Dodgers News: Three Pitching Prospects Earn Minor League Promotions
Two of the Dodgers' top pitching prospects and a third who might be on that list soon have earned promotions in the minor leagues. As Kyle Glaser of Baseball America reported, Bobby Miller and Gavin Stone were promoted from Double-A to Triple-A and Nick Nastrini heads to Double-A.
Bobby Miller
The top pitching prospect in the Dodgers organization, Miller has a power fastball along with a wipeout slider, and his changeup is drastically improved. He started the Futures Game for the National League, and he has 117 strikeouts in 91 innings at Double-A Tulsa this year. The season has not been without its challenges — his ERA at Tulsa was 4.45 — but the strikeout rate is elite and he put it all together with 7.1 shutout innings in his final start there.
With this promotion to Triple-A, there remains a chance that Miller will see time in the big leagues this year.
Gavin Stone
Stone was not a top prospect until recently. Picked five rounds after Miller in the shortened 2020 draft, Stone pitched decently at both levels of A-ball last year before really turning things up this season. His velocity took a big jump his first year in the Dodgers organization, and this season he has turned into more of a complete pitcher. Across 20 games at High-A Great Lakes and Double-A Tulsa, he has a 1.56 ERA with 135 strikeouts in 98.1 innings pitched. Triple-A is his second promotion of the season, and he has jumped into several top 100 prospects lists.
Nick Nastrini
Nastrini was drafted out of UCLA in the fourth round last year. His junior season as a Bruin was a disaster, with the yips causing him to walk 38 hitters in 31.1 innings. The Dodgers took a chance on his raw stuff, and they seem to have fixed the command issues. Nastrini has just 39 walks to go along with 127 strikeouts in 86.1 innings this season at Great Lakes, earning the promotion to Tulsa. Glaser refers to Nastrini as a "big riser," and he should start showing up more highly on Dodgers prospect lists.