Dodgers may have another powerful hitter on their hands at Triple-A
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James Tibbs III has been a man on the move in his brief professional career. Between three promotions and a pair of trades, the slugger has not stayed in one place long since he was drafted in 2024.
But if there's any doubt about whether the Dodgers' No. 11 prospect feels comfortable at his new affiliate, he's answered that quickly with a dominant start to the season for Triple-A Oklahoma City.
Tibbs hammered two homers and a double while adding a walk in Sunday's 13-4 win over Albuquerque at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. His big afternoon increased his OPS to 2.105, tops among all Minor Leaguers with three games played.
Across the opening weekend series, the 23-year-old went 8-for-13 with five extra-base hits and eight RBIs. On Saturday, he was mere feet from a cycle when he doubled off the center-field wall in his final plate appearance after tripling, doubling and singling earlier in the game.
Tibbs isn't just producing big results, though, he has the underlying data to back up the strong start.
Of his 11 batted balls this season, six qualify as hard-hit (95+ mph), and nine were hit at an ideal launch angle (between 8 and 32 degrees) to maximize power. The burly left-handed hitter has plenty of natural strength -- he homered 20 times last year -- but he hit the ball on the ground at a fairly high rate last year, and elevating has enabled him to tap into his over-the-fence power more.
Tibbs socked his first home run of the season 406 feet at 104.1 mph off a 3-2 fastball over the plate by right-hander Collin Baumgartner (Rockies) in the fourth inning. His second homer, a three-run shot that went 417 feet at 108.7 mph off fellow lefty Parker Mushinski an inning later, was his hardest-hit ball of the season to date.
The Florida State product was taken 13th overall by the Giants in 2024. He moved up to Triple-A after just 66 games at Double-A last year, when he posted an overall .802 OPS. But after getting traded from the Giants to the Red Sox as part of the Rafael Devers deal and then being shipped to Los Angeles as part of the return for Dustin May, his numbers really took off -- .268/.407/.493 with seven homers in 37 games for Double-A Tulsa.
It's only one weekend, but it looks like the Dodgers may have unlocked another powerful hitter who is quickly taking to the highest level of the Minors.