In Ginn and Grove, Dodgers take a pair of right-handed pitchers on Day 1
by Rowan Kavner
The Dodgers went with power right-handed pitchers with each of their two picks on the first day of the 2018 MLB Draft.
After drafting high school pitcher J.T. Ginn with their first selection, the Dodgers used their second pick on West Virginia University’s Michael Grove, who didn’t pitch his junior year as he recovers from Tommy John surgery.
That didn’t scare off the Dodgers, who were comfortable enough with Grove’s recovery a year after the surgery to feel his talent matched the spot in the draft.
In 2017, the 6-foot-3 Mountaineer pitcher struck out 61 batters in 47 innings with a 2.87 ERA. He was named the National Player of the Week and the Big 12 Pitcher of the Week after taking a perfect game into the eighth inning on April 8, 2017, against Kansas.
“Grove’s a little bit of a unique case,” said Dodgers director, amateur scouting Billy Gasparino. “A lot of credit goes to our area scout Jonah Rosenthal — he was able to see Grove both freshman and sophomore year at West Virginia and gain some comfortability with his physical ability.”
Grove made nine starts last year before the season-ending arm injury. Gasparino said the Dodgers take the injury seriously, but they feel confident with their player development and medical staffs they can get the players who need the procedure back to their previous ways, particularly compared to a decade or so ago.
“We felt like we were pretty prepared to know what kind of pitcher we were getting, despite knowing he had Tommy John surgery,” Gasparino said. “He is right about the 12-month mark now in the recovery process, and from all accounts, he is back on track to be at the same health and physical capacity he was before.”
Walker Buehler, the last top pick the Dodgers used on a starting pitcher prior to Ginn, had Tommy John surgery after the Dodgers selected him in 2015. Buehler’s already in the Major League rotation — one that includes pitchers in Ross Stripling and Alex Wood, who also underwent the procedure and bounced back.
“The Walker Buehler example is a good one,” Gasparino said. “We hope to repeat it here with Grove.”
Grove threw a low-to-mid 90s fastball with a power slider before the injury. The Dodgers’ first selection, Ginn, also packs a powerful fastball — one that ranges into the high-90s and is arguably the best the draft has to offer.
Gasparino noted Ginn’s “premium velocity with movement.”
“We think he had one of the best fastball qualities in the draft,” Gasparino said. “He’s got a power breaking ball he can throw for strikes. The stuff has always been there, but we’ve seen him develop a better delivery as the spring went along.”
With his 6-foot-1 frame and the fact he came out of the bullpen early in the year for his high school team in Mississippi, some projected Ginn as a reliever. Gasparino said while Ginn could be a good one-inning reliever, he sees that only as the floor for the talented high school prospect.
“That’s so far out of our goal for him,” Gasparino said. “We have much bigger hopes and expectations.”
With the fastball he possesses and his 6-foot-1 frame, Gasparino said he sees Ginn as a potential starter in the mold of a Marcus Stroman or Lance McCullers.
Gasparino said Ginn was only relieving early in the year to build up his pitch count. By the end of the year, Ginn was going deep into games. He threw three complete games, including a no-hitter, among his seven starts.
The Dodgers took Ginn at №30 overall and Grove at №68 overall.
“We’re going to make a great effort and would really like to sign both kids,” Gasparino said.
The draft continues Tuesday with Rounds 3–10 and Wednesday with Rounds 11–40.
