PHOENIX\u00a0\u2014\u00a0There comes a point in every big leaguer\u2019s career when they graduate from their farm system, a time in which they\u2019ve proven everything they can at the minor league level, and it\u2019s time to see what they are made of in the big leagues.<\/p>\n
For some, it\u2019s a fast track. For others, it may come after a few seasons in the minors.<\/p>\n
And then there\u2019s players such as 28-year-old Dodgers<\/a> prospect Ryan Ward. Drafted in the eighth round in 2019, Ward has played 402 games at triple-A Oklahoma City over the past three seasons. Last year, his 36 home runs, 122 RBIs, and .290\/.380\/.557 slash line made him the MVP of the Pacific Coast League. But after Sunday\u2019s Cactus League game against the Athletics, the Dodgers optioned Ward and left-hander Ronan Kopp to Oklahoma City.<\/p>\n The wait continues for Ward.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s hard, because you look at our roster, and it\u2019s very talented obviously, and we have the No. 1 or No. 2 farm system in all of baseball,\u201d Dodgers manager Dave Roberts<\/a> said last week. \u201cAnd you look back a handful of years, and guys just are waiting for their opportunities, and to not be discouraged is hard, to remain hopeful. And some of these guys, obviously, they didn\u2019t sign up for that, being drafted by the Dodgers, and you just have to put your head down and keep performing, and hopefully the opportunity lends itself. It\u2019s tough.\u201d<\/p>\n Early in the offseason, Dodgers general manger Brandon Gomes<\/a> said Ward was expected to \u201cget a bunch of opportunities at some point this year<\/a>\u201d after he\u2019d been added to the 40-man roster. But that was before the Dodgers signed outfielder Kyle Tucker to a four-year, $240-million contract<\/a> in January. And with Teoscar Hern\u00e1ndez, Andy Pages, Michael Siani, Tommy Edman, Hyeseong Kim and Kik\u00e9 Hern\u00e1ndez already on the roster, it was going to be challenging for Ward coming into spring training.<\/p>\n \u201cWard\u2019s problem is that the Dodgers are so talented that it\u2019s hard to find a spot for him,\u201d MLB Pipeline prospect analyst Jim Callis said. \u201cYou could make the case that he could have helped them more than Michael Conforto did last year. They could use a second lefty-hitting outfielder right now with switch-hitting Tommy Edman out, but it feels like he\u2019s about seventh on their overall outfield depth chart.\u201d<\/p>\n In 12 Cactus League games, Ward went five for 32 (.156 batting average) \u2014 including a one-for-three performance with an RBI on Sunday \u2014 while taking more reps at first base in an effort to expand his versatility. (At Bryant University, Ward was primarily an outfielder and played some second base.)<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been learning new positions,\u201d Ward said last week. \u201cI\u2019ve been playing the corners. They\u2019ve got me doing a little bit of first base stuff this year. So honestly, I think the versatility helps, you know? Just being able to play different positions at different times and feeling comfortable with it, and continuing to hit is really what I\u2019m trying to do.\u201d<\/p>\n Over his last three seasons in triple A, Ward\u2019s offensive output, mainly his power, is what has caught the eye of scouts.<\/p>\n \u201cRyan Ward is one of the best old prospects in baseball,\u201d Callis said. \u201cHe\u2019s 28, but he has legit power and has hit 91 homers the last three seasons in triple A. He\u2019s an all-bat guy, not much of an athlete or a defender, but the pop is real. He\u2019s probably a platoon player more than a regular but he\u2019s a useful left-handed bat.\u201d<\/p>\n For Ward, it\u2019s been a challenge at times to remain patient, which he\u2019ll continue to have to do. But he also trying to not put too much pressure on himself.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s something that I\u2019ve always said, which is \u2018control what you can control,\u2019\u201d Ward said. \u201cObviously, if thoughts creep into your head \u2014 it\u2019s impossible for them not to \u2014 but really just trying to focus on, like, the task at hand and the game later that night, and leave everything out, because if I start focusing on that, and start pressing or, likem get angry or any of that stuff, my play is just going to go downhill. So, just trying to keep a clear head and focus on what I can do.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PHOENIX\u00a0\u2014\u00a0There comes a point in every big leaguer\u2019s career when they graduate from their farm system, a time…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":614798,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2406],"tags":[5,79591,39,79590,3931,9448,1165,4332,4333,5954,8772,774,57,3224,4331,4,14149,6476,1830,2111,4833,880,19973,5693],"class_list":["post-614797","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles-dodgers","tag-baseball","tag-cactus-league-game","tag-dodgers","tag-few-season","tag-first-base","tag-guy","tag-la","tag-la-dodgers","tag-ladodgers","tag-last-week","tag-last-year","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-dodgers","tag-losangeles","tag-losangelesdodgers","tag-mlb","tag-opportunity","tag-rbi","tag-roster","tag-sunday","tag-time","tag-tommy-edman","tag-triple-a-oklahoma-city","tag-ward"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116199048787743526","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614797","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=614797"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614797\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/614798"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=614797"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=614797"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=614797"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}