Although there isn’t much good to say about the Dodgers 5-1 Spring Training loss to the division-rival Colorado Rockies at Sloan Park in Mesa, AZ on Monday night, there was something.

Despite their lackluster one-run-on-five-hit offense that included exactly zero extra base hits, 24-year-old right-hander/designated hitter (that’s not a typo) Jake Pilarski, who pitched the bottom of the seventh inning, struck out the side on 15 total pitches, several of which broke the century mark.

The first victim of the Pittsburgh, PA native and former Citadel Athletic, who the Dodgers signed to a minor league free agent contract on December 12, 2022, was Rockies minor league left fielder Zac Veen, who saw two of Pilarski five pitches to him hit 100.1 and 101 respectively, but ironically struck out swinging on an 88.1 MPH cutter.

Pilarski’s second victim was Rockies minor league center fielder Brenton Doyle, who whiffed on four pitches, the slowest of which was 94 MPH, with the other three coming in at a hair under 100.

Pilarski’s final victim was Rockies 2022 first-round draft pick right fielder Sterlin Thompson who, after seeing four pitches that topped 98 MPH, struck out swinging on a four-seam fastball that SportsNet LA’s radar listed at 101 MPH.

During his postgame interview with SportsNet LA Kirsten Watson, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts had very high praise for all of his minor league arms who saw action on Monday night.

“It was also fun, Kirsten, to see some of those young arms,” said the Dodgers skipper. “Jake Pilarski we signed, he touched triple digits a lot tonight. So, Dodger fans, we got a lot of good arms on the come.”

Although it is extremely unlikely that Pilarski will break camp on the Dodgers 40-man roster, you can bet that OKC Dodgers fans are pretty excited right about now. You can also bet that a lot of LA Dodgers fans will be keeping a close eye on the young flamethrower, too.

Play Ball!

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