Dodgers’ Kyle Hurt Offers ‘Massive Upside’
The Dodgers have benefited from the atypical, five-round 2020 draft like few other organizations.
First-rounder Bobby Miller and fifth-rounder Gavin Stone made their MLB debuts in 2023. Second-rounder Landon Knack is on tap for 2024.
Add 25-year-old righthander Kyle Hurt to the Dodgers’ group of 2020 draft success stories—even though they didn’t select him.
The Marlins drafted Hurt in the fifth round in 2020. Miami traded the Southern California product to the Dodgers the following February in the Dylan Floro deal.
In three collegiate seasons, Hurt showed potential but minor injuries and control issues clouded his future.
He began to move past those hurdles last offseason. Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes said that Hurt worked extensively with the organization’s pitching development group in Arizona, with a focus not only on his craft but also on nutrition and overall routine.
“He just took it to a whole other level during the offseason as far as dedication,” Gomes said, “and clearly we saw the benefits of that this season, when he was able to stay healthy and his stuff was electric.”
“And I think along with that was just his belief that, ‘I actually have a chance to be a big leaguer.’ “
Hurt in fact reached Los Angeles for one September outing and retired all six batters he faced in two innings.
That capped a season that saw Hurt post a 3.91 ERA with 152 strikeouts and 44 walks in 92 innings for Double-A Tulsa and Triple-A Oklahoma City. His 39.2% strikeout rate led all minor leaguers with at least 90 innings.
“There’s certainly some deception with his lower-slot fastball. The delivery is not all that easy to time,” Gomes said. “It feels like the ball is getting on the hitter much quicker than the (mid-90s) velocity says.”
Batters also have to be mindful of Hurt’s plus-plus changeup.
“I don’t know how a hitter could possibly cover both of them, so they have to sell out for one or the other,” Gomes said. “And his slider and curveball are nothing to scoff at either.”
Gomes said that Hurt could be “in the mix” for a multi-inning bullpen role in 2024.
“I think just his stuff and upside is pretty massive,” Gomes said.
L.A. CONFIDENTIAL
— Nineteen-year-old righthander Hyun-Seok Jang could start his pro career next season after helping Korea win the gold medal at the 2023 Asian Games. That performance earned Jang and his teammates an exemption from the military service required of all Korean men from the ages 18 to 35. The Dodgers signed Jang for $900,000 last August, convincing him to bypass the KBO draft.
— Outfielder Andy Pages is on track to report for spring training “full go,” according to Gomes. The 22-year-old had surgery on the labrum in his shoulder in June. “Our expectation right now, the way he’s tracking, he’ll be ready for spring training,” Gomes said. “He should have a normal offseason building strength and hitting.” Pages hit a combined 57 home runs for High-A Great Lakes in 2021 and Double-A Tulsa in 2022 but hit just three in 34 games in 2023 before having surgery.
