Dodgers: Top prospect performances through one week of play

Perhaps the most intriguing minor leaguer of the week comes out of Triple-A in Josh Sborz.

Yes, this is because of his performance but the 25-year-old relief pitcher out of the University of Virginia is on the 40-man roster. With the bullpen struggling and Sborz lighting things up early, a major league debut for the righty could be closer than some might think.

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Sborz was drafted by the Dodgers in the second round of the 2015 draft out of Virginia as an interesting pitcher with the ability to both start and relieve games.

In his freshman year at UV, Sborz was a high octane relief arm which prompted a move to the starting rotation for his sophomore season in 2014. While he was fine as a starter, the Cavaliers elected to send Sborz back the bullpen in 2015 where he served as the team’s closer.

In that role, Sborz really got the job done. He relied heavily on a sinker that sat between 93-95 miles per hour and could touch 98 and complimented it with a hard breaking slider.

The Dodgers drafted Sborz and elected to keep the young arm in the bullpen for his first season of minor league baseball. However, in 2016, the Dodgers moved Sborz in and out of the pen flashing signs of his ability to start and relieve all in one campaign.

In 2017, Sborz did not make a single relief appearance, starting all 24 games he played in and after that, the now 25-year-old has not made a single start.

The move back to the bullpen has, at least so far, proven to be the right choice with the power arm remaining scoreless through his first four innings of 2019. In those four innings, Sborz has struck out nine batters and allowed just three hits and a single walk.

Keep those numbers up and Sborz could be wearing a Dodger uniform much sooner than expected as he can give Dave Roberts some length out of the bullpen.

These three performances were simply my picks for the best of the last week. There have been plenty of nice showings across the Dodgers’ system and with the Great Lakes Loons getting started, there will be one more team to choose from.