Who is Edwin Rios, Really?

The sad Dodgers lost last night (what a bunch of bums), so we will just focus on a question I am sure everyone has been sitting around wondering:  What is Edwin Rios, really?

Well, in case you have forgotten, Edwin Rios was the 2016 Dodgers Minor League Player of the year, finishing ahead of Cody Bellinger, Willie Calhoun and Alex Verdugo.  That’s what he did, but who is he?  Edwin was drafted in the sixth round of the 2015 Draft, and played at three minor league levels in 2016, starting at Class-A Great Lakes before moving up to Rancho Cucamonga and then Tulsa.  He started a total of 64 games at third base and 26 at first base.

He hit .303/.344/.576 with 25 doubles and 27 home runs in 104 games across the three levels. His 27 home runs were tied with Tulsa teammate Willie Calhoun and one behind former Quakes teammate Johan Mieses for the organizational lead in home runs, a total even more impressive for Rios after missing the first 2½ weeks of the season on the disabled list.

Edwin just turned 23 in April and bats left-handed.  He is a big boy at 6′ 3″ and is listed at 220 lbs.  Personally, I think he weighs more.  So far this year at AA Tulsa, he is hitting an impressive .344, with a .374 OB%, .574 SlG % and is OPS’ing .948.  He has 9 HR, 38 RBI and 15 doubles in 183 AB’s.  However, he is not in the Dodgers Top 10 or even Top 20 prospects.  MLB has him rated at #22.  Minor League Player of the year and he is hitting like crazy in a pitcher’s league and he’s only rated #22?

Part of the reason is that the Dodger’s Farm System is very deep.  Then there is the issue of mobility – Edwin is not very nifty on his feet.  He’s slow and his footwork needs work.  MLB says this about him:

Rios generates power to all fields. He does it more with strength than bat speed and has shaky plate discipline, so it remains to be seen how his pop will play against upper-level pitching. His long swing and overly aggressive approach limit his ability to hit for average and get on base.

Rios played all over the infield at Florida International, mostly at first base in his Draft year. He spent the majority of his first two pro seasons at third base, showing the necessary arm strength but also a lack of range while committing 23 errors in 82 games. Though Los Angeles credits him with making progress with his defense and conditioning, he almost certainly will wind up at first base.

John Sickels of Minor League Ball writes this about him:

Personally I think Rios may be able to make sufficient adjustments, sufficient to hit .250 with enough power to be valuable.

A bigger issue may very well be defense. He has a strong throwing arm but the rest of his defensive tools are mediocre at best. The Dodgers are using him at third base but he doesn’t seem to have the range or instincts for the position; he’s basically a butcher with a career .887 fielding percentage at the hot corner and poor range metrics. He is much better at first base but it is harder to find a job there.

Overall, Rios is a power bat who is absolutely worth tracking even though it is presently unclear how he’ll fit into a lineup. He rates as a Grade B- prospect at present.

Bill Plunkett wrote about him for Baseball America and said in part:

“We knew about Edwin’s sweet stroke and raw power when he entered our system,” Dodgers farm director Gabe Kapler said. “(Scouting director) Billy Gasparino and our scouting department did a sensational job of illuminating his strengths and sharing where he’d been. What we didn’t have was a full appreciation for his leadership characteristics. Edwin is unquestionably among our most well-liked players.”

So, there us that too.  Actually, character is something that is valued by FAZ.  Who really is Edwin Rios?  He’s a guy with below average bat speed, but with great power who doesn’t walk much (6 times in 183 AB’s this year) who is a defensive liability.  Can he overcome that and be a major league slugger?  Maybe, but if I had to guess, it will not be with the Dodgers.  He’s trade bait.  The only question is, does any other team value him enough to trade for him?  He has potential.

I’d like to see Brandon McCarthy outduel Wainwright today!

Cover Photo Credit:  By Th3TruthPhotos – https://www.flickr.com/photos/th3truthphoto/34261387760/, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=59414624

This article has 16 Comments

  1. Good write up on another kid who has no position. Rios can get hot and go on a HR binge and has played really well offensively this year at a higher level. Like Calhoun and even Dickson there is no position they feel safe with defensively and there are people blocking them on the big club. Possible trade bait but they all have potential.

    Every so often a good pitcher shuts down a hot team and Martinez was dealing yesterday. Wainwright has struggled but pitched extremely well his last start. He mixes his pitches and can still get it up to 93 or so. Might be a good spot to sit Bellinger, then again Adam might make a mistake. Good test to see how the team bounces back.

    Ryu looked as good as he has all year and made a loud statement to stay in the rotation. Wood may not be quite ready for his next turn and Ryu deserves another start. Maeda needs to pitch better or he may be the guy who heads to the bullpen if McCarthy, Hill and Urias keep pitching well even though it makes a LHP heavy rotation. Still a pretty nice problem to have. There have been 7 starters this year and Dodgerrick’s over/under was what 13? It still could go a lot higher, it’s a long season but so far the starters have pitched much better than expected all year.

    The bullpen continues to be a bright spot and Morrow has looked good so far. Could Romo be the odd man out? He is the only guy who can not even dial it up to 90 mph anymore.

    1. I don’t think this front office values velocity as much as other characteristics.

      First, on a purely analytical basis, they look at spin rate and exit velocity.
      I think they also like the idea of multiple “looks” arm angles, pitch selection.

      1. Bluto

        I think anything that a pitcher can throw and get a swing and miss, is what the front office is looking for.

        But you are right, the spin rates, is more important then just velocity, but sometimes pitchers have both.

  2. DODGERS RECALL GRANT DAYTON

    LOS ANGELES –
    The Los Angeles Dodgers today recalled left-handed pitcher Grant Dayton from Triple-A Oklahoma City and placed left-hander Adam Liberatore on the 10-day disabled list (retroactive to May 31) with left forearm tightness.

    Dayton, 29, has gone 1-1 with a 5.25 ERA in 14 games with the Dodgers this year, limiting opponents to a .209 batting average. In six games with OKC, including one rehab start, he’s posted a 0-1 record with one save and a 6.35 ERA. He last pitched on May 29 at New Orleans, and allowed one run on two hits with three strikeouts in 1.0 inning.

    Liberatore will be making his second trip to the DL this year (also: May 10-25 with a left groin strain) and has a 2.70 ERA in four appearances with Los Angeles.

  3. I assume that Dayton or someone else will be sent down soon to bring Avilan back up.

    So Ryu stays in the rotation – who has the next phantom injury?

  4. Not sure about our phantom injuries but the Giants putting Morse on the DL because of a concussion he suffered while colliding with his teammate Jeff Samardjza during that Harper Strickland brawl is the funniest injury of the year

    Couldn’t happen to a trashier organization

    1. Bobby

      Those two looked like Keystone cops.

      And if I were one of their team mates, I wouldn’t let them live this down.

  5. They said Wood may miss a second start, and he is in LA and just saw his doctor, but Roberts hasn’t heard any news about that yet.

    I wonder if the change that he made, is causing his problem.

  6. OK – a split on the road against the Cards isn’t too bad. Wainwright was good today (and has been 4 starts in a row now) and Martinez has ace stuff. Ryu pitched a good game yesterday – I’m still worried that Maeda hasn’t been too good 2 starts in a row. McCarthy – 7 hits in 4 innings. Was this due to his knee?

    The Brewers are in 1st but are 4 – 6 in their last 10 and we have Kershaw going tomorrow, so a good road trip is still something that I expect. I was saddened to learn that Turner and Wood aren’t ready to come back any time soon and I haven’t heard anything recently about Joc so I assume he isn’t coming back soon either. (I still say that a few weeks in OKC might help Joc anyway.)

    The production at 1B/OF is starting to be an issue. Without Toles and with Gonzalez basically hitting like a glove-first SS, they have holes at 2 or 3 of the 4 positions. If Puig and Joc, and Gonzalez don’t turn things around, they have Cody (who’s average has slipped down to .252 and his OPS to under .900 for the 1st time) and some utility infielders (Taylor and Kike) playing OF. They could do better.

    So – do they pull the trigger on a trade for a hitter (JD Martinez or Braun) or not?

  7. Brock Stewart gets the start for OKC tonight.
    Andy Sopko starts for Tulsa, Caleb Ferguson for Rancho, and Leo Crawford for Great Lakes.
    .

    Last night Devin Smeltzer went 8 innings (90 pitches) for the Loons. He allowed 2 runs on 5 hits, no walks and 6 strikeouts. That was a very good rebound game for Devin, even though he got the 2-1 loss because of lack of offense. Gavin Lux did get his 3rd triple and Oneil Cruz got another double.

  8. drick: All good points. The recurring problem is offense even though we just saw 2 extremely well pitched games. We should handle the Brewers-hard to believe they are in 1st place at all. A stud bat for a pitcher seems in order.

    AC: Nice to see Smeltzer pitch well after your nice write up last week. Nothing gets me over a disappointing loss like seeing what the kids on the farm are doing!

    Well 1st place didn’t last that long! Tomorrow is another day and Kershaw is the Stopper.

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