Inside The Dodgers

Dodgers Bringing Up Speedy Outfielder From Triple-A: Source

J.P. Hoornstra|
Oklahoma City outfielder Justin Dean (3) steals second base past Sugar Land infielder Edwin Díaz (31) during a minor league baseball game between the Oklahoma City Comets and the Sugar Land Space Cowboys at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City, on July 10.
Oklahoma City outfielder Justin Dean (3) steals second base past Sugar Land infielder Edwin Díaz (31) during a minor league baseball game between the Oklahoma City Comets and the Sugar Land Space Cowboys at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City, on July 10. | NATHAN J. FISH/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Justin Dean has paid his dues in the minor leagues, going from a 17th-round draft pick by the Atlanta Braves in 2018 to a minor league free agent pickup by the Dodgers last December.

Now, after four months at Triple-A Oklahoma City, Dean will have a locker in a major league clubhouse for the first time. A source confirmed Wednesday that Dean is heading to Los Angeles to join the Dodgers.

Casey Porter was first to report the news Wednesday on Twitter/X:

A standout in college at Division II Lenoir-Rhyne University, Dean married his superlative speed with a knack for getting on base with the Dodgers' top farm team.

In 80 games with Oklahoma City, he slashed .279/.376/.434 with 25 stolen bases in 32 attempts.

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Dean, 28, is listed at 5-foot-8 and 185 pounds. What he lacks in height, he makes up for with speed. In eight minor league seasons, he's stolen 237 bases in 291 attempts.

Dean has made 57 of his 72 starts for the Comets in center field; the rest have come in right field.

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It's unclear whether Dean, who is not on the Dodgers' 40-man roster, is being promoted to replace an injured player, or to serve as insurance in case another player is determined to need an IL stint in the days to come. The Dodgers are off Thursday before hosting the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday.

In Wednesday's loss to the St. Louis Cardinals, Dodgers left fielder Alex Call crashed into the wall in the first inning robbing Brendan Donovan of a possible extra-base hit. Donovan was the first batter of the game, and Call played nine innings in the field, so Dean's arrival might be unrelated.

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Dean likely helped his own cause by kicking off August with a four-game hitting streak. Tuesday in El Paso, he hit a home run and a double as part of a 2-for-5 performance for Oklahoma City.

Dean split the 2022-24 seasons between Atlanta's Triple-A Gwinnett and Double-A Mississippi affiliates. While the time in Gwinnett allowed Dean to play about two hours from his home town of Mauldin, South Carolina, it did not afford him the chance to get called up to Atlanta.

Dean appeared in 14 spring training games with the Braves each of the last two years. In his first Cactus League experience with the Dodgers, Dean slashed .250/.500/.333 in 18 plate appearances.

If he appears in a game, Dean will be the 60th different player — and the 22nd different position player — used by the Dodgers this season.

For more Dodgers news, head over to Dodgers on SI.

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J.P. Hoornstra
J.P. HOORNSTRA

J.P. Hoornstra is an On SI Contributor. A veteran of 20 years of sports coverage for daily newspapers in California, J.P. covered MLB, the Los Angeles Dodgers, and the Los Angeles Angels (occasionally of Anaheim) from 2012-23 for the Southern California News Group. His first book, The 50 Greatest Dodgers Games of All-Time, published in 2015. In 2016, he won an Associated Press Sports Editors award for breaking news coverage. He once recorded a keyboard solo on the same album as two of the original Doors.

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