Dodgers: Prospects Expert Breaks Down Nick Frasso, RHP Acquired in Mitch White Trade

When the Dodgers traded Mitch White at the trade deadline, it wasn’t because they were traditional “sellers” — when they made that trade, they were 69-33 and up by 12 games in their division. No, they traded White simply because they didn’t need him and wouldn’t need him any time in the foreseeable future. White profiles as a fifth starter on a solid team, which means he’s sixth or seventh on a team that expects to win 100 games every year.

The Blue Jays, at the time of the trade, were 57-45 and down by 11.5 games in the AL East, so they were battling for a Wild Card spot (which they eventually won). They had a need for starting pitching, and White filled that need.

The trade didn’t really work out for Toronto; while they did end up earning that WC spot, White was 0-5 with a 7.74 ERA with the Blue Jays. On the other hand, the deal is looking like it might work out well for the Dodgers.

Nick Frasso was the key piece acquired in the trade by Los Angeles. The two teams also swapped 20-year-old prospects, with infielder Alex De Jesus going to Toronto and lefty reliever Moises Brito coming to L.A., but they’re both too far away from the big leagues to assess at this point. Frasso, though, looks like he might have been a real find.

Frasso showed up at No. 8 on Baseball Prospectus’ Dodgers prospects list released last week, and Jeffrey Paternostro at BP likes what he sees.

Not content with just developing their own Trackman-friendly arms, the Dodgers clearly targeted Frasso in the Mitch White/Alex de Jesus deal with the Jays. Frasso didn’t pitch much in 2022 for either org—he was used very carefully coming off 2021 elbow surgery—but is yet another Dodgers pitching prospect with high-octane stuff. …

Like (Gavin) Stone, he was mostly a reliever in college, so there may be further gains to come if he can stay healthy and stick as a starter in 2023. That could make him one of the best pitching prospects in baseball this time next year. Or it just might make him the Dodgers eighth-inning guy by August.

Frasso sits in the high 90s with his fastball and has touched 100 MPH, and he has a solid slider and changeup to go along with the elite fastball. Throw him into the Dodgers School of Pitchcraft and Wizardry, and they might end up with something really special.

Frasso turned 24 in October, so he’ll be ready for the big leagues as soon as he’s checked off all the minor-league boxes. He struggled in a tiny sample size at Double-A in 2022, so he’ll presumably start there in 2023. But he’s definitely a guy you could see moving to Triple-A pretty quickly and maybe even having an impact on the big-league club. If they intend to keep him as a starter, we probably won’t see him until 2024, but he has the stuff to be a bullpen arm almost immediately.

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