On Thursday, the Dodgers traded for Cardinals pitcher Ryan Loutos while Michael Kopech and Blake Treinen moved to the 60-day IL. Although Loutos, who has only pitched 2 1/3 big league innings and has a minor league ERA of 4.82, appeared to be a selection that Dodgers fans would never consider until they call him up, he is carrying with him a strange amount of experience from St. Louis that may be beneficial to them in the long term.
After being hired to create a pitcher development program for the Cardinals, Loutos, a computer science graduate from Washington University, was undrafted and signed to a minor league contract in 2021. reportedly “helped to build the framework for ‘Chirp,’ the app that allows Cardinals pitchers to view video of their performances, deep-dive data from outings and pitch-by-pitch breakdowns.”
The program is still in use, and Loutos utilized it to build his own fastball, sweeper, and curveball repertoire in addition to increasing the velocity of his fastball, even though he switched completely to pitching after he was signed.
When it comes to providing technological assistance to their players, the Dodgers already have a lot going for them, but with Loutos on board, they might be able to take some ideas from the Cardinals and improve their product.
New Dodgers pitcher Ryan Loutos helped Cardinals write their pitcher development app
Loutos has experience in the game, having thrown for Wash U’s D-III club and led them to the D-III World Series, despite his unconventional route to the majors. He pitched for a student summer league and later accepted an offer from the Cardinals, after first accepting a job offer from a computer business in Chicago while still in college.
Despite some early difficulties following his promotion in 2022 and ongoing problems in 2023, he has a respectable record at Triple-A as of 2024. He was called up to the main leagues after pitching 53 innings with a 3.40 ERA and only giving up two hits and a walk in two promotions last year. He had a 3.38 ERA in eight innings pitched in Triple-A before to the trade, and he hasn’t allowed a run in his previous seven innings.
If the Dodgers bullpen sustains another injury—which now appears more likely than not—Loutos may be in the majors shortly. If the Dodgers need new eyes on their pitching tech in the interim, they may keep him especially busy in the minor leagues.
