MLB: This was the debut of the Dodgers’ Top pitching prospect

Before the 2021 season, virtually everyone expected the National League West Division it was a dog fight between the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres. Almost 100 games in the regular season, it’s safe to say we were all wrong.

The Dodgers and San Francisco Giants rivalry is alive and well and that was evident again Tuesday night when Will Smith smashed a three-run walk-off homer to lead the Dodgers to an 8-6 slate victory over the Giants. Los Angeles is now just one game behind SF in the National League West rankings:

Aside from Smith’s Walk Off HR, the Dodgers also looked at the pitching prospect well. Josiah Gray, who made his major league debut.

Gray entered the game in the third inning when the Dodgers went with left-hander Darien Nunez as the starter to try to combat the Giants’ game-fueled offense. Once he got into the game, Gray showed a solid 96 mph and a couple of breaking balls that certainly seemed to play at the Major League level.

The 23-year-old, 1.85-meter tall right-hander allowed four runs and four hits (three home runs) and fanned seven in four innings of work. He struck out all three in the fourth and recorded 15 whiffs on 38 swings:

Eight of those 15 puffs (fanned) came with the slider and four with the curve ball. Gray’s seven strikeouts were the most by a Dodgers pitcher to make his debut since José De León had nine in 2016.

Rafael Martinez

I am fond of the King of Sports, especially the Boston Red Sox in MLB and in general all of Mexican baseball. This profession has given me the opportunity to cover major events such as the Caribbean Series, LMB All Star, LMP (uninterrupted since 2009), signings of important players. I had the chance to attend the 2013 World Classic in Arizona, USA, albeit as a fan. Apart from this beautiful sport, I love basketball, where I have also narrated games and even an NBA friendly 10 years ago, but I carry baseball in my veins. Bachelor of Communication Sciences from the Autonomous University of Sinaloa (UAS) , from which I graduated in 2011. I was born in Mazatlán, Sinaloa and started in the world of sports journalism in 2004 in the newspaper El Sol de Mazatlán, where I was a baseball columnist and reporter at the same time. In January 2009 I came to El Debate as a journalist reporter and it was almost six years (in the first stage), until in November 2014 I emigrated to the radio providing my services in Línea Directa-Grupo RSN. My cycle there ended in July 2019 and within days, El Debate gave me another opportunity to work and opened the doors for me again. That is how I came to Al Bat, where I have been since 2019 as a web journalist.

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