Dodgers missed opportunity to call up this top prospect in wake of Teoscar Hernández’s injury

Nothing is official yet, but the Dodgers are expected to make the easiest and most obvious corresponding move when Teoscar Hernández officially goes onto the IL sometime on Thursday. Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reported that fan favorite prospect Ryan Ward will be recalled as Hernández spends at least a few weeks down with a hamstring strain.

You won't hear Dodgers fans complaining about the move. It's the cleanest thing to do based on LA's 40-man options, and Ward deserves a real shot, not just a two-day stint while Freddie Freeman is on paternity leave.

But the Dodgers also missed an opportunity to do something a little more daring. Although fans aren't as loud about him now as we were at the very beginning of the season, top outfield prospect James Tibbs III has barely slowed down in Triple-A.

He's hitting .308 with a 1.004 OPS through 50 games, is tied with Jack Suwinski for the most homers among OKC Comets players (12), and leads the team in doubles with 16. He's not on the 40-man, so promoting him would've forced the Dodgers to finagle with the roster, maybe unnecessarily.

But Tibbs looks absolutely ready to come up at some point this year. If not now, when?

Teoscar Hernández's injury could open the door for Dodgers to call up James Tibbs III

All of the outfield prospects in the Dodgers' system have to learn exactly what Ward already knows: It's going to be almost impossible for any of them to get any light on this major league roster. Six of LA's top 10 prospects are outfielders, and even No. 1 Josue De Paula is going to struggle to find his way onto the team unless the Dodgers end up believing in him so much that they're willing to trade Andy Pages or Teoscar Hernández to give him an everyday role. And they almost definitely won't.

Ward was the safest option for them to call up given the facts of the roster, but he was also the safest to call up when you think about preserving trade value.

Although Ward debuted on LA's top-30 list this year for the first time in his career, he still doesn't have the same value as De Paula, or Zyhir Hope, or Eduardo Quintero, or Mike Sirota, or Tibbs. The Dodgers can bring him up, and if he fails, he fails. He becomes a Quad-A taxi guy at no cost to LA.

But if the Dodgers rush the others and let them fail at the major league level, there goes the trade value.

Still, if any of these top outfield prospects were to stick around the Dodgers instead of being used as trade fodder, there's a good chance it could be Tibbs. They won't really know until they give him a shot against major league pitching, but that's a risk the Dodgers clearly aren't willing to take right now.

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