LOS ANGELES — Just because Jack Dreyer does not howl at the joke, sob during the movie or buckle in the high-pressure situation, does not mean the moment has gone unnoticed.
Cool and collected, the 26-year-old is just now emerging as a key piece of the Dodgers’ bullpen, bursting onto the scene as a rookie this season with poise and maturity as if he has been here before. In a sense he has, as the son of former major-league pitcher Steve Dreyer, who made 15 appearances (nine starts) for the Texas Rangers in 1993 and 1994.
A Rubik’s Cube master with a poker face, there is a precision the left-hander applies when it comes to playing games.
“He’s the same guy every day,” said fellow reliever Ben Casparius, who has been on multiple teams with Dreyer in the Dodgers’ system. “I think that’s almost a superpower of his. It’s never really too high or too low. It’s been fun to just be in the same clubhouse at the pinnacle of our sport and something we have obviously talked about together for a long time.”
While Casparius got his chance last season, showing enough over the first three regular-season outings of his career to then pitch in four postseason games, including one in the World Series, Dreyer is roaring to the forefront now. The close friends can’t believe their good fortune.
“It’s been a fun journey with him,” Casparius said.
In eight outings to start his career, including his major-league debut in the second game of the season in Tokyo against the Chicago Cubs, Dreyer is 2-0 with a 0.75 ERA. And while his first career win came after two scoreless innings against the Atlanta Braves, his second win Tuesday against the Colorado Rockies was just as memorable since four of his five outs came via strikeout.
The Dodgers might have the finances that are the envy and scorn of baseball fans everywhere, but even the biggest of the big spenders need cost-effective talent like the Dodgers have with Dreyer, Casparius, Andy Pages and even Roki Sasaki to some extent.
“I mean, it’s great to go in there and do whatever it can to help the team win, but at the end of the day, Will Smith behind the plate does an excellent job calling the game,” Dreyer said, in reference to his outing Tuesday. “… He controlled the game from both sides of the plate, so that was pretty cool to watch. But yeah, overall, we just have a great team with a good culture, and we know that whoever goes out there is going to do what they can to help the team.”
Add humble and appreciative to Dreyer’s redeeming traits.
“Yeah he’s very likable; the guys like him,” manager Dave Roberts said. “He’s a really smart player, one of the smartest young players I’ve ever been around. Curious enough, but not overly curious. Not too impressionable, wants to learn, but obviously very talented. He’s been really a pleasant, pleasant surprise.”
Yet it shouldn’t be all that much of a surprise. Yes, Dreyer went undrafted when he was signed by the Dodgers out of Iowa in 2021, but there were nagging injuries – and not performance – that left him as a question mark.
He was 8-3 with a 3.41 ERA over 20 appearances (10 starts) in three seasons at Iowa. Before that, he was one of the best high school pitchers in Iowa when he went 10-0 with a 0.34 ERA in 2017 at Johnston High School, just outside of Des Moines.
Even after recording 102 strikeouts in 69 innings during his final prep season, he was not drafted.
“To kind of look back to where I was a few years ago, versus, like, five or six years ago, yeah, it’s definitely been a long journey, but I’m glad to be here,” Dreyer said. “And you know, the team, the older guys, do such a good job of incorporating us and making me feel like I’m a part of the team, rather than looking in from the outside. So yeah, I really feel like I belong here.”
The process of blending in actually began during last season’s World Series run when Dreyer was in the clubhouse during workout days in the playoffs. He was part of a group of minor-leaguers who had the job of pitching to lineup regulars to keep hitters locked in during breaks in the action.
The opportunity gave Dreyer the chance to be around playoff pressure, while hanging on every inning and every pitch, even if he was not on the field for those postseason games.
“Obviously, the stress levels are something that you can’t really replicate unless you’re in the game,” Dreyer said. “But I got to watch Game 1 of the World Series, and Freddie Freeman’s walk-off and stuff. And that’s pretty much the pinnacle of a sporting event that you can ever get to.
“To see that, and then to understand that I’m on the team that won the World Series last year, it just gives you the confidence, like, ‘Hey, these guys have been there. I can be there too.’”
ALSO
Right-hander Bobby Miller on Thursday was optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City, one day after he gave up six runs on eight hits in three innings against the Colorado Rockies. The Dodgers will make a corresponding move before Friday’s road game against the Texas Rangers.
UP NEXT
Dodgers (RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 2-1, 1.23 ERA) at Rangers (RHP Jacob deGrom, 0-0, 4.30 ERA), 5:05 p.m. PT Friday, SportsNet LA, 570 AM
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