The Los Angeles Dodgers farm system is among the best in baseball, as president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and his front office have made restocking their crop of prospects a focal point.
The Dodgers’ top two prospects are a pitching duo that are currently part of the Triple-A Oklahoma City rotation, left-hander Julio Urias and right-hander Jose De Leon.
While Urias is off to a strong start to this season, going 3-1 with a 1.50 ERA in six games (five starts) to go along with 33 strikeouts in 30 innings, De Leon has made just one start up to this point.
He was sidelined with a minor ankle injury, though Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said the club intended to hold De Leon back during the early stages of the season. De Leon made his first start for Oklahoma City on May 3, throwing five shutout innings.
According to Bill Shaikin of the LA Times, De Leon’s next outing is being pushed back due to arm soreness:
#Dodgers RHP prospect Jose De Leon made first start of year last week, reported sore arm after. LAD giving him extra rest before next start.
— Bill Shaikin (@BillShaikin) May 9, 2016
De Leon allowed two hits and collected nine strikeouts in his 2016 debut. The start was also the first of his career at the Triple-A level. De Leon finished with a 2.99 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and 163 strikeouts in 114.1 innings pitched over 23 starts in time split between High-A Rancho Cucamonga and Double-A Tulsa last season.
De Leon went 2-6 with a 3.64 ERA and 1.17 WHIP in 16 starts for the Drillers. His arm soreness isn’t believed to be serious.
