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Dodgers Prospects Highlights: Luke Raley, Garrett Cleavinger, Stevie Berman

Game 9 of the Exhibition Season

The Dodgers took on the Diamondbacks today, March 10th as they head towards the middle of the exhibition season. The lineup contained just one prospect in DJ Peters and only one pitcher scheduled to pitch, Garrett Cleavinger. I expect the low trend to continue as the team starts pointing towards the season and getting the regulars in the lineup more often.

Luke Raley had a couple of nice defensive plays. In the fourth inning, Josh VanMeter singled to right-center field and was thrown out by Raley at second base as he cut the ball off and made an excellent throw. Next, Daulton Varsho hit a shot to right-center field that Raley tracked down to make a diving catch.

There is a battle for the second left-hander in the bullpen after Victor Gonzalez. The battle is between rookies Garrett Cleavinger, Alex Vesia, and veteran Scott Alexander. Tonight, Cleavinger made his push by striking out three batters in his inning of work. He keeps improving and it would not surprise me if the pitching coaches are having a big impact on him.

It was great to see catcher Stevie Berman get another plate appearance and get a base hit. Berman was a 31st round draft choice in the 2016 draft. It is great to see him continue to get some opportunities during Spring Training. My hope is that he starts the season in Triple-A.

Final Thoughts

The Dodgers play the Mariners at 5:05 PM PST tomorrow, March 11th. Trevor Bauer will pitch for the Dodgers. I expect to continue to see fewer and fewer prospects in the starting lineup going forward but they’ll still get into the later parts of the game.

Here is some bonus material from Ryan Pepiot striking out Eugenio Suarez

Written by Tim Rogers

Co-founder and Editor-In-Chief. Formerly an editorial writer at Dodgers Nation. Software architect by day and prospect hugger by night.

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