Dodgers outfield prospect Luke Raley

I expect it is quite well known on LADT that I am a number one fan of minor league baseball. Do not get me wrong, I have had a romance with the Dodgers – which was really hot in the fifties and sixties – since 1952 and nothing including politics will ever change that for me. My love affair with baseball now is more at the minor league level as more Dodger offspring make their way to top rung of professional baseball. I just like the, “still a game”,  aspect to it and love the dedication these young men have in pursuing a near impossible dream. That is, making it all the way to MLB.

The 2016 draft was a good one with nine members of that class having already made a MLB debut appearance with four more on the cusp. The latest member of that draft year to make to MLB is Dodger outfielder/first baseman Luke Raley. His journey to Dodger Stadium has had a a bit of a different path. I dug out an article I wrote in 2017 on Raley and just updated it a bit.

He was selected by the Dodgers in the seventh round of the 2016 First-Year Player Draft out of Lake Eric College in Painesville, Ohio. Raley is only the second player to ever be drafted out of Lake Eric College. Versatile infielder, Ryan Rua, was the other drafted in the 17th round of the 2011 MLB Draft by the Texas Rangers. What is special for both of these players is that they were playing for a Division II school and both helped raise the profile of LEC. Even more special for Raley is the fact he was selected in the top-10 rounds and was the first Division II player to be selected in the 2016 draft.

Raley is a native of Hinckley, Ohio, which is a township in Medina County in Ohio. He attended Highland High School in Medina helping the Hornets win their first Suburban Championship since 1989.

Following his graduation, he majored in Special Education at Lake Eric College and gained national prominence with a monster junior year in which he hit .424 with an on-base percentage of .528. Raley had 67 hits in 158 at-bats, including 11 doubles, two triples and 12 home runs. He scored 54 times, drove in 39 runs, stole 12 bases and walked 28 times.

He also raise his profile a bit during the summer of 2105 in which he played for the Lakeshore Chinooks of the Northwoods League. With the Chinooks, he played in 67 games and hit .314 with 14 home runs, five triples and 13 doubles. He drove in 55 runs and scored 43 times.

Although Raley claims he was not expecting to be drafted, he was hedging his bets just a bit. He explained: “I had sat down and talked with a couple of scouts and heard what they had to say. They don’t say much but overall, it looked good to be drafted by someone. I didn’t expect it but there was a good chance in my head.”

His college coach, Brian McGee was fully behind Raley and encouraged him to sign with the Dodgers.

“No, it was more of a pretty easy decision. I talked it over with Coach McGee and he saw it as a great opportunity,” said Raley. “He really pushed me to go and I think it was being with the Dodgers and how they go about things. All of that made it easier to decide.”

“There isn’t a more deserving guy I know,” said Raley’s college coach Brian McGee. “I’m not talking about just being a great person, which he is, I’m taking about the passion in which he plays with while dominating the game.”

Raley began his professional career with the Arizona League Dodgers on June 20, 2016 in a game against the Arizona League White Sox. He had three hit and 10 in his first five games as a professional. After his fifth game in the Arizona League he was moved up to the Ogden Raptors of the rookie level Pioneer League.

The inimitable Yogi Berra would tell us it was, “Déjà vu all over again,” as the then 22-year-old Raley again produced 10 hits in five games.

In doing so he very quickly found out what the Dodgers meant in a conversation they had with him.

“The Dodgers told us on how the organization is run. It basically is if you are performing, you get to move.”

Exactly 12 days after beginning his professional baseball career, he started in center field for the Great Lakes Loons of the Class-A Midwest League.

Playing for three teams in a short span of time, after a full college season, seemed to wear him down a bit and had the normal effect on his power. He finished with a .245 batting average with the Loons and a .313 OBP. However, the outgoing right-handed hitter made a definite impression on the Dodger staff, both on and off the field.

Former Loons manager Gil Velazquez told The News Herald, “I can see him as a leader,” Velazquez said. “I see him as a leader not only because he’s a high-energy guy, but plays the game right and he’s vocal. He does speak out, which is good.”

Luke Raley was asked what has been the best advice, instruction, or criticism he has received from the Dodgers?

“I think the best thing is that the Dodgers not only focus on improving you as a baseball player, but also focus on making you the best person you can be and becoming the best teammate you can be.”

A refreshed Raley began the 2017 season with the Dodgers Advanced Single-A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes of the California League.  He played in 123 games for the Quakes and hit .295 with 14 home runs, 21 doubles and 62 runs driven in. He stole nine bases and scored 102 times.

In 2018 he began the year with the Tulsa Drillers of the AA Eastern League. On July 31, he was traded to the Minnesota Twins. Following the trade, he was sent to the Chattanooga Lookouts of the AA Eastern League. Between the two clubs he hit a combined .275 with 20 home runs, 19 doubles and eight triples.

An injury to  his ankle to start the 2019 season pretty much sabotaged his season as he spent most of it on the injured list. When he was activated, he began his season with the Twins rookie level team in the Gulf Coast League. After five games he was promoted to the Rochester Red Wings of the AAA International League. In 38 games he hit .310 with 23 RBI and 29 runs scored. He had eight home runs and stole four bases.

Then in February of 2020 lightening did strike twice in the same place. The 6’4”/235-lb. Raley was traded back to the Dodgers from the Twins. In the Kenta Maeda deal. He lost a second consecutive season, this time to the Covid-19 shutdown.

Dodgers LowDown interviewed Raley during 2020 spring training.

Let’s jump ahead to 2021. On April 9 the Dodgers recalled Raley from their Alternate Training Site. On April 14 he recorded his first MLB hit with a double down the left-field line.

Raley who bats from the left side and throws right-handed hit his first MLB home run against the division rivals Padres on Friday with a shot to right center field. The nature of the game kind of dwarfed his personal achievement but it is one that he will always remember vividly and hopefully will have the opportunity to celebrate more often in the future as a MLB player. He knows he will be in competition with Zach Reks, DJ Peters and others to fill in when called upon by the Dodgers. He seems prepared to do so after his first experience with a MLB rivalry really brewing with the Padres.

“It certainly felt like a rivalry to me,” said Dodgers left fielder Luke Raley, whose first major league home run, a game-tying shot in the fifth inning, was almost lost in the crazy turns of a game that fell just short of five hours.  “There was a lot of intensity in this game. It’s something I look forward to being a part of more.”

https://www.mlb.com/video/luke-raley-homers-1-on-a-fly-ball-to-right-center-field

Cover photo compliments of the Los Angeles Dodgers