Dodgers: Pair of LA Prospects Climb MLB’s Midseason Prospect Rankings

Many around baseball attribute the success of the Dodgers to being a big market club. However, the Dodgers have built a reputation for drafting and developing talent to help feed their big league club. That’s allowed them to recently hold one of the top farm systems in the league for the last couple of years.

Andrew Friedman’s recent moves this past trade deadline as well as moves over the last two years or so have caused the farm to take some big hits in terms of high end talent. They’ve lost players such as Josiah Gray, Alex Verdugo, Jeter Downs, Keibert Ruiz, etc. Yet, that still hasn’t stopped the organization from continuing what they do best. They constantly seek to extract the best of every one of their prospects regardless of their pedigree.

Thanks to that very practice, two Dodgers prospects have made some significant jumps in this year’s midseason prospect rankings. Both Diego Cartaya (#29) and Ryan Pepiot (#67) have had excellent seasons that have boosted their stock. It’s noteworthy that both players were not even ranked in last year’s Top 100.

LA’s Top 2 Prospects

Cartaya hit .298 with 10 home runs and 31 RBI in 114 at-bats with Low-A Rancho Cucamonga before being shut down for the season due to an undisclosed injury. Despite that, he’ll head into next season as one of if not the top prospect in the Dodgers’ organization. The 19-year old is seen as the catcher of the future and his strong showing this spring ultimately made it easier to let go of Ruiz. 

Pepiot on the other hand was recently promoted to Triple-A Oklahoma City. He’s had a rough time so far allowing 11 runs (8 earned) in 13 1/3 innings. He has struck out 17 while also allowing 7 walks. Pepiot also recently had a lot of success down in Double-A where he posted a 3-4 record with a 2.87 ERA and 81 strikeouts in 59 2/3 innings. There’s no doubt he still has a lot of upside and could soon be competing for a spot with the big league club in the near future. 

Dodgers 2080: Ryan Pepiot is More Than a Power Arm

Other Notable Names

Second baseman Michael Busch (#81) and right-hander Bobby Miller (#85) were also ranked within the Top 100 prospects and should also be names to watch in the near future. 

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