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Los Angeles Dodgers Brock Stewart dominating Double A

By Brody Hilgenkamp

Aug 12, 2014; Atlanta, GA, USA; Detailed view of Los Angeles Dodgers hat and glove in the dugout against the Atlanta Braves in the third inning at Turner Field. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
Aug 12, 2014; Atlanta, GA, USA; Detailed view of Los Angeles Dodgers hat and glove in the dugout against the Atlanta Braves in the third inning at Turner Field. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports /
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Aug 12, 2014; Atlanta, GA, USA; Detailed view of Los Angeles Dodgers hat and glove in the dugout against the Atlanta Braves in the third inning at Turner Field. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports /

A Los Angeles Dodgers prospect who pounds the strike zone leads this week’s minor league notes.

New York Mets rookie pitcher Steven Matz took the mound yesterday afternoon against the Pittsburgh Pirates and allowed two runs in five innings and struck out eight. Down in Tulsa, Okla., Los Angeles Dodgers pitching prospect Brock Stewart tossed seven innings and allowed just one run on seven hits.

At face value, these two pitchers don’t have any similarities. Matz, a left-handeder, was a second round draft pick out of high school in 2009 and has pitched in a World Series. Stewart is a sixth round pick out of Illinois State who became a two-way player his senior year. He hit .266 with a .343 on-base percentage and slugged .432 over four seasons. He also posted a 2.36 earned run average and struck out 30 batters in 26 2/3 innings as a reliever his senior season.

After being drafted in 2014, the Dodgers turned Stewart into a pitcher full-time, and he had mixed success over his first two seasons. This season he’s taken off, and entering yesterday’s start he was leading the Double-A Texas League in ERA (1.09) Fielding Independent Pitching ( 1.22), strikeout-to-walk ratio (6.56) and was one of two qualified pitchers who hadn’t given up a home run.

So why bring up Matz as a comparison? Well, the reason is that both pitchers are strike throwing machines, but Stewart is doing it at a stratospheric level compared to Matz.

Entering play yesterday Matz led the majors in percentage of pitches thrown in the strike zone (56.7 percent) according to FanGraphs. That’s a big deal, because Matz is having an impressive year and he is joined near the top of the list by some guys named Clayton Kershaw, Max Scherzer, Rich Hill, Jordan Zimmermann and Chris Sale.

Stewart, by comparison, was throwing strikes 72.7 percent of the time prior to yesterday’s start. He had thrown 841 pitches over his 10 starts and had thrown 611 strikes and walked just 11 in more than 60 innings. Yesterday’s 67 strikes in 94 pitches was another model of efficiency, and the ability to throw strikes will continue to work in his favor.

In this week’s minor league notes, we’ll look at teams dominating their respective leagues either on the mound or at the plate.

Next: Triple A

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