Dodgers' pitching prospect from weird Reds-Rays trade just had thrilling High-A debut

The first trade of the Dodgers' deadline ended up being their weirdest; they somehow found their way into a deal between the Reds and Rays that sent pitcher Zack Littell to Cincinnati. The Rays got Dodgers catcher Hunter Feduccia and Reds pitcher Brian Van Belle, and the Dodgers got No. 12 prospect Adam Serwinowski from the Reds, and pitcher Paul Gervase and catcher Ben Rortvedt from the Rays.

It was a weird note for the Dodgers to start their deadline sprint on, given that none of the names in their return were the immediate, high-impact players fans were expecting. They got some value back for Feduccia, who was never going to be able to compete for the backup catcher role with Dalton Rushing, but the prevailing sentiment overall was "why?"

Serwinowski kind of answered that question in his High-A Great Lakes debut on Tuesday. He pitched 6 1/3 innings and only gave up one hit. He walked four, but he matched a season-high nine strikeouts against the Lansing Lugnuts.

The Loons' defense ended up blowing it in later innings, but Serwinowski certainly made a great first impression on his new club.

Pitching prospect Adam Serwinowski, acquired in Reds-Rays-Dodgers trade, dazzled in his organizational debut

Serwinowski slotted in at No. 14 in the Dodgers' pipeline after the trade, or their No. 3 pitching prospect behind Jackson Ferris and River Ryan. He struggled this year with the Reds' High-A Daytona Tortugas, posting a 4.84 ERA, which might have made it easier for Reds GM Nick Krall to part with him.

Serwinowski has oscillated between being incredible one month (1.59 ERA in April, 1.88 in June) and then very bad the next (10.34 ERA in May, 7.13 in July). Following that pattern, he's due for a great August, but the Dodgers will want to see a lot less volatility as they continue to develop him.

He has a fastball and slider that are just as good as both Ferris' and Ryan's, per evaluators, but the Dodgers are going to have to work on his control if the four walks on Tuesday were any indication. He also gave up five walks in his last start with the Tortugas.

So as random as that trade was (and kind of still is), the Dodgers might have something exciting on their hands with Serwinowski. And if all the Dodgers had to give up was Feduccia? That's a win for Andrew Friedman.