Dodgers: A full draft review of rounds four through seven

2 of 5

LOS ANGELES, CA – MAY 11: General view of an empty Dodger Stadium before the game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Washington Nationals on May 11, 2019, in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images) /

Read through the early returns and rankings and it becomes quickly and abundantly clear that the Dodgers 2019 draft class has been rated as one of baseball’s best. From their early round highly-rated players like Butler’s Ryan Pepiot to some later-round players with fantastic potential, this year was one of the Dodgers most impressive classes.

An impressive class that will certainly boost the minor league ranks is only valuable through understanding and 40 round of new players is a lot to take in. So, over the next few days, this will be a continuing series of draft reviews in I’ll go round to round talking about the new Dodger prospects.

If you haven’t already, I strongly recommend the first through third round review before this one. You can find that by clicking here.

This portion of the review will cover rounds four through seven.

WASHINGTON, DC – April 29: A detailed view of Nike baseball batting gloves are seen at Nationals Park on April 29, 2019, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /

Part of this draft class’s fame came from the sheer number of college players selected by the Dodgers. From round one through the end, the front office only went to the prep ranks four times, contributing to a league-wide low in total high school players selected.

In the fourth round, the Dodgers stayed within the college ranks and in Southern California when they took UC Irvine third baseman, Brandon Lewis.

Lewis is a 6’3, 215-pound third baseman. His big body lends itself to some great power numbers although he still has the skill to hit for average despite his big home run generating swing. That swing does, however, have its own hiccups.

Lewis is a big swing with a long swing. A good fastball can beat it and in the pros, there will be plenty of those. With some next level coaching, it should not be a problem but the big corner infielder will have to shorten up his stroke to find consistent success in the minor leagues.

Defensively, there is not much to hate about Lewis although there is certainly not much to love. He played third base in college and was solid at the position. His glove-work is impressive and his ability to pick the ball is certainly there. His arm is of slight concern as it does not have as much power behind it as you would find in your typical big league third baseman.

Lewis could easily move to first but, as MLB.com perfectly says, it will be his bat that gets him anywhere in the pros, not his glove. For that, the Dodgers could use him as AL trade bait later on in his career.

PALO ALTO, CA – OCTOBER 25: The Stanford band, the Stanford trees, and fans cheer on the Stanford Cardinal after a touchdown against the Oregon State Beavers in the first quarter on October 25, 2014, at Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto, California. Stanford won 38-14. (Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images) /

The Dodgers spent their fifth-round pick on one of the most intriguing players in their draft class, Stanford relief pitcher, Jack Little.

Little is a 6’4, 190-pound righty with good stamina and stuff but has been in the Cardinal closer role since his sophomore year, tying the single-season school record for saves that year with 16.

Little has proven between 2018 and 2019 that he can handle the high-pressure pitching that comes with the closer spot but his intrigue comes with his ability to be pushed back into a starter role.

Stanford is well known for taking great high school starters and transitioning them to elite bullpen arms. Marlins’ fourth-rounder from 2017, Colton Hock was the Stanford closer and is now teeter-tottering between starter and reliever in the low levels of the Miami farm system.

Little is of the same case. He was a starter in high school and converted to the Stanford closer. In the closer role, he has been ridiculous, however, moving him back to the rotation in the Dodgers minor leagues should not be out of the question.

Little sports a confident three-pitch mix but has the ability to throw four pitches should he move to the rotation at some point. At the moment, he sports a four-seam fastball that sits between 90-92 miles per hour and reaches speeds of up to 95 and backs it up with a big bending curveball for strikeouts. He also throws a very solid slider and is working on a changeup.

The former first-team All-American pitcher used that pitch mix to punch out just over 11 batters per nine innings over the last two seasons and even in a rough appearance in the Cape Cod League, the tall righty still was a strikeout machine.

Little is interesting because his stuff generates great swings and misses but his role is largely undefined. The Dodgers could develop him through and through as a reliever or move him back into a low minor league level rotation and build him into a back of the rotation starter.

ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 10: Pitcher Griffin Canning #47 of the Los Angeles Angels throws to first base to hold Alex Verdugo #27 of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the fourth inning of the MLB game at Angel Stadium of Anaheim on June 10, 2019, in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Victor Decolongon/Getty Images) /

For those of you that haven’t read about the Dodgers’ most ridiculous minor league arm, Marshall Kasowksi, I strongly encourage you to do so before diving into LA’s sixth rough pick analysis because there will be some strong mention of Kasowski in this. I wrote on Kasowski a few weeks ago and encourage you can read it here.

In the fifth round, the Dodgers took a relief pitcher that uses finesse to strike batters out. Jack Little tops out in the mid-90’s but sits around 91 miles per hour on a consistent basis. In the sixth round, the Dodgers went to Eastern Kentucky University for a relief pitcher that shoves high heat down the batters throat to punch out his victims at an insane rate.

Aaron Ochsenbein was an All-American in 2019 and for good reason.

Sporting a four-seamer in the high 90’s and a devastating splitter in the upper 80’s, the redshirt junior struck out 90 batters in just 54.1 innings last season with a ridiculous .83 ERA and 10 saves to go along with it all. Opposing batters hit just .133 off him.

The numbers from 2019 back up the All-American selection and the high praise but what’s even more interesting is the high strikeout bullpen arm will join already high octane Dodger reliever, Marshall Kasowski in the ranks.

The Dodgers have an opportunity to bring two power arms with a knack for swings and misses up through the system and onto the big league roster with little separation between the two. Ochsenbein has DI experience and could rise up through the ranks quickly to get to the big leagues and Kasowksi will soon leave the Dodgers no choice but to promote him given just how successful he’s been between this year and last year.

The pair of hard-throwing pitchers could work beautifully as the Dodgers future one-two punch out of the bullpen and even better, they are both internal options.

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – JUNE 09: Fog rolls in off of Lake Michigan in the 7th inning as the Chicago Cubs take on the St. Louis Cardinals at Wrigley Field on June 09, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /

Three innings, three picks, three relievers.

The Dodgers chose back-to-back-to-back bullpen arms in rounds five through seven.

The fifth round was Cardinal closer Jack Little, an arm that the Dodgers could easily transition to the rotation should they so chose. The sixth round was Eastern Kentucky powerhouse reliever, Aaron Ochsenbein, a reliever that profiles as a high strikeout force to be reckoned with. The seventh round and the final round of this review section went to Jame Madison University high-leverage arm Nick Robertson.

More from Dodgers Way

Born and raised in Virginia, Robertson stayed on the home turf when he attended JMU and would join their baseball team.

His freshman year with the Dukes was cut short due to Tommy John surgery but ever since then, the massive right-handed reliever has been a great success story.

Standing at 6’6 and weighing in at 265 pounds, Robertson has an imposing and larger than life presence on the mound. His downhill power and size contribute to his high strikeout ability which sits at 13.34 batters per nine innings since the onset of the 2018 campaign.

Robertson has also held opposing batters to a .153 batting average against in his entire collegiate campaign.

The interesting thing about Robertson is he will be a reliever in the pros unlike some of the Dodgers other relief selections. Little, the Dodgers fifth-round could jump to a starting role whereas Robertson will be a reliever from the low minor league levels all the way through the big leagues should he get there.

In his two years of playing time at JMU, Robertson had a collective ERA of just 1.38 and walked just about three and a half batters per nine.

Next. Dodgers: Three Internal Options Who Could Boost the Dodger Bullpen. dark

Robertson is an in control relief arm that knows how to get outs using his size on the mound and solid pitch mix. Since coming off of Tommy John, he has proven that he is a very capable back end reliever and the Dodgers could certainly use as many of those as they can get. In the seventh round and certainly not to demand too much money, Robertson may be a huge steal.

Home / LA Dodgers News