Dodgers: Top Three Pitchers to Keep an Eye on This Weekend

There is no one player I have hyped up more this offseason than Stetson Allie and I have no plans of stopping anytime soon.

Allie has the potential to be a force to be reckoned with. At 6’2 and 230 pounds, Allie’s frame is built for velocity, working his height and weight downhill to get great leverage on a triple-digit fastball that he has been throwing since high school.

Allie’s biggest problem is control. Last year, he walked 31 batters in 42 innings pitched. That total hiked up his walks per nine innings rate to an unacceptable 6.6 batters and that will have to calm down before he can even dream of debuting in the big leagues.

Allie excites me because of his story, something I’ve written about a few times so I’ll leave a link to it here.

In short, the 27-year-old righty was drafted as a highly touted pitcher who boasted 100 mile per hour heat as a high school pitcher. Selected in the second round by the Pirates, Allie and his former club had no intention of moving the then top-100 prospect off the mound.

But, disastrous start after disastrous start, the Pirates had enough and opted to move Allie to an infielder-outfielder role where he was not horrible but again, nothing special. Allie left the Pirates, signing with the Dodgers prior to the 2017 season as a batter.

He was fine.

The Dodgers then opted to move Allie back to the mound for the first time in five years and while the results weren’t amazing, he showed amazing potential.

Allie’s potential gives the number one spot on the who to watch list in my opinion. Saturday will be his first test.