Ian Cundall at Baseball America recently watched Dodgers prospect Emil Morales with Ontario as well as San Francisco Giants prospect Jhonny Level, then compared and contrasted the two 19-year-old California League shortstops ranked in the top 100.
“Morales has the makings of a power-over-hit player and is likely a corner infielder. There’s considerable variance in his profile but also a very high ceiling if he can make enough contact to tap into his raw power,” Cundall wrote. “That’s why he’s ranked slightly higher at this point. He’s the type of player you can envision developing into a bat-first impact regular if everything breaks right.”
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In Baseball America’s updated top-100 prospect rankings unveiled on Wednesday, Morales was ranked 67th, after not making the top 120 in January.
Morales spoke with Tower Buzzers broadcaster Jeff Woolson on Friday:
With Mookie Betts, Kiké Hernández, and Brusdar Graterol rehabbing with Oklahoma City, and Blake Snell having just completed his rehab assignment before rejoining the Dodgers today, this next story feels especially relevant.
Old friend Josh Suchon, a longtime host of Dodger Talk who is in his 14th season calling games for the Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes, dug into the history of minor league rehab assignments, and found that St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Silvio Martínez was very first player to appear in a minor league game on a rehab assignment, 46 years ago.
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From Suchon at Baseball America:
On May 23, 1980 … a new four-year agreement was reached between the MLB Players Association and the 26 clubs.
The two sides agreed to set aside the issue of free agent compensation for further study and negotiation. Ultimately, the two sides could not reach an agreement, which led to the two-month strike in 1981. Buried in the new agreement was a provision known as the “medical rehabilitation program.”
The city of Torrance is trying out a new shuttle service two and from Dodger Stadium, beginning this weekend, with trips costing $2 each way: “The pilot service will operate on Sunday, May 10; Sunday, May 31; Sunday, June 7; and Sunday July 5, 2026, offering direct service to and from the stadium.”
Nathalie Alonso wrote a children’s book about Fernando Valenzuela called ¡Viva Valenzuela!, which focuses on Fernandomania and his bursting onto the scene with the Dodgers in 1981. Illustrator John Parra shared some details on his process illustrating a portion of the book.
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