The Los Angeles Dodgers added Chase De Jong, Caleb Dirks and Jacob Rhame to their list of non-roster invitees for Spring Training. The trio of right-handers brings the club’s total to number of non-roster invitees to 20.
Ten of which are pitchers. Los Angeles initially announced a group of 16 invitees on Jan. 25, headlined by Cody Bellinger, Jose De Leon and Julio Urias.
Brandon Beachy was sent outright to Triple-A Oklahoma City two days later and added to the list of participants for Spring Training.
The Dodgers acquired De Jong and infielder Tim Locastro from the Toronto Blue Jays last July in exchange for three international bonus pool slots.
Toronto selected De Jong out of Wilson High School (Long Beach, Calif.) in the second round of the 2012 draft.
He was part of three Spring Training camps with the Blue Jays. De Jong appeared in 11 games (10 starts) with High-A Rancho Cucamonga last season, going 4-3 with a 3.96 ERA, 1.18 WHIP and 52 strikeouts to 15 walks over 50 innings pitched.
At the time still 21 years old, De Jong started Game 1 in both of the Quakes’ postseason series. They won a decided fifth game in the first round, then swept the San Jose Giants to win the 2015 California League title.
Dirks was also acquired in a July trade that involved the Dodgers dealing an international bonus slot. They sent one to the Atlanta Braves in exchange for Dirks and outfielder Jordan Paroubeck.
Dirks pitched nine games with the Quakes before getting promoted to Double-A Tulsa once the calendar turned to August. The 22-year-old reliever finished with a combined 1.16 ERA, 35 strikeouts and eight walks in 23.1 innings with the Dodgers’ affiliates.
The Riverside, Calif., native was taken in the 15th round of the 2014 draft by the Braves. Rhame, a Dodgers sixth-round draft pick in 2013, spent last season with the Quakes and Drillers.
He opened the year with 13 strikeouts in seven scoreless innings over five relief appearances in the Cal League. In 39 games with the Drillers, Rhame finished with a 3.06 ERA, 1.06 WHIP and 57 strikeouts over 50 innings pitched.
