By the time a player reaches the Advanced level of A ball in the Minor Leagues, they, almost certainly, have a long list of accomplishments on the diamond. Most were the best pitchers on their High School, and College teams as well, and they have put an infinite amount of time into perfecting their craft. 

But, every once in a while you come across a prospect that is able to balance the type of dedication it takes to become elite with unique abilities and interests outside of the game.

Jack Dreyer, better known as the Maytag, is definitely that guy.

Dodgers Culture

The Dodgers draft players that are extremely talented, no doubt, but it needs to be emphasized that they are equally as committed to filling their system full of elite human beings as well. And they are not hesitant to sign players that have big talent, but an injury unfortunate past.

And, they like people that handle their business off the field at an elite level as well. Almost all of the Dodgers prospects have been Valedictorians, or on some kind of honor roll, and are spoken about in the highest regards by those they have touched.

Dreyer definitely fits that mold.

Iowa Sized Awesome

The young lefty grew up in heart of Iowa, Johnston to be exact, and dominated his way through just about every mound in the Hawkeye state. His dad Steve pitched in the Major Leagues for the Texas Rangers and actually, and ironically, played in OKC while in the Minors.

OKC is the AAA location for the Dodgers currently.

When asked what it was like to grow up with a dad that pitched in the Major Leagues, this is what he said.

It’s been incredible!

It’s always great to hear those stories. He was always the pitching coach for my travel teams, and it was great to have someone with that much knowledge. He didn’t just work with me, he worked with everybody.

 I think he did a really great job treating me as a son, but then treating me as a player, which can be difficult for people to manage. 

I’m very thankful for everything he’s taught me and is still teaching me. 

In High School the young Dreyer won 23 games and had an ERA of just 1.13, struck out 195 hitters in 149 innings, and went 10-0 as a Senior.

He also led his Dragons team to the State Title in 2017 and threw a complete game shutout in State Finals. In that Finals game he had 13 Ks, which is the 3rd most in the States history for a Title game, and he holds his schools record for the most strikeouts in a single season since High Schools have instituted a pitch count. 

His efforts earned him the Honor of All-Iowa Baseball Player of the Year, and first team All-State where he was the captain of the team. He also was a part of the 2016 18U USA Baseball team, and was an Honors student in all 4 year of his Collegiate career at Iowa.

When talking about his High School experience, Dreyer said that playing with his childhood friends, and winning a State Title, is a highlight of his career.

First of all, the State Championship was played at Principal Park, which is where the Iowa Cubs play. So, it was just a great atmosphere, and it was close enough to my High School to where we could bring a ton of fans. 

Dreyer continued about his historic State Championship game.

There were 5000 people there for the Championship game, which was, by far, the most amount of people I had ever thrown in front of. So I was ready to go, I was pumped!

Dreyer gives a lot of credit to his teammates, his Head Coach and the Culture of the program at Johnston.

I was playing on a team with guys that I had played with since I was 8 or 9 years old, and then, there were also some guys that had been on rival Travel ball teams. So we knew each other so well and the team chemistry was great. 

I had a great chemistry with my head Coach, Michael Barta too. 

So, I think having that camaraderie between the coaches and the players made it so easy to play. We ended up going 41-3 that year, and we just expected to win each game because that was the kind of culture that was built. 

Hawkeye

Dreyer’s list of accomplishments were long and they made him a nationally ranked prospect, and, after competing in the Futures game, his recruiting “blew up.” 

In a good way of course.

He was coveted by 50-60 Division 1 Baseball programs, so he had lots options, but eventually decided to stay close to home and attend Iowa.

I ended up going on some official visits to other schools, but, at the end of the day, I think what is important is being around guys that are like you. College is difficult enough, but then, being indoctrinated into a completely different part of the country would be tough.

Dreyer continued and talked about his time as a Hawkeye.

I fell in love with Iowa, and being close to home was nice, obviously, but I think we just had a good sense of team together.

As a Hawkeye he got to pitch right away as a Freshman, and, in fact, got his first start against Oklahoma State in 2018. He had 42 Ks in 31.2 innings, and was shaping into a pitcher with one of the brightest futures in the B1G.

But, that’s when things started to slow down. Then they came to a complete stop.

The next year, in 2019, his Sophomore season, he had a shoulder injury and missed almost the entire season. Then, 2020 got canceled due to Covid, and, in 2021 he had Tommy John Surgery and missed the entire season. 

So, in reality, he got to pitch as a Freshman at Iowa, then only pitched 29 innings in the next 3 years. 

Now you know why he went undrafted. 

Iowa was a great experience. I started off in relief and worked my way into one of the weekend spots. Then, my Junior year got cut short with Covid, which was unfortunate because we were off to such a hot start.

Then, I tore my elbow the next fall.

Dreyer talked about how he handled the setbacks.

At the end of the day, so many things are out of your control so you can’t dwell on it too much. We’ll never know what would have happened if I had been healthy the whole time, so I’m just happy I have the opportunity now.

That’s a pretty elite perspective, for a young man that could have a chip on his shoulder, which just goes to show his impeccable character.

Free Agent Contract

Despite the fact that Dreyer was still “knee deep” in his Tommy John rehab, the Dodgers signed him to an Undrafted Free Agent Contract in August of 2021. He didn’t pitch the remainder of that year, then threw just 12.1 innings in 2022 at the Complex.

So, that’s it, that’s the total amount of experience he had heading into 2023.

He had not pitched any substantial amount at all since 2018, his Freshman year at Iowa, when he was assigned to Great Lakes. 

Dreyer was super pumped to get back at it, and, no doubt, he sprouted faster than an Iowa Corn Field in Early Summer.

Dreyer posted a 2.30 ERA on the year and struck out 79 hitters in 54.2 innings pitched. He also was handed the biggest moments of the year and proved, like he always had, that the bigger the moment, the better he pitches. 

Prospect Feature

Coming into this season, his first full season in a long time, Dreyer featured primarily a fastball/slider mix.  Then after meeting with Rob Hill and Dave Anderson, they tweaked his grip a little bit and added back in his curveball he had back in College. 

That 3 pitch mix led to a ton of swing and miss for the Lefty. 

Dreyer feels he learned about how his stuff “plays” and has a good plan heading into 2024. 

Going into next season, the goal is to continue throwing the fastball at a high percentage, but then throw the cutter, slider and curveball, which will give me a couple of harder breaking balls. Then, I can also continue to throw that curveball. 

Dreyer averaged 92.5 mph with his fastball this year, but feels as if, as he gets further away from his Tommy John Surgery, he will continue to increase his velocity.

I think the way we go about our strength performance combined with the mechanical side of it, I have no questions my velo will continue to increase.

When asked where he thinks he’ll eventually end up sitting, Dreyer said he had no doubt he could get up to 94 to 95 on average, while hitting higher than that. 

Unique talents

It’s time now to circle back around to the beginning.

As mentioned earlier, Dreyer has created a tremendous amount of balance in his life having always valued education, but he is also a master at the Rubik’s Cube. In fact he has competed against the worlds best in competitions, and finished somewhere middle of the pack.

He averaged finishing the Rubik’s cube in 19 seconds in those competitions.

He is also a master chess player to the point to where teammates have made it a goal, joking but not, to learn Chess well enough to beat him. 

So, he is a thinker, he loves strategy, and everything he does has a formula. He is constantly absorbing new bits of information and is always searching for the next system or formula to get him from Point A to Point B in the most successful manner. 

And, when you combine that with his immense talent, and the fact that he comes from an MLB pedigree, it’s easy to see why he has created so much excitement. 

In closing, I would like to thank Jack for spending time for an interview. I was so impressed with his kind persona, but then, also his confidence that is combined with his humble nature. He has all the “Its” that professional baseball players need to keep grinding in a game that can present so much failure.

So, keep your eye out as this former Hawkeye keeps flying through the system, pun intended. It was a pleasure getting to speak with Jack and Dodgers Daily will be rootin’ for him all along the way.

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