey Ober, Devin Smetzer, Cody Thomas, DJ Peters…and a favorite: Zach McKinstry, the 1,001 player drafted overall in the 33rd round. He’s now a key player for the Tigers.
Bailey Ober? Had to look him up. 6’9” 260 pounds. Threw 178 innings for the Twins last year. The Dodgers could sure use some of that.
I know a few misses have been mentioned here, Gunnar Henderson being the most notable. 9 WAR shortstop. Yeesh. I’m curious about others, but, what good does it due to lament?
Yeah. I had no memory that the Dodgers had drafted him.
I looked up some other recent drafts. The 2016 collection really stands out.
Mitch White helped us get Frasso so there’s that.
I want to be clear. I am not saying that Sirota will not be a quality OF, or that the Dodgers lost the trade. But we will not know until he is playing at least at AA. What I said was that the bottom of the order would be much better with Lux that those they have. So while the trade may prove to be more advantageous to LAD in a few years, it isn’t this year. This team was constructed to win the WS this year, and Lux might have given them a better chance.
Duke, where do I sign up to become a 9th inning defensive replacement in left-field and an occasional pinch hitter for $15 million a year?
Nice gig.
Selling him short Phil, he is making 17 million.
I keep waiting for the Dodgers to find me on Linked In…
Thoughts on this team after a turbulent week:
Regarding May, I read a short story on him on Yahoo sports yesterday. The story concerned his future with the Dodgers. May is a free agent after this season. Some on Yahoo suggested since the Dodgers have five starters, Glasnow, Yamamoto, Ohtani, Sasaki and Snell, under long term deals, that May might be made available in a trade at mid-season so LA will get something more than just a draft pick back if he were to sign somewhere else. Personally, I think they should keep the kid for as long as they can.
Agree. Keep May and his high upside. Hell, he could be a bullpen weapon in the postseason ala Buehler. Gonsolin might be a more realistic trade option down the line, as he has another year of team control, more of a track record, and I’m not sure if the Dodgers trust him starting a postseason game.
There have been many posts on Yahoo promoting that idea, especially to the pitching poor Yankees. One suggested a trade for their top OF prospect who just happens to be a center fielder.
Related to the Yankees, I read today that they have long been considered the favorites to sign Murakami, but he is currently injured and beginning to show signs of being “injury-prone.”
One bit of speculation, probably originating from Toronto, suggested this deal: Bo Bichette for May and Freeland.
If Bichette is on his game, that seems plausible.
I like both May and Freeland, but I’m not averse dealing either in the right deal.
Keep in mind that the Dodgers have Yamamoto, Snell, Sasaki, Glasnow and Shohei locked up for at least the next six years. That’s 5 out of a 6-man rotation.
Will Shohei return to pitching full-time? I think he wants to–or at least come close. The rotation backups now included Knack and Wrobleski.
Now add pitchers who are on the IL: Gonsolin, Kershaw and Sheehan are expected back this season, while Gavin Stone, River Ryan and Kyle Hurt are due back in ’26. Top pitching prospect Jackson Ferris should be ready to debut in ’26 if not sooner.
Yes, some of these guys, including May, could factor into the bullpen as well.
So there’s a whole lotta talent in the organization–which is a big part of the reason the Dodgers let Buehler and Flaherty walk.
So if you’re AF, do you offer May a long-term contract? Do you offer him a one-year deal?
Or do you decide to flip him for a position of need?
Interesting idea Duke. Bring this to the new post and see the response.
Freeland could actually be better than Bichette, or not, and May could be a top of the rotation starter, or blow out.
Would I do that trade?
I’m not feeling that bold this morning.
When making major decisions, I always try to ask myself what the Rays would do.
Being in the coaching profession for longer than I should have (high school and NAIA universities) the pay is awful. I’ve seen more than a couple of athletes coming off a major surgery. While some never came back (usually because they didn’t rehab hard) most were not productive until the second year after the layoff. I wish we kept Lux at least another year. Of course there might be underlying reasons that we don’t know.
Are you watching the Netflix Red Sox show? If so, do you think it’s an accurate portrayal? (I only coached at the youth level.)
Youth level is probably the most important level. I haven’t seen it. I don’t watch anything on TV other than baseball games or the University of Kansas basketball games. Bill Self KU basketball coach is an old buddy of mine. I believe I got burned out on TV by watching so much film when I was coaching. That was when I quit watching regular TV. I thought if I had time for TV I had time for film. Sorry Johnny for such a long winded answer of no, I haven’t seen it. I’m sure a lot of people on this blog has and can give a good answer.
Haha, no worries. Rock Chalk Jayhawk. My good friend William Wilhite, a veteran who passed away a few years ago, used to joke that he attended Friends University of Central Kansas, but he was a huge fan.
I had a coach tell me once that “that for not being much of an athlete, you done well in athletics.” I didn’t know whether to be pissed or proud. I played basketball at a small college and Friends was in our league. A former assistant of mine was a long time Head Coach at Friends. He left two years ago. Small world. BTW he was a great teacher and also a great coach so he stayed with me on the varsity.
Love it, John!
I actually plan on going to Kansas (for the first time ever), this summer. Fresno St opens up at Kansas, so I, being the ultimate alum of Fresno, will go visit a college buddy who lives in a place called Salina. He coaches now at K-State, but we’ll do the drive to Lawrence for some college football.
Football game?
Been to Salina and Kansas a lot when I was driving cross country. Blink and you will miss it.
I could probably hook you up with tickets. Let me know.
Bear, since you seemed to be the guy that does former players, I have a suggestion, Gentlemen Al Downing. Some U.S. remember him only as the pitcher that gave up the homer to Aaron, but Downing had a great career. When I was a youngster my brothers and Dad were in KC for a A’s-Yankees game. We were staying in the same hotel as the Yankees. Downing was hanging out in the lobby, he let us sit down with him and we visited for sometime. I instantly became a Downing fan and was elated when he became a Dodger.
Good suggestion John. I will research Al’s career.
Somewhere in baseball card heaven, I have an autographed baseball card of Downing and autographs of Mantle, Ford and others. I think the baseball card heaven is pretty full. Who knew back then how valuable these cards would become.
Mantle’s 52 Topps rookie is the holy grail, with one valued at over 30 million dollars.
I think Lux was worth keeping at least 1 more year to see if he came around even more in year 2 after injury. Looks like he is. Conforto is a waste in LF. Truly believe Lux could have played as well defensively out there and hit better. This is just another example of management coveting the veteran player they don’t have vs valuing the young talent already within the organization. I hope Lux plays so well that maybe he breaks AF of this line of thinking. (I think he will)
Way too early to declare Conforto a waste. He has had 67 at bats. His track record says he hits better in the second half by 24 points. His OPS is higher in the second half. His home and road splits are almost the same. His best batting month is August.
I think we all agree that Rojas has been an awesome infield defender and probably still is. He has the ability to as a player to help younger players in ways that coaches can’t due to players being more comfortable talking with a fellow player. Rojas last year made good contact and was an offensive asset. He might have more trade value than Taylor or Kike’ who play both infield and outfield.
A younger team that is fighting for a playoff spot or even a Division championship could use a player like Rojas. Rojas is the guy I would include in a trade package that would open a spot for Freeland. I would put Muncy on the Dodger bench and Freeland at third. Max becomes the left bat on the bench and maybe he should as a bench player start preparing to be the backup player for both first and third.
I think Betts is looking better and better at short.
Feduccia is pounding the ball. A lefty bat on the bench and a third catcher for emergencies and a guy that could also backup first base.
You get credit for going off the grid for your Feduccia suggestion.
And, you are probably the most right of anyone arguing for a specific player being ready.
He’s 100% ready to be a back-up major league catcher, but his current job is like being the understudy for Hamilton.
IMO, Alex Freeland is ready for MLB. It is not that Alex is not ready, it is because who he plays for. Nick Kurtz, who just turned 22 is making his MLB debut today. Jacob Wilson was 22 when he made his MLB debut last year. I fully acknowledge that both Kurtz and Wilson play for the A’s and not the Dodgers. But Kristian Campbell, who plays for Boston, also proves he is ready. All are younger than Freeland, and all were drafted at least a year after Freeland. Kurtz has 32 MiLB games and he is ready now. Jacob Wilson had 79 MiLB games and he was ready last year. Kristian Campbell had 137 MiLB games. Both Wilson and Campbell are raking at MLB. Yes…so far.
Kurtz (2024) and Wilson (2023) were first round picks, but Campbell was a 4th round compensation pick (2023). The Dodgers passed on Campbell for CF Kendall George (A+), 3B Jake Gelof (A+ IL), RHP Brady Smith (has not thrown a pitch since drafted), LHP Wyatt Crowell (A+).
IMO Alex Freeland, Dalton Rushing and Hyeseong Kim would all be in MLB if they were not playing in the LAD organization. There is little doubt in my mind that Freeland could be the NYY 3B. Would they all succeed? Don’t know, but they deserve the chance to prove one way or the other.
Interesting. I might not disagree that he is ready, but I do disagree that he is blocked.
If he is MLB ready, but is not getting called up, it has to be that he is blocked. You may believe that Max should be the everyday 3B, and if so, he is blocking Alex. You may believe that Mookie is the everyday SS rather than 2B, then Mookie is blocking Alex. Being blocked isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but Max and Mookie are blocking him. Smith is blocking Rushing, and Barnes is blocking Feduccia. Dodgers have made the choice to go with 30+ year old veterans. I am not going to fault them because of their overwhelming success. But there is no denying that Will Smith is the only LAD drafted position player to play continuous for more than 1-2 years on the Dodgers.
Arguably Steve Soderstrom and Brent Rooker are two of the top 3 players with the A’s, rookie Jacob Wilson being the other. Since Kurtz’s lone position is 1B, one could argue that Soderstrom is blocking Kurtz. Instead the A’s are going to work it out with Rooker, Soderstrom, and Kurtz at LF, 1B, and DH. Soderstrom could be blocking Nick Kurtz, but the A’s are finding a way to make it work.
I think Ohtani has blocked Rushing and Freeland. Because we don’t have a DH position to rotate Will and Max into those guys are not getting a chance.
Rushing is blocked, as of now.
Kim lost any chance he had with his spring and swing retool.
He could take an open bench spot as soon as he’s deemed ready.
FWIW, I thought Pages might be blocked heading into this season.
Pages would have been blocked if Kim would have made the team out of spring training.
I would personally pitch around Kyle Tucker this series. He is by far their most dangerous hitter.
I would, at 77, personally try not to bounce the ball to the plate
Same here Fred
Lux was just never productive with the Dodgers. He was a great minor league player, but it just never translated into success with the big club. It could have been a number of issues. Maybe it was the injury and surgery. Maybe he just never adjusted to major league pitching. Maybe it was poor batted ball luck. Maybe he just sucked? Whatever the case Lux had just one above average season offensively in his time in LA, with very little power, and that was over 1,000 plate appearances at the major league level. Maybe a change in scenery will help him, and he’ll thrive in Cincy.
Sometimes it just doesnt work out and you have to move on.
Move on, sure. But the Dodgers moved on with Pages, Conforto, Kike’, and Kim.
Lux is 27. He didn’t play when he was 25 because of an injury. Last year in the second half he was of the Dodgers top producer. First half I think Lux should get a mulligan. So, he wasn’t a great producer at the age of 24 and half the season when he was 26. Believe your assessment is rather harsh. I agree though that train has left the station.
May just did not have it tonight. Dodgers again totally reliant on home runs to score. Nice throw by Pages to get the runner at the plate.
Ohtani still swings at way too many pitches that are balls out of hand. Especially against LHP.
Finally runs without home runs
When Ohtani is going bad he just looks terrible at the plate
Tucker is a legit superstar
He may be a Dodger next year.
So may Mike Trout, but I wouldn’t bet a nickel on either
He is a legit very good player. Superstar is a little strong. Judge is a superstar.
at the very least he’s gonna get paid like a superstar.
OT playoff hockey is the best
Nice comeback, but relievers having a hard time keeping the ball in the park lately. May gave up 7 runs. Will Smith is playing about as well as he ever has. Pages might be waking up a little, 2 hits tonight so far. Mookie’s BA down to .231. Very un-Mookie like.
Scott coming in for the 9th, trying to nail down save #9.
Blown save, 10-10 in the 9th with 2 out. Weird game. Smith, Muncy and Hernandez due up in the 10th. Smith hitting .356, the other three behind him, Muncy, .183, Kike, .130, Page, .179. Smith ground out moving Edman to third, Muncy strikes out swinging, Conforto bats for Kike. They lose this game; it is all on them.
From 1-0 to this! Wow
Yep, games like this happen. Cubs left 8 men on base so far. 7-18 with runners in scoring position. Good news is that Turner is the ghost runner. Noah Davis making his LA debut in the bottom of the 10th. Happ Tucker and Suzuki due up. One pitch, single, pinch runner scores, game over. Poor Davis loses his first game on 1 pitch.
The bad news is that Muncy is a ghost batter. Three sweepers in the exact same spot. Three whiffs
Another terrible late loss
Unacceptable!!
Horrible and deflating loss……….
Our supposed depth is an illusion. Scott and Yates our big acquisitions have been a big disappointment so far. Muncy is a mess. Conforto not getting it done. Our bench is one of the worst in baseball.
The silliness returns post-game.
Somehow one of the best teams in baseball!
Not lately. From 8-0 to 8-8. This team has issues. I think they’ll work it out but they are currently playing like a .500 team.
They are 6-4 in their last 10!
I defy anyone to read OhioDodgers post and not chuckle.
Just stating facts.
Haven’t been playing like one of the best teams in baseball since their 8-0 start Buto.
Scott has 8 saves. He was unscored on in his last 8 appearances. The law of averages says he is going to be scored on sooner or later. Yes, many of the players are not playing up to expectations. It happens. But you are bitching 24 games in when they are still only 1 game back? Get real. Things will change eventually. Betts and Ohtani were 0-8 with 2 walks. They did score 2 runs. Hernandez, 2-5 with 1 RBI, Freddie drove in 2 with 1 hit, Smith drove in 2 and Edman drove in 5. But it was the pitching that let them down. Scott would not have been in that position if May had not given up 7 runs, and Vesia 2. Yates got out of a jam by bailing Vesia out. The bench does suck right now, that I will agree with, but there is no way they are going to make a major move right now. Way too early for those kinds of things. It is not how you start, but how you finish that counts.
Mookie did not tell the Dodgers he wanted to play SS, get your facts straight. Mookie was moved to SS when Lux proved he was not up to playing the position. He then moved back to RF because that was where he was needed. He is playing SS because they do not have an everyday type of SS on the major league roster Betts has played much better defense lately. He is not hitting but considering the fact that he was so sick when they went to Japan, and he really is just now getting as healthy as he was, it is no surprise he is not playing like he normally would.
I think Mookie did tell the brass this season he wanted the challenge of SS. If he said, “I want to play second,” he’d be playing 2B.
He was pressed into the SS role in ’24 and didn’t have time to prepare. But he spent the off-season working out at SS and it seems to have paid off.
He’s scuffling with the bat now–but I don’t think that’s related to him playing SS. The recovery from the illness seems more likely. Just a mini-slump like many others in his career…
The more I read about Alex Freeland, the more I hope he gets a chance in LA soon.
Bobby Miller pitched 5 innings for OKC tonight, he got the win. He allowed 2 hits and 2 runs, but he walked 5 and struck out just 3. Rushing hit his second homer of the year. Kershaw pitched 3 innings for Tulsa in their 9-7 loss. He gave up 1 run on 4 hits and a walk, he struck out 4. Great Lakes won 9-3. Wagner and Thompson homered. Hope was 1-5. Inland Empire beat Rancho, 10-4. Rancho had just 5 hits.
Encouraging note about Freeland in mlb.com:
Alex Freeland: 63.9 percent hard-hit rate
Hard-hit rate is defined as percentage of batted-ball events at or above 95 mph exit velocity, meaning more than three-fifths of the ball the Dodgers’ No. 5 prospect is putting in play for Triple-A Oklahoma City are scorchers. That’s interesting coming from a switch-hitter with what was considered average pop coming into 2025. Freeland doesn’t have the upper-tier top EVs that Anthony does — he’s maxed out at 109.5 mph so far — and his strikeout rate has crept back up to 26.5 percent. But when he gets bat to ball, it tends to be loud contact, and his 11 doubles in 21 games speak to that.
Anthony?
Roman Anthony – a Red Sox top prospect.