Dodgers add Brett de Geus, Jake Vogel to club player pool

LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers added newly drafted outfielder Jake Vogel and minor league pitcher Brett de Geus to their club player pool on Thursday.

In other news, Tony Gonsolin reported to camp on Wednesday, leaving six players on the 40-man roster who haven’t reported to Dodger Stadium.

One of those is Kenley Jansen, who is still out, though manager Dave Roberts is hopeful he will join the team soon after talking with his closer Wednesday night.

“He’s in really good spirits, feeling good,” Roberts said on a Zoom conference call with reporters.

Roberts wouldn’t say who would close games for the Dodgers if Jansen isn’t ready by opening day.

“I think we have some viable candidates for that, but I haven’t entertain that. Kenley is our guy, and I expect him to be back,” Roberts said. “But yeah, if it doesn’t happen for some unforeseen reason, then we can certainly adjust.”

The new folks

Vogel was the Dodgers’ third-round pick out of Huntington Beach High School who signed on July 3.

The lone high school selection among the six Dodgers draftees this year, Vogel — who vice president of amateur scouting Billy Gasparino called a “dynamic athlete” — was their most raw pick, and adding him to the player pool gives the outfielder reps and access to coaches in a structured setting that is otherwise lacking with no minor league season in 2020.

“Our player development guys are champing at the bit to get a hold of him,” Gasparino said in June. “They think as an athlete, his hand-eye coordination, and the ability to move his body so fast is going to take off with some instruction.”

Vogel doesn’t turn 19 until Oct. 12. He’s the youngest Dodger in the player pool, 35 days younger than catcher Diego Cartaya.

Speaking of Cartaya, if you want an idea what the alternate training camp at USC is like, here you go:

De Geus, 22, had a 1.75 ERA across both Class-A levels in 2019, with 72 strikeouts and 13 walks in 61⅔ innings. The 2017 draftee was a non-roster invitee in spring training with the Dodgers, and pitched in a team-high-tying six Cactus League games before getting reassigned to minor league camp on March 9.

He’s among the scheduled pitchers in Thursdays night’s intrasquad game at Dodger Stadium.

This puts the Dodgers officially at 53 players in the club player pool.