For those who may have missed it on Tuesday, the Los Angeles Dodgers announced that they have acquired first baseman/outfielder Ryan Noda as the final player to be named in the Ross Stripling trade with the Toronto Blue Jays.
The deal was originally orchestrated in the waning moments of last season’s Aug. 31 trade deadline. Initially, the Dodgers were to receive two PTBNL from the Blue Jays, but 20-year-old righty starting pitcher Kendall Williams was sent to Los Angeles in the first installment of the trade. The arrival of Noda finishes the deal.
Believe it or not, Noda fits perfectly into the Los Angeles mix, at least from a perspective of balance. In previous columns, we discussed the older, journeyman outfielders in the system like DJ Peters, Zach Reks and Luke Raley, whose MLB clocks might conceivably be ticking. Conversely, there are some up-and-comers around like 20-year-old Andy Pages, 19-year-old Jake Vogel and 18-year-old Luis Rodriguez, but their respective big-league arrivals might be several more years away.
The good thing about Noda is that he falls somewhere in between all these players at 24 years of age. And, as an added bonus, he is more than comfortable at handling the duties at first base.
The 6-foot-3, 217-lb. lefty hitting and lefty throwing Noda was selected by the Blue Jays in the 15th round of the 2017 MLB draft out of the University of Cincinnati.
His best season in the minors was perhaps his first year in the Toronto system in 2017, when he slashed .364/.507/.575 in Low-A rookie ball, producing a very impressive 1.082 OPS.
In 2018, his power surge began when he hit a total of 20 homers in the Midwest League after hitting just seven the previous season. In 2019, he slugged 13 homers, but tacked on 27 doubles to his stat line.
Although his batting averages have been trending downward, his knack for getting on base is brilliant. As mentioned, his OBP in 2017 was an insane .507, but he also posted OBP marks of .421 and .372 in 2018 and 2019, respectively.
In 124 games for Class-A Lansing in 2018, he tallied a whopping 109 walks.
To boot, he has stolen 14 bases in each of the 2018 and 2019 seasons.
Obviously, Noda will not make an impact at the big-league level anytime soon, but he could eventually challenge Reks, Peters and Raley for the top outfield spots at Triple-A, especially if he continues to hit for power.
Theoretically, Noda might have the eventual edge because of his overall better defensive skills along with his versatility to cover first base.
While he’ll probably begin his 2021 campaign at Double-A Tulsa, he could move up to Oklahoma City in a timely fashion, especially if the organization finally gives Peters a chance to take some hacks in the majors.
An interesting player as his strikeouts are high but his OBP as this article says is high. Plus he has power and is a good defender. His age at 24 is in between the current guys Reks, Peters, etc, and the younger of Vogel, etc.
Highly unlikely we see this player unless he somehow gets his strikeouts more in control. Not a bad pick-up for a toss of the dice type talent. He will either get much better at contact or never break-through. The Dodger’s coaching staff may be able to help his progression.
Good point Dennis about Noda’s fitting in age wise where we have a hole in the prospect pool and that may very well be the number one reason that AF ultimately chose him from the names he was given as options.
I’ll be interested to see what progress he makes in cutting down on his k’s. Also, it was pointed out that he has been older than the competition everywhere he has played so far so that could also be a reason for some of his excellent numbers. Time will tell.
All you gotta do is look at his launch angle in the above photo. I bet Mr. Von Scoyac is beaming.
His history says he may have missed LOL
Sounds to me like a Joc Petersen replica, which is not a bad thing, if he could do what Joc did for us, I think everyone would be happy.
Little known fact: Ryan Noda (Grant HS, Fox Lake, IL) Bobby Miller (Mchenry HS, Mchenry IL) Kevin Malisheski (Wauconda HS, Wauconda IL) all grew up in about a 15 mile radius. What are the odds that they all ended up in the Dodger organization? Kevin as a sophomore faced Noda as a Senior .
What are the odds that Mike Malisheski is related to Kevin Malisheski? Father? Brother? Uncle? Total stranger and just coincidence that you have the same last name?
Kevin is bound to have a great career Mike. That 2016 draft class was can’t miss. Incredible how many of those guys have made it so far.
Please fill us in with a little more info. Looks like he’s starting the year at Rancho and that he’s a strike out guy, yes?