Dodgers notes: Ronan Kopp, Yeiner Fernandez, Arizona Fall League

We are about three weeks into the Arizona Fall League, and a pair of Dodgers have stood out for their play thus far with the Glendale Desert Dogs.

Yeiner Fernandez split time between catcher and second base for High-A Great Lakes this season, and acquitted himself well at the plate, hitting .273/.360/.375 with a 111 wRC+, an absurdly-low 12.9-percent strikeout rate and a good walk rate of 10.9 percent.

In Arizona, Fernandez is hitting .276/.400/.517 with four extra-base hits and six walks through eight games, all played in the infield, including four starts at shortstop, a brand new position for him.

Over at Dodger Digest, Bruce Kuntz wrote about Fernandez among his prospect roundup:

Having only just turned 21 in September, Fernandez has plenty of time to find more production in his bat. Although it may not be his main position moving forward, Fernandez’s ability to play a solid catcher gives him an attractive utility profile. His bat-to-ball skills are good, and paired with above-average plate discipline, Fernandez still has a decently high floor to bank on.

Perhaps the most intriguing of the Dodgers pitchers on the Glendale Desert Dogs in Arizona is left-hander Ronan Kopp, who was drafted in the 12th round in 2021 and turned 21 in July.

Kopp has a similar profile to several Dodgers pitching prospects of late in that he throws hard and has a high strikeout rate — 35.8 percent this season for Great Lakes, fourth-best in the Dodgers minors among pitchers with at least 50 innings — but also walks a ton of hitters. Kopp in 2023 walked 16.7 percent of batters faced, also fourth-highest in the organization.

After making 21 starts for the Loons, 15 of which were between three and four innings, Kopp in August switched to short relief in August, and put up a 1.46 ERA with 19 strikeouts and six walks in 12⅓ innings. Four of those walks came in his first three relief outings, after which he walked only two of 30 batters faced over his final six games.

Kopp talked to Jim Callis at MLB.com about working on his command and switching to the bullpen, among other things:

“Attacking the hitters from the start, a lot of mental prep and attack focus is big for me,” Kopp said. “I worked on that throughout the year and just sort of trusting myself and understanding I don’t need to be thinking about every little thing on the mound. I can just trust my body to do what I’ve been training it to do.”

Kopp so far in the Arizona Fall League has 10 strikeouts among 22 batters faced, but has also walked five. He allowed two runs (one earned) in his five innings.

For those who want to follow along with the Arizona Fall League without being in the Phoenix area, some games are live streamed, including Glendale’s game on Saturday night at 6:30 p.m. PT at Mesa.

Glendale also has three other games over the final three weeks of the schedule that will be live streamed — Wednesday, October 25 vs. Salt River; Thursday, October 26 vs. Mesa; and Thursday, November 2 vs. Peoria.