Dodgers 2022 minor league pitching leaders

Sep 30, 2022 - 1:01 PM

I realize that I said on Thursday morning that our daily minor league reports were done for the year, but here are a few more. First up, we look at various Dodgers pitching leaders in the organization in 2022.

By far the best pitching season was by Gavin Stone, the team’s fifth-round draft pick out of Central Arkansas in 2020, who began the season in High-A Great Lakes and was promoted twice. In 26 games, including 25 starts between Great Lakes, Double-A Tulsa, and Triple-A Oklahoma City, Stone had a 1.48 ERA in 121⅔ innings with 168 strikeouts, a 33.9-percent strikeout rate.

Among all pitchers in the minors in 2022 with at least 70 innings, Stone’s 1.48 ERA was best.

Stone, who won the Branch Rickey Award as the Dodgers’ minor league pitcher of the year, allowed 26 runs in his 26 games, and didn’t skip a beat while climbing the organizational ladder. He had a 1.44 ERA and 2.60 FIP in six starts with the Loons, a 1.60 ERA and 2.24 FIP in 14 games for Tulsa, and a 1.16 ERA and 2.87 FIP in six starts in the offense haven that is the Pacific Coast League.

Only two Dodgers pitchers with at least 15 innings had a lower ERA than Stone in 2022. Jose Rodriguez, a 2019 signee out of Mexico who turned 21 in July, had a 0.47 ERA in the Dominican Summer League, allowing one run in 17 innings with 30 strikeouts and five walks. 22-year-old Aldry Acosta had a 0.74 ERA in 24⅓ innings for Great Lakes.

Stone also had the best FIP among Dodgers minor leaguers with a minimum of 50 innings, at 2.44. The only pitcher close was Emmet Sheehan, the sixth-round pick out of Boston College in 2021, who had a 2.46 FIP and 2.91 ERA in 68 innings between Great Lakes and Tulsa.

Stone’s 168 strikeouts were second in the organization, behind only Nick Nastrini, the Dodgers’ fourth-round draft pick out of UCLA in 2021. The right-hander has 169 strikeouts in 27 starts and 116⅔ innings, a 35-percent strikeout rate between Great Lakes and Tulsa.

Stone and Nastrini pitched the most innings in the Dodgers minors this season, followed by Bobby Miller (112⅓ innings), Lael Lockhart (111⅔), Kendall Williams (110⅓), and Beau Burrows (100⅓). The only other Dodgers minor leaguers to pitch 100 innings in 2022 were Ryan Pepiot (127⅔) and Michael Grove (100⅓), counting their time in the majors in their debut years.

Three Dodgers pitchers tossed complete games this season. Yefry Ramirez had the only nine-inning game, pitching a shutout for Oklahoma City on May 12, a few weeks before the 28-year-old was released so he could sign with Hanwha of the Korean Baseball Organization. Miller struck out 14 in a six-inning complete game on September 1, a game cut short by wet grounds. Hurt struck out six in a five-inning no-hitter for Great Lakes on June 5.

Among all Dodgers pitchers with at least 50 minor league innings, Ben Harris had the highest strikeout rate (45 percent) with his 107 strikeouts in 55⅔ innings between Low-A Rancho Cucamonga and High-A Great Lakes. The left-handed Harris was drafted in the eighth round in 2021 out of Georgia.

Minor league pitchers of the week

• Ryan Pepiot: April 5-10, Pacific Coast League (Triple-A)
• Kyle Hurt: April 18-24, Midwest League (High-A)
• Jerming Rosario: May 2-8, California League (Low-A)
• Yefry Ramirez: May 9-15, Pacific Coast League (Triple-A)
• Mitch White: June 6-12, Pacific Coast League (Triple-A)
• Luis Valdez: July 25-31, Arizona Complex League (rookie)
• Nick Nastrini: August 8-14, Midwest League (High-A)