Taken in the second round of the 2018 MLB Draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers, pitching prospect Michael Grove saw his 2022 mainly spent with Triple-A Oklahoma City but made a few spots starts for the big league club throughout the year.
Grove’s first opportunity with the Dodgers came against the Philadelphia Phillies in May for his MLB debut. It was the expected mixed bag of results but left the team encouraged.
What made Grove’s MLB debut all the more impressive was he joined the Dodgers from Double-A Tulsa. He went 0-1 with a 2.76 ERA and held opponents to a .180 batting average during those outings.
For the Dodgers, Grove appeared in seven games (six starts), yielding a 4.60 ERA that was somewhat inflated due to allowing four runs to the Colorado Rockies in his final time on the mound.
Although Grove began the season with the Drillers, he was optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City after making his debut and returned there from a second stint with the Dodgers.
In 14 games (12 starts) with OKC, Grove went 1-4 with a 4.07 ERA and 68 strikeouts across 59.2 innings of work.
Michael Grove 2022 highlight
Heading into his second-to-last start of the 2022 season, Grove posted arguably his strongest outing of the year as he took the mound on September 25 against the St. Louis Cardinals in a game in which he earned his first Major League win.
Dazzling for five innings, Grove allowed just one earned run across three hits while striking out three and walking three.
In what would be at the time the 106th win of the season for the Dodgers, they defeated the Cardinals, 4-1.
2023 outlook
While one could argue that Grove still has improvements to make before garnering a full-time roster spot for the Dodgers, his past seasons, especially a jump from 2021 to 2022, signal a future reliable arm.
Coupled by consistent numbers in Triple-A, and the ability to make spot starts in 2022 at the big league level, Grove would be up for consideration as a backend bullpen piece or long reliever with a more permanent assignment looming in the future.
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