Undrafted out of The Citadel, Pilarski spent two years in the independent Frontier League then added 3 mph to his fastball during the offseason, landing a minor league contract.
ANAHEIM ― The Dodgers’ hardest-throwing pitcher hasn’t had a locker in their major league clubhouse for most of spring training. He won’t have one after the exhibition season ends Tuesday, either.When he signed a minor league contract with the Dodgers in December, he said, “I did not think I’d be standing in the Dodgers’ clubhouse and the Anaheim clubhouse today.”
Last year, the hardest Pilarski’s fastball could muster with regularity was 95 to 97 mph. Occasionally, he said, it would reach 98. Pilarski posted a 4.30 ERA across 23 appearances for Washington, unhelped by issuing 23 walks across 28⅓ innings. Listed as a sturdy 6-foot-2, 215 pounds, strength was less of an issue for Pilarski than mobility. His relative inability to bend at the waist was preventing him from unlocking pitch velocity. Exactly how much velocity wasn’t clear at the outset. By the time he left Tread, he hadAn amateur scout for the Dodgers, Jonah Rosenthal, was among those who were impressed. He and Will Rhymes, the Dodgers’ director of player development, worked quickly to hammer out a minor league contract.
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