With another strong season at Triple-A Oklahoma City in the books, Alex Verdugo reported for Spring Training seemingly poised to make the Los Angeles Dodgers Opening Day roster for the 2019 season.
But despite his standing as one of the organization’s top prospects and regular praise from Dodgers manager Dave Roberts of being an MLB-caliber player, Verdugo was hardly guaranteed to begin the season in the Majors.
Though as Roberts began to announce members of the team’s Opening Day starting rotation and bullpen, he similarly named Verdugo the roster.
Naturally, that was a significant moment for the 22-year-old, via Ken Gurnick of MLB.