Right-hander Mitchell White was selected by the Dodgers in the second round of 2016 First-Year Player Draft. The San Jose native who attended high school at Bellarmine College Preparatory was an unlikely candidate to be drafted at all as recently as 2014, much less to be the 65th overall pick.

In his graduation year at Bellarmine White experienced some elbow discomfort and admittedly pitched very little or very well.

“I just pitched in high school,” White said with a laugh, “but I was pretty useless. I only pitched about 25 innings for my high school team.”

He did pitch with Trosky Baseball’s travel teams in the summer and attracted enough attention to be able to commit to Santa Clara University in Santa Clara, California.

Following his final season at Bellarmine Prep, White had Tommy John surgery which often derails careers – at least temporarily. It did much more than that for the 6’4” – 207-pound hurler. It turned his baseball world around – and his life – because he made use of it. The time off gave him an opportunity to reflect on his life, mature and shed his self-imposed “useless” moniker.

“I think the rehab played a part in it,” White said. “I think physical maturation was another. Maybe this is too simple, but I got in shape. I had better habits. I ate better, worked out better, got stronger, learned to use my legs.”

Healthy once again for the first time in two years, White led the Broncos in 2015 with 29 relief appearances posting a 3.62 ERA along with 40 strikeouts in 32 innings. He picked up five saves after becoming Santa Clara’s closer.

Mitchell White
(Image courtesy of Santa Clara University)

White pitched for Lima in the Great Lakes League following his college season and no one – especially his Santa Clara coach Gabe Ribas – had an inkling of what was about to happen with his 2016 season.

White hit 96 mph on the BYU radar gun on a number of occasions and delivered one pitch at 97 mph during the 2016 season. He finished his sophomore year with a 3.72 ERA and struck out 118 hitters over 92 innings while walking only 27.

Head coach Ribas has been around the game for quite some time and pitched in the Phillies and Padres minor league systems. White’s mentor was almost in disbelief with the young pitcher’s transformation and was lavish in his praise.

“Of the guys I’ve played with, seen and coached, he’s the best I’ve seen,” Ribas said. “He struck out 120 guys or whatever (actually 118), and he could have struck out 170. He’s just so new to pitching.

“He just started throwing a change-up (in March) and he’d getting swings and misses with change-ups,” Ribas added. “He learned a cutter last year; I mean, he’s 93-95 with natural cut, but now he throws a true cutter at 87-90. When it’s bad it morphs into a low-80s slider, speeding up guys’ bats with it, but when he’s 86-90 it’s untouchable to both sides of the plate. And he has an overhand hammer (curve), 77-80, and it’s a bastard.”

It would seem the Dodgers were in tune with coach Ribas’ observations in selecting White with their 65th-pick while Baseball America had him ranked 138th.

“He was a second half performer this year and went up to 95 late in the year, collecting multiple high strikeout games,” Dodgers director of amateur scouting Billy Gasparino said in a statement last week. “He has a plus slider, he is big, he is physical, and we really feel like he is trending up into being a mid-rotation starter.”

On draft night, June 9, the 21-year-old White was playing a video game with a friend expecting to be selected during the second day of the draft. His game was interrupted by a phone call from his agent Matt Sosnick, who relayed the following message:

“You better call your mom and dad and your friends and whoever else you want to real fast,” White recalls the agent saying. “You’re about to get picked by the Dodgers.”

He tuned into MLB Network just in time to hear the scouting reports and assessment on him after the Dodgers had picked him. Then the celebration started.

Being from San Jose, White grew up as a Giant fan but said his mother has Dodger ties through her father. The young pitcher now has a new plan in mind with his loyalties.

“It worked out perfectly,” he said. “I know the Giants have won some World Series lately, but now it’s time to mix that up a bit, you know?”

White quickly signed with the Dodgers and reported to Camelback Ranch in Phoenix. He was assigned to the AZL Dodgers making his first appearance on July 5 against the AZL White Sox. He tossed two scoreless innings while giving up one hit and striking out four. He repeated that performance on July 10 against the AZL Reds and once again pitched two innings while giving up two hits and striking out four.

He was promoted to the Great Lakes Loons on July 15 and arrived in Burlington in time to face the Bees. White started the game knowing he would pitch two innings. Over the course of those two innings he gave up one hit, a walk and struck out one. He threw 32 pitches – 19 of them strikes – and induced three ground balls.

The game took a downhill turn following White’s exit from the game with the Angel’s affiliate Bees out-hitting the Loons 11-8 and out-scoring them 9-3.

Nevertheless, it was a big day for Mitchell White with two more scoreless innings on his resume and taking another big step in his professional baseball career three short years after being a “useless” high school pitcher.