Get to Know Zach Root, the Dodgers #1 Draft Pick

Zach Root

Root is a 6’2 210-pound lefty who started his Collegiate career at East Carolina and finished at Arkansas and took over their Friday night role. 

Despite growing up in Ft Myers, Florida, Root grew up a Dodgers fan and is an especially big fan of Clayton Kershaw, and also throws a big curveball. In fact, he actually spikes his curveball

At East Carolina, he made the All AAC team as a Freshman, was very good his Jr. year, then became an All-American for multiple publications as a Junior at Arkansas. He threw 99 innings for the Hogs, so he’s a workhorse, and went 9-6 with an ERA of 3.62.

Keep in mind, as the Friday night starter, you get everyone’s best shot, so he did very good work. 

Root features a 2-seam and  4-seam, a circle change, a spiked curveball, and a slider/cutter hybrid that is thrown exactly like his fastball, but with a different grip.

His Fastballs

Root was the Dodgers’ first pick in the draft with pick #40. He features both a 4-seam for carry and a 2-seam for movement and locates it to both sides of the plate, and uses the carry on the pitch to carry the bottom of the zone and ride the top.

He sits 92-94 with adrenaline and touched 98 in the Supers at home vs. Tennessee.

The Curveball

Root grew up in Ft Myers, Florida, but was a Dodgers fan, and in particular of Clayton Kershaw. So, wouldn’t you know it, he has a big curveball. Root spikes his curveball, which typically gives that pitch more 12-6 movement. Here’s a good look at his curveball in action.

The “Slutter”

Root also features a hybrid slider/cutter that he throws the same as his fastball but moves the grip to give it movement. It has a lot of sweep to the back foot of righties, away from lefites, and has the potential to get a lot of swing and miss.

The Changeup

Root also features a circle/change that he can throw to both lefties and righties. The fade moves away from righties, and the tumble works the ball below barrels of hitters from both sides.

Great Fit

One thing that is an advantage for Root is that he doesn’t have to work from “ball to strike” to fool hitters. Actually, many times, he’s the opposite. His slider/cutter hybrid works strike to ball, then his curveball can work “strike to strike”, meaning he can start it on the outside corner, and control his shape well enough to keep it in the zone on the outside corner.

He can also tumble a “strike to ball” with a curveball or change-up in the dirt, so hitters never know whether he’s gonna carry the zone or get them to chase. He’s very advanced at sequencing and execution.

Root should fit in very well with the Dodgers because he has a deep understanding of his mix, the goal of each pitch he throws, and why he grips the ball the way he does, and is advanced at sequencing and execution. Arkansas has one of the best facilities is the nation, much better than most professional facilities, and they have a pitching lab that is state of the art. So, he’s already gone down the “advanced analytics” path and will hit the ground running with how it works.