The Los Angeles Dodgers have had a pitching pipeline unlike perhaps any other organization in baseball over the past several years. Most recently, the Dodgers have seen top pitching prospects Walker Buehler, Julio Urias, Dustin May and Tony Gonsolin all have success at the Major League level.
Next on the list could be Josiah Gray, who was acquired in the trade that sent Yasiel Puig, Matt Kemp, Alex Wood and Kyle Farmer to the Cincinnati Reds.
The former second-round pick out of LeMoyne College had a breakout season in his first year in the Dodgers organization. In 26 games (25 starts) between Low-A Great Lakes, High-A Rancho Cucamonga and Double-A Tulsa, Gray went 11-2 with a 2.28 ERA and 0.99 WHIP with 147 strikeouts and only 31 walks in 130 innings.
After flying through the Dodgers’ system, he was named the organization’s Branch Rickey Minor League Pitcher of the Year. Now in his first big league Spring Training with the club, Gray spoke about how honored he was to win that award, via Carson Field of Baseball America:
“I don’t know how it came to be,” Gray said. “To be minor league pitcher of the year for this organization says a lot to how much they’ve helped me and how much I’ve grown in the last two or three years as being a pitcher. Every day I’m grateful for it.”
The right-hander pitched in his first Cactus League game for the Dodgers on Wednesday, tossing a scoreless inning against the L.A. Angels.
If he continues to throw the ball well this spring, it would not be surprising to see Gray start the 2020 season at Triple-A Oklahoma City despite only pitching nine games at the Double-A level last year.
May and Gonsolin both made their MLB debuts for the Dodgers in 2019 and wound up becoming essential parts of the pitching staff both as starters and relievers. May even made L.A.’s postseason roster and appeared in two games out of the bullpen against the Washington Nationals in the National League Division Series.
The gameplan seems to be similar for Gray this year as Dodgers manager Dave Roberts recently indicated that he could get the call to the big leagues at some point during the season.
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