The top prospects in several of the five NL West farm systems have hit well over the last month. Ethan Salas & Josue De Paula performed very well at the respective levels, as have two of the top young infield prospects in the Giants’ system. Here’s our NL West farm report for August 2026.
Dodgers
Despite what was a very strong start to the 2026 campaign for James Tibbs, there were warning signs, mainly an elevated Whiff% rate. That jumped down considerably (23% from 7/21-8/19) over the last month, and the results were rather good from the outfielder. Tibbs hit 367 with six home runs and 13 extra-base hits over his last 24 contests as of August 24, plus 33 hits. That latter figure was tied for second-most in the PCL.
Josue De Paula had a monster month in Double-A Tulsa. De Paula hit nine home runs, plus 13 walks and 29 total hits over his last 23 contests. The 21-year-old may run out of time to achieve a 30-30 campaign, as De Paula sat with 25 home runs and 29 stolen bases in 111 contests with Tulsa. Nonetheless, this has been a year where De Paula reached a new level.
Speaking of Double-A Tulsa, the Drillers had four of the best swing-and-miss pitchers in the Texas League over the last month. One of those pitchers was Christian Zazueta, who struck out 28 over his last 18 innings. Jacob Kmatz (38.2% Double-A Whiff% in the same range) didn’t, although his numbers were impressive, too. Kmatz was acquired at the deadline from the Rays.
In High-A, Tyler Gough (35.7% Whiff%) had a fantastic month with High-A Great Lakes. Gough struck out 28 over 19 innings and posted a sub-2.00 ERA in five outings with the Loons. Also with Great Lakes, Emil Morales slashed .303/.421/.573 with six home runs and 12 extra-base hits over his last 23 contests.
Outfielders Charles Davalan (29) and Eduardo Quintero (27) ranked among the top 10 in the Midwest League in terms of hits. Quintero also fell one shy of the total walks (22) lead.
Lastly, 20-year-old Joendry Vargas‘ 42 hits paced the California League over the past month.
Diamondbacks
After a down first few weeks in High-A, Kayson Cunningham began to turn it around over the past few weeks. Cunningham slashed .259/.390424 with two home runs and nine extra-base hits over his last 22 contests.
Cunningham had 17 walks in the month, which was the fourth-most in the Northwest League. Right behind him was Slade Caldwell, with 15. Caldwell has that reputation of being a patient, high-take hitter, an approach that’s very good for walks but can get a hitter in trouble if too passive. At least over the last four weeks, Caldwell performed well statistically, as he slashed .269/.387/.397 with six extra-base hits and 11 stolen bases.
Moving to Double-A, it’s been a strong year for 20-year-old pitcher Junior Sanchez. He continued a strong 2026 with 33 strikeouts over 26.1 IP, tied for third-most in the Texas League in the past 30 days. Sanchez, on the season, struck out 119 batters over 102 innings between High-A and Double-A.
Amarillo shortstop Cristofer Torin led the Texas League in runs scored (22), part of a month where he slashed .357/.400/.488 for the Sod Poodles.
Lastly, Ryder Helfrick has taken to the California League quite nicely. Helfrick, the Diamondbacks’ top pick from 2026, hit five home runs for Low-A Visalia over his last 14 contests.
Giants
The Giants have some good infield prospects in the system.
Aside from Gavin Kilen and Luis Hernandez, the latter of whom has yet to play in full-season ball, it was a fantastic month for both Jhonny Level and Josuar Gonzalez. Gonzalez batted .372 over the past month down in Low-A, finishing tied for second in the California League with 32 hits. Oddly enough, he was tied with another Giants prospect, Lorenzo Meola.
Not too much swing-and-miss from Gonzalez; a tick above 26% from July 21 through August 19. He was also quite patient, with a high Take% and 15 walks in his last 20 games.
Level, meanwhile, slashed .372/.463/.564 with three home runs and eight extra-base hits in his last 19 contests. His 29 hits in that span were good for second in the Northwest League this past month. The only two players ahead of him were Zander Darby and another player we’ll cover in the Rockies’ section, with 30.
Darby had a pace-setting month with Eugene. Not only did he lead the Northwest League in hits but the infielder also led in home runs (8). The 23-year-old, a good college infielder who fell to the Giants in the 12th round last year, now has 18 home runs on the season.
Another Giant also led a Minor League in total hits. Up in Double-A, contact machine Trevor Cohen was the top hits man in the Eastern League over the last month, with 34. Cohen, back on the East Coast after playing his college ball at Rutgers, also led the league in Whiff% from July 21 through August 19, continuing a familiar trend for the outfielder.
As for the pitchers, Jacob Bresnahan continues to show that he is one of the best hurlers in the San Francisco system. Bresnahan struck out 24 over his last 23 frames and posted a 1.57 ERA over his last four outings. He did allow five home runs, not the best. However, he remains one of the best swing-and-miss arms among Giants pitching prospects.
Padres
The Padres dipped into their prospect pool in August, sending Kash Mayfield (Tigers) and Miguel Mendez (Giants) to new homes to get MLB pitching. Those moves make it much more important for pitchers like Coleman Borthwick and Kruz Schoolcraft to develop into big-league pitchers.
We’ve yet to see Borthwick, still 18 years of age, in a pro game. Schoolcraft, meanwhile, barely pitched in August. The tall lefty tossed just 3.1 IP in two August outings. And in his most recent outing, on August 21, Schoolcraft walked three, allowed three hits, and recorded only one out.
Ty Harvey, one of the Padres’ 2025 MLB Draft picks, slashed .160/.253/.272 with 27 strikeouts over 21 contests. Harvey didn’t show a lot of swing-and-miss. However, from July 21 through August 19, over 37% of his takes resulted in a called strike. You can fall behind pretty quickly with that ratio.
In more positive news, Ethan Salas hit .319/.393/.556 with three home runs and 10 extra-base hits over his last 19 games with El Paso. Salas, one of the best contact hitters in the circuit, may soon be ready.
Rockies
Charlie Condon hit a skid down in Triple-A Albuquerque. Over his last 21 contests, Condon slashed .174/.294/.291 with two home runs and five extra-base hits for the Isotopes, including 27 total strikeouts. He had a Whiff% above 31% and a swing-and-miss rate of 36.8% over a one-month period off four-seamers.
Who did have a great month was Roldy Brito, who’s steadily risen up the ranks for the Colorado Rockies.
Brito, more of an aggressive hitter in terms of swing/take, slashed .337/.352/.472 with two home runs and eight extra-base hits over his last 20 games with High-A Spokane. His 30 hits were tied with Zander Darby for the league lead.
Jordy Vargas (33.1% Whiff% from 7/21-8/19) struck out 22 over his last 18.1 IP and posted a sub-2.00 ERA. The 22-year-old now has 114 strikeouts across 99.1 IP with High-A Spokane this year.
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