Gavin Stone

Stone fell on his face against big-league hitters, and the big-league numbers (6.64 FIP, 1.90 WHIP) and Pacific Coast League numbers (4.52 FIP, 1.31 WHIP) are pretty ugly for a pitcher with an ADP inside the top 450 for 2024. However, he showed signs of looking like the 2022 version and 2023 spring training version of himself down the stretch. He had a 1.73 ERA, 0.85 WHIP and 35 strikeouts in his final 26 innings at Triple-A and had a 3.52 ERA, 1.04 WHIP and 10 strikeouts in 7.2 innings over his final two big-league appearances. It's a tiny sample and the competition at Triple-A was pretty watered down when he was having that late-season success. However, Stone, whose changeup is his best pitch and who has shown he can handle a starter's workload, isn't the type of arm teams move to the bullpen until they've exhausted all efforts to develop him as a starter. His team context is obviously elite and he was very well thought of a year ago, so Stone checks a lot of boxes as a post-hype sleeper. Injuries and transactions will still play a role in determining the Dodgers' starting rotation, but Stone is firmly in the mix for one of the final spots as of the Winter Meetings.

Stone is finally a known entity in dynasty and draft and hold formats, but it still seems like he hasn't gotten enough credit for posting a 1.48 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and 168:43 K:BB in 121.2 innings last season across the top three levels of the minors. Known for his plus changeup, Stone popped up in 2021 after being a fifth-round pick in 2020 and had a strong first pro season in the lower levels, but he took it up a notch in 2022. The 6-foot-1 righty has a 93-95 mph four-seamer that gets plenty of whiffs and a sinker with good armside run. His upper-80s slider is more of a groundball inducer than bat-misser. Stone's changeup is excellent because he lands it for strikes and hitters swing over the top of it. The Dodgers know how to develop quality starting pitchers, and Stone figures to be the next example of that. It's always a crowded rotation to break into, but he could get a chance sometime this season.