April 1st, 2016 at 6:00 am 
by Harold Uhlman Dodgers fans, well, veteran Dodger fans that is, will remember that left-hander Dennis Powell played with the Dodgers in the mid-eighties. He first pitched for the Dodgers as a 21-year old in 1985 and after one more season in Dodger Blue he was traded to the Seattle Mariners in a trade for pitcher Matt Young. He went on to pitch seven more years in the American League, six years with the Mariners and one with the Milwaukee Brewers.
What goes around often comes around and indeed it did with the Dodgers in the 2015 MLB First Year Player Draft. Chris Powell – son of Dennis and Brenda Powell – was selected by the Dodgers in the 39th round as the 1,182nd overall pick out of Cal Poly Pomona.
Powell was born in Upland, California and attended Upland High School where he starred in basketball and baseball. While maintaining an ERA of under 2.00 during his high school career as a senior, he earned All-Baseline League honorable mention. The highlight of his 2010 season was a complete game shutout against Etiwanda High School at the Epicenter in Rancho Cucamonga – home of the Dodgers Advanced Single-A affiliate Rancho Cucamonga Quakes.
Following his graduation from Upland High School in 2010, the younger Powell pitched with the Cal Poly Pomona Broncos for five years. For most of his final year he was the Broncos’ first pitcher – meaning he frequently led off the series. He finished the season with an 8-2 record over 92.2 innings pitched while recording 79 strikeouts. On the season his wins and strikeouts placed him in the top five in the California Collegiate Athletic Association.
Attending to his studies, Powell earned a spot on the California Collegiate Athletic Association All-Academic Team as a freshman in 2012 after maintaining a grade point average above 3.40 through the 2011-12 academic year. As a sophomore, he earned a spot on the academic honor roll and received the Baseline League academic award.
In addition to being a standout athlete for Cal Poly Pomona, Powell was also an excellent student, earning several academic honors. (Photo courtesy of Cal Poly Pomona)
Needless to say, Powell was not only pleased to be selected in the 2015 June Draft, he was especially pleased to be drafted by the Dodgers.
“This is a great opportunity to play for the same organization that gave my dad his first chance,” said Powell. “I am grateful that the Dodgers are giving me an opportunity to continue to pursue my dream.”
His coach at Cal Poly Pomona was equally pleased.
“I am extremely excited about his future and what it holds, ” said head coach Randy Betten. “He is a five-year guy that came through our program and it is great to see him and his family receive this wonderful opportunity.”
Coach Betten had a bumper crop year in 2015, as four other Broncos (in addition to Powell) were selected in the 2015 draft – including outfielder Kyle Garlick, who was also picked by the Dodgers (in the 28th round).
Powell made his professional debut with the AZL Dodgers on June 23, 2015 against the AZL Padres. He pitched a scoreless, hitless inning but did walk two. On the season with the AZL Dodgers and Ogden Raptors of the rookie level Pioneer League he went 4-0 over 39.2 innings, posting a combined 2.72 ERA along with 46 strikeouts and 14 walks. Powell made 12 relief appearances with the AZL Dodgers and made five starts with the Raptors. He capped off his season on September 7 with a five-inning victory over the Grand Junction Rockies, giving up four hits and one run while striking out five and yielding no walks.
Although Powell did not appear in any major league games this spring, he was on the Dodgers travel squad a couple of times. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)
Powell was promoted to Rancho Cucamonga on September 12, 2015 and just as he had during his senior year of high school in 2010, he was once again on a championship team that played at the Epicenter (now called LoanMart Field) – this time as a member of the California League Champion Quakes.
Chris’ father Dennis is very active with the Dodgers Alumni League. He is seen here signing autographs for fans prior to Thursday night’s Freeway Series opener at Dodger Stadium.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)
Powell turned 23 in September and I expect he will start the season with the Great Lakes Loons of the Class A Midwest League and make his way to Rancho Cucamonga at some point during the upcoming season. Then again, I wouldn’t be all that surprised if he broke Spring Training camp on the Quakes roster either.
As they say, Chris Powell is a chip off the old block – the Dodger Blue block, that is.
UPDATE: Per Dennis Powell (via Twitter), Chris has been assigned to Advanced Single-A Rancho Cucamonga.
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thanks for another article on lesser known Dodgers prospects. I enjoy following the young guys through the system and your background information is terrific.
Didn’t get a chance to talk with Chris at spring training but watched him pitch a few innings of a minor league game (there were several members of the Dodgers brass looking on as well – including Tommy Lasorda). He has very good command and kept the ball down in the zone, which is always a good thing.
In my opinion, having seen Chris pitch a couple times now, there is no way that he does not begin the season at Rancho.
That would be a huge jump for a young professional; only 20 innings in rookie ball to the hitter friendly Cal League. Dodgers seem to bring youngsters along more slowly. Checked the bio on Powell; he could stand to add a bunch of good weight as he is listed at 6′ 2″ and 170 lbs.
Chris has some filling out to do. His Dad was listed at 6″3″and 175 lb. when he broke in with the Dodgers.
As mentioned I would not be surprised to see Chris head to Rancho Cucamonga. He is 23 now which is a factor and five years of college ball.
As with last year I would expect him to start the year with RC as a reliever and work into a starting role. If assigned to the Loons I expect him to start.That might be the better option and if all goes well head to RC during the season.
…as opposed to… say… the 5′-7″ – 170-pound Pedro Martinez?
I absolutely refuse to buy into the size of a pitcher determining his ability to succeed. In fact, I spoke with Dennis at length last night and he himself said “Just look at how big these guys are today. We’re (he and I) definitely old-school.”
Very nice article, thank you for the love and attention to detail.
…because you just never know who might drop by!
Sounds like you have a fine young man for a son, DP. Great seeing you here!
Thank you for the great article on Chris. To answer where is he going to start, I am proud to say, Chris told me, the Quakes.
I am really pleased to hear that.
Thank you for your response Dennis.
Chris today – 5 innings, 3 hits, 0 walks, 5 strikeouts. Four perfect innings in his previous start.