Tim Rogers
In the first game of the series against the Padres, Luke Raley hit his first career home run in the top of the 5th inning. It occurred in San Diego at Petco Park in the Dodgers’ first trip of the season there.
Raley was only playing today because AJ Pollock was hurt the night before in the victory over the Rockies. Heck, he’s probably only on the roster because of the injury to Cody Bellinger. However, could he possibly stick when everyone is healthy? Raley has started the last two nights while Matt Beaty has stayed on the bench.
Even in the game on Thursday against the Rockies, Raley hit two balls over 103 MPH. Just the other day he had his first Major League hit, a double.
Something funny, but silly is that Raley isn’t even ranked in the Top 30 prospects for the Dodgers by MLB Pipeline. Again, the Dodgers Player Development staff shows how good it handles “non-elite” prospects. It looks like Raley is, and will be, a factor for the Dodgers in 2021. For good measure, another low-rated prospect, Zach McKinstry continues to hit Major League pitching with two hits tonight.
Both McKinstry and Raley played key roles in the win against the Padres as Zach had 3 hits with 2 RBI and Luke had 2 hits with 2 RBI. Keep it up, guys!
