Dodgers Roster News: LA Cuts 5 Minor Leaguers

A little late spring cleaning for the Dodgers organization.

Earlier this week, the Dodgers randomly cleaned house down at the lower ranks of the minor leagues, releasing four pitchers and one outfielder.

#Dodgers have released the following minor league players:

RHP Edgar Aviles
RHP Cole Percival
RHP Steven Castillo
LHP Julian Smith
OF Michael Reed

— MiLB-Transactions (@tombaseball29) May 12, 2023

The Dodgers signed 17-year-old Edgar Aviles out of Mexico during the 2022 international signing period. He struggled during 17 games at the Dominican Summer League, allowing 14 earned runs over 24.1 innings. The now 18-year-old didn't pitch anywhere this year and now has been released.

Cole Percival is the son of Angels legend and World Series champion Troy Percival. The younger Percival was a victim of the pandemic season, missing out on being selected in the shortened draft class out of UC Riverside. The full story is explained well by Jeff Snider here, but ultimately Percival ended up signing with the Dodgers in 2021.

After parts of three seasons with LA, and a 4.51 ERA over 69 appearances, the club made him part of this recent round of cuts. However, he quickly signed a deal with the team he grew up rooting for, as he announced on his Instagram page.

Steven Castillo was part of the 2022 international signing period as well. The right-hander was signed out of Nicaragua and just got into 10 games in the Dominican Summer League as an 17-year-old last season. He allowed 10 runs over 14.2 innings.

This one is perhaps the most surprising one from the list. Left-hander, Julian Smith, was drafted out of a JuCo in the 15th round back in 2018 and has some electric stuff, according to some prospects watchers. However, he's struggled to find the strike zone with regularity. He's also struggled to miss bats at times, as his 1.674 career WHIP at the minor leagues will tell you. The now 26-year-old got into 6 games at the high-A level this season, allowing 3 runs over 7 innings.

Michael Reed is a veteran of 7 minor league seasons. The 28-year-old was originally a 2nd round pick by the Padres in 2016. He joined the Dodgers last season and made it as high as Triple-A this year.