Dodgers: How to Analyze the Dodgers’ Spring Training Statistics

Pitcher Playing Time 

On the pitching side, as of March 12, the Dodgers have 13 pitchers with 5+ innings, and seven pitchers with 6+ innings. Rich Hill and Kevin Quackenbush lead the team with 6.1 innings apiece.

Hill is obviously an established entity whose Spring innings do not affect his roster spot, just his overall readiness for the regular season. Quackenbush, an MLB veteran with one of the most fun last names in baseball, is trying to prove his worth to the team and is truly auditioning to make the 25-man roster out of camp.

A tall righty, the 6’4 hurler has allowed 7 hits and 3 earned runs as of March 12 with just two strikeouts to his name. After having career-worst seasons in 2017 and 2018 with very little playing time, the 30-year old is a non-roster invitee for the Dodgers this Spring.

The best case for Quackenbush this Spring would be to impress the Dodgers and show flashes of his 2014 self, a season in which the bearded righty pitched to a 2.48 ERA and 1.10 WHIP with the San Diego Padres.

Amongst the 13 pitchers with 5+ innings this Spring, four of them, Ryu, Maeda, Stripling, and Urias, figure to start games for the Dodgers this season. The rest are relievers. While many of them have performed admirably for some stretch of time either within the Dodgers’ farm system or at the MLB level at some point in their careers, I will focus in on the two top performers so far this Spring.

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Not because they are necessarily the most likely to pitch the most innings for the big league team this season, but more because they are the most likely to make the Opening Day roster. They are Tony Gonsolin and Yimi García.

As of March 12, Gonsolin has yet to allow a run. The lanky right-hander has allowed four hits and no walks while striking out five in his 6 Spring innings in 2019. Gonsolin is becoming well-known for his great stuff, as he tossed a perfect inning with three strikeouts on March 11.

Across his 26 minor league starts last season in High-A and Double-A, Gonsolin finished with a 10-2 record to go along with a 2.60 ERA and 155 Ks to just 42 walks. He has a good chance of at the very least making a few spot starts for the Dodgers this season after entering Spring Training as a non-roster invitee.

For Yimi García, he came into the Spring looking to prove he deserves another chance with the big league club in 2019. A flamethrower out of the bullpen, García has thrown 5 innings so far this Spring without allowing a run, allowing just three hits and a walk to go along with six strikeouts.

Way back in 2015, Garcia was something of a mainstay in the Dodgers’ bullpen. The now-28 year old tossed 56.2 innings for the Dodgers that season with a solid 3.34 ERA with 68 strikeouts to just 10 walks. Injuries cut his 2016 short though and kept him off the field in 2017. He was ineffective for the MLB club in 2018, pitching to a 5.64 ERA last season in 25 games.

García is likely to make the big league team at some point this season, and the combination of his increased Spring opportunities and success are making it seem more and more likely that the exciting 2013 MiLB Organizational All-Star will make the 25-man roster come Opening Day.