Dodgers Rule 5 Draft Losses Gus Varland, Ryan Noda & Jose Hernandez Make Opening Day Rosters

All three of the players the Los Angeles Dodgers lost in the 2022 Rule 5 draft made their respective team’s Opening Day rosters for the 2023 season.

Gus Varland was with the Milwaukee Brewers to start the season, Ryan Noda made the Oakland Athletics roster, and Jose Hernandez with the Pittsburgh Pirates. It’s the first time in their professional careers.

Varland, a 26-year-old, made his MLB debut on Thursday afternoon for Milwaukee, delivering a scoreless inning of work while allowing two hits and collecting a strikeout against the Chicago Cubs.

With the Dodgers organization, Varland most notably spent the last two seasons with the Double-A Tulsa Drillers, posting a 5.71 ERA in 16 games in 2021, and 6.11 ERA over 70.2 innings in 2022.

Originally selected in the 15th round of the 2017 MLB Draft by the Toronto Blue Jays, Noda broke camp with the Athletics after his tenure with the Dodgers organization came to a close.

Noda reached his highest level of affiliated play with Los Angeles before this season, appearing in 135 games for Triple-A Oklahoma City last season while collecting a respectable .869 on-base plus-slugging percentage behind 25 home runs and 90 RBI.

A 25-year-old out of the Dominican Republic, Jose Hernandez looks to make his big league debut with the Pirates out of their bullpen. Drafted by the Dodgers originally in 2016, Hernandez broke out of rookie ball prior to the 2021 season and spent 2022 rising from High-A Great Lakes to Triple-A within the organization.

Across a combined 51 games, the left-hander delivered a 3.32 ERA. With the OKC Dodgers, Hernandez collected 47 strikeouts in 36 games.

If at any point this season Varland, Noda or Hernandez are removed from the active roster, they must be offered back to the Dodgers. In that scenario, the Dodgers would not be required to add them to their 40-man roster.

Dodgers 2022 Rule 5 Draft picks

Despite losing out on some unprotected players, Los Angeles did add three players from other organizations in the 2022 Rule 5 draft: Yon Castro from the New York Yankees, Carlo Reyes from the Philadelphia Phillies, and Josh Stowers from the Texas Rangers