6. Mitchell White, RHP
Birthday (age on opening day 2018): 12/28/1994 (23)
2017 teams/levels played for: Arizona Rookie League Dodgers, high-A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, AA Tulsa Drillers
2017 Stats: 19 GS, 73 2/3 IP, 2.93 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, 10.3% BB, 29.2% K
Info: After Tommy John surgery in high school bumped him out of consideration for a lot of top college programs and MLB teams for a high school draftee, and it meant that he was a late bloomer in college. That late bloom led to helium that had him picked by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2nd round of the 2016 draft.
After really impressing in his draft season, White set out to do the same in his first full season in the Dodgers system in 2017, but missed a month and a half due to a broken toe, and it was clear that the toe issue caused him to struggle in improving the main area he still has to master, his control.
White features a hard sinking fastball that tops out at 98 and sits 94-96 with regularity with plenty of late wiggle along with his heavy sink on the pitch. He works that in congruence with a plus to double-plus slider that he can spin multiple ways to give hitters multiple looks on the pitch.
He also can work in a curveball that flashes plus, and his change shows promise with good movement, but some obvious difference in arm speed.
He tends to get his upper half out of sync with his lower half in his delivery, which leads to streaks of control issues, but he tends to go in streaks of elite control and horrid control and his primary time spends at about an 8% walk rate. That is still too high and needs to come down to reach his potential as a #2 starter with even frontline potential if the change can come forward a bit.
White made a good impression in AA in 2017, but due to the time missed with injury, it would not surprise if the Los Angeles Dodgers start him there again in 2018. He should be on his way quickly to the big league rotation, perhaps as soon as 2019.
5. Jeren Kendall, OF
Birthday (age on opening day 2018): 2/4/1996 (22)
2017 teams/levels played for: advanced rookie Ogden Raptors, low-A Great Lakes Loons
2017 Stats: .253/.311/.444, 177 PA, 3 HR, 9 SB, 13/45 BB/K
Info: One of the elite college prospects in the country coming into the 2017 season, Kendall ended up slipping to the Los Angeles Dodgers at 23rd overall after a ho-hum draft season.
Kendall is a plus or even double-plus defender
Kendall is a plus or even double-plus defender with excellent instincts, double-plus speed, and a plus arm in the outfield to throw out runners. He’s also got a flair for the dramatic, making leaping catches and diving grabs frequently.
It was at the plate where Kendall had issues in 2017. He struggled with holes in his swing, which hurt his average and never allowed him to get to his plus raw power. The Los Angeles Dodgers put Kendall to work on his swing in fall instructs and in 2018, they’ll send him to low-A to see how he handles game work with his revamped swing.
Next: #3 and #4