Dodger Thoughts

… Ralston Cash, a 19-year-old, 6-foot-1, 197-pound right-handed pitcher from Lakeview Academy in Gainesville, Georgia. Here’s video on Cash from MLB.com. Cash will go to the University of Georgia if the Dodgers don’t sign him.

• This article by Bill Murphy of the Gainesville Times describes the hardships in Cash’s life after a single-car accident took the life of his mother when he was 3 1/2 years old.
• Andy Seiler of MLB Bonus Baby filed this long report on Cash in March.
  

  … My overall impression of Cash was quite positive. He displayed the solid natural stuff that I expected, though his command wasn’t what it was cracked up to be. He consistently left pitches up in the zone, though the Commerce hitters lacked the strength and bat speed to catch up to the ball. His curveball needs some work, and like I said above, I’d change him to a slider based on his arm speed and angle. The pitch even looked like a slider at times, so I wouldn’t see a tough transition. There’s a good bit of upside here, and I came away still seeing him as a solid 3rd-5th round prospect. He had a bad defense behind him, and every scout that evaluates him will have to completely ignore his final line and actual results on batted balls, but the approach is there for a pro pitcher. He’ll need to learn to adjust to having a competent defense behind him, and he’s going to be a flyball pitcher in the long run, but I’m glad I got to see Cash throw a pretty solid outing.

  In 2010, Cash had a 2.68 ERA and 79 strikeouts, writes Murphy. In 2009, Cash had a 0.97 ERA and 83 strikeouts in 57.2 innings, according to Chip Towers of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

  Here’s a short writeup from BaseballScoutz.com.

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In the third round, the Dodgers picked Leon Landry, a 20-year-old, 5-11, 195-pound outfielder from Louisiana State (the Dodgers are determined to get themselves someone from there.) Here’s the MLB.com video.

• Keith Law of ESPN.com ranked Landry 82nd overall on his prospect list.
• Here’s his official Louisiana State bio. Landry had a .418 on-base percentage and .513 slugging percentage this season, with 16 steals in 20 attempts.
• Friend of Dodger Thoughts John Klima provides this detailed writeup on Landry at Baseball Beginnings.
• Check out this catch Landry made in a 2008 postseson game: