Keeping An Eye on Relief and the IFL

One thing that I have come to realize is that when AF and the other Dodger baseball FO personnel determine that there is a weakness in their organization, they address it head on. Most everyone has come to realize that the current Dodgers have a significant weakness in their bullpen, and they went full on in last year’s draft.  I know DC is working his way through the recently drafted and signed relief pitchers, but let’s revisit what the Dodgers did in 2019 Rule 4 Amateur draft last June.  Potential relievers who were drafted as relievers (mostly):

Aaron Ochsenbein (6^th round) – Great Lakes

Nick Robertson (7^th round) – Ogden

Alec Gamboa (9^th round) – AZL

Mitchell Tyranski (12^th round) – Ogden

Jacob Cantleberry (13^th round) – Ogden

Sean Mellen (14^th round) – AZL

Jeff Belge (15^th round) – Great Lakes

Cyrillo Watson (23^rd round) – AZL

Mark Mixon (26^th round) – Ogden

Every one of those pitchers had an outstanding 1^st professional season with the Dodgers, with the exception of Sean Mellen who only pitched all of 1.1 innings.

This does not include two highly thought of pitchers who are currently considered starters, but are probably more projectable as high leverage relievers; Jack Little and Ryan Pepiot.  Both Little and Pepiot pitched for full season Great Lakes and did very well.  DC just published a tremendous column on Ryan Pepiot.  I am very much looking forward to DC’s column on Jack Little (Stanford) who was one of the top two D-1 relievers for 2018.

The 2^nd top reliever in 2018 was Braidyn Fink (15^th round) – Oklahoma,  who was held out all of 2019 due to recovery from TJ surgery.  He should be good to go at ST, but the player development guys are going to take it slow for him as they did for Michael Grove (still another relief candidate). 

The other 2019 drafted pitcher who figures to land in the pen but did not pitch in 2019 is Logan Boyer (11^th round) – San Diego State.  He was ranked as a top 5-6 round pitcher, the Dodgers got in the 11^th.  He is injury prone, but when healthy he has a legit plus fastball and decent curve as a secondary pitch. He has a legit late inning high leverage relief ceiling.   DC wrote an excellent column on Logan.

The Dodgers have a bevy of potentially top shelf relievers in their system; including Brett de Geus, Gerardo Carrillo, and Marshall Kasowski.  But the two biggest names that should get a good long look this summer will be Dennis Santana and Mitchell White, both considered legit late inning relievers.  I am not ready to give up on Jordan Sheffield who has an electric fastball that he just cannot command…YET.

Others that should still be watched this year to see how far they can develop are:

Other Ogden

Elio Serrano – 21 – RHP

Other Great Lakes

Justin Bruihl – 23 – RHP

Edward Cuello – 21 – RHP

Justin Hagenman 23 – RHP

Yeison Cespedes – 22- RHP

Zach Willeman – 24 – RHP – Grade 70 fastball and two above average secondary pitches, with a 4^th being average.  Something will click.

Other Rancho

Melvin Jimenez – 20 – RHP (just too young to give up on)

Austin Drury – 22 – LHP (very much under the radar)

Andre Jackson – 24 – RHP – Top 30 (Still starting but many believe he has a future in relief).

Other Tulsa

Leo Crawford – 23 – LHP (Still starting but should consider relief)

Logan Salow – 25 – LHP – a DC favorite

Ryan Moseley – 25 – RHP – a DBM favorite

INTERNATIONAL FREE AGENTS (IFL)

AF has caught a lot of flak about poor international signings, but the last two years the Dodgers may have done extremely well.  Everyone knows about the young Venezuelan catcher, Diego Cartaya, who has rocketed up the Dodgers prospect list.  As a 17 year old who was promoted to play in the USA at AZL, he hit .281/.343/.432/.775.  He has not shown much power, but at 6’ 2” and 190, I figure he will continue to fill out and develop that power.  He has high grades for his ability to call games, and has got a lot of accolades for his ability to receive and work with pitchers. While he did allow too many passed ball, he did throw out 32% of potential base stealers.  I fully expect to see Diego start to get mentioned in top catcher prospect lists.  The only reason he has a 50 grade from MLB Pipeline is because he is slower than slow. 

Cartaya was not the lone international free agent signed in 2018 to make his USA debut at 17.  Middle infielder Alex De Jesus joined Cartaya in the AZL last summer.  He was originally signed to be a 3B, but played primarily SS last summer, and is now listed as a 2B.  De Jesus is also 6’2”, but 170 pounds.  Alex hit .281/.340/.392/.732 last summer.  Alex does not turn 18 until March, so he might be held back in Arizona to play in the rookie leagues (AZL or Ogden) again this summer. 

The third player in that 2018 international class is a very young 17 year old RHP, Jerming Rosario.  He did not just pitch well in the DSL, he dominated.  So much so that he was named DSL Pitcher of the Year.  In 45 IP, Jerming had a miniscule 0.79 ERA and 0.95 WHIP.  He had 43 strikeouts against 15 walks.  He allowed ZERO HR’s. 

Jerming Rosario was Baseball America’s #11 in the 2019 Summer DSL Top 20 prospects.  Not only was he the highest rated pitcher, he was the only pitcher on the list.  Here is what Baseball America says about Jerming:

The Dodgers’ 2018 class included catcher Diego Cartaya ($2.5 million) and infielder Alex De Jesus ($500,000), both of whom debuted last year in the DSL but were promoted in season and finished as top 20 prospects in the Rookie-level Arizona League. That 2018 class also included Rosario, who signed for $650,000 and spent the full season in the DSL. Rosario didn’t pitch enough innings to qualify for the league leaders, but he posted a sparkling 0.79 ERA in his pro debut. When Rosario signed, he was throwing 88-91 mph with a projectable body and a loose, fast arm, indicators that he would throw harder once he filled out. By the end of 2018, he reached 93 mph and his velocity continued to climb in 2019, reaching 95 mph. Rosario has the attributes to project as a starter as an athletic pitcher who repeats his delivery, fills the strike zone and shows feel for two secondary pitches. His best offspeed pitch is his changeup, which has plus potential and consistently fooled DSL hitters. Rosario sells that pitch well by maintaining his arm speed and throwing it in the low-to-mid 80s to get good separation off his fastball. That’s his primary strikeout weapon, though his upper-70s curveball has good depth and shape as well, although he can get around the ball at times.

Another 17 year old DSL pitching prospect to keep an eye on is RHP Heisell Baro.  He was selected to the all DSL team, and pitched to a 1.22 ERA, 0.88 WHIP, 47 strikeouts against 16 walks, and allowed 3 HR’s in 44 IP. 

This past summer, the Dodgers signed 16 year old CF prospect, Luis Rodriguez.  He is currently the Dodgers #24 prospect, and MLB Pipeline’s #4 International prospect.  Here is what MLB Pipeline says about young Luis:

Scouting grades: Hit: 50 | Power: 50 | Run: 50 | Arm: 60 | Field: 60

Rodriguez is the best overall player from Venezuela in the class of 2019. He’s a pure hitter and natural athlete with solid baseball instincts across the board. He is also known for his physically projectable body and easy actions on defense and at the plate.

Rodriguez has sound approach in the batter’s box and has shown the ability to use all fields with consistent and hard contact. There’s a nice rhythm and balance to his swing and although he’s primarily a line drive hitter now, there have been flashes of power and it could increase as he develops. He has impressed scouts by performing well against pitchers throwing 93 mph to 95 mph during workouts and showcases.

Rodriguez is a quality defender in center field now and he makes all of the plays, but it’s uncertain if that’s where he will stay because he’s not a plus runner. He developed his game in the youth leagues of Venezuela and has a high baseball IQ.

Ben Badler, Baseball American, perhaps the best international analyst in all of the baseball publications, had this to say:

“Rodriguez is one of the most complete players in the 2019 class, with a good combination of size (6-foot-2, 180 pounds), athleticism and hitting ability from the right side. When I saw him face live pitching in the Dominican Republic, he homered to right-center field off a pitcher who was throwing up to 92 mph, then narrowly missed another homer that hit the fence to the same part of the park. Rodriguez has good plate discipline, hits well in games against older pitchers and has a natural ability to lift the ball for power. He runs the 60-yard dash in around 6.7 to 6.8 seconds, so if he can retain that speed, he could stick in center field, too.

So while the Dodgers whiffed on most of their early International Free Agent signings in the AF era, they seemingly have turned it around.  I know that I will continue to follow Diego Cartaya, Alex De Jesus, Jerming Rosario, and Heisell Baro, and look forward to seeing the debut of Luis Rodriguez who should get a US promotion as a 17 year old as did Cartaya and De Jesus in 2019.  LAD has another top level Venezuelan SS that they will likely sign next July.

The picture includes four of the Great Lake Loons pitchers: Jack Little (#46), Zach Willeman (#52), Justin Bruihl (#28), and Ryan Pepiot (#37)