Dodgers Team News

Former Dodgers Outfielder is Betting Big on a Breakout Season for Gavin Stone

Old friend and long-time MLB outfielder Steven Souza Jr apparently still has baseball on his mind. The recently retired former Dodger took to Twitter to unexpectedly hype one of LA’s top pitching prospects, Gavin Stone. And by hype we mean gamble money on..?

How serious Souza is about the betting is unknown. But the message is pretty clear… believe the hype surrounding Gavin Stone.

The Dodgers’ number four prospect was electric in 4 spring training outings. He struck out 14 batters (!) over 6.2 innings including 8 over 3 last Saturday. Stone was part of the latest spring training roster cuts this week but he made a serious impression on LA manager Dave Roberts.

“He sort of just fits in, and then when he takes the mound with work. It’s a focus that a lot of young players, pitchers don’t have that appreciation for what that means. There’s an elite focus there. Then you layer on the stuff, it’s plus command. It’s a plus fastball, and it’s a plus-plus changeup and a pretty good slider. All those ingredients, a lot to like.”

Roberts also mentioned Stone taking the initiative to sit and watch games that he’s not even part of as something that very much impressed him.

Steven Souza Jr was never one of the superstars in the game of baseball but he’s a dude that understood the game. For him to have high hopes on Gavin Stone is a sign of good things to come. Dodgers catcher Austin Barnes — another grinder type of big leaguer — also recently told DodgersNation.com that he “really liked” Stone, adding that he had a good mound presence.

If Stone ends up getting enough time to win Rookie of the Year honors in 2023, then something likely went wrong for LA. The front office hopes to get the most out of Julio Urias, Clayton Kershaw, Noah Syndergaard, Dustin May, and Tony Gonsolin (when he’s healthy) in the starting 5. The next guys up would likely be Ryan Pepiot and Michael Grove.

But if Stone does get that chance, the general feeling around Dodger camp is that he’s a can’t miss guy after his meteoric rise as a fifth round draft pick in 2020.

Have you signed up for the Dodgers Nation newsletter yet? Get the latest news, rumors, highlights and more right in your inbox every day! Keep up to date on every single thing involving your boys in blue!

Clint Pasillas

Clint Pasillas has been writing, blogging, and podcasting about the Los Angeles Dodgers since 2008. Under Clint's leadership as the Lead Editor, Dodgers Nation has grown into one of the most read baseball sites in the world with millions of unique visitors per month. Find him online on Twitter/X or his YouTube channel!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to top button