Three's company: Dodgers' No. 4 prospect Sirota slugs 3 homers in High-A doubleheader
This browser does not support the video element.
A long day at the yard turned into a pleasant walk in the park for Mike Sirota.
Launching a trio of homers in two games will do that for a guy.
The Dodgers' No. 4 prospect cleared the fences three times in seven plate appearances for High-A Great Lakes, which swept a doubleheader from Peoria on Thursday at Dow Diamond.
Sirota clubbed a pair of long balls in the 6-3 Game 1 win and completed the trifecta during the 5-3 victory in the nightcap. MLB's No. 52 prospect reached base six times on four hits and drove in four runs during the double dip, extending a hot streak that has hiked his average 64 points in his past eight games.
Sirota has gone 13-for-29 (.448) with all five of his homers, 14 runs and nine RBIs in that span, turning a mediocre opening two weeks into a tremendous first month.
This browser does not support the video element.
Having hit in five of the past six games coming into the day, the Northeastern product went oppo in his third-inning at-bat in the opener on a two-run jack to right-center field. Sirota went the other way again on a single in his next plate appearance, and finding right field to his liking, lofted his second roundtripper of the game in the sixth.
The 22-year-old native of Mineola, N.Y., got things going immediately in the second game, taking an inside heater to -- where else? -- right-center for his fifth homer in eight games. Sirota walked twice in his final three plate appearances and is slashing .325/.464/.659 with 14 extra-base hits and 13 RBIs in 22 games.
That production is impressive in and of itself, but within the prism of a rough start, it looks even better. Sirota opened the season with one hit in 17 at-bats before running off an eight-game hitting streak. After taking an 0-fer on April 19, the 6-foot-2, 188-pounder hit in six consecutive games. Having hit safely in 15 of his past 17 games -- including a three-extra-base-hit effort on April 22 -- Sirota has batted .400 with a .520 OBP and 13 walks over that span.
Cincinnati's third-round pick in the 2024 Draft was acquired by Los Angeles in the Gavin Lux trade before ever stepping on the field as a Red. He made a sterling pro debut last season between Single-A Rancho Cucamonga and Great Lakes, slashing .333/.452/.616 with 13 homers and 54 RBIs in 59 games. A right knee injury sustained sliding into second base ended Sirota's season on July 5.
Healthy again, the outfielder has picked up where he left off last season with the bat, turning himself into yet another player to watch in a Dodgers system that has a seemingly neverending pipeline of talent.