Who is Dodgers pitcher Gavin Stone?

For todays game, Dodgers plan to start thier number 4 prospect RHP pitcher Gavin Stone. This will be his first time ever pitching in the Majors. So who is Gavin Stone and why are they calling him up to start?

Stone was drafted by the Dodgers in 2020 in the 5th round at the 159th pick. He first pitched for the Dodgers minor league system in 2021 and was promoted quickly throughout the Minor League levels. What's special about Stone is that he gets a lot of strikeouts and generated a 52 percent swing-and-miss rate the past two years in the Minors. He is known to have a nasty changeup pitch and his velocity is trending up too, going up to 94 MPH. After being promoted twice in 2022 and having an amazing season, Stone was selected by the Dodgers as their 2022 Branch Rickey Minor League Pitcher of the Year. In 2022, he had a 1.48 ERA in 121 2/3 innings of work that saw him strike out 33.8% of batters faced alongside a solid 8.9% walk rate.

Now this season, Stone started off to a bad start but started to pick things up recently and impressed everyone this spring so far. After struggling this year, he had a 2.86 ERA in 22 innings showing more than enough talent to bring him in the big leagues.

Not only has his success in the Minor Leagues brought him up for a Major League call-up, but the Dodgers currently have a 5-man rotation and the Dodgers like to use a six-man rotation for awhile now. It's unclear how long Gavin Stone will be in the Majors but if he sticks around he will join Kershaw, Urias, May, Gonsolin, and Syndergaard (who's struggling). Stones first MLB start is today at 1 PM.