Now seems like as good a time as any to discuss Triple-A Oklahoma City right-hander Jose De Leon and a potential call up. He is the Los Angeles Dodgers’ top prospect after Julio Urias graduated, was just named the Pacific Coast League’s Pitcher of the Week and has been knocking on the door for nearly a year.
However, circumstances out of De Leon’s control will likely prevent him from making his debut until next season. For the few of you who may be unfamiliar with De Leon, let’s review some of the basics.
After being selected in the 24th round of the 2013 draft, the Dodgers made some mechanical tweaks to De Leon’s delivery and worked him into better physical shape.
The results were increased velocity, a near-elite changeup and the proclivity to chalk up strikeouts in bunches. He blew through the low Minors with ease, going from rookie ball to Double-A in a less than a calendar year.
De Leon is now the ace of the Oklahoma City Dodgers’ rotation. He’s strung together a trio of starts with at least 10 strikeouts, whiffing 33 batters and walking none.
It seemed like De Leon was primed to make his Major League debut in 2016, with injuries beginning to pile up early in the year. However, the injury bug bit him as well.
The 24-year-old missed the first month of the season with a sprained ankle, then missed another month with a sore right shoulder. In that span, he saw a number of pitchers on the Major League roster hit the disabled list and some of his teammates, including Urias, make their big league debuts.
The timing of De Leon’s injuries was key in his remaining in the Minors for so long. Had he been healthy early in the year, it’s likely he would have replaced Alex Wood instead of Urias in May. Then, when Brock Stewart was called up in June, De Leon was on the DL.
So now that he’s healthy, why isn’t De Leon up? Well, it’s complicated. The Dodgers currently have 49 players on their 40-man roster; that’s due to the club having nine players on the 60-day DL.
While some of those players won’t be back this year, others will. If/when Clayton Kershaw or Andre Ethier is activated from the 60-day DL, someone on the 40-man roster needs to be removed.
That means if De Leon is added to the 40-man, unless another injured player is added to the 60-day DL, yet another player will need to be designated for assignment and exposed to waivers, where the club could lose them.
One could argue that De Leon is one of the best five starting pitchers available to the Dodgers right now, but he’s fought injuries this year and in the past, so if he comes up and gets hurt it simply creates another headache for the club.
If De Leon comes up and struggles, he’ll wind up either not being used or not producing. Then you’ve removed someone from the 40-man roster for a player who isn’t contributing.
While De Leon absolutely deserves a spot in what’s left of the big-league rotation, it’s important to understand the organization’s mindset. The Dodgers must add De Leon to their 40-man roster after this season ends to avoid losing him in the Rule 5 Draft.
Adding De Leon now solves that problem early. However, with several roster decisions looming, including the likely return of starters like Brett Anderson, Scott Kazmir and Brandon McCarthy, bringing up De Leon for what may only amount to a spot start might create more problems than it solves.
Should the Dodgers call up Jose De Leon? Let @JaredJMassey and @DodgerBlue1958 know on Twitter! You can listen to Jared on the weekly Dugout Blues Podcast
