Los Angeles Dodgers Release 28-Year-Old Power Hitter

The Los Angeles Dodgers have parted ways with first baseman Matt Gorski, who elected free agency after a 2026 season spent entirely in the minors, via the MLB transaction log.

The 28-year-old, born December 22, 1997, never appeared in a major-league game for Los Angeles despite joining the organization on a minor-league contract in July 2025.

His time with the Dodgers was interrupted by injury and rehabilitation, leaving him to split the recent campaign between the Arizona Complex League and Triple-A Oklahoma City.

In 53 minor-league games this year, Gorski hit .225 with six home runs and 27 RBI.

Those numbers marked a step back from the power production that defined his earlier professional seasons and once made him a prospect of note.

From 2022 through 2024, he cleared 20 home runs in each campaign. In 2022 he launched 24 long balls while climbing from High-A Greensboro through Double-A Altoona, posting a .280 average and .598 slugging percentage across 81 games. The following year, he totaled 20 home runs between Altoona and Triple-A Indianapolis.

Then, in a full 2024 season at Indianapolis, he slugged .522 with 23 home runs, 67 RBI, and a .257/.319/.522 line in 113 games, displaying the raw bat speed and pull-side pop that had drawn attention since his days at Indiana University.

That track record earned him a brief major-league look with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2025.

Selected to the 40-man roster in late April, Gorski made his debut against the Angels and homered in his first career at-bat, becoming the 136th player in MLB history to do so.

Across 15 games, he batted .195 with two home runs, a triple, and four RBI before being designated for assignment in July. Pittsburgh released him shortly afterward, and the Dodgers signed him to a minor-league deal.

He spent the rest of 2025 on the injured list and did not return to game action until the following year.

Gorski arrived in pro ball as a second-round pick by Pittsburgh in the 2019 draft out of Indiana, where he had earned All-Big Ten honors.

Injuries and high strikeout rates slowed his progress at times, yet the consistent mid-20s home-run totals in the upper minors kept him on organizational radars.

At 6-foot-2 and roughly 220 pounds, he offers positional flexibility at first base and the outfield corners, the profile of a depth bat rather than an everyday regular.

With free agency now open, Gorski will look for a club willing to offer another minor-league opportunity in 2027. Teams seeking inexpensive power and occasional first-base coverage could view the three consecutive 20-homer seasons from 2022 to 2024 as evidence that his bat still carries upside, even after a quieter 2026.

Whether he can recapture that production and earn another major-league chance remains the open question as the offseason begins.