Photo/SETH STASKEY WHEELING PARK grad Michael Grove goes through a workout at Wheeling University last summer. Grove has been invited to the Dodgers Major League spring training camp as a non-roster invitee.

For Michael Grove, Tuesday’s announcement by the Los Angeles Dodgers is just part of the process.

It’s actually the next big step of the process that Grove, who is embarking on his third professional season, hopes will lead to a Major League Baseball career.

Grove, who is a Wheeling Park and West Virginia University graduate, was one of 16 pitchers the Dodgers invited to their Major League camp, which formally opens Thursday at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Ariz. near Phoenix.

“”To be going to my first big-league camp is awesome,” Grove, who has been in Arizona most of the month preparing, said during a phone interview. “I am excited to get to work.”

All of the pitchers in the Major League camp will be eligible for appearances in the Cactus League, which begins play on Feb. 28.

The 24-year-old Grove was informed by the Dodgers that he was going to Major League camp a couple of weeks ago.

“I feel like I’ve earned this (opportunity),” Grove said. “This is exactly where I want to be at this point in my career. I worked last season, had a good offseason and I just need to keep working and let things fall into place.”

Last season was quite bizarre to put it mildly. Grove was in the Dodgers’ minor league camp when everything shut down and he returned to the Ohio Valley with the 2020 season in total limbo. Even after many sports returned to work, baseball still had to work through labor negotiations between the owners and players union.

Eventually, all of minor league baseball was called off and Grove and countless others found themselves in a legitimate quandary. As Major League Baseball went back to work, each club put together an extended camp that worked out remotely on its own and each member could be called up to the parent club if needed.

Grove never got that call, but he found plenty of work.

“It was a good experience,” Grove said. “We played intersquad games between our pitchers and hitters. There was no other outside competition. I was able to work on a lot of things and really blessed to have the quality of players, trainers and strength coaches available that a lot of (minor leaguers) didn’t have access to.”

Grove estimated he threw between 12 and 15 times during those games and felt good about his performance. No records or statistics were kept beyond the analytics that many MLB organizations are utilizing.

“I was throwing the ball well and, during that time, I figured some things out with my pitches and just about myself,” Grove said. I went into that with as much of a plan as was possible and then stuck with it through the course of the summer. I feel like I made good strides and I received great feedback.”

One of the things that Grove is most excited about for this upcoming camp is simply pitching against different players. Admittedly, last season’s summer camp did get to a point of being “repetitive,” but it was still better than the alternative.

“I was fortunate to have that opportunity because there were some minor league guys were who had nothing like that and were pitching to like Division II college players or even high school kids. For us, it was less than 55 guys who had the opportunity.”

Though Grove is progressing the way he envisioned, he realizes there’s a long way to go before he takes the mound at Dodger Stadium.

“The Dodgers organization is a great place to be a starting pitcher and we only got better during the offseason,” Grove said.

The Dodgers’ pitching rotation is absolutely stacked when you consider three former Cy Young Award winners — Clayton Kershaw, David Price and the recently signed Trevor Bauer — as well as emerging star Walker Buehler have claimed four of the five spots.

“No, I probably won’t crack the (Major League) roster this season,” Grove laughed. “But, I am hoping to use this spring as much as a learning tool and keep making my stuff better.”

As spring training progresses, Grove doesn’t plan to sit around idly and not capture every opportunity possible to learn from some of the game’s best.

“To be able to pick those guys brains is going to be nice,” Grove said. “Most of the guys are very welcoming and inclusive in the respect of helping the younger guys. They’re not just going to ignore you. Plus, the Dodgers have created a pretty good environment where they make a habit of making everyone feel welcome and a part of it.”

While this season will be much closer to normal than 2020 in basically every regard, Grove and minor leaguers across baseball are still unsure of what the future holds for them, especially early in the season.

According to Grove, there’s been no definitive plan announced for the minor league baseball season.

“We’re kind of in a wait-and-see pattern with all of this craziness,” Grove explained. “There could be a taxi squad situation before minor league season or we’ve heard there could be a AAA season right away. We don’t really know. There are just so many things still being talked about.”

In October, the Dodgers assigned Grove to their Double A affiliate — the Tulsa Drillers. He spent his only full season of minor league baseball with the Class A club in Rancho Cucamonga.