Dylan Dodd was the Braves most intriguing senior sign of the 2021 draft. His performance in his professional debut wasn’t exciting, but is not indicative of his true talent.
Midseason Ranking: 25
With little to go on with Dodd prior to our midseason ranking we placed him at 25, a spot that seems solid given what we’ve seen from him as a professional. He hasn’t jumped off of the page overall so I wouldn’t expect to see major movement from him.
2021 stats
(Low-A and High-A): 4 G, 0-2, 9.00 ERA, 14 IP, 3 BB, 20 K, 4 HR, 1.571 WHIP
What we saw in 2021
Dodd was one of the early picks to catch the eyes of the Talking Chop staff, as he was highly regarded as one of the top senior signs for the 2021 draft. The Braves landed the Southeast Missouri State lefty with their third round pick and were able to get him a few outings before the end of the season. His one poor game (3 IP, 8 R) in hitter-friendly Asheville majorly inflated his numbers, but in Low-A Augusta he had a solid debut. In three games there he pitched 11 innings, and despite a 4.91 ERA, had solid peripherals with 14 strikeouts, 3 walks, and no home runs allowed. Dodd features a solid three-pitch mix that centers around his changeup with flashes plus. It’s his most consistent pitch at getting outs at the lower levels where few players have the experience to hit solid offspeed stuff. His fastball won’t light up the radar guns as he sits more in the low-90’s, but he has well above average spin rates for his velocity and when paired with the changeup the pitches have a very good velocity and movement separation. The curveball comes in as his third pitch and could be another average offering, though it was not used to as much success as his changeup in his professional debut. He mixes in a slider as well to give him four pitches that could be average or better. The small sample and time in between pitching in college and professionally makes it hard to judge him too hard on what we saw professionally. When he works around the edges he has success, but he can get into a bit of trouble when the fastball drifts down and over the middle of the plate where it can be driven.
What to expect in 2022
Dodd will likely start back in High-A next season, and given his age and how advanced his three pitches are he will likely earn a trip to Double-A with even a halfway decent season. More needs to be seen of his stuff in more regular starts to make final judgements on his overall role, but he seems to have the potential to be a back-end left handed starter with mid-rotation potential should he max out his pitches.