Donovan Casey was drafted in the 20th round by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2017. He was picked as a two-way player even though he spent most of his college years as an outfielder. He hasn’t faced a batter as a pitcher in the minors but has impressed as a toolsy right-handed hitter.
In his rookie professional season, Casey was initially assigned to the Arizona Rookie League and then to the Ogden Raptors, finishing with an impressive .403/.453/.604 line for the year. In 2018, the Dodgers decided to start his season by promoting him to advanced A where he struggled before being placed on the 7-day disabled list on May 30th. After 2 months on the DL, he was sent on a rehab assignment for 7 games in AZ before being sent back to Rancho Cucamonga where he finished the season on a strong note slashing .311/.358/.486 for his last 17 games.
2019 saw an overall production spike as he began the season back with the Quakes. He logged nearly as many games in advanced A than he did his first two seasons combined finishing with a .844 on-base plus slugging percentage. This was good enough to earn him a promotion to double-A Tulsa where he struggled to end the season. But it is commonly known for players to slightly struggle when making a jump from the California League to the Texas League. There’s a likely chance he starts his 2020 campaign with the Drillers in AA to allow more time to prove himself and develop his skills at a higher level of competition.
Altogether, his ascension through the minors has been impressive. To be in AA in only his 3rd season of professional baseball says a lot of his pace of development. Baseball America’s draft scouting report specified that as a position player “Casey boasts dynamic raw tools with his plus arm, plus speed and plus athleticism” and that he’s shown “plus raw power” but not consistently. All those tools proved to be true as well as the plus raw power which was displayed more recently.
Here’s some footage of those tools.
Oskar is a contributor to Dodgers-Lowdown. Follow him on Twitter @2rawsko94.
Photo credit: Tulsa World