Los Angeles Dodgers prospect Patrick Copen will endure surgical procedure within the coming weeks after struggling what director of participant growth Will Rhymes referred to as “a critical damage to his face.”
Copen, the No. 20 prospect within the group in response to MLB Pipeline, was positioned on the 60-day injured checklist, successfully ending his season.
“He’s getting nice care and he’s doing properly, all issues thought of,” Rhymes stated through textual content message Thursday.
Within the third inning of the Nice Lakes Loons’ recreation towards the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers on Tuesday, Copen was struck within the face by a line drive off the bat of Wisconsin’s Cooper Pratt. Though he remained aware, Copen’s neck was positioned in a brace earlier than medics carted him off the sector.
The road drive struck Copen in his cheek/orbital bone space. The damage prompted a 21-minute delay whereas Copen was attended to on the sector.
It’s a tragic ending to a promising season for a pitcher who climbed the Dodgers’ inside prospect rankings and earned a promotion up the minor-league ladder.
A 6-foot-6 right-hander, Copen started the season at Class-A Rancho Cucamonga. In 54.1 innings, he went 5-2 with a 3.15 ERA in 13 video games (11 begins).
On June 25, Copen was promoted to Nice Lakes, the Dodgers’ affiliate within the superior Class-A Midwest League.
In eight begins with the Loons, Copen went 3-2 with a 4.21 ERA, with 35 strikeouts and 27 walks in 36.1 innings. Opponents have been hitting .248 towards him.
Over the past two seasons mixed, Copen has appeared in 24 minor league video games, making 21 begins. The Parkersburg, W.V. native has thrown 95 innings whereas permitting solely 76 hits, strolling 55 and placing out 97.
The Belpre, Ohio native attended and performed baseball at Parkersburg Catholic Excessive Faculty for 4 years.
Copen was named to the MLB Spring Breakout Second Workforce in March. In April, Baseball America recognized Copen as a breakout pitching prospect for the 2024 season, certainly one of three Dodgers prospects talked about (together with Payton Martin and Jackson Ferris) amongst simply 20 in minor league baseball.
Photograph Credit score: Abbie Parr/Getty Pictures
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