Coming into 2021, the Dodgers had won the NL West 8 years in a row, were the defending World Champions and, despite injury after injury, made a valiant post-season run at a 2nd consecutive title this year. While many might write these accomplishments off as an over abundance of resources, it’s the Culture and player development that has created the consistency. It’s one thing to rent some players through Free Agency and the trade deadline and win for a year or 2, but it’s a whole different thing to create the consistency that the Dodgers have created year after year and up and down their system.
Culture
Having a farm system that is ranked as one of the best year in and year out, the Dodgers have built an elite system of progression for its players. The organization has specific skill sets that are targeted, then they develop their players as if through a formula. For example, Dodgers pitchers seemingly all throw high fastballs with high spin rate, a slider and a changeup. Offensive players are guys that grind pitch counts, hit homeruns and walk a lot. But, one part of the formula that doesn’t get enough notice is the Culture that the Dodgers have built. Not only do players need to fit a certain physical profile, it is equally as important that they fit into the culture the Dodgers have created as well. When the Dodgers drafted Nick Robertson in the 7th Round of the 2019 draft they knew they were getting a young prospect that checked all the boxes.
Great Coaching
In his last year at James Madison, Robertson had an eye poppingly low 1.01 ERA, and, in that same year, his Redshirt Junior year, he also allowed just 16 hits and 4 earned runs in 35.2 innings of work. At 6’6 the hard throwing right hander certainly fit the mold physically and had shown in College that he had the potential to be dominant. The Dodgers also knew that not only did he have the potential to throw upper 90’s with his fastball, but his arm had also been well taken care of as well.
After missing the 2017 season due to having Tommy John surgery, Robertson threw just 23 innings the next year in 2018 for James Madison, and, in total, in his last 2 years with the Dukes, despite being so dominant, only threw a total of 58.2 innings. Further, as much success as Robertson had in 2019 as a Duke, the most impressive stat, in my opinion, is the fact that he only threw 35.2 innings in total that year.
Being in the Coaching industry for 30 years, I have seen coaches that are what I call transactional. Meaning, they win at all costs, and many times, at the players expense. Robertson has had the great fortune of playing for coaches that saw his potential, put him in positions to succeed, and, most importantly, protected his arm. Looking back, it is something he is very thankful for.
“Yeah, so it started back in High School with coach Shelton. Coach Shelton, my High School coach, was a former Minor League player and he coached in College for a little while and he was always really bought in to making sure pitchers weren’t over used and keeping pitch counts low. And from there, going on to college, our college coaches were the same. Coach Ikenberry and Coach Jackson tried to get us to generate as much power and force as you can without creating much stress on the body and I think thats what’s helped me out there on the mound just repeating the same stuff over and over.”
James Madison had 4 pitchers drafted in 2019, including Robertson’s roommate Sheldon Perkins, Kevin Kelly and Dan Goggin, so the JMU coaches obviously are doing something right.
Motion
One of Robertson’s biggest strengths, in my opinion, is the repeatability of his motion he referenced earlier and the ease of which he is able to throw the ball with.
Robertson’s mechanics are so smooth that repeatability is and should continue to be a strength. It’s why he is known as a strike thrower that can generate power while creating a minimal amount of stress on his body. Here is Robertson throwing fastballs both down in the zone and up in the zone. Robertson sits 92-93 down in the zone and 95-96 up in the zone. He hit 100 miles per hour on the high fastball in this video and did so in a way that looked effortless.
Robertson has what I call easy power. He has a great motion and flexibility in his arm that creates a whip like effect in his release. That gives him velocity while not creating stress on his body.
3 Pitch Pitcher
As with most Dodger pitching prospects, not only is Robertson a big hard thrower, he also has 3 pitches he throws for strikes. As you saw, he can hit 100 mph with the fastball but sits 95-97. He also has a changeup and a slider.
“Yeah, I throw a fastball, slider and changeup. You know, everyday you go out there you’re not going to have all 3 pitches working so you gotta figure out which ones are working that day and then you still have to be able to use your other pitch even if it’s not at its best.”
His slider can have 2 effects. It can be used as a “get me over” like you’ll see on the first pitch in the video to give him a high strike percentage pitch other than his fastball. He also can make the slider “bite” a little more when he is in a plus count and is trying to induce a swing and miss. You’ll see the “biting” slider on the 2nd pitch of the video.
Robertson does not feature a curve ball but that does not mean he doesn’t have a pitch with downward tilt. The tall Angular right hander throws a change up instead that he can get to tumble. In 2019, he worked with Jim Hickey in player development and changed his grip on his change up and it gave him a lot of confidence in the pitch. It’s a great pitch because it looks just like his fastball coming out of his hand to hitters and there is no signature spin for hitters to identify.
Robertson is good enough with his 3 pitches that putting him in a spot start role, combined with his relief duties is something he has done both in College and with the Dodgers. The big right hander made 1 start at James Madison and, also, in a separate appearance, threw 5 ⅔ innings against Northeastern. Earlier this year for AA Tulsa he opened a game as well and went 2 innings. When asked about the possibility of being a spot starter he said he’s open to any role that is needed and thinks there is potential but thinks he will mostly be a reliever.
“I think there is potential for it, I mean I’ve opened 1 game this year, I only went 2 innings, but, for the most part I think I’ll probably stay as a reliever but you never know
As mentioned earlier, the Dodgers have built a culture in their Minor League system that is very strong and very much an influence in their players development, and Robertson fits in perfectly. As passionate as the Callaway Virginia native and Franklin County graduate is about baseball, his best traits are the work he does off the field and in the Community. He did his part to beat cancer by getting donations for every strikeout he recorded during the month of September in 2021.
I’ve partnered up with the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation to go head2head vs. cancer. Help me raise money with every strikeout I make during the month of September. Visit this link to make a one time donation or a pledge per strikeout.
— Nicholas Robertson⚾️ (@nprobertson) August 14, 2021
Robertson enjoyed also the tight bond between he and his teammates at James Madison and is quick to mention how important team unity is.
“I really enjoyed going out each game and playing baseball with the guys. We were a tight group so we enjoyed the team part of it and we still keep up with each other when we can.”
Final Thoughts
The Dodgers have a seemingly endless supply of power arms, both as starters and relievers, so the Path to L.A. is going to be a competitive one. But the edge I think Robertson has is that he has already had his Tommy John surgery and has come back from it full blaze. So, his arm hasn’t been over worked and still has more innings left in it than other pitchers with similar age and experience. The other edge I think he has is that he is a strike thrower with 3 pitches. and provides versatility, and could end up as anything from a 1 inning set up man, to a 1 inning closer, to a long relief guy, or even as an opener like the Dodgers have used quite a bit. That versatility is a big benefit to a club when trying to manage a pitching staff over 162 games, and. it may, someday, make him a valuable piece to the Dodgers championship puzzle
