Dodgers Dev Lab Weekly: De Paula's MLB Debut Delivers, Ferris Finds His Best Stretch
By Emily Sanders ·
Dodgers Dev Lab Weekly covers the last 7 days of action for the Dodgers farm system.
De Paula's Debut Does Not Disappoint
The Dodgers selected the contract of Josue De Paula (MLB, RF, Rank: 1) on September 11, and he wasted no time making the moment look small. In his major-league debut on September 13, he launched a three-run homer, added a double, drew a walk, and reached base in every plate appearance, all in a walk-off loss to Miami. The raw line from his brief week at Double-A before the call: 10 plate appearances, two hits including a homer, three walks, and three RBI. Those numbers are a footnote now. The debut itself is the story, and it checked every box the profile asks for: patience, bat speed, and the ability to do damage when pitchers challenge him.
The Double-A foundation behind that debut was substantial. De Paula slashed .303/.401/.547 across 588 plate appearances at Tulsa, posting 27 home runs and 31 stolen bases with a 14.8% strikeout rate that is genuinely rare for a power bat. He combines a 60 power grade with a 13.8% walk rate and a contact rate of 84.2%, a combination that makes his zone approach look more like a finished product than a projection. Over his last 30 days at Double-A he was slugging .560 with seven home runs in 110 plate appearances, so the Dodgers promoted a hitter who was already rolling. He is 21 years old, and while the defensive profile in right field is fringe-average at best, the bat-first everyday outfielder path is right there in front of him. Four major-league games is not a sample, but .667 slugging and five walks in 14 plate appearances is a reasonable extension of everything he showed at Tulsa.
Ferris Has Found Something in the Back Half of the Year
Jackson Ferris (AAA, LHP, Rank: 13) turned in six innings against 22 batters this week at Oklahoma City, giving up two hits and one earned run while striking out seven and generating 13 swinging misses on 79 pitches. The command grade is 45 and the season-long walk rate of 11.6% reflects the real volatility in this arsenal, but what Ferris has done over the last 30 days at Triple-A deserves its own frame. In 28 innings across five appearances he has posted a 1.29 ERA with 35 strikeouts, a 8.9% walk rate, and a 31.2% whiff rate. That is not a blip. He has been working ahead in counts, getting 49.1% of his pitches for strikes in that stretch, and the result is a completely different pitcher than the one who carried a 5.51 ERA into August.
The full-season number at Oklahoma City still reads 5.51 ERA in 101.1 innings, and that context matters. A 23.2% strikeout rate and persistent command issues have been the story for most of the year, and nothing about one good month erases the track record. But the arsenal is legitimate: a 60-grade four-seamer sitting 94-97 mph, a 55-grade slider and curve that both have genuine swing-and-miss ability, and enough deception to make the stuff play up when the delivery is on time. The left-hander already has four major-league appearances this season with a 2.35 ERA in 7.2 innings, so the stuff does travel. If the September command is real rather than a stretch of favorable matchups, there is a back-of-rotation or high-leverage reliever in here. The organization has every reason to find out.
Quick Hits
- Eduardo Quintero (AA, OF, Rank: 2) · earned his first Double-A assignment on September 13, a promotion that has been building all season. At High-A Great Lakes he posted a .309/.445/.495 line across 501 plate appearances with 44 stolen bases and a 17.6% walk rate, working out of a 34.2% swing rate that ranks among the most selective in the system. He is a plus runner with a 55 hit tool and a 60 arm, and the center-field defense gives him real everyday upside. He hit a homer in five Double-A plate appearances in his debut week, though five PAs is far too small to read anything into. The more interesting question is how his disciplined approach handles Double-A pitching in September and beyond.
- James Tibbs III (AAA, RF, Rank: 7) · had one of the better weeks of any hitter in the system: six hits, a homer, a double, and seven walks in 26 plate appearances at Oklahoma City. He is a 55 hit tool, 55 power bat who has put together a .292/.417/.539 season line at Triple-A with 29 home runs and 106 walks, one of the more complete offensive profiles at the level. Over his last 30 days he is posting a 20.2% walk rate. The defensive limitations in left field are real, but the bat keeps stacking evidence.
- Zach Ehrhard (AAA, OF, Rank: 25) · went 10-for-22 with a homer, two doubles, two walks, and three RBI this week at Oklahoma City, his best week in a solid full season. He is slashing .290/.400/.471 on the year with 20 home runs and a 14.9% walk rate across 612 plate appearances. The power and patience have held at Triple-A in a way they did not across all of 2025, making the bat-first corner outfielder case more credible than it looked a year ago.
- Patrick Copen (AA, RHP, Rank: 23) · turned in six scoreless innings at Tulsa this week, scattering two hits and two walks while striking out six and generating nine swinging misses on 78 pitches. Worth noting: the season ERA at Double-A sits at 5.90 in 116 innings and the walk rate is 13.2%, so one clean outing does not change the picture. But the raw stuff is a 60-grade fastball at 97-99 mph with a slider that flashes 55, and weeks like this are a reminder of what the ceiling looks like when the control cooperates.
- Emil Morales (A+, SS, Rank: 4) · went 4-for-12 with a homer and two RBI in 12 plate appearances this week. The 19-year-old is slashing .333/.396/.580 over his last 30 days at High-A with five home runs in 91 plate appearances. His full combined season reads 26 home runs, 119 RBI, and a .546 slugging percentage across two levels. A 60 power grade at shortstop at 19 years old is a profile worth watching closely as he approaches a Double-A assignment, even if the contact rate at 67.9% remains the weight-bearing concern.
- Charles Davalan (AA, OF, Rank: 5) · got his Double-A promotion on September 13 and had a slow first week at the new level: four hits and no RBI in 18 plate appearances, though two walks kept the plate discipline intact. Over his last 30 days at High-A he was hitting .231 with a 51.4% swing rate, and the power had cooled from his earlier pace. For context, he spent the season slashing .292/.402/.535 at Great Lakes with 24 home runs and a 10.8% strikeout rate, one of the better contact profiles in the system. The 60 hit tool will be tested now, but the sample at Tulsa is five games and worth very little.
- Mike Sirota (AA, CF, Rank: 3) · had a short week at Tulsa: two hits, two walks, and a hit by pitch in 10 plate appearances. He is an everyday center field projection with a 55 hit tool, 60 speed, and a .306/.459/.526 combined line this season across High-A and Double-A. The last 30 days at Double-A have been a different story: hitting .200 with a 29.7% strikeout rate in 37 plate appearances and no home runs. The underlying tools are legitimate, but the contact rate at 69.7% in that stretch is a number to watch as he tries to establish himself at the level.