The Los Angeles Dodgers entered the 2020 MLB Amateur draft with the No. 3 ranked farm system according to MLB.com, trailing only the Tampa Bay Rays and the San Diego Padres – two teams in the midst of long rebuilds.
A big reason why the Dodgers rank so high is their pipeline of talented young pitchers. The Dodgers boast three of the top 100 pitching prospects in baseball, including RHP Dustin May (No.23), RHP Josiah Gray (NO. 67), and RHP Brusdar Grateral (No.83).
With a pipeline full of talented arms and arguably the best starting rotation in baseball, the Dodgers did not need to focus on pitching early in this year’s draft, especially considering how deep the position appeared to be to many baseball writers.
Instead of looking for offense, the Dodgers bolstered their already potent pitching staff with three starting pitchers in the first two rounds, including Louisville RHP Bobby Miller 29th overall.
A 6’5, 202 poound junior, Miller boasts a two-seam fastball that can reach into the high 90s, a hard slider, a changeup, and an impressive curveball.
Miller posted a career 3.28 ERA over 170 innings for the Cardinals, with 175 strikeouts and 68 walks. He started the 2020 season off well, with 34 Ks over 23 innings before the season was cut short due to COVID-19.
The Dodgers also added Landon Knack from East Tennessee State, who finished his senior year with a 4-0 record and an impressive 51 strikeouts in just 25 innings of work. D1Baseball.com ranked Knack as one of the top-5 pitchers in college.
Joining Miller and Knack in the 2020 draft class is hard-throwing RHP Clayton Beeter, a redshirt sophomore from Texas Tech University. As a redshirt freshman, Beeter helped the Red Raiders win their third Big Ten title in four seasons, working primarily as the team’s closer.
Although he could end up working as a starting pitcher down the road, Beeter has the makeup to be a strong addition to an aging Dodger bullpen.
