Nick

Frasso

With the Dodgers and Padres set to open the regular season sooner than the rest of the league, expect them to trim down their rosters more quickly than the rest of the league. Knack, 26, had been a dark horse to see occasional starts as part of a six-man rotation to begin the season, but he’ll start out as excess depth at the Triple-A level instead.

The expectation is that Frasso will miss the entire 2024 campaign, but should be ready to pitch by the time the Arizona Fall League rolls around. The 25-year-old pitching prospect underwent shoulder surgery last November, which took him out of contention to contribute this season for Los Angeles.

It’s a substantial development for the Dodgers as Frasso, who was added to Los Angeles’ 40-man roster back in November, is one of the organization’s top pitching prospects and was expected to be ready to contribute at some point this upcoming season in the big leagues. The 25-year-old righty was outstanding last year, posting a stellar 3.77 ERA, 1.27 WHIP and 107/31 K/BB ratio across 93 innings (25 starts) between Double-A Tulsa and Triple-A Oklahoma City. The hope is that he’ll be ready for the outset of the 2025 campaign, but major shoulder surgeries are extremely complicated matters.

A member of the vaunted Double-A Tulsa rotation in the Dodgers’ system this past season, Frasso should figure into Los Angeles’ pitching plans at some point next year. The 25-year-old right-hander, who is currently MLB Pipeline’s 65th-ranked prospect entering the offseason, will be shielded from next month’s Rule 5 Draft. He compiled a strong 3.77 ERA, 1.27 WHIP and 107/31 K/BB ratio across 93 innings (25 starts) this past season between Double-A Tulsa and Oklahoma City.

Frasso has put together a strong season so far between Single-A Dunedin and High-A Vancouver, posting a 0.98 ERA, 0.46 WHIP and 57/10 K/BB ratio across 36 2/3 innings. The 23-year-old righty, who was a third-round pick by the Blue Jays back in the 2020 MLB Draft, is an interesting gamble for the Dodgers as a project reliever.