Inside The Dodgers

Dodgers' Top Position Player Prospect Has Huge Day at Double-A

Maren Angus-Coombs

Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
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The Los Angeles Dodgers Double-A affiliate Tulsa Drillers set off an early round of fireworks on Monday blasting the Northwest Arkansas Naturals, 12-3. They followed it up by matching a season-high 15 runs on Thursday in a 15-3 victory.

Highlighting Monday's game was Dalton Rushing's first professional grand slam. The slam marked back-to-back games with a home run for Rushing and his third in his past five games. He finished the night with five runs batted in and was 2-for-5 at the plate.

"Honestly, it was the first lefty I've seen in the last few weeks," Rushing told Kenny Van Doren of MiLB.com on Monday. "So it was more of, 'What do I really handle over the plate? As a hitter, what gives me the best chance to damage?' And that's my job. ... It for sure felt good. It came at a good time."

Rushing is Major League Baseball's No. 51 prospect and the No. 1 overall prospect in the Dodgers' farm system. He followed up Monday's game with an even bigger offensive outburst on Thursday, finishing 3-for-4 at the plate with two walks. He scored a career-high four runs — the second time he set a career-high this week — and reached base safely in his first five at-bats.

"Before every year, a lot of people ask me what my goals are," the Louisville product said. "Me personally, I've never really set a number on average, a number on homers. Obviously, I have a number that I'm going for through a full season, but it's not really a goal for me. The only goal that I really set is to see if I can get to triple digits in RBIs, and that's something that I really take pride in."

Rushing was selected No. 40 overall in the 2022 draft by the Dodgers. The 23-year-old is slashing .273/.401/.523 with 27 RBIs in 37 games.

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Maren Angus-Coombs

MAREN ANGUS-COOMBS

Maren Angus-Coombs was born in Los Angeles and raised in Nashville, Tenn. She is a graduate of Middle Tennessee State and has been a sports writer since 2008. Despite growing up in the South, her sports obsession has always been in Los Angeles. She is currently a staff writer at the LA Sports Report Network.

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