Dodgers Sign Rare Undrafted Free Agent out of High School

The Dodgers have signed undrafted free agent Christian Oliveira, a 6-foot-4, 18-year-old pitcher out of Somerville, Massachusetts, sources told Dodgers Nation’s J.P. Hoornstra on Saturday.

Oliveira had been committed to the University of Massachusetts but will forgo that commitment in favor of the Dodgers’ $150,000 signing bonus.

Oliveira was also a highly ranked shortstop in his graduating class, according to Perfect Game, but for now the Dodgers are more interested in his ceiling as a right-handed pitcher. His two-seam fastball has been clocked at 96 mph. He also throws a slider and changeup.

Although it’s rare for teams to sign undrafted free agents out of high school rather than college, the Dodgers did so last year with Easton Shelton, a hitter from Las Vegas’ Bishop Gorman High School. Shelton is currently playing for the Dodgers’ Arizona Complex League affiliate.

The Dodgers will send Oliveira to their complex in Glendale, Arizona.

In a March interview with Jeremy Booth of P15 Sports, Oliveira called himself “a little bit of a late bloomer.”

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