For a twenty-year-old playing his first full season as a professional, Easton Shelton was magnificent, destroying pitches in the California League on his way to an MVP award. Four games with the High-A squad were all the exposure that Shelton had to pro ball in Great Lakes at the end of the season. And it certainly didn’t show, with the left-hander presenting himself as not only the Tower Buzzers’ most menacing hitter but also the entire league’s.
Shelton’s career path is a fascinating one, choosing
to forego the opportunity to play in UNLV to sign with the Dodgers as an undrafted free agent back in 2023—granted, he did so for a hefty signing bonus worth upwards of $200k, but seeing the work this organization has done in its player development evidently also played a role in him choosing them.
After a couple of seasons in rookie ball, Shelton opened the year with the Ontario Tower Buzzers and was phenomenal, but early on there was an adjustment period for the tall first baseman. Shelton wrapped up April with just a .727 OPS, but the Tower Buzzers stuck with him, and from May onward, the results were overwhelmingly positive—Shelton’s power started to appear on a regular basis, with him smashing at least nine home runs in each of the next three months.
Highlighting just how impressive his season was, Shelton alone (37) hit more home runs than the next two highest-ranked Tower Buzzers combined (36). The long ball number 37 certainly wasn’t a cheapie, a grand slam that traveled over 500 ft.
Not only the team leader in most, if not all, offensive categories, Shelton also set Dodger records in the California League with his 37 home runs and 112 RBI—not to mention securing the second-highest OPS in the entire minor leagues, at 1.047.
While the summary of Shelton’s performance begins and ends with his power output, he made the most of that threat to be a complete hitter, which is why we’re standing here with him as the undisputed MVP of the California League.
Only three other players accumulated more hits than Shelton’s 121 in the California League, culminating in a near .300 batting average (.297 to be exact). And the plate discipline, which is what often separates good power hitters from the great ones, was also a key part of his record-setting performance, one of two hitters with an OBP above .400.
Despite all of this success, it’d still be fair to say that Shelton is on the outside looking in in the prospect community. Look no further than his absence from the recently released Baseball Prospectus’ top ten Dodgers prospectshere, Shelton thrived under the radar for the better part of 2026. And he’ll need to keep proving himself heading into a higher level in 2027 with the confidence of a player who has conquered his first challenge.
2026 particulars
Age: 20
Single-A Stats: .297/.403/.644, 37 HR, 112 RBI, 26 2B, 88 R, 109 G
Game of the year
In mid-July, Easton Shelton put up one of the more memorable performances of the 2026 minor league season. He went 5 for 6 with a pair of homers and drove in five to help the Tower Buzzers not just weather the Storm but also send it packing in an 11-5 victory.
It was just one of two two-homer games for Shelton, who, for someone with so many long shots, kept them well distributed.
