When Emil Morales first had his name penciled into the Great Lakes lineup on May 19, he was on a tear. He had homered in his final two contests with Single-A Ontario, and along with the warm weather, was migrating up the Dodgers’ farm system ladder to High-A at just 19 years old.
But then a relative slump hit. He went 11-for-55 with a .650 OPS across his first 13 games at the new level as teams pitched MLB’s No. 24 prospect carefully. Sure enough, the worm began to turn. Morales posted an .842 OPS in June, then watched as that number climbed to 1.044 in July and 1.016 in August.
Now to open September, Morales has continued to crush everything in sight. Already in the midst of what has been one of the most productive seasons for any Dodgers Minor Leaguer in the past decade, the club's No. 4 prospect upped the ante Wednesday, tallying a career-high five hits en route to driving in four runs during High-A Great Lakes’ 13-7 win over Lake County at Classic Auto Group Park.
Morales demolished a solo homer in the first -- his 26th of the year overall, 20th for the Loons -- that nearly left the yard entirely and then added three more run-scoring hits. His RBI total for the season between his time with Ontario and Great Lakes sits at a whopping 119, tops in the Minors.
“He’s really been locked in for the last little bit here,” said Great Lakes hitting coach Kevin Lachance. “Super impressive, obviously for someone his age. As he’s kept going, it’s just gotten better and better and you just see him really locked in at the plate, knowing what he wants to do and executing it at a high level.”
It’s one thing for teammates or coaches to be complimentary of a player’s performance but even the opposing broadcasters were in awe after Morales’ fourth run-scoring knock of the night:
“This guy is incredible.”
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On the back of his four-RBI night, Morales now has 12 more runs driven in this season than any other Minor League hitter. He’s just three off the mark of last year’s leader, fellow Dodgers prospect Ryan Ward (LAD No. 20), who collected 122 RBIs in 143 games for Triple-A Oklahoma City.
Morales is also just one RBI away from reaching the 120 mark, which has been achieved just three prior times across the Minors dating back to 2017.
As that RBI total would indicate, Morales has been remarkably consistent all season. The last time the 19-year-old went four consecutive games without driving in a run was early June. Of the 114 games he’s appeared in across two levels, he’s plated at least one run in 62 of them (54.4 percent). The key? Not adjusting his approach to fit the scenario.
“That’s what makes him so successful is that he’s even-keeled and able to stay in the moment and focus on what he needs to execute,” said Lachance. “It’s been pretty crazy to watch. To hear those numbers is kind of wild but I think it’s who he is -- the moment’s not too big for him.”
COMPLETE DODGERS PROSPECT COVERAGE
There hasn’t been a level of pro ball that Morales has encountered yet that’s slowed him down. He won the Dominican Summer League MVP Award in 2024 and then led the Rookie-level Arizona Complex League in hits (70), extra-base hits (25) and total bases (116) last summer before getting the bump to Single-A. He wore out Cal League pitching to the tune of a .330 average across 66 games in parts of two seasons.
Even with his slow start, the beat has gone on since Morales arrived in the High-A Midwest League. His 166 total bases since his arrival rank second on the circuit behind only teammate Charles Davalan (LAD No. 6/MLB No. 87) with 168. Dating back to his pro debut in '24, among batters with at least 1,000 plate appearances in the Minors, Morales ranks second among 614 qualified hitters with a .962 OPS.
“He’s just an excellent human being, excellent teammate, great worker,” said Lachance of Morales. “I think we all see the ceiling there and see the type of player he could be.”