This Minor League Player Is Probably the Best Prospect You Know Nothing About

Or on May 30, when he had a five-hit night – including three home runs – and six RBIs.

So why haven’t the Dodgers called up Ward? The team’s eighth-round of the 2019 MLB Draft, Ward is now 27 and in his third season in Oklahoma City and has yet to make his MLB debut.

He’s stuck behind Freddie Freeman at first base and a loaded Los Angeles outfield. And when the Dodgers needed to reach into Triple-A earlier this season for help in the outfield, they took James Outman, who has major league experience, plus offers speed that Ward doesn’t.

Freeman was removed from the Dodgers' game against the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday with what the team called a left-wrist contusion. Should Freeman require a stay on the injured list, would that trigger a call to the majors for Ward?

If not, Ward could be a chip for the Dodgers at the trade deadline. It’s hard to believe there isn’t a team that wouldn’t take a chance on a player with these career minor league stats heading into the game Sunday: 625 games, 655 hits, 432 runs, 125 doubles, 24 triples, 140 home runs and 471 RBIs with a slash line of .266/.341/.507/.848.

Dodgers’ followers certainly are rooting for him. One account on X, @DodgersDaily, recently posted this, in part, about Ward: “Dude is a masher, but the Dodgers are loaded, so opportunity is very hard to find many times, and certainly has been for him. But, this dude deserves his chance, some way, somehow.”