Zach Root was the Dodgers’ first draft pick last year, with the left-handed pitcher from Arkansas going 40th overall, right before his college teammate Charles Davalan was selected by the Dodgers at No. 41.
Root did not pitch in the minors last season, and did not appear in a major league spring game, so his appearance in the spring breakout game on Saturday night at Camelback Ranch was a professional coming out party of sorts. Root was incredible, with eight strikeouts in three scoreless innings.
Keith Law at The Athletic had high praise for the left-hander after watching the spring breakout game:
The four-seamer was 92-97 last year, but Root is a Dodger now, so of course he was 96-99 and got four whiffs on the pitch in 22 total fastballs (18.2 percent). He went heavier on the curveball in this outing, 82-84 with big vertical break, pounding the zone with that pitch while also mixing in a few sliders up to 92 and changeup, the latter possibly a hybrid split-change. I had him as a first-round talent last spring and I think the Dodgers got a steal here.
For his efforts, Root on Monday was named to the all-spring breakout first team, along with James Tibbs III, who started at first base for the Dodgers, walked three times and homered, driving in four runs.
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Patrick Copen was a non-roster invitee in Dodgers camp this spring, after putting up a solid 3.59 ERA in 27 starts between High-A Great Lakes and Double-A Tulsa, and led Dodgers minor leaguers with 152 strikeouts. This all came after the seventh-round draft pick from 2023 was hit by a line drive in 2024 that left him partially blind in his right eye.
Copen talked about his journey with Kyle Bandujo on the From the Phenom to the Farm podcast, which was written up at Baseball America as well.
Van Nuys High School on Friday named its baseball field after Hall of Famer Don Drysdale, who graduated from the school in 1954. Mark Langill at Dodger Insider has more.
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