It's funny how one little non-announcement/confirmed call-up can cause minds to reel and rumors to spread. Yesterday afternoon, word quickly spread that 26-year old Kyle Farmer -- a catching prospect at Triple-A Oklahoma City -- would be called up to the Dodgers.
Suddenly, fans and media alike went into a frenzy.
Does this mean a trade is coming? Is Austin Barnes being moved to get one of those oft-spoken about frontline starting pitchers that are supposedly on the market? Heck, folks were ruing the possible loss of outfield prospect Alex Verdugo -- assuming he was being traded since he was not in yesterdays lineup.
Instead, none of these things happened. Kyle Farmer was brought up to Los Angeles to provide more depth on the bench. Dodger reliever Grant Dayton was put on the DL due to neck discomfort.
So, who is Kyle Farmer?
A Dodgers 8th round draft pick in 2013, Farmer attended the University of Georgia and was roommates with current Dodgers pitcher Alex Wood in college. In fact, his addition to the club means that there are now three former University of Georgia Bulldogs on the team (including reliever Josh Fields). On a more personal note, Farmer is recently engaged. So, he should fit in with the Dodgers clubhouse quite nicely -- considering how many newly engaged Dodgers' are now on the team. You can follow Kyle on Twitter here: @kFarm17.
As for his play, he is ranked as the 30th best prospect in the Dodgers system by MLB.com. They said this of him:
After making a cameo in the movie "The Blind Side" as a high school quarterback, Farmer was a four-year starter at shortstop in college at Georgia. He lacked the quickness to play the position in pro ball, so the Dodgers moved him to catcher after signing him for $40,000 as an eighth-rounder in 2013. A broken wrist truncated Farmer's 2016 season, but he returned and got off to a hot start this year that earned him a promotion to Triple-A in late May.
As hoped, Farmer's soft hands, strong arm and leadership ability helped him make the transition to catching. He focused on enhanced his mobility last offseason, and his blocking and receiving have looked better than ever in 2017. Farmer also has seen regular action at third base and spot duty at first and second base, enhancing his usefulness as a projected reserve at the big league level.
Farmer also has improved offensively, as he's using his lower half better in his swing and is showing more plate discipline at the past. He doesn't have a big offensive ceiling, but he does make consistent line-drive contract and has some doubles power. Farmer is a below-average runner, but he's faster than the typical catcher.Per Ron Cervenka at Think Blue LA:
The extremely popular soon-to-be 27-year-old (on August 17) 6′-0″ / 214-pound backstop is in the midst of a banner season with the OKC Dodgers, where he has a current slash-line of .339 / .411 / .468 for an outstanding OPS of .879. Farmer has also slugged six home runs, 13 doubles and one triple while driving in 29 runs with the team’s Triple-A affiliate.
Although most of his 48 games at Oklahoma City were as catcher (30), Farmer also saw time at third base (14), second base (3), shortstop (2) and first base (2). In 242 chances behind the plate, Farmer committed only one error for an excellent .995 fielding percentage. He also threw out four of 14 would-be base stealers for a 22 percent caught stealing rate.In honor of Kyle joining the Dodgers I made the above fantasy Baseball cards for him. I used the 1990 Bowman Baseball card designs with a pic taken by Jon SooHoo/LA Dodgers 2016.
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