Dodgers have impressive showing across the board in prospect rankings
by Ron Gutterman
Routinely one of the deepest farm systems in baseball, 2023 appears to be no different for the Dodgers. Various highly regarded prospect rankings, including MLB.com/MLB Pipeline’s official top 100, have recently come out with Dodger names heavily on their lists.
MLB Pipeline released its annual top 100 prospects on Thursday and the Dodgers were one of three organizations with at least seven players on the list (Baltimore had eight, Cleveland had seven).
The Dodgers seven are led by catcher Diego Cartaya, who was ranked 14th overall. He was followed by:
24. Bobby Miller, RHP
37. Miguel Vargas, 3B/OF/1B
54. Michael Busch, 2B/OF
56. Gavin Stone, RHP
70. Ryan Pepiot, RHP
81. Andy Pages, OF
Cartaya, the 21-year-old catcher and winner of the 2022 Dodgers’ Branch Rickey Minor League Player of the Year award, is the №2 rated catcher by MLB Pipeline and also ranked 18th among all minor league prospects by Baseball America and 19th overall by Baseball Prospectus.
Cartaya slashed .251/.379/.476/.855 with 13 home runs in 62 games with Great Lakes last season. He hit 22 homers and had an .892 OPS overall in 95 minor league games.
Miller was rated by MLB Pipeline sixth among right-handed minor league pitchers, while Baseball America landed him at №21 overall and Baseball Prospectus ranked him №27.
Miller spent the majority of 2022 with Double-A Tulsa, posting a 4.45 ERA and 1.20 WHIP in 91 innings. He was promoted to Triple-A Oklahoma City in late August, where he excelled with a 3.38 ERA and 1.08 WHIP with 28 strikeouts in 21 1/3 innings.
Vargas, the 23-year-old infielder/outfielder who made his big league debut with the Dodgers in 2022, also ranks 30th via Baseball America and 39th via Baseball Prospectus. He slashed .304/.404/.511/.915 over 113 games in Triple-A OKC. Vargas will be vying for an Opening Day 2023 roster spot with the Major League club.
Baseball America has the Dodgers as one of just three teams to have at least three top-30 prospects. Baseball America has the Dodgers with six top-60 prospects and Baseball Prospectus gives them nine in the top 90.
Gavin Stone (Baseball America №50, MLB Pipeline №56, Baseball Prospectus №56) and Michael Busch (Baseball Prospectus №54, MLB Pipeline №54, Baseball America №59) are the fourth and fifth Dodger prospects to appear on both lists.
MLB Pipeline describes Stone as an aggressive, strike-throwing starter. He played at three levels last season and was remarkable at every stop. For High-A Great Lakes, he had a 1.44 ERA in 25 innings. In his longest stint at Double-A Tulsa, he held a 1.60 ERA in 73 1/3 frames. Finally, with Triple-A Oklahoma City, he posted a 1.16 ERA in 23 1/3 innings. He was the Dodgers’ 2022 Branch Rickey Minor League Pitcher of the Year.
Busch, who has been compared by MLB Pipeline to Max Muncy, slashed .274/.365/.516/.881 in 142 games between Double-A Tulsa and Triple-A OKC. His 32 total home runs was tied for the most among all Dodger minor leaguers and his 70 extra-base hits stood alone atop the Dodger minor league rankings.
Baseball America’s last Dodger-ranked prospect was right-hander Ryan Pepiot, who made his MLB debut in 2022 and had a 3.47 ERA and 122 ERA+ in 36 1/3 innings with the Dodgers. He ranked №55 on Baseball America’s list to go along with his №70 MLB Pipeline ranking.
Baseball Prospectus featured four other Dodger prospects that did not appear on the Baseball America ranking. Those four are right-handed pitcher Nick Nastrini (54), catcher Dalton Rushing (56), right-handed pitcher Nick Frasso (79), and outfielder Andy Pages (90).
Nastrini spent 86 1/3 innings with High-A Great Lakes, but also got six looks with Double-A Tulsa. In total, he tossed 116 2/3 innings last season, had a 3.93 ERA and 1.11 WHIP and a game-changing 13.0 strikeouts per nine innings.
Rushing, the Dodgers’ second-round pick in the 2022 MLB Draft, excelled in a 28-game stint with Low-A Rancho Cucamonga. He slashed .424/.539/.778/1.317 and hit a home run in 8 of his 128 plate appearances.
Frasso, a Torrance native who attended Loyola Marymount University, played for four different minor league teams and had success with each club. Between Low-A Dunedin (Toronto), High-A Vancouver (Toronto), High-A Great Lakes and Double-A Tulsa, Frasso posted a 1.83 ERA and 0.93 WHIP in 54 innings while striking out 76 batters.
Finally, Pages, the Dodgers’ №5 prospect in 2022, continues to rise through the system while maintaining high-quality play. In 132 games for Double-A Tulsa, Pages slashed .236/.336/.468/.804 and hit the fifth-most home runs in the entire farm system with 26. Pages makes MLB Pipeline’s top 100 in addition to Baseball Prospectus, finishing 81st.
