A slugging OF and high-strikeout LHP: Meet LA's newest 40-man members

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Ryan Ward heard Dodgers fans loud and clear. As he put together a Pacific Coast League MVP season with Triple-A Oklahoma City, much of the L.A. fanbase was following along and clamoring for the outfield prospect to be promoted to the big league level.

Ward never got the call last year. But he and lefty reliever Ronan Kopp were added to the 40-man roster this past offseason, putting them one step closer to making their Major League debuts.

"I've been here for seven years, this will be my eighth year," Ward said. "It was starting to get real, like, is it gonna be staying here or going to free agency? So when they called me, and being able to stay here and be with this organization and all the people here, it was really exciting."

Said Kopp: "Basically, dream come true, right, to be able to take that next step toward being able to be a big leaguer."

While Ward and Kopp were added to the 40-man roster in the same offseason, they are in different places in their professional career. Ward turns 28 next week, and Kopp is 23. This is Kopp's first big league camp, while Ward is with the Dodgers for the fourth time.

Ward took a leap forward last season. In the prior offseason, he had approached the Dodgers' player development staff and asked what he needed to do to take the next step. Tasked with improving his swing decisions and cutting down on strikeouts, Ward worked on honing in on one spot of the zone on a given day, "training muscle memory" to hunt his pitch and not let the at-bat speed up on him.

Not only did he strike out 20 fewer times in more than 100 additional plate appearances compared with 2024, but Ward slashed .290/.380/.557 with 36 homers and 122 RBIs for the Comets in '25.

"I was a big swinger," Ward said. "I was swinging at everything. … Being OK with taking a strike and just knowing that I'm in control of the at-bat was a learning curve, but we made the adjustment."

Kopp reached Triple-A for the first time last season after posting a 2.53 ERA across 28 appearances with Double-A Tulsa. He made it into 21 contests with Oklahoma City, recording a 4.56 ERA. Between the two levels, he struck out 91 batters in 57 2/3 innings. One clear area for growth is command, as he issued 42 walks.

Kopp is still fine-tuning his fastball-slider combo, but he also started throwing a splitter last year. He hasn't used it in games much, but he plans to keep working on it. At the same time, he's shifted his mindset away from development and more toward competing, which he believes has helped him grow over the past year.

"Honestly, it was just kind of switching the mentality from focusing on just development and being able to now go out there and just play the game," Kopp said. "Just focus on getting outs. Just going out there and pitching, which is obviously a lot more fun. It's been a good time to be able to make that switch and just go out there and play."

As things stand, neither Ward nor Kopp would appear likely to crack the Dodgers' Opening Day roster, but circumstances can change over the course of Spring Training. And when the regular season begins, there is no longer the logistical challenge of opening a 40-man spot, so both should be high on the depth chart should a need arise in the outfield or bullpen.