The Dodgers’ Player Development System is Broken

Many believe it is a legacy of excellence. Players like Clayton Kershaw, Sandy Koufax, and Fernando Valenzuela grew up in the confines of Chavez Ravine and for them, it was smooth sailing from the start. The Dodgers have always put up this front: take care of the young players, prevent the injuries, and limit them in their preliminary professional years. But, behind this facade of micro-managed care, is an ugly giant, one where an organization has hurt, and continues to hurt, their young pitchers making their way to the major leagues. A history of inconsistencies in pitcher development is capping the success a young arm can have.

Imagine spending a season on an airplane. Fans have nicknamed it the OKC Express, a trip that appears to never stop for a pitcher who makes his way between the major and minor leagues almost every week. It is a next man up system but one that keeps young players from playing and diminishes them to merely a number- number 25.

On a 25-man roster, it is this player who rounds out the list. The guy with no permanent home, the guy who spends his season in the air, not on the diamond.

For pitchers like Brock Stewart, the early years of their previously highly touted careers were essentially wasted. Stewart, a quick riser through the Dodgers’ farm system has spent what feels like more time on an airplane this year than he has on one team.

And Stewart is just one example of the troubling truth that is the Dodgers player development system. The current format, better labeled as a habit, stands in the way of developing routine, rhythm, and consistency on the diamond.

This consistency that Dodger minor leaguers cannot get is detrimental to their development. Athletes are creatures of habit. They need routine. For a player to be successful he needs to find himself in games regularly, not airports.

Last year and the year before, the Dodgers were infamously known for the short leash on young players, calling them up and sending them down after just one or two appearances, good or bad.  

The history of shuttling players back and forth, especially in the Dodgers organization is lengthy. Rookies, tender and young, some of whom are recovering Tommy John patients, live on the OKC shuttle and these players benefit nothing from it.

The shuttle is dangerous. It is time away from the game and that is time for the body to slow down, to turn off its “in season mode” and lowers a pitchers ability to throw the ball in an effective manner. And, the problem does not stop for the top prospects.

The most troubling in this issue is the shuttle rule does not only apply to a mid-level prospect. Julio Urias is a prime example.

The Dodgers were blessed by Urias, a 19-year old pitcher who threw the ball better than players 10 years older than he was. In 2016 the Dodgers could no longer hold the teenager back from the majors and ultimately granted him a promotion to the bigs. It was short lived.

His first start was good, nothing special but he got the job done. The Dodgers optioned him directly after it was over just to recall him a week later. Following his second promotion, the Dodgers moved him to the bullpen, a place where your pitching style must change to aggressive and hard-throwing from finesse and longevity.  

But by now the damage had been done. Urias who was so young and raw but now, he was being shuttled from Triple-A to The Show and from the pen to the rotation.

Again, what does this do to a player? It takes away his ability to perform at his highest level. Now being put in a game by game situation, player play to prove themselves, overplaying the situation, and underperforming in reality. For a young ballplayer, making it to the major leagues is a reward for years of being underpaid and mistreated in the minors. And now, it is just game by game that they hang onto their roster spots.

In the words of Michael Duarte of NBC, it is this inconsistency that leads to the demise of many young superstars:

“Athletes are creatures of habit,” Duarte said. “They eat the same, dress the same, heck, they won’t even shave if it means they can maintain a specific level of success.

So when an athlete is constantly shuttled back and forth from AAA to the Show, it fractures their routine and rhythm. Often times, it can disrupt success at either level and can have a negative effect on a player’s psyche. There’s nothing more frustrating than being sent back down to the minors just days after the adrenaline rush of being called up to the big leagues.”

The best example of the psychological toll this can have on an athlete is the story of Dodgers shortstop and center fielder Chris Taylor.

Taylor told Duarte in 2017, that the most difficult part of his baseball career was the constant back and forth between the Major Leagues and Triple-A Tacoma in 2016 as a member of the Seattle Mariners organization.

“It was frustrating every time I got sent down,” said Taylor. “It’s a roller coaster ride: getting called up and sent down. Last year (2016) with the Mariners I got called up. I was up for one game, had a bad game, and got immediately sent down. That was pretty tough. To only get one chance at it is tough.”

But, for some players, their wiring is different and the shuttle method is preferred, not dreaded. For those players this system is a glimmer of hope, it is an opportunity. The way the Dodgers use the disabled list and the minor leagues, players know they will get the chance to come up to the big leagues and get their feet wet. So, for a player on the cusp of a roster, getting shuttled back and forth is just more exposure and, quite frankly, it is better than no call-up at all.

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The Dodgers are struggling this year and perhaps now more than ever, they need their depth to perform at its best. Thus, decisions must be made. If a pitcher gets called up, give him ten days at minimum to prove his worth. If he is being moved to the bullpen then let him play reliever in the major and minor leagues because the way he will learn to pitch and get outs will change by his role.

The same applies to a position player. Rather than swing for the fences to try and turn heads and stay in the majors, young batters who find themselves in a more consistent role can get comfortable and with batting, comfort is key. And if you’ll notice, even amidst more success than his teammates, Alex Verdugo has already made his first trip up to the majors and back to the minor leagues, a pattern that looks to continue throughout the year. Fans should not wonder why he struggles if he does, he has no routine.

The solution to this dangerous pattern is simple, it needs to stop. Players like Brock Stewart must be placed in the majors or the minors and left there to perfect his craft as either a starting pitcher or a reliever, not both. The Dodgers, amidst their worst start to a season in many years, are more reliant now than ever on their organizational depth and poor performances due to a lack of proper development and more importantly, a routine is no help to anyone.

Next: Dodgers: Will the Real Chris Taylor Please Stand Up?

The time is now for the problem to be recognized and solved as young arms can be saved. Because inconsistency has done no good for the success of the next wave of young pitchers.