The Los Angeles Dodgers farm system has developed into one of the best in baseball in recent years, sparked by the hiring of Andrew Friedman as president of baseball operations in October 2014. The likes of Joc Pederson and Corey Seager are entrenched in the Majors, with Julio Urias on the doorstep, and Cody Bellinger set to lead the next arrival of prospects.
Along with Bellinger, Yadier Alvarez, Walker Buehler and Alex Verdugo have drawn plenty of attention. One prospect not quite receiving the same notoriety is Edwin Rios.
He was selected by the Dodgers in the sixth round of the 2015 Draft, and has quickly accelerated through the farm system. Rios began this season with Double-A Tulsa, where he finished last year after joining the Drillers in late July.
Rios’ potential was on display Monday night, as the 22-year-old hit a home run out of ONEOK Field, via the Drillers’ Twitter account:
@Dodgers prospect Edwin Rios smashes the ball out of the park and onto the street #HomeRun #OutOfThePark #TulsaToLA pic.twitter.com/BhQ6CDUeEG
— Tulsa Drillers (@TulsaDrillers) April 18, 2017
Rios followed suit in the footsteps of Bellinger, who belted a homer out of the same stadium last season.
Between three Minor League levels last season, Rios batted .301/.341/.567 with 27 home runs and 76 RBIs in 108 games. Over 33 games with the Drillers, he hit .254/.304/.434 with five home runs and 17 RBIs. After the strong campaign, Rios was named the Dodgers 2016 Minor League Player of the Year.
Rios has gotten off to a good start to this season, as in 10 games he is batting .366/.395/.683 with three home runs and 11 RBIs.
Rios has demonstrated an ability to hit for power, but his defense and plate discipline needs some work if he wants to continue rising through the Minors and eventually join the Dodgers.
