De Paula and Dalton Rushing return as top-50 prospects as rated by BP for a second year in a row. Jackson Ferris and Alex Freeland also make the top 101.
Last week, Baseball Prospectus dropped their list of top 10 Dodgers prospects within the organization. Five of those players also made the cut in BP’s top 101 prospects in the sport, which was unveiled on Tuesday.
Two Dodgers are in the top 10 prospects in baseball, both of them outfielders yet to turn 20 years old. Zyhir Hope is rated eighth and Josue De Paula ninth.
“There’s almost no difference between Hope and De Paula. They’re back-to-back on the 101,” Jeffrey Paternostro of Baseball Prospectus told me on the latest Three-Inning Save podcast. “I guess the advantage for Hope, such that there is, is that he is actualizing more of his power into games. He hits the ball more into the air than De Paula does.”
Hope hit .290/.419/.484 with a 144 wRC+ in 61 games this season, including 23 extra-base hits in 54 games for Low-A Rancho Cucamonga. He also played seven games in the Arizona Complex League while rehabbing a shoulder injury that sidelined him for three months.
De Paula hit a combined .268/.404/.405 with 10 home runs, 30 extra-base hits, and a 130 wRC+ in 107 games split almost evenly between Rancho Cucamonga and High-A Great Lakes. De Paula, who does not turn 20 until May, was rated the 48th-best prospect in baseball by BP before the 2024 season.
Paternostro added about the two outfielders, “They’re both likely to be good defensive outfielders, with De Paula a better shot to stick in center overall.”
Dalton Rushing, the catcher who added left field to his toolbox last season, was rated the 36th-best prospect by Baseball Prospectus last season, and this year is up to No. 22. He’s the second-highest-rated catcher on the top 101, behind only Samuel Basallo of the Orioles at No. 11.
Jackson Ferris, who came to the Dodgers along with Hope from the Cubs in the Michael Busch trade last January, is the No. 52 prospect in baseball this year at Baseball Prospectus. Ferris last season had a 3.20 ERA in 27 starts, with 145 strikeouts and 57 walks in 126⅔ innings.
Alex Freeland, who plays a solid shortstop and hit his way into Triple-A last season, is rated the No. 82 prospect in baseball by BP. Freeland started last season in Great Lakes and hit .260/.387/.442 with 18 home runs, 32 doubles, 31 stolen bases, and a 132 wRC+ across three levels.
Also of note, catcher Thayron Liranzo, who was traded to the Tigers as part of the Jack Flaherty deal in July, is the 58th-best prospect in baseball at BP this year, up from 70th before 2024.