Dodgers' 6-foot-7 pitcher from South Sudan has Los Angeles fans excited about his fastball

Billy Heyen

Dodgers' 6-foot-7 pitcher from South Sudan has Los Angeles fans excited about his fastball image

Joseph Deng Thon just looks like a pitcher.

At 6-foot-7 and 185 pounds, the lanky right-hander has quickly gotten trackers of the Los Angeles Dodgers' minor league system excited.

He's a long way from MLB, at just 17 years old, but check out this footage:

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Deng has already made history. He's the first player from South Sudan to sign a professional baseball contract, which he inked in January.

At the time of his signing, Deng was said to have a 95 mile per hour fastball. He's currently with the Dodgers' Dominican Summer League team but has not yet appeared in a game.

There's a long baseball journey ahead, but Deng has already come a long way. Don't bet against him climbing the ladder all the way to Dodger Stadium.

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Billy Heyen

Billy Heyen is a freelance writer with The Sporting News. He is a 2019 graduate of Syracuse University who has written about many sports and fantasy sports for The Sporting News. Sports reporting work has also appeared in a number of newspapers, including the Sandusky Register and Rochester Democrat & Chronicle