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Jose Dominguez was one of many Dodgers pitchers to receive one-on-one instruction from Sandy Koufax during spring training. The right-hander made his major league debut in 2013 with the Dodgers, and hopes to stick in their bullpen for years to come.
What went right
Dominguez picked up where he left off in 2012 with a strong end to his season. The right-hander continued to have his way with Double-A hitters, with a 2.60 ERA and 28 strikeouts in 17⅓ innings with Chattanooga. After a promotion to Triple-A Albuquerque, Dominguez struck out 12 in eight innings and didn't allow a run in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.
That led to a call-up to the Dodgers on June 29, and Dominguez struck out a batter in a perfect inning in his major league debut one day later against the Phillies.
Dominguez allowed three runs, including only two earned runs in 8⅓ innings in nine games with the big club. In his brief time in the big leagues Dominguez had the second-fastest average fastball in MLB at 98.5 mph, trailing only Bruce Rendon of the Tigers.
What went wrong
Take this with a grain of salt as Dominguez was with the Dodgers for all of three weeks, but he did only strikeout four major league batters and 17 of his 39 batters faced reached base.
Dominguez suffered a strained left quad in late July and his stint on the disabled list ended up lasting the remainder of the season. His recovery took longer than expected, and a September return never came to fruition.
2014 status
Dominguez, 23, has 93 days of major league service time, and three option years remaining. He'll be in the mix for a bullpen spot during spring training, and whether he makes the opening day roster or not will likely pitch for the Dodgers at some point in 2014.