I am putting my review of the LAD affiliates for the month of April. This will be one of two, and will be just for the Great Lakes Loons and Rancho Cucamonga Quakes. I am working on Tulsa Drillers and OKC Comets.
Great Lakes Loons
The Loons have an 11-10 record, good for 4th place in the 6 team East Division, 3 GB.
The Loons have one player that is in the league top echelon: Zyhir Hope. Hope is slashing .310/.383/.560/.943. Hope is 6th in BA, 8th in SLG, and 10th in OPS.
The next best hitter is Josue De Paula, De Paula is slashing .260/.407/.425/.832. For comparative purposes, De Paula is 58th in BA, 28th in OBP, 51st in SLG, and 33rd in OPS.
23 year old catcher, Nelson Quiroz, has had a good start to his season. He does not have enough PA to qualify. Nevertheless his slash line is .351/.415/.459/.874. Quiroz looks to be another catcher prospect to monitor.
After a very slow start in 2025, Kendall George is slashing .242/.381/.409/.790. He is #3 is stolen bases with 10, and 7th in BB with 16. Over his last 12 games, with 58 PA, Kendall is slashing .311/.439/.556/.994 with 3 HR, 1 triple, 11 BB, 12 K, and 7 SB. What is more emblematic of Kendall; the first 9 games or the next 12.
One other batter of note is 3B Logan Wagner. He is slashing .235/.367/.457/.824. Wagner is one of four Loons with an OPS > .800. Hope .943, Quiroz .874, De Paula .832 are the other three. Wagner leads the Midwest League in doubles with 9. He also has 3 HR.
Brooks Auger is the lone Loon who is considered a qualified pitcher for ERA. Auger has 20.1 IP, 3.10 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, .247 BA. His K/BB is not very good with 11 K to go with 9 BB. His ERA is good enough for 11th in the Midwest League.
Patrick Copen is 1 inning short of being qualified. His 2.25 ERA would place him right in front of Auger. Copen is #2 in strikeouts in the Midwest League with 28. Copen is also #1 in BB allowed.
Team Stats:
Rancho Cucamonga Quakes
The Quakes have a 14-7 record, good for 1st place in the Southern Division. They are 6.0 games up on the Visalia Rawhide (Arizona).
Mike Sirota has been the hitting star for the Quakes in 2025. He is in the top five of all slash line metrics.
- AVG – .368 (2nd)
- OBP – .455 (5th)
- SLG – .649 (1st)
- OPS – 1.104 (1st)
Sirota is #1 in doubles (tie) with 8.
The California League is certainly not holding him back.
Elijah Hainline is in the top ten of the California League hitters for three of the four slash metrics. Hainline is tied for 4th in League with 7 doubles.
- AVG – .310 (10th)
- OBP – .412 (18th)
- SLG – .483 (8th)
- OPS – .895 (10th)
Eduardo Quintero is the only other Quake hitter with a OPS > .800 (.822).
Others amongst the league leaders in other categories:
- Jaron Elkins – #3 in SB with 11
- Jose Meza – #2 in BB with 22
- Eduardo Quintero – #4 in runs with 18, #4 in SB with 10
- Kellon Lindsey – #4 in BB with 17, # 8 in SB with 8
In the not so grand stats, 4 of the top 11 strikeout leaders were Quakes.
While the offense has not been the most prolific, the pitchers have carved out a nice niche in the California League.
Five starters for the Quakes are qualified, with 4 in the top 10 of ERA leaders and 5 top 14:
- Sean Linan – 0.87 (#3)
- Jholbran Herder – 2.55 (#7)
- Christian Zazueta – 2.60 (#8)
- Samuel Sanchez – 3.18 (#10)
- Aidan Foeller – 4.15 (#14)
The top two strikeout leaders in the California League are Quakes:
- Sean Linan – 40 in 20.2 IP (#1)
- Aidan Foeller – 35 in 17.1 IP (#2)
4 of the top 11 walk leaders are Quakes:
- Sean Linan – 4 (#3)
- Samuel Sanchez – 4 (#3)
- Christian Zazueta – 8 (#6)
- Jholbran Herder – 7 (#11)
Linan has an otherworldly K/BB ratio of 10/1 (40/4). And as good as that is, it is not as good as a pair of Taiwanese and Japanese pitchers.
- Wei-En Lin (A’s) – 27 K, 0 BB
- Tzu-Chen Sha (A’s) – 26 K, 2 BB
Justin Tabeling has a very good K/BB ratio with 13 K and just 1 BB.
Quakes reliever Alex Makarewich has 18 strikeouts in just 9.2 innings.
Sean Linan leads the California League in BAA with .116.
Two other top ten BAA leaders:
- Jholbran Herder – .203 (#6)
- Christian Zazueta – .224 (#10)
Two Quakes were top ten in WHIP:
- Jholbran Herder – 1.19 (#7)
- Christian Zazueta – 1.21 (#9)
Team Stats:
RC with a nice staff.
They needed that win. Looks bad losing a 5 run lead like that. Banda had nothing on the pitch that was hit for the Grand Slam. Pages slowed a little but named co-player of the week in the NL. The other guy was Eugenio Suarez who slugged 4 homers in a game. Last player to do that? JD Martinez against the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium a few years ago when he was with Arizona.
A win is a win.
Ordinarily I would agree. Not so sure about this one.
I’m curious, in 1132 PA’s DePaula has 19 home runs. Yes, he is -2.3 years in A ball, but shouldn’t he be hitting more home runs than 1 every 60 plate appearances? Is Hope the better ML prospect? They both grade out at 55.
DeLuca was off to sizzling start until he went on DL. I liked that guy.
It’s being reported (MLB Transactions) Glasnow did not get imaging, his shoulder is “sound”, he’s experiencing “overall body soreness”. No imaging? Overall body soreness? What is going on with him?
He’s all out of sorts. Trying a new delivery and it’s messing with his fragile body. Believable but frustrating that he and Snell are gonezo
And I was at a concert and spared from the agony. I saw we were ahead then barely held on. Bullpen is pushed to straining point with our starting pitcher not going deep.
I’ve got overall body soreness
Yeah me too.
But… 77 as opposed to 31.
I sure hope it’s nothing serious.
A win is a win but at this rate the Dodgers are running their bullpen right into the ground in the first two montsh of the season.
Would rather see Bobby Miller geting c alled up to make that start tonight. Another bullpen game in 8 days plus pen had to go 8 innings on Sunday and 4.2 more yesterday. Not sustainable.
With Miller you at least have a shot at 4-5 bulk innings. The alterantive is multiple innings for Davis, Garcis, Dreyer to cover 9 innings.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Went to bed at 5-0 and woke up to 7-6. Yikes. I agree about running our bullpen into the ground. Bring up Knack or Miller. May is down 4-5 mph on his 2 seam without the run it used to have. And he’s a two pitch pitcher without great command. A changeup would really help his arsenal. At one time I thought he would be elite but he’s a # 4-5 guy now. Shame about the injuries. But at least he’s back snd I’m happy for the young man.
Well said. Right now it’s:
1. Yamamoto
2. Sasaki
3. May
4. Gonsolin
5. Casparius
Miller
Knack
Wrobleski
Frasso?
Kershaw
Snell
Glasnow
Sheehan?
We need to ride with Casparius or Knack or someone else needs to step. It’s getting thin up there.
You see Miller’s stats? Guy has walked 16 batters in 17 innings. He has struck out 14. He is averaging 4.25 innings a game. And that is at AAA. MLB players will make him pay with all those walks. I don’t want that guy up here until he gets that portion of his game in order. If they are going to call someone up, make it Matt Sauer, he has pitched better than any of those three guys.
Thx Jeff for all the updates and evaluations of our minor league affiliates.You make it easy to follow their young careers.
I’d take Knack due to his ability to eat innings.
I am well aware of Millers stats. Still I see him a better option than Sauer.
If Miller is okay he will give you much needed innings. Sauer does not give you length.
His last outing at OKC was better for Miller, not great sure, but better. He has the stuff and the Dodgers are in dire straits for another starter at the moment.
I would give him another shot at it. Marlins might be the best team to give him a good game and a confidence booster if everything goes right.
At worst Garcia, Gomez and Dreyer will have to shoulder the load to save the high leverage arms.
Risk and reward says go with Miller.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!
None of the immediate pitching options are great. What this team needs to do is score, and score more.
This is always the way.
Totally disagree. 2023 Bobby Miller maybe, the version we have seen the last two years, no thanks. He doe does not have a put away pitch, and if there is any traffic on the bases, I guarantee you he will have a meltdown. He has pitched in 1 game for the Dodgers, went 3 innings and gave up 6 runs giving up 8 hits, 2 of them homers.
Just for fun:
SS–Betts
DH–Ohtani
2B–Edman
1B–Freeman
RF–Teoscar
C–Smith
3B–Muncy
CF–Pages
LF–Conforto
Ohtani has won me over in the lead-off spot. He leads the way in getting on-base, steals, scores, HRs.
Mookie isn’t as fast as he used to be–but is still a great baserunner. The Big 3 (all HOF-bound) followed by Teo, Smith and Edman is fearsome… Pages may be maturing before our eyes…. Max and Conforto continue to struggle.
I would not be too sad if somebody not playing great strained an oblique and Outman got called up to play CF, with Pages pushing Conforto to the bench.
Time to promote Hope and Sirota.
A year ago, no young Dodger got more hype than De Paula. He seems to have faded a bit. Still think the Dodgers should train him for 1B. He might be ready when Freddie retires.
Those RC pitchers are an intriguing bunch, especially Linan and Zazueta.
Will the outfielder from Taiwan join the Quakes soon? Some interesting buzz about him.
I don’t see it like that for De Paula. Maybe some isolated scouting outfits have lowered his ranking [which could also be due to others’ ascending], but for the most part his offensive productive has been consistent.
2023 [Low A]: .284/.396/.372
2024 [Low A/High A]: .268/.404/.405
2025 [High A]: .260/.407/.425
So the OBP has been there all along, and the SLG%, which is often the last tool to develop, is still showing signs of improvement. Keep in mind, he’s always been 2-3 younger than his peers. His raw power remains good.
His raw power may be good, as you say, but he hasn’t been knocking it over many fences. And call me old school if you will, but .260 in A ball doesn’t impress much.
I think with a player like De Paula, it’s keeping an eye on the tools and helping him translate them to the field, especially as he advances levels. He’s still young, but you’d love to see him reach AA by midseason and experience some success there. I think some fans are overly aggressive with expecting him to play LF next year. We slow-play these guys for the most part and if someone asserts himself–like Freeland–we let him cook.
Good points.
I know the Dodgers love loft. I get that, but at that age, and level, I’d like to see more drives being emphasized. .300/.400./.500. Asking too much?
Hopefully Jeff D. can jump in here and tell us what we should be looking for from De Paula as he attempts to bridge the gap from “guy with a ton of potential” to “productive major leaguer.” Clearly it takes more than just time, as plenty of top prospects don’t pan out.
I think you are looking at De Paula’s results rather than looking at his skill set. Results are important at the MLB level while skill set is more important at MiLB, especially in A ball. De Paula is still very much a developmental project. His raw power is above average now and is projected to be double plus. But that raw power has not translated into game power…yet. But De Paula still has excellent plate discipline and has + MLB exit velocities (as does Hope). How hard you hit the ball determines raw power. Sometimes that will translate into game power, sometime not so much. But he needs the time to determine if he can develop that raw power into game power.
De Paula still has more walks than strikeouts (18 vs 14). His K rate is 15.4%, which is better than Yordan Alvarez at the same age and stage. De Paula still gets on base better than 40% of the time. In 2025, his BAbip is .298, while his MiLB career is .347. He is making contact, and making loud contact. He isn’t chasing, and very little whiff. He is hitting pitches in the zone, but has not got the results.
De Paula slash line – .260/.407/.425/.831
Alvarez slash line at 20 in A+ – .277/.329/.393/.722
It is not that he is falling behind Zyhir Hope as much as Hope has taken off.
The biggest jump in MiLB is from A+ to AA. My source? That is what was discussed in MiLB camps when my son was going through, and I spoke to dozens and dozens of MiLB players who confirmed it. Both De Paula and Hope deserve to be in AA, hopefully by June.
Another example is Alex Freeland. At 21 at Great Lakes, Freeland hit .240/.345/.362/.707. He started back at Great Lakes in 2024 and exploded. On May 7, he was promoted to AA. He struggled at AA, but his skill set still said he should be pushed to AAA. He was promoted and played OK. This year he has shown that AAA is not too big for him. I cannot say whether De Paula or Hope will ascend as quickly as Freeland has. But they do deserve the opportunity to do so as Freeland got last year.
I’m a big believer in the concept of the “carrying skill.” Unless a player is incredibly well-rounded [Mookie Betts?], the carrying skill is what will propel prospect X forward and eventually into the major leagues. Freeland’s carrying skill is his defense, especially at SS, as well as his versatility. Additional skills he has are plate discipline [91 walks last year]. Combined, those two traits–along with some power and the ability to switch-hit–make him have a decent floor as a major league player.
De Paula’s carrying skill is supposedly his hit tool, although recent reports have started to shy away from this to a degree. Fangraphs went way off the map to say he didn’t even have a good hit tool, which seems ludricous to me. He also has a good sense of the strike zone and good raw power. As a defensively limited player, it is his bat along with maximizing whatever speed he has on the bases, that will determine how far he goes. His ceiling is quite high, but his floor is also quite low.
Hope has the double whammy of power and speed as his carrying tools. If his bat can be league average, his natural power and speed should multiply his offensive results.
Rushing too has two carrying tools: his power and his plate discipline.
Rounding out the top five prospects in our system is pitcher Jackson Ferris, whose youth is a form of carrying tool, as his stuff already grades out as major league level, and what’s between his ears [as well as his health] will largely determine how far he is able to go.
From what I’ve read, De Paula’s greatest asset is a Soto-like ability to select pitches and make solid contact. He takes his walks and gets his hits–and is expected to “grow” into more power.
As Jeff notes, De Paula is also compared to Yordan Alvarez–in part, I think, because both are best be suited as a DH.
So the brass, burned by their trade of Alvarez, may hang tight to DePaula….though he could also become the next Diego Cartaya.
And the year before that was Vargas and the year before that was Cartaya. Prospects are suspects until ………
. . . they are traded to the Rays?
The Rays? Who’s coming back? Pepiot? Bradley? Simpson?
Who is wearing Confarto’s uniform, dude looks completely lost and useless
I think he needs to take a giant bong hit and just let it flow. Dude is obviously pressing a bit early. He doesn’t even need to be great; he just needs to be not terrible. The problem is his defensive limitations make him completely useless if he’s not hitting.
There’s always a player in the system I kinda forget about when I’m thinking about the roster. Right now I think the pitcher I forget about is Frasso and the positional player is Kim.
I wonder who is closest to being called up: Rushing, Freeland, Outman or Kim?
I still think there’s a chance Kim turns into a strong defensive 2b with a decent average and some stolen bases. I don’t expect much power and I’m not sure about the OBP.
Then there’s Ruiz, who was cleared added as a project and not a quick fix.
Don’t forget that Frasso had shoulder surgery to repair a torn labrum. Very similar to the surgery Hyun-jin Ryu had in 2015. It took more than a year before Ryu was pitching again, and then had elbow tendenitis and lasted one game in 2016. He had elbow debridement surgery the same time as his labrum surgery. That injury may not have been fully recovered. Regardless, labrum surgeries are difficult to come back from for pitchers. They are taking their time with Frasso.
Frasso is progressing with his buildup. He has appeared in 6 games. He has gone from 2.0 IP (twice), to 3.0 IP (three times), to 4.0 IP (last time out – April 25). IMO, he is not a SP option for 2025, but could find his way into the bullpen in the 2nd half of the season.
All this checks out. I’m sure he’d like to see a little more velocity come back as well.
Kim is nowhere near being called up. His BA is down to .256, his OPS is below .800 now, for the type of hitter he is, he strikes out way more than he walks. Defensively he is ok. But he still needs to improve in several aspects of his offensive game. Rushing still has no set position, and he is not experienced enough in the outfield to stick out there every day. They are not just going to cut Conforto. None of those guys are going to get a call up unless someone goes down to injury.
And God knows that never happens
Should we trade for Vaughn Grissom?
NO!
Don’t be so wishy washy with your answers, Jeff.
He only used one exclamation point.
But those caps were quite loud.
Trent Grisham?
NO! Not a good player who is having a good start. His attitude belongs back with SD.
Kershaw pitching for OKC tonight against El Paso.
Weather permitting
Just noticed that former Cy winner Sandy Alcantara is listed as the Marlins’ starter today….
Miami is expected to deal him.
If he looks fully recovered, should the pitching-rich but injury-prone Dodgers try to get him?
No.
Or as Jeff would say NO!
If the shoe fits
Maybe
Haha De Paula pimped a HR trot so hard the catcher said some shit. JDP shook his head like, “Nah, not listening.”
https://x.com/Bnicklaus7/status/1917375748161298861
Again. NOOOOOOOO!!!!
As I write this, the Dodgers are in the middle of their 30th game of the season.
Teo now has 29 RBIs in 29.5 games…
Edman has 22.
Who knew that a bat could make a glove so much better? Go Andy!
And Teo finishes with 31 RBIs in the first 30 games…
And Edman with 24 RBIs
Good read on Sauer:
Thx for sharing. He was pretty darn impressive last night!