Dodgers draft UConn RHP Ben Casparius in the fifth round, 162nd overall

With their fifth round pick (No. 162 overall), the Dodgers selected right-handed pitcher Ben Casparius from UConn. For the Dodgers, it was their fourth consecutive pitcher drafted to start the draft.

He’s ranked as the No. 146 overall prospect by Baseball America and the No. 169 overall prospect by MLB.

In 2021, Casparius earned Second Team All-BIG EAST honors. He finished second in UConn single-season history with 127 strikeouts and ranked No. 12 in the country in strikeouts. He led the Huskies and BIG EAST Conference in starts (15), wins (8), innings pitched (91.2) and strikeouts (127).

Per the UConn Blog:

Casparius’ best pitch is his change-up, which MLBPipeline graded a 55 on the 20-80 scouting scale, which translates to above-average. His fastball, slider and control were each given 50 grades, which is average. His fastball sits around 91 mph but he has been recorded as high as 95 mph. He projects as a strike-thrower with a solid three-pitch mix. This, despite his slight 6-foot, 208-pound build, leaves him a chance to start through his professional career.

Baseball America says that his fastball is arguably his third-best pitch, with a pair of secondary offerings that can miss bats. His go-to off-speed pitch is his slider, which received a 50 to 55 offering on the 20-80 scale. According to their write-up on him, some scouts see a potential plus slider and that he leans heavily on his fastball/slider combination against right-handed hitters. They said that Casparius mixes in more changeups against left-handed hitters and while he doesn’t use it as much as his slider, it’s the pitch that gets the highest whiff rate.