Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
Day two of the MLB Draft is underway. After making two selections yesterday, the Dodgers picked first today in the seventh round, drafting left-hander Charlie West out of UConn. They followed that up by taking left-hander Miles Gosztola from Oregon in the eighth round.
——
West showed strong strikeout stuff pitching for UConn the last three years. He throws out of a high arm-slot with a ton of carry on his fastball, so it’s easy to see what the Dodgers identified, given their affinity for big-carry southpaws like Alex Vesia and Jack Dreyer. West’s heater only sat at 90 mph while touching 94, but it averaged 23 inches of induced vertical break, generating a 21% in-zone whiff rate.
West notches first strikeout as part of 1-2-3 frame! pic.twitter.com/m039A1om7j
— UConn Baseball (@UConnBSB) March 14, 2026
This pick fits the mold of the Dodgers taking a guy with feel for bigtime fastball action and looking to build velocity from there. West does have a few solid secondaries, throwing a slider, a changeup and a curveball. The slider is a tighter one, sitting at 81 mph with five inches of gloveside movement and landing in the zone at a pretty high 51% clip. His curveball was solid at a 37% whiff rate and his changeup forced a 40% in-zone whiff rate with its nine inches of fade.
West picking up where he left off!
— UConn Baseball (@UConnBSB) April 17, 2026
A pair of punchies in a 1-2-3 first! pic.twitter.com/3gh400JnXm
West has progressively improved his command across his college career, developing from a 24% walk rate as a freshman to 15% last year and 10% this spring. It looks like he has the arsenal for the Dodgers to give a chance to start, but they’ll need to add velocity to his fastball, which might eventually play better in relief. Like I said, this pick could slot into the Vesia/Dreyer mold.
Rankings:
- MLB Pipeline: N/A
- FanGraphs: N/A
- ESPN: N/A
- Perfect Game: N/A
——
Gosztola was fastball-heavy for Oregon this year, totaling a 3.61 ERA and 26% strikeout rate in 62 1/3 innings. He pitched his first two seasons in college ball for Gonzaga and posted ERAs over five both seasons before finding his stride with the Ducks. The 6-foot-3 left-hander works from a cross-fire delivery and had a bunch of arm-side run on his fastball.
Miles Gosztola Ks the side and now has 8 Ks thru 4
— 11Point7 College Baseball (@11point7) May 10, 2026
He has been filthy today. 🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/RWxrp2Tqz8
The heater sat 92 mph with a two-seam profile, averaging 12 inches of induced vertical break and 18 inches of run. He didn’t have a ton of whiff on the fastball but it did well to get the ball on the ground. Gosztola also maxed at 98 mph, so it’s possible that he also threw a four-seam variety a few times that was mixed into the two-seam pitch data.
His slider sits at 80 mph with eight inches of sweep, forcing a 36% whiff rate and 8% barrel rate. Gosztola’s changeup is probably his best pitch and features a ton of depth, running with 18 inches of arm-side action. It forced a 50% overall whiff rate, including an eye-popping 48% in-zone whiff figure.
Rankings:
- MLB Pipeline: N/A
- FanGraphs: N/A
- ESPN: N/A
- Perfect Game: N/A
——
Both West and Gosztola are college juniors who should sign for around slot value. With the ninth and 10th rounds upcoming, the Dodgers are likely to be going after a at least one college senior who they can sign for the minimum $5,000 and save some money on the bonus pool. Below-slot signings no longer save any money after the 10th round, so these two picks will be the Dodgers’ chance to get two draftees for way below-slot, as is often standard for those rounds.
