In this latest installment of our weekly Dodgers prospect watch feature, we decided to take a look at a handful of youngsters who were able to earn promotions across at least one level of the farm system this season. And, coincidentally enough, by some standards, all five are not terribly far away from making their respective big league debuts.
Continue reading “Dodgers Prospect Watch: Rios, Locastro, Ramos, Buehler & More”
In just a little over three weeks, many rosters across baseball will be expanding in size as allowed by MLB regulations, and the Dodgers will presumably be seeing quite a few additions to the active squad. Many fans are vaguely familiar with the methodology, as there are a few who admittedly don’t know the finer details of the whole process. Yet those folks can remain at ease, because we’re conveniently here to shine a little light on some of the rules and make a few predictions as to which players will be (re)joining the team.
Continue reading “Dodgers Roster Expansion: What to Expect in Early September”
For almost a month now, there have been whispers around the Dodgers‘ clubhouse regarding a possible big league promotion for pitching prospect Walker Buehler sometime after rosters expand in the beginning of September. If it does indeed happen, it’s a move that would be beneficial twofold — an opportunity to provide a small break for the Los Angeles pitching staff, but perhaps more importantly, a chance to boost Buehler’s pace of development with the organization moving forward.
Continue reading “Is Walker Buehler Ready to Make a Big League Contribution?”
With the 2017 non-waiver trade deadline now only a handful of days away, pundits around the league are still just speculating about any potential moves from the Dodgers, as the club’s front office continues to appear relatively calm and quiet.
Continue reading “Which Prospects Would Dodgers Sacrifice for an Elite Starting Pitcher?”
With the 2017 non-waiver trade deadline almost at the two-week mark, much of the recent chatter in the Dodgers‘ camp has been about potentially acquiring help for the bullpen. Plenty of prospective additions have been tossed around the baseball blogosphere thus far, however, if the availability of some of the better relievers eventually dissipates, there may be a few options that the club could decide to utilize from within. And while much of the speculation has suggested the need for a left-handed pitcher, it just might be one of the righty kids on the farm who makes the biggest difference in the end.
Continue reading “Dodgers Bullpen: 3 Potential Internal Additions for Second Half of Season”
The last time we checked on the progress of Dodgers‘ pitching prospect Walker Buehler, the young righty was coming off a successful return to the bump, having contributed to the postseason success of Low-A Great Lakes after missing more than a year recovering from Tommy John surgery.
Continue reading “Dodgers Prospect Watch: Walker Buehler Rising Quickly”
Now that the regular season is quickly approaching its third week, we’re finding out a bit more on a daily basis about why a handful of players in the Dodgers‘ system mysteriously disappeared from their normal roster statuses during the early phases of the 2017 campaign.
Continue reading “Dodgers Prospect Watch: Yadier Alvarez Finally Beginning to Stir”
The countdown is on — just two weeks until the Dodgers open up the season against the San Diego Padres. Clayton Kershaw will be the starter that day, but on his last start he looked less than Kershaw-like. Kersh allowed three home runs, four runs total on six hits in five innings. He also had eight strikeouts and two walks.
Continue reading “Dodgers Cactus League Notes: Kershaw, Ethier, Seager, Urías, Buehler & More”
For those who are very familiar with the farm system of the Dodgers, they’ll know that there are three different tiers when categorizing the levels of starting pitching talent throughout the organization. The top tier, consisting of young, MLB-ready premium throwers like Julio Urias, Jose De Leon, Ross Stripling and Brock Stewart, sets the standard across baseball. The intermediate tier features names like Trevor Oaks, Chase De Jong, Carlos Frias and Scott Barlow — all pitchers considered to be right on the fringe, but could probably assume No. 5 big league spots for almost any team in the league. Then there’s the third tier, which is made up of future stars like Yadier Alvarez, Mitchell White, Josh Sborz, Imani Abdullah and Andrew Sopko. This lower tier puts an exclamation point on how strong and incredibly deep the Dodgers’ minor league system has actually become.
Continue reading “Dodgers Prospects: A Quick Glance at Walker Buehler”
Think Blue Planning Committee 