The summer is starting to heat up, which means the Major League Baseball Draft is just around the corner.
This year, the draft is on Jul. 13 in Atlanta. The Los Angeles Dodgers, with their maxed-out payroll and status as defending World Series champions, will have their first pick later than ever before in franchise history, at number 40 overall.
Needless to say, the Dodgers already have plenty of talent. But it’s still imperative to make savvy draft choices and keep the farm system churning, whether those young players come up to support the big-league club or get traded for other established stars.
Los Angeles’ farm system is a tad short on right-handed pitching these days, but one talent evaluator sees them addressing that need with their first selection.
In a recent mock draft, Aram Leighton of Just Baseball predicted that the Dodgers would select University of Louisville right-hander Patrick Forbes, who pitched to a 4.42 ERA but struck out 117 batters in his 71 1/3 innings of work this season as a junior.
“In my first watch of Forbes this spring, ‘Dodger’ was the first word that came to my mind,” Leighton wrote.
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“The former Louisville standout has touched triple-digits on the fastball with an athletic, low-launch delivery and boasts promising secondaries. A strong showing in Omaha could vault Forbes even higher, depending on how much teams have confidence in his starter profile.”
Forbes is MLB.com’s 36th-ranked overall draft prospect, and he earned a 60 grade on the 20-to-80 sale, the highest of his three primary offerings. He also features a slider and a changeup.
Standing at 6-foot-3, 220 pounds, Forbes has the frame of a prototypical power arm. He’d be a fantastic addition to the Dodgers’ talent pool.
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