Finally, it appears to be Manny Bañuelos time

[Caleb Ferguson was recalled today so everything I wrote below is a moot point]

It has almost been ten years since a Manny was rocking Dodger Stadium but as of right now it looks like the Dodgers will be dipping once again into the Oklahoma rotation and finally giving Manny Bañuelos his shot this coming Tuesday Night against the Rangers.

Manny has arguably been the best starting pitcher all year for Oklahoma but Walker Buehler, Brock Stewart, Dennis Santana, and even Caleb Ferguson all got their shots before Manny. Not that Dennis actually started a game but you get the point.

It is understandable in that Manny is yesterday’s news. He isn’t the Dodgers hot new prospect that was his role with the Yankees when at the tender age of 21 he was their top pitching prospect in 2012 and was ranked as high as # 12 overall by Major League Baseball. That is Walker Buehler territory.

For all that buzz about Manny in 2012 he never pitched for the Yankees. Instead, he has spent his career in the minors and only get a brief major league chance with the Braves in 2015. Manny and Alex Wood were teammates on the 2015 Braves for the month of July. Three years later they will be teammates again.

I’m not a scout but Manny has always had the arm but not the control. In 2018, Manny has a career-best strikeout rate of 10.9 and his walk rate of 2.9 is the best since he was 18 years-old. His walk rate has been a problem for most of his minor league career. The fact it sits at 2.9 is very encouraging for me. I love wild ass lefties who figure things out. He probably hasn’t, there must be a reason why the Dodgers had to be desperate to give him a shot. Or is there? Or has he?

I have no idea how his start is going to work out on Tuesday, but I’d make a big bet it is better than the start that Caleb Ferguson gave the team last Wednesday and better than the debut of Dennis Santana. Not because Manny has a better future in store, but because he should be ready for this start, something I don’t think the kids were. After all, they had a combined four AAA starts in their young careers.