The Dodgers signed 34 of their 42 picks in the 2015 MLB First Year Player Draft by the signing deadline on July 17 including their first overall selection – Walter Buehler – on the last signing day. The big disappointment was that they were unable to sign Kyle Funkhouser chosen with the 35th overall pick. On the 17th Funkhouser announced on Twitter that he would not be signing with the Dodgers. He chose to return to Louisville to pursue a national college championship and to improve his draft stock for 2016.

Funkhouser waited until the signing deadline to break the news to the Dodgers that he would not be signing with them.

The Dodgers had selected seven college arms in the first 10 rounds and then surprisingly took a high school pitcher in the 11th when they drafted Imani Abdullah out of Madison High School in San Diego. The drafting philosophy had been not only to stock up on pitchers but to do so with pitchers closer to being major league baseball ready.

Abdullah did not fit that mold. He, in fact, was a bit late to the game – especially as a pitcher, having pitched for only two years in his young baseball life at the high school level. Prior to his interest in baseball his primary interest was in golf.

As an 18-year old Abdullah stood 6-foot-5 and weighed 207 pounds. He has outgrown both of his parents and his mother was told by a doctor that he might add another three inches to his height. He definitely has the size that most teams look for in pitchers suggesting they will have the body structure and stamina to withstand the rigors of pitching.

Besides his size and a 92 mph fastball Imani Abdullah possessed another tangible that causes scouts to droll. He had a fresh arm, relatively speaking, as it had only two years of wear and tear on it in limited innings. He already had an outfielder’s live arm but up until the summer before his junior year at Madison High School no one had seen it as anything more than a plus tool in the outfield. That summer a travel league coach asked Abdullah to step outside of the batting cage and throw a bullpen session.

Naturally Abdullah agreed to do so and just like that he became a pitcher. A modest young man, he has a vivid memory of his first bullpen session.

“A lot of the parents were lined up and I was hearing wows,” he recalls.

“I can teach somebody to throw harder,” says Madison pitching coach Nick Furlong, who has helped more than 25 pitchers get drafted or play in college. “But you can’t teach (92 mph). You just can’t. It’s something he was born with.”

Imani Abdullah
(Photo credit – Steven Silva)

As a junior and first year pitcher during the 2014 season, he struck out 42 batters in 55 innings and held opposing hitters to a .227 average. His performance earned him All-Western league honors and he was selected to pitch in the 2014 New Balance Area Code Games alongside fellow signee Niko Navarro.

As a senior and captain, Abdullah was 7-1 with a 0.45 ERA with 114 strikeouts and 18 walks in 78 1/3 innings for Madison, completing six of 12 starts.

His progress from his junior to senior year at Madison High was eye-popping to say the least. According to his pitching coach Nick Furlog, Abdullah has some intangible that aided in his development: “He’s a sponge. He loves gathering information. He’s a great kid.”

The Dodgers seemed to have a definite strategy leading up to the signing of Abdullah. For the first two days of the draft they selected college pitchers whom they felt were signable – outside of Buehler and Funkhouser – which allowed them to set some pool money aside to sign a high school player or two who might come with a bit of a hefty price tag. Before the signing period had come to an end they did just that signing two 18-year old high school pitchers – Logan Crouse and Imani Abdullah.

Abdullah, to the delight of San Diego State University Head Coach Mark Martinez, committed to play with the Aztecs following his high school graduation in 2015.

“Imani has barely scratched the surface of his potential,” noted Coach Martinez. “He made a name for himself this summer and performed well at some major events. He is a local kid that we are excited to keep close to home and watch him develop in our program. He is an intelligent kid that gets better each time we see him pitch. He will definitely help us right away.”

However, unfortunately for Coach Martinez, the Dodgers had a plan to pry Abdullah away from the Aztecs. He in fact became a must sign candidate: “We love Abdullah,” said amateur scouting director Billy Gasparino. “He’s a priority sign. We think he’s the prototype projectable high school pitcher with arm action, fastball and delivery. He’s a target signing for us.”

So what could be the plan to sign the young right-hander in competition with a good baseball program with the San Diego State Aztecs right there in his home town? Well – you use magic.

Abdullah was selected by the Dodgers on the third day of the June Draft. He excused himself from class to take a phone call. The voice on the other end of the call said: “Imani, this is Magic Johnson…”

Johnson, part-owner of the Dodgers. had apparently also become a recruiter. Abdullah’s reaction to the call perhaps would be the same as it would be for most of us if Magic Johnson had personally called us.

“What the heck?” Abdullah said. “I was speechless. I couldn’t believe Magic called me. I was just in awe. I was shaking. It was crazy.”

Magic Johnson’s became the Dodgers closer on the deal.

“I think I’ll take the opportunity to go pro,” said Abdullah, “especially when someone like Magic Johnson tells you that you have a bright future. That’s pretty darn convincing.”

Abdullah made his professional baseball debut on July 16th in the Arizona league against the AZL Athletics. He pitched one inning recording a strikeout along with a ground ball out and fly ball out. On the season he pitched 13 innings giving up 9 hits while striking out 13 and walking five.

He will turn 19 in April and begin his third year of pitching. His “fresh arm” has only 146 1/3 innings on it plus there is much to learn about pitching so I would expect him to begin his season with the AZL Dodgers. However, I would not be surprised to see him make an appearance with the Ogden Raptors in the rookie Pioneer League at some point in the season.

It’s always good to have a little Magic in your life.