Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman James Tibbs III runs the bases after hitting a home run against the Chicago White Sox in a Spring Breakout Game at Camelback Ranch-Glendale in Phoenix on March 21, 2026. 

When the San Francisco Giants drafted James Tibbs III out of Florida State in the first round in 2024, they hoped he’d be ready for the big leagues in no time. And so far this season, Tibbs is looking the part.

Tibbs was named Pacific Coast League Player of the Week for the first week and change of the Triple-A season after putting on an unreal hitting display. Given how miserable the Giants have looked to start the year, especially on offense, he’s just the sort of talent crushing in the minors that San Francisco might want to call up.

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There’s just one problem: Tibbs is crushing it for the Dodgers organization.

In case you forgot, Tibbs was one of the four players that Buster Posey, the president of baseball operations for the Giants, dealt to the Red Sox to land slugger Rafael Devers. At the time, shipping out two top prospects — Tibbs and pitcher Kyle Harrison — was viewed as an understandable cost to get the Giants a superstar. (Even if it meant Posey had to trade away a fellow ex-Florida State star.)

Only six weeks after that move, the Red Sox dealt Tibbs to the Dodgers at the trade deadline to pick up pitcher Dustin May. It sparked a simple fear among Giants fans: While the Giants have struggled to develop hitters for years, the Dodgers have consistently churned out solid big-league bats. 

That fear seems to have come to fruition. Tibbs has displayed prolific power with seven home runs in nine games, including a three-homer game and a two-homer game last week. He is also showing good contact ability and has drawn five walks, giving him an eye-popping 1.184 OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage). The entire industry has taken notice. The minor league baseball experts at Baseball America named Tibbs the hottest prospect in the sport on Monday, writing simply, “Arguably no hitter on the planet has been as hot as Tibbs to start the season.”

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The Giants, meanwhile, have the National League’s worst record at 3-8 and the worst offense in the majors so far — the fewest homers (four), the fewest runs per game average (2.73) and the worst OPS (.578). It also doesn’t help that Devers, the superstar they traded Tibbs to get, is batting .190 with just one homer and 13 strikeouts in 42 at-bats. 

As bad as that is, it could be worse. The Red Sox are 2-8 to start the year, and their fans are chanting “Sell the team” at their home ballpark.

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