Baseball America Top Tools Dodger Prospects

♦ August 28, 2026 ♦ Leave a comment

Baseball America unveiled their top tools for each league in the minors. The Dodgers had a number of mentions so let’s take a look at them:

Best Bat:

Double-A (Texas): Josue De Paula, Tulsa (Dodgers) – no surprise here, while De Paula may not have a well rounded game no one questions the bat.

Best Power Prospect:

Low-A (California): Easton Shelton, Ontario (Dodgers) – I was hoping that Shelton would hit 40 home runs for the Ontario Tower Buzzers. He just needs one more hot streak. Shockingly, this will not be the last time you see Shelton on Top Tools.

Best Strike Zone Judgement:

Double-A (Texas): Mike Sirota, Tulsa (Dodgers) – not a surprise here though they could have also gone with De Paula whose walks are always within ten of the strikeouts.

Fastest Base runner:

Double-A (Texas): Kendall George, Tulsa (Dodgers) – this is good what is not good is that they also had a category for Best Base runner and George did not win that. So, while George is the fastest player in the Texas League he is not the smartest. Interesting.

Best Fastball:

Double-A (Texas): Christian Zazueta, Tulsa (Dodgers) – didn’t expect Zazueta to have the best Fastball. I did expect him to have the best change up and………

Best Changeup:

Double-A (Texas): Christian Zazueta, Tulsa (Dodgers) – and there it is. Couple of notes, River Ryan was mentioned as having the best Fastball in the Pacific Coast League and Brady Smith having the Best Changeup in the California League.

Best Reliever:

High-A (South Atlantic): Jacob Kmatz, Bowling Green (Rays) – Kmatz won this award for the bulk of the work he did in the South Alantic League while property of the Rays. He’s now in the Dodger system and has moved up to AA.

Best Defensive First Baseman:

Low-A (California): Easton Shelton, Ontario (Dodgers) – Hey, that is a nice combo, best power in the league and best Defensive First Baseman. Easton already has quite a hill to climb to overcome his propensity for strikeouts, so at least the hill is not as formidable since he is not just a DH type but a complete player.

Best Defensive 3rd Baseman

Triple-A (Pacific Coast): Alex Freeland, Oklahoma City (Dodgers) – This was a surprise only because Freeman hasn’t played a whole lot of 3rd base. Mostly a Shortstop coming up through the Dodger system, he has been playing mostly 3rd since being demoted back to AAA because……..

Best Defensive ShortStop:

Triple-A (Pacific Coast): Noah Miller, Oklahoma City (Dodgers) – this guy is the SS for the OKC Dodgers. If he ever makes it up to the Dodgers he’ll probably be the best defensive SS the Dodgers have had since Miguel Rojas first joined the team. Not a snip at Mookie who has done remarkably well but Noah Miller is on a different defensive level.

Best Infield Arm:

High-A (Midwest): Emil Morales, Great Lakes (Dodgers) – how about that, a ShortStop with a great arm. That might come in handy if he has to move to 3rd base.

Best Outfield Arm:

Low-A (California): Jaron Elkins, Ontario (Dodgers) – see how toolsy Jaron is? Speed/Arm/Power – just needs contact skills

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