Ryan Ward's first career homer puts a finer point on Dodgers' need to trade him

It only took eight at-bats for fan favorite Ryan Ward to hit the first home run of his major league career — a 400-foot shot to right field to give the Los Angeles Dodgers are 3-0 lead over the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday.

Ward was promoted for the second time this season after Teoscar Hernández officially went onto the IL with a hamstring strain last Friday.

An injury was the only way Ward was going to get more of a runway in the majors (his debut lasted all of two games in April while Freddie Freeman was out on paternity leave), and a homer in his first game at Dodger Stadium was the perfect way to introduce himself to the home crowd.

Hernández said after the roster move that he expects/hopes to be back in about a month, which gives Ward plenty of time to keep endearing himself to the team and to fans. But it doesn't change what's becoming an age-old problem for the Dodgers: barring injuries, they have nowhere to put their top prospects.

And it doesn't help that Ward is a dime a dozen in the Dodgers organization. Twelve of their top 30 prospects are outfielders, including Josue De Paula, Zyhir Hope, Eduardo Quintero, and Mike Sirota.

The Dodgers could keep Ward, their No. 19 prospect per MLB Pipeline, in Triple-A indefinitely to function as their go-to Quad-A outfielder, but that would be doing him a disservice. If they can find the right trade partner, they need to let Ward move on to greener pastures.

Dodgers have ample opportunity to find a trade partner for Ryan Ward

Over the last few offseasons, Andrew Friedman and Brandon Gomes have insisted that seemingly every excessive addition to the roster has been made, in part, to avoid an active trade deadline. That actually proved itself out last year, when the biggest trade the Dodgers made might've been that weird three-team deal with the Tampa Bay Rays and Cincinnati Reds, but Friedman is also impossible to underestimate.

The Dodgers' rotation isn't at full strength right now, and even though LA is confident Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow will be back before the end of the regular season, you never know. If the likes of Tarik Skubal or Joe Ryan are available at the trade deadline, Friedman will be there.

Right now, the belief is that it'll take one overall top-100 prospect and one organizational top-30 prospect to get the Detroit Tigers to part with Skubal. Perhaps something along the line of a River Ryan-Ryan Ward package could be incredibly enticing to Detroit.

The Dodgers have gotten away with turning their former No. 1 prospect into a backup catcher, and they could get away with stringing Ward along with even less promised playing time. Or they could trade him while he still has some value and finally let him out of the doldrums of Oklahoma City. It would be a mercy, at this point.

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