The Los Angeles Dodgers front office has been rather crafty with their acquisitions, making no exception when they acquired southpaw Edward Paredes from the Cincinnati Reds. Via the Rule 5 Draft, the Dodgers were able to scoop up Paredes and began to dissect and analyze his pitching arsenal.
Paredes has faced a long journey during his baseball career, spending time in the Minor Leagues and Independent Leagues since 2006 with different franchises. It was until 2017 when the 31-year-old would make his Major League debut, thanks to the Dodgers.
The Dominican Republic native spent the beginning of the 2017 campaign with Double-A Tulsa and Triple-A Oklahoma City, where he would post impressive numbers. In 24 appearances with the Drillers, he put together a 2.81 ERA and 1.41 WHIP, while posting an average of 12.9 strikeouts per nine innings.
He then assembled a 2-1 record over 11 outings with the OKC Dodgers, with a 0.75 ERA, 0.83 WHIP, 3.50 strikeout-to-walk ratio, with an average of 15.8 strikeouts per nine frames. He ultimately received the call-up on July 24, pitching a scoreless inning on 11 pitches against the Minnesota Twins. Paredes made another appearance before being optioned down, waiting until the end of August for another call-up to the Dodgers.
Over an eight-game stretch from the end of August to the end of the season, Paredes surrendered three runs on eight hits, while striking out 10 batters and issuing zero walks. Alas, Paredes didn’t make the postseason roster, as he was beaten out by Kenta Maeda for the final roster spot in the bullpen in the National League Divisional Series.
2017 Highlight:
Perhaps Paredes’ most impressive performance of the season came during the Sept. 2 doubleheader against the San Diego Padres. He was able to strike out the only batter he faced during the first contest, while also being thrust into the second contest of the day.
Yu Darvish surrendered five runs during his first three innings pitched, causing manager Dave Roberts to pull their mid-season acquisition from the game. Paredes would then inserted in the fourth inning with two runners already on base and zero outs. Under the pressure of keeping the deficit at a minimum, Paredes would strikeout Corey Spangenberg and Hector Sanchez swinging, before being lifted from the game.
2018 Outlook:
Paredes is still under club control for the 2018 season, so he will be in the mix to earn one of the left-handed bullpen spots out of Spring Training.
Given how much the Dodgers front office values depth, even if he begins the season in Triple-A, he will likely see time at the big league level at some point in 2018.
