The Arizona League Dodgers began their season with an offensive outburst on Saturday downing the AZL White Sox 10-1 on nine hits and aided by seven walks by White Sox pitchers.

Five Dodgers pitchers held the White Sox to five hits with Joel Toribio picking up his first professional win. The 6’6” right-hander spent all of the past season on the 60-day DL list after being selected by the Dodgers in the 34th round of the 2016 June Draft.

Joel Toribio
(Photo courtesy of thekzonenews.com)

The offense was led by a pair of 18-year-olds from the Dominican Republic. Both shortstop Ronny Brito and left fielder Starling Heredia had two hits with one of Heredia’s being the first home of the year for the AZL Dodgers.

Earlier in the day the Dodgers roster was released with the team having a strong international flavor. Sixteen members of the active roster are from Latin America while one other is from Germany.

Also of interest, all of the pitchers listed on the Dodgers roster are right-handers.

Players moving up from the Dominican Summer League in 2016 include eight pitchers: Jasiel Alvino, Oscar Arzaga, Yeison Cespedes, Jose Chacin, Melvin Jimenez, Santos Mateo, Alfredo Tavarez, Jesus Vargas.

Position players from the Dominican Summer League include the following: Jair Camargo (C), Alvaro Rubi (1B), Ronny Brito (SS), Marcus Chiu (2B), Samuel Ortiz (2B), Jeffrey Souffront (3B), Kevin Aponte (OF), Starling Heredia (OF), Felix Osorio (OF), Daniel Padilla (OF).

On MLB Pipeline Prospect Watch Starling Heredia is listed as the Dodgers No.11 prospect while Ronny Brito holds down the No. 19 spot.

The Dodgers rosters includes six players selected in the 2017 First-Year Player Draft: Zach Willeman (P), Max Gamboa (P), Jeremy Orocho (SS), Marcus Chiu (2B), Preston Grand Pre (SS), Chris Roller (OF).

Both Willeman and Gamboa will spend the entire 2017 on the 60-day DL as will right-hander Amaury Telemaco who signed with the Dodgers as a non-drafted free agent following the 2017 draft.

Outfielder Pascal Amon signed with the Dodgers as a free agent in 2015 out of Ingolstadt, Germany while 20-year-old right-hander Aneurys Zabala was acquired in the trade that sent right-handed pitcher Chase De Jong to the Seattle Mariners.

Pitchers Joel Toribio and Kevin Malisheski were selected in the 2016 First-Year Player Draft by the Dodgers in the 34th and 38th rounds respectively. Eighteen-year-old catcher Ramon Rodriguez was selected in the 30th round of the same draft.

Second baseman Eric Peterson and catcher Jacob Roberts were also signed as non-drafted free agents by the Dodgers following the 2017 draft.

As more members of the 2017 draft class are assigned there will be some shuffling of this roster. In the meantime, the coaching staff, led by the venerable John Shoemaker, will have an interesting and no doubt rewarding time helping this bevy of young players work towards their dreams. Manager Shoemaker is supported by hitting coaches Jarek Cunningham and Aaron Bates along with pitching coach Steve Andrade and fourth coach Greg Sabat.