PHOENIX — The second didn’t make spotlight reels. The hit gained’t go down in an official stat guide.
However on Feb. 28, within the backside of the ninth inning of a spring coaching recreation towards the Angels at Camelback Ranch, high Dodgers prospect Dalton Speeding stepped as much as the plate, noticed the successful runs aboard, and acknowledged a possibility to make one other impression.
In a 1-and-0 depend, in a left-on-left matchup, Speeding stayed again on an elevated, tailing sinker and smacked an opposite-field, walk-off double into the left-field nook to safe the Dodgers’ 6-5 win.
There was no dogpile. Speeding himself hardly confirmed a lot emotion, aside from pumping each fists briefly within the air.
However in a camp that has been all about cementing his place on the cusp of the massive leagues — and positioning himself for a possible MLB debut sooner or later this 12 months — the 24-year-old catcher nonetheless relished the reminiscence when recounting it a number of days later from his locker.
“Obviously, it’s spring training, there’s 30,000 less fans here,” he stated. “But it builds trust with the staff here. It kind of shows like, ‘Hey, he can handle the big moments.’”
Thus has been the theme of the spring for Speeding, the membership’s 2022 first-round decide and 2024 Minor League Participant of the Yr.
Over three seasons within the Dodgers farm system, the fast-rising slugger has hit the lights out at each cease, racking up 49 whole dwelling runs, 168 RBIs, a .273 batting common and a .930 OPS. Final 12 months, he reached triple-A by the tip of the season and briefly appeared like a possible late-season call-up because the group experimented with him in left subject.
The telephone, nevertheless, by no means rang.
And this winter, the group determined to refocus his defensive work primarily at catcher, with common supervisor Brandon Gomes saying the place needs to be “his meat and potatoes.”
“[We want to see him] continue to get better there,” Gomes added on the winter conferences.
Dodgers catcher Dalton Speeding, left, greets pitcher Roki Sasaki, middle, throughout a spring coaching exercise on Feb. 25 in Phoenix.
(Ashley Landis / Related Press)
So, in big-league camp this spring, Speeding has gone about making an attempt to garner belief from the MLB employees on either side of the ball.
Within the early days of the preseason, he was thrust into main “mock meetings” with the group’s pitching coaches and game-planning employees, having to clarify how he would deal with sure pitchers and assault particular opponents within the field. He has been busy behind the plate in bullpens, reside batting apply periods and Cactus League video games, making an attempt to refine his framing and receiving expertise whereas honing his capability to name pitches.
And offensively, after going hitless in 10 spring coaching at-bats final 12 months, he has stopped urgent and began displaying coaches that, “he’s not gonna chase, he’s gonna control the zone,” Speeding stated.
“As long as they trust me,” he continued, “I think it makes it a little easier.”
As spring camp winds down this week, the seeds of such belief have certainly began to take root.
Whereas his walk-off double was certainly one of solely two hits he has collected in seven at-bats, Speeding has walked a staggering eight instances in Cactus League play, coming into Sunday with a .684 on-base proportion.
He has dealt with the unenviable job of being a late-game substitute behind the dish, navigating a revolving door of pitchers with a confidence that has struck membership personnel.
“He doesn’t have anything to prove, but he’s got a lot to learn,” supervisor Dave Roberts stated. “And this year, I think he’s slowing down, taking in a lot of conversations, information, and having a really good camp.”
“He’s handled it pretty well,” added bench coach Danny Lehmann, a key a part of the Dodgers’ game-planning division. “I think he’s been exposed to some things that he wasn’t in the minor leagues that he’s appreciative of. I think it’s the same deal with the game-planning and the catching and the speed of the game and all that. That’s always gonna be a learning curve there. So I think he’s really working on that.”
Speeding stated his purpose in camp has been on “honing in on the mental side” of his catching place; utilizing his time across the Dodgers’ MLB roster to, for instance, decide the mind of beginning catcher Will Smith about his personal improvement course of as a younger big-leaguer.
“Understanding how to turn lineups over, how to save pitches, how to navigate three relievers through four innings, things like that,” Speeding stated. “Basically, how can I speed up my process to be as prepared as [possible] for my first year in the big leagues.”
Speeding’s hope is for this to be the 12 months. His bat, Roberts stated early in camp, is already adequate to “hit in the big leagues right now.”
Dodger Max Muncy (13) celebrates with Dalton Speeding (68) after hitting a house run throughout a spring coaching baseball recreation towards the Kansas Metropolis Royals on Feb. 22 in Phoenix.
(Ashley Landis / Related Press)
His path, nevertheless, is considerably blocked. Smith and backup catcher Austin Barnes stay on the MLB roster. The outfield is stuffed with veteran sluggers and utility gamers. Freddie Freeman is entrenched at first base (one other place the place Speeding has expertise). Shohei Ohtani is an on a regular basis designated hitter.
And Speeding’s catching talents, whereas improved, stay a piece in progress; no less than relative to the excessive commonplace the Dodgers anticipate out of their backstops.
“There’s been some things that he’s done that have been really good, and there’s some things that he’s learned from and that we can address,” Lehmann stated. “But that’s the point of spring training, to get as many reps as he can.”
That’s why, for now, Speeding’s focus has been on incomes belief. Sooner or later, the necessity for an affect hitter like him will seemingly come up. And when it does, he needs there to be no questions on his big-league preparedness — behind the plate, as a hitter, or within the sort of late-game state of affairs he encountered earlier this spring.
“He’s well beyond his years as far as his age,” Roberts stated. “He’s a special kind of ballplayer.”
