LOS ANGELES -- Another glimpse at the Los Angeles Dodgers' bright future will come Sunday when top pitching prospect Jose De Leon will make his debut with a start against the San Diego Padres.
The 24-year-old right-hander is 7-1 with a 2.61 ERA under a controlled schedule at Triple-A Oklahoma City this season. He has thrown just 86 1/3 innings.
“He’s had a fantastic second half of the season and earned the right to get up here,” manager Dave Roberts said. “So he’s going to make that start on Sunday with Rich (Hill) going (Saturday).
The Dodgers will still need to add De Leon to the 40-man roster in order to call him up, but that only will be a formality.
Julio Urias and De Leon formed a formidable 1-2 pitching prospect punch at the start of the season. The duo even sat at neighboring lockers during big league camp in spring training.
They both ended spring in the minor leagues, but Urias was first to the major leagues in late May at the tender young age of 19. After a rough start to his major league career, Urias has managed to settle in nicely, going 4-0 in August with a 1.99 ERA. He was 5-2 with a 3.71 ERA over 14 outings (12 starts) before his outing Friday against the Padres.
The Dodgers will keep a close eye on De Leon in his debut. One benefit to having him make his debut in September is that if he struggles the Dodgers have a number or pitchers available with an expanded roster to cover the outing.
Roberts said he will get a look at De Leon’s outing Sunday before deciding how the club might use him down the stretch.
“Jose, I haven’t seen a whole lot,” Roberts said. “But I know that he’s got a very good fastball. He’s got a plus change and he’s got a breaking ball to go along with his mix. But what I do know about Jose, he’s a great young man, he’s a hard worker, he has a lot of character. And he’s from Puerto Rico. I’m anxious to learn a little more about him.”
Hill will pitch Saturday after having his start at Colorado skipped earlier this week. He warmed up for a start Tuesday night that was ultimately rained out. The Dodgers elected to not have him warm up again and pitch during Wednesday’s doubleheader out of an abundance of caution.
Hill, who arrived to the Dodgers from the Oakland Athletics on the disabled list because of a blister issue, has made one start with his new club, fashioning six scoreless innings against the San Francisco Giants on Aug. 24.