July 19th, 2019 at 8:00 am 
by Ron Cervenka On Thursday morning, it was reported that 21-year-old first baseman Dillon Paulson had been promoted from the Dodgers Low Single-A Great Lakes Loons to the Advanced Single-A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes.
Dodger fans may recognize the name Dillon Paulson, as he was selected by the Dodgers in the 13th round of the 2018 MLB First-Year Player Draft out of USC. They may also recall that having been born in San Marcos, CA and having grown up in nearby Solana Beach, CA, he was a die-hard San Diego Padres fan.
Was.
As a former Trojan, Paulson went to college in the shadow of Dodger Stadium a mere five miles away.
“[The Dodgers are] basically a hometown team, where I’ve been the last three years of my life,” the left-handed throwing and hitting first baseman told reporters shortly after being drafted by the Dodgers.
Paulson appeared in 77 games with the Loons this season, posting a slash-line of .223 / .343 / .407 / .750. And while these may not be over-the-top-type numbers, his 17 doubles, one triple, 12 home runs and 50 RBI in 300 at-bats are attention-grabbers. He also boasts a .987 fielding percentage as the Loons everyday first baseman.
As for the Cal League South first-half champion (and current second-half first place) Quakes, they have gone the entire 2019 season without a true, pure first baseman. That position has been platooned by utility infielders Marcus Chiu, Devin Mann and Miguel Vargas, and utility infielder / outfielder Nick Yarnall, with Chiu getting the majority of the starts. In Paulson’s 77 games at Great Lakes (76 starts) all of them were as the Loons first baseman.
(Photo courtesy of Great Lakes Loons)
Welcome to the Quakes, Dillon … and you might want to forget that Padres thing – just sayin.
Play Ball!
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Promotion clears room for 22-year old Justin Yurchak (,365 / .496 / .698 / 1.194 for Ogden Raptors) to play first base for the Loons.
Also waiting for 2019 1st rounder/3B Kody Hoese to make his official Low-A debut with that club at any moment. He’s already stat-padding in complex ball right now (lol) and has built up more than enough stamina to play 3B for an entire game after slowly being eased in via the DH spot early on. I’m not gonna lie, he DOES remind me of a right-handed Cody Bellinger. Same offensive approach, same height and build, heck they even share the same BIRTHDAY (O_O)!!! Only real difference is that Bellinger is obviously the superior athlete, but Hoese’s no slouch in that dept either. He won’t need to be moved off the hot corner anytime soon as a result.
Hoese to Great Lakes could happen, but I think Dodgers will take it slower and send him to Ogden when Yurchak goes to Great Lakes. Lewis moves to first base for the Raptors with Hoese playing third base. Just my guess.
I wouldn’t mind Hoese going to Ogden if he wasn’t already 22 and displaying a far more advanced hit tool his junior college season than probably anyone else in this year’s draft (even moreso than fellow 1st rounder Michael Busch). On top of that, who ends up moving off that roster to make room for him? Sauryn Lao? Shows potential, but he’s still a “baby” for that level. Brandon Lewis? Would rather take it nice and slow with him by comparison and he fits that club better age-wise. Nah, Kody’s good for Low-A Great Lakes at this point and he’s needed there a lot more anyway due to them losing that young Cuban phenom Miguel Vargas to High-A Rancho not too long ago.
Speaking of Busch, I definitely see him heading for Ogden soon as he finally gets his timing back at the plate down with one of the AZL Dodger teams. Would give him a little more time to get re-acquainted with that 2B position he began to fiddle around with last summer in the Cape Cod league as well.
In my comment I have Yurchak going to Great Lakes to make room for Hoese. I don’t think the Dodgers care about Hoese’s age at this point. Get him through rookie ball, have him play in the AZ Instructional League this Fall, spring training, then the Loons, or possibly Quakes to start 2020.
Dodgers would be making a mistake if they start treating Hoese with “kid gloves” right out of the gate. He’s a high-IQ ballplayer who knows when to make the needed adjustments at the plate and actually takes full advantage of analytical data unlike most players in his age group. After those first two forgettable college seasons, he knew that he needed to get stronger physically and revamp his swing as well as his entire hitting approach. Moment he addressed those issues last summer, you saw how that translated during his junior season. That’s why I feel he needs to be tested right away in Low-A instead of needlessly fattening up on inferior pitching down at the rookie-ball level.
Come to think of it, I feel OF prospect DJ Peters’ development was stalled for nearly two straight seasons because management foolishly had him skip Low-A ball so he wasn’t able to face quality pitching his second year of pro-ball and find out exactly what his major flaws were at the plate until last month at AA Tulsa in which he finally did and now you see the offensive monster he’s become for AAA OKC after he was promoted there just recently. Meh, just my two cents on the matter anyway.
As you know, there is more than hitting involved when promoting a young player through the minor league system. The scouting reports on Hoese’s third base defense ranged from fringe-average, to merely passable. For all we know, he is working on his defense in AZ more than his hitting. I am confident that the Dodgers player development group and coaches will advance players to the appropriate level based upon their demonstrated skills and maturity. As I wrote, Great Falls could be the next step for him, but it will not surprise me if Ogden is the next step. In all of my reading I have not come across any scouting report, or commentary that he has a high baseball IQ; I am interested in knowing more about him, so would appreciate knowing your source.
Only scouting reports I care about are the ones coming from the Dodgers’ own personnel and if they say Hoese’s a “plus defender” at 3B, then that’s all I need to know. So many others circulating out there regarding Hoese in particular are largely based on what he did his first two college seasons (before he finally got stronger last year, mind you) so they can’t be taken seriously at all at this point. Oh, and you wanted to know my “source” for where I came up with Hose being a high-IQ ballplayer, here’s the link. Enjoy!
https://www.usabaseball.com/news/gsa-spotlight-kody-hoese/c-306584016?tid=216639934
Btw, it’s Great LAKES old buddy. Great Falls is the White Sox Rookie-ball affiliate.
😉
@RCQuakes @greatlakesloons @dillonpaulson That is my 3rd new player since I put them on the bus Wedne… https://t.co/lmaOAqHg5c
Thank you so very much for what you, Frank and the rest of the great Quakes Boosters do for these kids, Debbie.
FINALLY they send Paulson on his way to High-A Rancho! Don’t let that low batting average fool you, he’s a lot more polished offensively than he’s letting on (and one of the main reasons why Low-A Great Lakes wound up pacing ALL of pro-baseball in walks drawn this year, I kid you not). Truthfully speaking, I don’t know how he fits in with the Dodgers long-term as 1B is pretty much the only position he can play plus they have potentially better options coming up behind him in 2019 1st rounder Michael Busch, 2019 4th rounder Brandon Lewis (REALLY like him and not just because he’s a Dodger fan either, lol), and possibly even that Yurchak kid they got from the White Sox in that Manny Banuelos deal this past offseason.
That just leaves middle INF Jacob Amaya as the only major position player left on that Loons roster who has yet to get promoted to Rancho, but at the rate he’s going right now he’ll get there sooner rather than later this season. Besides, Advanced Rookie level Ogden is already backed up with extremely productive middle INF prospects that also need to get a move on: 2017 27th rounder Jeremy Arocho (VERY underrated prospect), 2018 19th rounder Sam McWilliams, and 2019 22nd rounder Jimmy Titus (could be a potential sleeper right here).
Geez, I’m just glad the Dodgers are not letting the lower rungs of their farm system get stagnant with all this young talent quickly piling up on them (lol)…
Thanks for the correction of Great Lakes instead of Great Falls, and the link to the article.
No problem at all. By the way, both Hoese and Busch are just about to make their official Low-A debuts tonight for Great Lakes (Hoese at DH, Busch at 2B). Unfortunately, that game’s in a bit of a rain delay right now so praying it’s a brief one…