Dodgers Rumors: Players not on the 40-man that will make playoff roster

Trevor Oaks – RHP

Trevor Oaks quietly had a very solid Spring Training for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Following his solid spring, many teams would have leaped at Oaks, placing him in either their starting rotation or their bullpen. However, with the Dodgers having the great issue of too many cooks in the kitchen, Oaks had to take the back seat and further prove himself in the minors with the OKC Dodgers.

And prove himself he has done. Oaks has started 15 games for OKC, appearing in 16 total, throwing 84 innings. He is fifth on the team in innings pitched and his 3.64 ERA is the second-best on the team of pitchers with more than 50 innings pitched. Oaks is a different breed of pitcher, someone who would pitch almost identical to Ross Stripling.

He does not have blow it by you stuff, he won’t strikeout ten in a game like Walker Buehler could. Instead, Oaks is proficient at making batters miss the sweet spot of the bat, getting soft contact and in turn getting batters out. He does have 72 strikeouts, so he can toss some K’s here and there, but Oaks will be the perfect arm to eat innings as the season dwindles down.

Putting Oaks in low leverage situations could benefit the Dodgers in the postseason as well. If Oaks finds his footing and thrives throwing in three-run games, Dave Roberts may start putting him in two-run games, one-run games and tie games.

Depending on how he performs, he could see himself throw some innings in the postseason. While the Dodgers do have a lot of arms, it never hurts to bring in additional pitchers. If Oaks can just go out and get one inning-ending double play a series, it will be a success for his young career.