July 5th, 2016 at 6:00 am 
by Ron Cervenka Often times during the development of minor league players they come across a coach or a manager who sees something in them that no one else does or has in the past. For the Dodgers it recently happened with Yasiel Puig during his rehab assignment with the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes. During batting practice, Quakes hitting coach and former Dodger Jay Gibbons noticed something in Puig’s swing and mentioned it to the rehabbing Dodger. Sure enough, Puig made the adjustments offered by Gibbons and the results have been remarkable. Since returning from the DL, Puig has seen his batting average increase from a season-low .229 to a season-high .263 in less than a month.
But trying something new isn’t just limited to hitters. The right pitching coach at the right moment in a young pitcher’s career can be the difference in that young man making it to the major leagues or eventually leaving the game without ever having a major league page on Baseball_Reference.com.
Dodger fans who also follow the team’s minor league affiliates have undoubtedly already heard the name Chase De Jong, as well they should have. A little over a year ago the Dodgers acquired the (then) 21-year-old Long Beach, California native and lifelong Dodger fan from the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for an international signing slot. De Jong had been selected by the Blue Jays in the second round of the 2012 MLB First Year Player Draft out of Woodrow Wilson High School in Long Beach and played a huge role in the Dodgers Advance Single-A affiliate Rancho Cucamonga Quakes winning the 2015 Cal League Championship.
As expected and in spite of being only 22 years old at the time, De Jong began the 2016 season at Double-A Tulsa. Ironically, Bill Simas – his pitching coach from Rancho Cucamonga and a former major league pitcher himself – had also been promoted from the Quakes to the Drillers.
After a bit of a slow start and under the constant tutelage of Simas, De Jong quickly turned his season around and has become one of the Drillers most reliable starters and the team’s work horse
But wait, there’s more!
About two weeks ago Simas began working with De Jong on a new pitch to add to his arsenal of fastball, curveball and change-up – a cutter. And judging by the early returns, two things are about to happen as a result:
- A lot of guys who step into the batters box to face De Jong will soon be walking back to the dugout carrying their bats with a lower batting average.
- Chase De Jong will probably soon find himself at Triple-A Oklahoma City because of this new pitch, with a legitimate shot of making it to Dodger Stadium in the not-too-distant future.
With his new cutter, De Jong has elevated his game to an entirely new level – one that will undoubtedly expedite his path to the big leagues. (Photo courtesy of MiLB.com)
This is where I have to make a little confession. De Jong actually told me about his new cutter about a week ago after using it to strike out five batters in a game on June 25. He then used it to strike out the only batter he face in the Texas League All-Star Game on June 28 on three pitches. At his request, I sat on this exciting news for a while.
“The league’s going to find out about it soon enough but there’s no sense in giving them a head start on it,” kidded De Jong.
Well De Jong used it again on Monday evening in the Drillers dominating 10-2 win over the Corpus Christi Hooks (Astros) and the results were equally impressive. The cat is also officially out of the bag as quite a few Hooks batters got a good look at a pitch that they flat out couldn’t hit. De Jong allowed only one run on five hits with one walk and six strikeouts in his 6 innings of work. He improved his season record to 9-4 and lowered his ERA to a team-best 2.39 among all current Drillers starters.
“The key to throwing this new cutter for me is to throw it and commit to the spot and throw it like a fastball,” De Jong said after Monday night’s game. “I haven’t had much of a velocity drop with it, I’m still 90-92 with the cutter and I’m only topping out at 93-94 with the 4 seam [fastball]. I’ll gladly take the movement over the two-MPH difference. Billy Simas and I have worked with it a lot over the last 10 days and now I’m very confident with it.”
Good news for De Jong, bad news for opposing hitters.
As the good ones always do, De Jong credits catcher Shawn Zarraga for his success both with helping him develop his new pitch and for helping him in Monday’s big win.
“I made the one mistake to [Hooks third baseman J.D.] Davis who homered off of me in the second inning and after that I didn’t throw another inside fastball,” De Jong said. “Zarraga and I were on the same page the rest of the night and he framed a lot of good pitches and got them for me. We came out and threw strikes and pitched to the defense.”
As the good ones also do, De Jong called Monday night’s win a team effort.
“I had some really good plays made behind me and it was a great team effort the whole game,” said De Jong. “We came back from being down 1-0 and then scored a bunch. My team had my back when I was down and then I protected the lead as soon as they gave it to me. Really a solid team win tonight!”
Indeed, very good just got a whole lot better.
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With the emergence of De Jong, Stewart, and Cotton this season (Trevor Oaks to somewhat lesser degree) plus the RH pitching of Holmes, Sborz, and Sopko at Rancho Cucamonga and the projected abilities of Buehler, Sheffield, and Alvarez (albeit only at rookie ball), it seems that De Leon could be expendable in a trade for a top flight, experienced talent like Lucroy, or Archer, or ????
I don’t see De Leon as being expendable; not yet, at least. I can see De Jong now possibly being included in a big trade package, although I really hope he is not. He good.
The future of the Dodgers is continuing to look better and better all the time. Lets hope the trade deadline is kind to our prospects.
I am not sure if there is a position player or pitcher that may be available that can push the Dodgers across the finish line. If that is the premise, then I would not move De Leon or De Jong. Silverman (Rays) says Archer is not going to be moved, and Coppolello (Braves) says that Teheran is not available. Sonny Gray may be available, but he is not having a good enough year to include De Leon or De Jong. There are no back of the rotation pitchers that I would consider moving either De Leon or De Jong for.
I think that Stewart, De Jong, Stripling, and maybe Oaks have surpassed Cotton as a potential rotation piece. I think Cotton is headed for the bullpen. Since his fifth start, De Jong has been fairly consistent, sometimes outstanding. I would not move him until the scouts have had a chance to completely evaluate his cutter, and see if it continues to be a swing and miss pitch.
I am assuming that the Brewers are going to want players who are ML ready to give up Lucroy. Grandal will be a part of the trade package, but then who? That would make Cotton/Stewart/Oaks and maybe Stripling all possible. Andrew Toles to replace Flores? Micah Johnson/Austin Barnes to replace Gennett? But if the Brewers ask for De Leon or De Jong, I guess we go with Grandal for the year.
I really think Friedman/Zaidi have to wait to see how McCarthy and Ryu look after two starts each before they can assess if they need a Jake Odorizzi/Matt Moore level pitcher, which probably puts that right at the Deadline. Odorizzi and/or Moore will probably be gone by then.
Jharel Cotton is intriguing. I am not sure just how he fits in that group but I don’t think he has fallen out of favor as a prospective starter just yet. He seems to struggle with guys on base so maybe not ready for relief work at this point although he might be lights out starting fresh innings.
He is hard to hit – 74.2 innings, 58 hits, 91 K’s, .209 Ave, 1.13 WHIP, 26 walks. A bit prone to the HR ball.
Alex Freedman, OKC play-by-play announcer said during his last start – a VG one – that when he is on Cotton is just about the most fun OKC starter to watch.
I saw him in Sacramento on one of those VG days. I just do not think there are enough of them. I guess I feel he has fallen out of favor because none of Urias, Stewart, or Tepesch were on the 40 man when they were promoted to the ML club, but Jharel Cotton was and was passed over each time. I would also guess that when De Leon is deemed ready, the 40 man will need to be breached again, and Cotton will be passed over again. I just get the feeling that Jharel is going the way of Zach Lee.
AC – you are spot on. There are not enough of those good days. He has command of his pitches, meaning he can make them do what they are supposed to do. Control is the issue especially with runners on. His K/BB ratio is acceptable and better than Chase’s but he still hasn’t mastered the art of putting the hitter away even though he has the stuff. Maybe that will come and maybe it won’t. I hope we get to find out with Jharel in Dodger Blue.
He may well be part of a trade package. I hope not – I like him but I like all Dodger prospects. I think he would be eligible to be taken in the Rule 5 Draft if not protected and may be taken especially if he hits a hot streak following up on his last game. That may well be a factor in the Dodgers including him in a trade package. Get something in exchange or lose him.
AC – that inconsistency got him again tonight. A good inning followed by a poor one. In watching him pitch his body language doesn’t seem to display a confidence. He’s nibbling and missing, getting behind, then vulnerable.
BD, I think Jharel was placed on the 40 man and not exposed to Rule 5 Draft to give him this year to prove himself. I do not believe that he has done that. He has pitched very well at times, but so has Carlos Frias, and so did Zach Lee. He has not stood out, and for that I think he might be included in a package within the next 2-3 weeks. Ethier is going to have to be placed back on the 40 man from the 60 day DL, as will Wood and Anderson (if the reports are accurate). And De Leon is going to have to be added at some point when it is decided that he will be brought up. I do not know the rules enough to know if anyone on the 60 day DL can be released (Tsao or Ravin). Or maybe guys like Hatcher and Howell just get DFA. I would hate to lose Cotton, because I do think he will have a productive ML career, but the Dodgers cannot let another pitcher dry up in the minors like Zach Lee.
Two weeks to learn a new pitch? We need Simas to work with some of our relievers.
Maybe Pedro Baez should learn that cutter.