The Los Angeles Dodgers announced the signing of Tulane third baseman Kody Hoese, who was taken in the first round (No. 25 overall) in the first round of the 2019 MLB Draft.
Hoese started all 58 games for the Green Wave this season, batting .391/.486/.779 with 23 home runs and 61 RBI. “Kody’s a guy we earmarked coming out of the fall that we really thought took a jump in both ability and performance,” Dodgers scouting director Billy Gasparino said.
“He’s an athletic 6-4, lean-bodied third baseman who we think is a plus defender. We thought the power was going to be there, and then he went out and almost hit .400 with over 20 home runs and really showed us that he was a dynamic hitter that can hit with power.”
The Dodgers additionally confirmed they agreed to terms with 17 other selections from this year’s Draft. They still have not signed 22 of their picks, but inked 11 of their first 15 selections.
Along with Hoese, right-handed pitcher Ryan Pepiot (third round, No. 102 overall), right-hander Nick Robertson (seventh, 221), outfielder Ryan Ward (eighth, 251), left-hander Alec Gamboa (ninth, 281) and shortstop Zac Ching (10th, 311) also signed.
So too were right-hander Logan Boyer (11th, 341), lefty Mitchell Tyranski (12th, 371), left-hander Jacob Cantleberry (13th, 401), left-handed pitcher Sean Mellen (14th, 431) and outfielder Joe Vranesh (15th, 461).
From the later rounds, the Dodgers additionally signed left-hander Jeff Belge (18th, 551), shortstop Jimmy Titus (22nd, 671), right-hander Cyrillo Watson (23rd, 701), outfielder Danny Sinatro (32nd, 971), third baseman Julio Carrion (33rd, 1001), center fielder Justin Washington (35th, 1061) and catcher Tyler Ryan (38th, 1151).
The signing of Hoese erases some of the sting from the Dodgers’ failure to ink J.T. Ginn, who they selected in the first round of the 2018 MLB Draft. Ginn opted to attend Mississippi State, where he was named SEC Freshman of the Year, the Collegiate Baseball Co-National Freshman Pitcher of the Year as well as a Freshman All-American.
The Dodgers were awarded the 31st pick in the 2019 MLB Draft as compensation, which was used on North Carolina second baseman Michael Busch, who is among their unsigned selections. While the Dodgers’ first two selections were used on position players, the team focused on collegiate pitchers.
The Dodgers did not announce signing bonuses for any of their selections. They went into the Draft with just over $8 million on bonus pool money.
