Five Phillies prospects who could make their debut in 2019
By John Town
Kyle Dohy
Kyle Dohy is a rather new face among Phillies prospects. He was an unheralded draft pick, not being selected until the 16th round of the 2017 draft. His professional debut was rather unspectacular, striking out 22 and walking 20 in 20 innings of relief for short-season Williamsport.
Dohy came out of the gate hot this year, making a name for himself as a prospect in the process. He struck out 63 batters and allowed just three earned runs in 33.2 innings in Low-A Lakewood. He then posted a 1.64 ERA in seven outings for High-A Clearwater. His performance earned him another promotion to Double-A Reading and the No. 21 spot on MLB.com’s Phillies prospect rankings.
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Things unraveled for Dohy in Reading as he lost all semblance of command. He walked 22 batters in 22.2 innings there, 21.8% of the hitters he faced. His strikeout rate was still impressive at 29.7%, but his WHIP rose to 1.54, ERA rose to 5.56, and fielding-independent pitching rose to 5.31.
Dohy’s success this year stemmed from a new, revitalized pitching motion that capitalizes on the power of his lower half.
This led to increased velocity in his fastball and a dominant new pitch in his slider. This development was aided by the Rapsodo pitching system, detailed in this article by Ben Harris of the Athletic (subscription required). This led to the huge strikeout rates Dohy posted in the minors this year.
The key to Dohy’s future success will be his ability to retain his command. His walk rate has been high throughout his minor-league career, and he learned in Double-A this year that it can really burn him. If he can find a way to keep his walk rate at an acceptable level, he could rocket through the minors and to the major-league club like Seranthony Dominguez did in 2018.