Dodgers: Get to Know the Newest Dodger Kyle Garlick

The Dodgers have promoted one of their minor leaguers having a strong start to the 2019 season in Kyle Garlick.  He was promoted as part of a series of moves.

On Thursday evening, it was announced that the Dodgers would be calling up Kyle Garlick in time for Friday’s series opener against the Cincinnati Reds.  For Garlick, this will be his first big league call-up and whenever he gets into a game this weekend, it will be his big league debut.  Kyle is a southern California native as he is from Chino Hills, was born in La Habra, and went to Cal Poly Pomona.

Kyle played three seasons of college baseball with the Oregon Ducks but left Oregon after his junior season due to his Mother’s battle with breast cancer.  Rather than go back to Oregon for his final season of eligibility, Garlick finished out his collegiate career at Cal Poly Pomona which was a step down as a division two school.

This has been a long time coming for Kyle Garlick, who is now twenty-seven years old and was drafted in the 28th round of the 2015 MLB draft.  That was the first draft ran by Andrew Friedman as a member of the Dodgers’ front office.  In thirty-five games with the Oklahoma City Dodgers this season, Garlick has hit ten home runs and posted a .280/.375/.627 slash line.

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In 2018, Kyle hit a career-high 22 home runs while playing for the Tulsa Drillers and the OKC Dodgers.  He should be able to top that number this season as he doesn’t figure to spend too much time on LA’s active roster.  This season, Garlick is hitting 40 points higher against left-handed pitching, but overall his career splits have not been far off.

Defensively, Garlick is primarily an outfielder who plays the corners although he did play first base for a handful of games earlier in his minor league career.  With David Freese, Max Muncy, and Cody Bellinger all able to play first base, the Dodgers are unlikely to play Kyle at first base and they could give him a shot in left field against left-handed pitching. He profiles best in left field given his average speed and arm.

While Kyle is not projected to be a starter in the big leagues, he has value as a fourth outfielder with decent power.  He tends to chase offspeed pitches out of the zone but is able to catch up to most fastballs.  With A.J. Pollock sidelined, and Enrique Hernandez struggling at second base, Garlick could get an extended look as a fourth outfielder with Chris Taylor getting more starts at second base.