Dodgers News: Gavin Stone Has Impressed Dave Roberts On and Away from the Field

Dodgers pitching prospect Gavin Stone is doing everything right in the eyes of Dave Roberts.

Dodgers pitching prospect Gavin Stone put together an incredible outing on Sunday against the Oakland A's. He tossed 3 scoreless innings, striking out 8 and walking none. That brings his stat line this spring to 4 appearances, 6.2 innings pitched, zero earned runs, and 14 strikeouts.

That's impressive enough for a rookie to make his mark with any manager. But, for Dave Roberts, where Stone is impressing him most is away from the field.

“He’s watched every single inning of every game at home. For a young player, especially a pitcher, to just sit there and watch games on days he’s not participating is telling.”

That's a guy who's hungry to get better. Stone told DodgersNation.com that he maximizing his time around the big league club watching guys like Clayton Kershaw, Julio Urias, Walker Buehler, Noah Syndergaard, and the like and how they go about their work on a day to day basis.

"[They] give me a guideline of who I need to be to have that long, successful career just like they have."

On the baseball side of things, the 24-year-old's stuff is speaking for itself. He dominated in the minor leagues last season en route to earning Minor League Pitcher of the Year honors from the Dodgers. He posted a 1.48 ERA over 121.2 innings across three levels in 2022. The hurler seemingly got better at each stop along the way, as evidenced by his ridiculous 1.16 ERA at the Triple-A level.

“You see the mound presence, the ability to command the baseball, to pitch from behind when he needs to, to throw a strike when he needs to with a fastball, and it’s just fun to watch,” Roberts said. “It’s what we expect out of Gavin, and he’s only going to get better, which is exciting for us.”

Following his electric performance against the A's on Sunday, Stone's confidence was sky-high.

“I feel like that’s the key to being a good pitcher and being dominant on the mound, having confidence. If you don’t, then hitters are going to have better at-bats. So that’s my main focus, to stay as confident as possible, because if I throw my stuff, then I know my stuff is better than their stuff.”

Gavin Stone is going to be a baaaaad man for the Dodgers at some point this season. All he needs to do is stay healthy and wait for that opportunity to do what he does best.