Here’s the Dodgers’ Spring Breakout roster with MLB Pipeline’s rankings:
PITCHERS
Jackson Ferris, LHP, No. 8
Justin Wrobleski, LHP, No. 16
Ronan Kopp, LHP, No. 17
Patrick Copen, RHP, NR
Alec Gamboa, LHP, NR
Edgardo Henriquez, RHP, NR
Joel Ibarra, RHP, NR
Jared Karros, RHP, NR
Juan Morillo, RHP, NR
John Rooney, LHP, NR
CATCHERS
Dalton Rushing, C/1B, No. 1 (MLB No. 75)
Thayron Liranzo, C/1B, No. 10
Yeiner Fernandez, C/2B, No. 28
Jesus Galiz, C, NR
INFIELDERS
Trey Sweeney, SS, No. 22
Jake Gelof, 3B, No. 23
Alexander Albertus, INF, No. 24
Austin Gauthier, INF/OF, No. 26
Noah Miller, SS/2B, No. 27
Alex Freeland, SS, NR
OUTFIELDERS
Josue De Paula, OF, No. 4
Kendall George, OF, No. 12
Zyhir Hope, OF, No. 21
Samuel Munoz, OF, No. 25
Jose Ramos, OF, No. 29
Damon Keith, OF, NR
In the first ever Spring Breakout for the Dodgers and Angels, the Dodgers jumped all over 23 year old RHP, Jack Kochanowicz (LAA #10) with 6 runs, on their way to an 8-1 shellacking over LAA.
Before I identify the offensive stars in this game, we must pay tribute to the true stars of this game…the LAD pitchers. Five LAD pitchers, no earned runs, 4 singles, 3 BB, 14 K
LAA threw out their top pitching prospect, 20 year old Dana Caden (LAA #3 – AKA Thor Junior). Caden did not disappoint as he issued just one walk with 3 Ks in his 2.0 scoreless innings. The Dodgers countered with Justin Wrobleski (LAD #16) who completed 2.0 scoreless innings of his own. He allowed a harmless ground ball single up the middle to Angels CF Nelson Rada (LAA #2). He did not issue a walk, and struck out 4. While both starting pitchers pitched well, the Dodgers lefty appeared to slightly outpitch the higher rated Caden.
Caden exited after 2.0 IP, and Jack Kochanowicz entered. With 2 outs, Kendall George (LAD #12) doubled and scored the game’s first run on a single by Josue De Paula (LAD #4). Dalton Rushing (LAD #1) singled and Thayron Liranzo (LAD #10) obliterated a pitch to RF for a 3-run HR and a 4-0 lead.
Really nice piece of hitting on this hustle double from Kendall George, my No. 20 #Dodgers prospect pic.twitter.com/9ZBBLIlLvf
— Bruce Kuntz (@Bnicklaus7) March 16, 2024
It’s going to fun to watch Dodgers prospect Thayron Liranzo play this year, presumably at Great Lskes to begin the season. Here’s his homer in the Spring Breakout Series earlier.
pic.twitter.com/EsVx5UjJWa— Howard Cole (@Howard_Cole) March 17, 2024
Jackson Ferris (LAD #8) entered in the third. He gave up a leadoff single to 18 year old catcher, Juan Flores (LAA #22) that was followed with a BB to LF Jorge Ruiz (LAA #12). Nelson Rada then hit a bouncer to 1B Liranzo. Liranzo attempted to get the out a 2B, but hit Ruiz in the back, allowing the run to score, and move the runners up to 2nd and 3rd. Ferris buckled down from there. He struck out both Kyren Paris (LAD #4) and Cole Fontenelle, before getting Sam Brown to pop out to end the inning. Ferris has an outstanding curve.
New organization, same wipeout stuff for Jackson Ferris.
The No. 8 @Dodgers prospect struck out three in his #SpringBreakout appearance, his first action since coming over in a mega-trade with the Cubs: pic.twitter.com/MMHHf5t29L
— Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) March 17, 2024
Kochanowicz came out for his 2nd inning in the 4th, and once again got the first two outs. Alex Freeland hit a line drive single to CF. Next batter, Kendall George, hit a triple into right center field, plating Freeland. Kendall is sooooooooo fast.
STAND UP, RBI TRIPLE FOR KENDALL GEORGE
Absolutely BLAZING speed pic.twitter.com/LuYgUyTvfZ
— Bruce Kuntz (@Bnicklaus7) March 17, 2024
Josue De Paula hit his second run scoring single to bring home George. It could be that George and De Paula will be batting #1 and #2 for Great Lakes. We will see.
Ferris pitched a scoreless 4th inning. Overall he allowed the one unearned run on 2 hits, 2 walks, and 3 strikeouts.
Hard throwing RHP Walbert Urena pitched a perfect 5th, getting 2 K’s (Liranzo and José Ramos).
My dark horse candidate for 2024, Jared Karros, came on to pitch in the 5th. He issued one walk, but was otherwise perfect.
The Dodgers got to Urena in the 6th. Batting for Jake Gelof (LAD #23) was catcher Jesus Galiz, who walked. Alexander Albertus (LAD #24) batted for Austin Gauthier (LAD #26) and doubled down the right field line with Galiz moving to 3rd. Alex Freeland hit a sac fly for the Dodgers run #7. Zyhir Hope replaced Kendall George and singled, moving Albertus to 3rd. Samuel Muñoz hit the 2nd sac fly of the inning.
Karros set the Angels down in order in the 6th with a ground out and two pop outs to Freeland.
22 year old 6’6” RHP, Patrick Copen, out of Marshall University was the next pitcher for LAD. Copen is the highest drafted player out of Marshall. He allowed an infield single but struck out 4 in his 2.0 scoreless innings. Copen threw hard.
Patrick Copen is 6'6 & has bigtime athletic ability. Upside to have easy velo, expect FAST development for him. He's already filled out quite a bit since being drafted & features a 4 Seam with cut & ride, cutter, added a 2 Seam, has a sweeping slider & curve. #dodgers pic.twitter.com/HnlLIKyn5s
— Dodgers Daily (@dodger_daily) March 17, 2024
Finally, hard throwing Edgardo Henriquez struck out the side in the 9th. He looked unhittable. It is going to be fun to watch him pitch this year.
Edgardo Henriquez is 21 from Venezuela & features a "get me over" slider that has depth & a 4 seam at the top of the zone with really nice carry. And, at 6'4, it starts & stays above swings. Can add depth to slider for swing & miss & can move the ball right with change. #dodgers pic.twitter.com/XvqkyKn0c0
— Dodgers Daily (@dodger_daily) March 17, 2024
Kendall George, Josue De Paula, and Zyhir Hope each had a pair of hits. George scored a pair of runs. Thayron Liranzo had three RBI, while De Paula had 2.
George had a double and triple, Albertus had a double, and Liranzo had a HR. The Dodgers were 4-8 WRISP with 2 sac flies. Two out RBIs: George (1), De Paula (2), and Liranzo (3).
The Dodgers pitching was outstanding, but the hitting did not disappoint. Kendall George and Josue De Paula looked especially good. One other observation. Thayron Liranzo has the Alex Verdugo multiple chains around the neck look. And he can sure hit the ball hard.
Who needs mascots:
The Dodgers have their own official dance squad for the Seoul Series
— Doug McKain (@DMAC_LA) March 17, 2024
Miami has lost Sandy Alcantara for the year after TJ surgery. Edward Cabrera (shoulder impingement) and Braxton Garrett (shoulder) are all out at least for the start of the season. Now 20 year old RHSP phenom Eury Perez is being sent to Dr. Meister in Texas to undergo imaging and testing of his sore right elbow. If Miami did not have bad luck, they would not have any luck at all.
Henriquez, like Duran, is coming back from surgery. I likened him to King Felix before his injury. Bigtime stuff. I didn’t know he was back.
Has River Ryan been pitching?
No surprise that Daniel Hudson’s contract was picked up by the Dodgers. What was a surprise was that Andre Lipcius was DFA’d instead of Nick Frasso going onto the 60 day IL. That does give the Dodgers another potential 40 man spot.
Miguel Vargas was optioned to OKC. Miguel will have no further options available after this year.
LA crushes Kiwoom 14-3. Mookie and Ohtani go ofer, Shohei struck out twice. Only homer hit by Freeman who along with Heyward had three hits. Heyward drove in 4. Lux was 2-6. Phillips and Brasier gave up the runs. Both have high ERA’s this spring.
My new covet is Matt McClain.
https://www.mlb.com/player/matt-mclain-680574
He is not any more available than any of the other players I have been intrigued by.
Very impressive showing by the prospects. It’s amazing the pitching talent the Dodgers continue to develop. Hopefully, there will be a spot for them with the Dodgers in the future. Lots of big guys that throw really hard.
Thanks for the write up and the videos Jeff.
ESPN put out their top 100 players in baseball list. The Dodgers have seven players on the list including three in the top 10. Acuna is # 1 followed by Judge, Soto, Betts, Freeman, Seager, Cole, Alvarez, Ohtani and Carroll. Other Dodgers on the list, #45, Yamamoto, 46, Will Smith, 64, Tyler Glasnow, and coming in at #100, Walker Buehler.
Gavin Lux Scouting Report Baseball Prospectus
Arm 50 Might be a hair below average arm strength, but quick transitions and an accurate arm lead to more than enough ability to get the ball into 1B in time on the vast majority of plays
2020 scouting reports for BA: Lux is a leader in the infield at shortstop. He attacks the ball, reads hops well and gets the ball out quickly. Lux has the athleticism, lateral range and above-average arm strength to stick at shortstop, but longstanding throwing accuracy issues make him more reliable at second base.
Huh? Accurate or not?
And what has happened to Lux’s arm since he was scouted? His arm strength was lost? How?
And as far as accuracy is concerned 5 years in the organization working with professional coaches should have fixed that.
If this can’t be fixed it’s an organizational failure. He was drafted in the first round as a shortstop. This is his 6th year in the organization and they believe he can’t play that position? I’m not buying it.
I keep reading about other teams prospects. Those teams are not going to trade any of their better prospects unless they get better players in return. This is just not going to happen. And if the team decides in 4 months they need to make a middle infield move then maybe Adames will be an option. I suspect there be others as well. In the meantime I suggest the Dodgers fix it themselves. Get Lux back to 6.
The Korean National Team is what it is, but Gavin Stone was still awfully impressive. Great command and great movement. Fastball up to 97. Miller was good, but Stone was awesome.
I have zero interest in Blake Snell. Investing $30m+ in him means he’d play no matter what. He’d be taking the spot of guys like Stone, Sheehan, Knack, Hurt and eventually River Ryan.
Big bucks are invested in Glasnow and Yoshi already. The rotation of Glasnow, Yoshi, Miller, Paxton and Stone seems fine, and we should see Sheehan and Buhler before long, with Kershaw due after the all-star break.
And next season, we’ll see Shohei pitch too.
Got up early and watched the game. Miller did a decent job, but Stone was lights out. Named 5th starter by Roberts after the game. Korea kept changing pitchers. Some had some pretty nasty stuff. Teoscar struck out three times. Max hit the ball hard and Taylor with a homer to right. Had to go lie back down, I was tired. Bring on San Diego, it’s clobbering time!
I believe the Dodgers official statement on Gavin Stone was “Gavin Stone is permanently our #5 starter. For now”
Back from 4 days in AZ. Only got to see one Dodger game (their last before Korea) but it was a fun afternoon. YY looked great until he looked awful, but from the way he walked off the mound, I don’t think he was bothered all that much by his outing. Looked like he might have been experimenting a little.
DePaula got into the game in the late innings and made a very nice running/diving catch in right field. Made me think that he might not be restricted to DH after all.
First time back to ST since 2019 and ticket prices have really zoomed in the last few years.
Also, there has been a distinct change in weather patterns. When I first went in 2011 it was unusual to be at a game where the temp was below 90 degrees. This time, we had a game rained out and one night game that got so cold and windy that we left in the 7th (probably wouldn’t have done so if it had been the Dodgers but we were watching Reds-Rangers). My son, who goes every year, tells me this seems to be the norm these days.
There were 8 of us in an Airbnb and 2 of the guys were great cooks, so we ate very well, including rib eyes on the bbq the last night. A great group of varying ages, backgrounds and heritages which made for some great conversation when we weren’t talking baseball. It reinforced my opinion that it’s still possible to gather different types of people under one roof for a period of time and have absolutely no nasty behavior. Lots of different opinions but we all left as friends.
Snell to the Giants.
2 years, 62 mil with an opt out after the first year.
Snell to the Giants. Oh joy! Sauce for the goose. We’ll still kick their ass