Dodgers Analyst 'Impressed' by Gavin Stone, LA Pitching Prospect
Dodgers pitching prospect Gavin Stone has shot up L.A.'s prospect rankings since being drafted with the 159th pick in the 2020 draft (which only had 160 picks). Stone posted a solid 3.76 ERA across two levels (Low-A and High-A) in 2021, but his 138 strikeouts in 91 innings gave a hint of what was to come.
Things really took off for Stone in 2022. His strikeout rate went down slightly, from a ridiculous 36.5% to an excellent 33.9%, but his WHIP also went down, from 1.231 to 1.118. When all was said and done, Stone posted a 1.48 ERA in 121.2 innings between High-A, Double-A, and Triple-A, ending up as L.A.'s number-four prospect according to Baseball Prospectus and knocking on the door of the big leagues.
SportsNetLA analyst and former Dodger Jerry Hairston Jr. saw Stone in action recently, and he came away as impressed as everyone else who has seen him.
Stone's changeup is his calling card, a pitch MLB Pipeline rates as a 70 on the 20-80 scouting scale and have listed as as one of the best among all right-handed pitching prospects. BP was also very high on Stone's change:
His changeup might flat out be the best in the minors. It tunnels well off the fastball with big sink and run, and when it isn’t missing bats—which is a lot of the time—it induces weak ground ball contact.
It's not just Stone's cambio, either. He has a solid three-pitch mix, with a fastball and a slider than also left the BP folks very impressed.
Unsurprisingly Stone throws the change almost as much as his fastball, which is mid-90s with excellent vertical action. His command of the fastball is less excellent, but he keeps it off the fat part of the barrel enough. He also has a pretty good slider which plays especially well off his change, showing similar depth, but taking a sharp left turn instead of fading off to the right.
Stone likely won't break camp with the big-league club, but we'll surely get to see him in action in spring training, and he should be ready for the majors at some point this season. And if Hairston and all the scouts are right, it should be quite a sight to see.
