Dodgers Dev Lab Weekly: Davalan's scorching July bleeds into August, Copen's stuff finally clicks
By Emily Sanders ·
The Hottest Bat in the System: Davalan Is Running Out of Ways to Be Ignored
There are stretches that look good on a stat sheet, and then there are stretches that make you question whether a prospect's grades need to be revisited. Charles Davalan (A+, OF, Rank: 7) is firmly in the second category. He went 9-for-26 last week with two doubles, a triple, two home runs, three RBI, three walks, and a hit by pitch, capping the performance with a three-hit, three-RBI game that earned him a spot on MLB Pipeline's Team of the Week. The production was not a surprise to anyone who has been paying attention, but it adds another data point to what has become a genuinely remarkable stretch. Over the last 30 days, Davalan is slashing .438/.518/.932 with 8 home runs, 8 doubles, 2 triples, and 18 RBI across 85 plate appearances, against only 7 strikeouts. That contact-to-damage ratio is absurd at any level, let alone High-A.
The full-season numbers are equally hard to dismiss: .302/.416/.550 with 19 home runs, 62 RBI, and just 46 strikeouts in 433 plate appearances. He is a 60 hit tool with a lefty swing that produces hard contact everywhere on the field, and the power has been running well ahead of the 50 game grade assigned to it. His 16 stolen bases add another dimension. The scouting profile still projects him as a second-division left fielder, and that is a fair read given the light defensive profile and modest athleticism grade, but the bat has been performing at a level that pushes the ceiling conversation. The real test comes when he gets to Double-A and faces pitchers who can attack the zone with premium velocity and quality spin consistently. If the hit tool holds there, the "solid regular" outcome starts looking conservative. For now, he is the system's hottest bat, and the gap between his performance and his public profile keeps widening.
Copen Finally Puts It Together: Eight Innings, Zero Runs, Fifteen Strikeouts
Patrick Copen (AA, RHP, Rank: 24) has spent most of 2026 looking like a pitcher who owns an electric arsenal and absolutely no idea where it is going. His season ERA entering last week sat at 6.39 across 87 innings at Double-A Tulsa, with 63 walks in that span. The stuff has never been the question: a four-seamer that touches 97-99 mph, a cutter, a slider, and enough arm strength to make hitters uncomfortable even when he is spraying the ball to every corner of the park. Last week, something clicked. He threw 8 innings of shutout baseball, allowed 3 hits, issued 6 walks, and struck out 15. Even with the walk total, the sheer dominance of the outing was a different side of Copen than we have seen this year. Fifteen strikeouts in eight innings against Double-A competition with a plus-plus fastball and a 35-grade command profile is an outcome that reminds you why his arm is worth monitoring regardless of the ERA.
The last 30 days have looked better across the board: a 1.62 ERA over 16.2 innings, 26 strikeouts, 8 walks, and just 1 home run allowed. That is the version of Copen that makes scouts keep watching. He projects as a reliever long-term, and the logic is clear: shorter stints remove the compounding damage of walk-heavy counts, and the fastball-slider combination plays up over one or two innings in ways it cannot over six. His floor is already charted as a Quad-A arm if the strike-throwing never improves, and that remains the realistic base case. But a week where the command at least partially showed up alongside the premium stuff is worth acknowledging. The ceiling of a volatile, dangerous multi-inning reliever who misses bats at a high rate is still alive, and outings like last Thursday's are the reason the Dodgers have kept him in a rotation role while they figure out what he can be.
Quick Hits
Emil Morales (A+, SS, Rank: 5) · had the week's most eye-catching line among hitters: 7 hits, 4 home runs, and 10 RBI across 29 plate appearances, with 4 walks against 9 strikeouts. The 19-year-old is up to 22 home runs and 96 RBI combined between A and A+ this year, and his .535 slugging mark at High-A shows the plus raw power is translating. Over the last 30 days he is hitting .297/.432/.578 with 5 home runs. The contact questions remain real given the 115 combined strikeouts, but the damage when he connects is not in doubt.
Joendry Vargas (A, SS, Rank: 16) · put together his best week of the season: 11 hits in 27 plate appearances, including 4 doubles, a triple, a home run, and 5 RBI. The 20-year-old is now hitting .287/.328/.438 on the year at Ontario, and his last-30-day slash of .352/.379/.495 suggests he is finally putting a sustained run together. Last year he hit .221/.285/.361 in 137 plate appearances at the same level, so the across-the-board improvement is notable even if the swing-and-miss (89 strikeouts on the season) is still a concern to work through.
James Tibbs III (AAA, RF, Rank: 9) · drove in 8 runs on 10 hits across 32 plate appearances, adding a homer and two doubles while drawing 6 walks. That is his 22nd home run of the year, and his season line of .295/.417/.543 at Oklahoma City is a genuine breakout for a player who hit .243/.373/.429 across three organizations in 2025. At 23, he is a 55 hit, 55 power left-handed bat with enough zone control to make an MLB bench case sooner rather than later.
Christian Zazueta (AA, RHP, Rank: 4) · struck out 8 over 5.2 shutout innings, allowing 2 hits and 1 walk. His season ERA at Tulsa sits at 3.30 through seven Double-A starts, and the 47 strikeouts against just 3 walks at that level are remarkable for a 21-year-old with a 50-grade command projection. The plus changeup and 55-grade fastball are doing the heavy lifting, and the promotion from High-A has not slowed him down at all. Zazueta has some helium and has been a frequent feature on 80Grade of late.
Tyler Gough (A+, RHP, Rank: 59) · punched out 12 batters over 7.2 innings, allowing 3 hits and 2 earned runs. His season ERA at Great Lakes is now 1.88 across 28.2 innings, and the combined mark across all levels sits at 1.90. A 22-year-old with a 55-grade fastball sitting 93-96 and a season strikeout-to-walk ratio that has run well above the projection for a fringe-average command profile is someone to watch as he climbs. I would take the over on his current ceiling grade.
Noah Miller (AAA, SS, Rank: 22) · went 10-for-24 with 2 doubles and 3 RBI last week, one of his better weeks of the year at the plate. The season line of .258/.326/.414 is a significant step forward from his .238/.269/.344 mark at Triple-A in 2025, and his 60-grade glove keeps him relevant regardless. The bat is still more complementary than carrying, but the contact quality has been trending up.
Ryan Ward (AAA, LF, Rank: 25) · had 9 hits and 8 RBI in 28 plate appearances, with a homer and a walk in the mix and just 1 strikeout. Over his last 30 days he is slugging .519 with 6 home runs and 28 RBI, reinforcing that the 28-year-old corner bat can rake against Triple-A pitching. He is slashing .266/.375/.461 at Oklahoma City this year while also logging 20 games at the big-league level.
Hyun-Seok Jang (A+, RHP, Rank: 35) · went 5.1 innings with 10 strikeouts, 5 hits, 2 earned runs, and no walks. He has now struck out 25 batters over 16 innings since moving to High-A, with a 3.38 ERA and 0.94 WHIP in that span. The 22-year-old's command was a mess at A-ball earlier this year (5.91 ERA, 29 walks in 67 innings), so the early returns at the new level are at least encouraging, even if the sample is thin.
Zachary Root (AA, LHP, Rank: 8) · struck out 10 over 5.2 innings, giving up 5 hits and 3 runs without issuing a walk. The no-walk line is the story: Root's best trait is a 50-grade command that underpins a four-pitch arsenal featuring a plus changeup and plus curveball. His 2.40 ERA in 60 innings at High-A before the promotion to Tulsa showed a starter with real weapons; the Double-A transition has been rockier (7.27 ERA in two starts), but outings like last week show the foundation is still there.
Mairo Martinus (A+, SS, Rank: 30) · earned his first promotion to High-A Great Lakes on August 4, arriving off a .317/.359/.537 line with 15 home runs and 30 stolen bases in 421 plate appearances at Ontario. Early returns are a small sample (19 PA), but the speed-and-power combination that made him one of the more exciting low-A performers in the system will be worth tracking as he settles in.
Cam Leiter (A, RHP, Rank: 18) · returned from the injured list and tossed 2 scoreless innings with 2 strikeouts in his first appearance back. He had been out since July 11 before activation on August 5. The 3.35 ERA across 37.2 innings at Ontario entering the year's second half gives him a solid base to build on if he can stay healthy through the stretch.
Kendall George (AA, OF, Rank: 14) · was transferred to the 60-day injured list this week after an initial 7-day placement on August 4. He had been one of the more productive prospects in the system before the IL stint, slashing .332/.418/.399 with 33 stolen bases at Tulsa. George injured his left knee while jumping to avoid the team's bat dog on May 25th. He returned and played in 17 games before heading back to the IL for surgery on that knee. Given so much of George's value comes from his legs, it is critical that this surgery and rehab goes well.