After beginning with No. 35, we have arrived at the creme of the crop of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ top prospects.
A pair of early-round prep bats are joined by a late-round steal who developed into something special, a power arm acquired in a trade, and the heir apparent to Fernando Valenzuela.
With one prospect already entrenched in the Dodgers’ Major-League lineup and others on knocking on the door, the top of this list should look significantly different next year.
5. Cody Bellinger, 1B/OF
In the fourth round of the 2013 draft, the Dodgers took a gangly 17-year-old out of Arizona. He debuted with the Arizona League Dodgers, where he batted .210 with six triples and one home run.
The following year, Bellinger continued his quest in rookie ball where he again collected half a dozen triples to go with just three homers. But things changed in a hurry for Bellinger who, as a teenager, established himself as a premier power threat in 2015 by hitting 30 home runs in 128 games as one of the youngest players in the California League.
Getting older sometimes isn’t the worst thing in the world. For Bellinger, it meant adding strength to his frame. He gained 20 pounds during the offseason, putting him over 200, and it shows. He’s noticeably bigger than he was last season, which gives credence to the notion that his power surge wasn’t a Cal League mirage.
Bellinger did strike out a lot last season, but toned down his swing this spring in effort to make more contact. He’s probably going to strike out 100-plus times per season, but it will come with plenty of walks and home runs.
Defensively, Bellinger is one of the best in the business. He’s already at least a plus defender at first base with excellent hands, quick reactions and great instincts. The Dodgers began playing him in the outfield last year, his natural position in high school, and he more than held his own in center field.
He also played left field in Spring Training and the more positions he can play, the better. Bellinger is not a burner but he’s also not a base-clogger and should be able to play a proficient left field.
Once again, Bellinger will be one of the youngest players in his league, as he’s penciled in as Double-A Tulsa’s everyday first baseman. This season will be a significant test for him and could further expedite his path to the Majors.
4. Frankie Montas, RHP
The final piece of the three-team trade between the Dodgers, Cincinnati Reds and Chicago White Sox last December, Montas looked poised to compete for a spot on the big league pitching staff this spring.
However, after he began feeling discomfort in his chest, he had a rib removed and was shelved for the entire month of March. He was projected to miss two to four months at the time of the mid-February procedure.
Prior to the injury, Montas had one of the best one-two punches in the system. He featured a fastball that sat in the mid-90s and has touched 102 mph in the past. He can get some movement on it when he doesn’t overthrow it.
His slider gives him a second plus pitch, a sharp, mid-80s offering that produces plenty of swings and misses. Montas’ biggest obstacles could land him in a bullpen eventually. He has a changeup but he doesn’t throw it too much and it lags behind the other offerings.
He also has trouble throwing strikes, evidenced by his Minor League walk rate of nearly four per nine innings and 5.4 per nine in the Majors last season. He has a big, durable frame and maintains his stuff, so the issue with him sticking in the rotation is developing the change and command.
After being placed on the 60-day disabled list to start the season, Montas won’t be able to pitch in the Majors for the first two months. However, he’d be able to begin a rehab assignment before that.
When and whether he will, is up in the air right now. Hopefully Montas comes back healthy and ready to help the big club sometime in the first half of the season.
CONTINUE READING: Dodgers’ top three prospects
3. Jose De Leon, RHP
In 2013, De Leon was a heavy right-handed 23rd-round pick who was struggling in rookie ball. A year later, De Leon was one of the most surprising stories in Minor League baseball, striking out 42 batters in his final 22.2 innings.
Hard work and a few mechanical tweaks turned him into a legitimate pitching prospect. In 2015, it was more of the same, as he struck out 163 batters in 114.1 innings while posting a 2.99 ERA.
De Leon features a fastball with velocity that’s generally in the low-to-mid 90s, though it can settle in around 90 mph at times. However, he has excellent deception in his delivery which can make it play up.
When he commands it, he’s very hard to hit. Then De Leon adds his plus changeup, which emulates Eric Gagne’s in its action, and he gives hitters fits. De Leon’s slider and curve lag behind, as both currently rate as below average and developing one would greatly help him turn a lineup over.
The Dodgers are holding the young righty back to begin the 2016 season in an effort to limit his innings; this could mean the club plans on using him later in the year.
When De Leon debuts with a Minor League affiliate, he’ll give the Dodgers yet another internal option to solidify the backend of the rotation, and he should compete for a full-time spot next season.
2. Julio Urias, LHP
It may very well wind up that 2012 goes down as a historic year for the Dodgers. Frank McCourt sold the team to Guggenheim, the Dodgers completed a significant trade with the Boston Red Sox, and they added an immense amount of talent through the draft and international signings.
The bigger names include the likes Yasiel Puig, Hyun-Jin Ryu and Corey Seager, but a prospect who flew under the radar was Urias, a stocky Mexican lefty.
The Dodgers waited until Urias turned 16 years old and signed him out of the Mexican League. They sent him to full season ball in 2013, which is unheard of for a player his age. And then he pitched. And everyone wondered who this kid was and how everyone else missed on him.
Over the next two years, Urias reached Triple-A as a teenager, and struck out nearly 11 batters per nine innings in the process. He comes after hitters with a low-to-mid 90s fastball that has touched 97 mph and he commands the pitch well.
On top of that, Urias features a plus changeup with plenty of sink and fade, as well as two versions of a slider — one, a bigger, loopier offering that resembles more of a curveball, and the other is a shorter, more conventional slider.
When he has command of two or three of his pitches, batters are in for a long night. Urias could have built up his workload last season, but opted for cosmetic surgery on his eye in May and ended up missing nearly two months.
Over the last two seasons, Urias hasn’t eclipsed 90 innings during the regular season, so 2016 is important in building up his endurance. He’ll start the season with Oklahoma City and could make his Major League debut later this year.
1. Corey Seager, SS
Seager is a significant prospect in more ways than one. He broke a string of nine straight pitchers the Dodgers selected with their first picks in the MLB draft from 2003-2011, becoming the first position player taken with the club’s top pick since James Loney in 2002.
How he fell to the 18th spot is still something of a mystery. After being drafted, Seager debuted with the Ogden Raptors, where he batted .309 with a .903 on-base plus slugging percentage in 46 games.
He moved up the following season to Low-A Great Lakes, hitting .309 before a late-season promotion to High-A Rancho Cucamonga and a stint in the Arizona Fall League. In 2014, Seager batted .352 in 80 games with the Quakes, then earned a promotion to Double-A Tulsa, where he hit .345 in 38 contests.
Last year, he hit .375 in 20 games for the Drillers before moving up to Triple-A, where he finally came back down to Earth and batted .278. Once the Minor League season ended, Seager received a call-up to the Majors and hit .337 in September.
All told, he’s batted well over .300 as a professional before turning 22. The bat is Seager’s calling card. He exhibits excellent feel at the plate, putting the barrel on the ball with great frequency.
He’s a patient hitter who will use the entire field and covers the plate well. Seager is more of a gap hitter at present time, aiming for the alleys and peppering doubles around the park, but at 6’4 and 215 pounds, it’s hard not to imagine him eclipsing 20 home runs annually.
Defensively, he’s not a standout but he holds his own at short in spite of his size. While his quickness and agility aren’t elite, Seager covers enough ground to make the necessary plays, as well as surprising with the occasional ball up the middle or in the hole.
He does have excellent hands and a strong arm, as well as good instincts. At his size, Seager is not much of a runner but he’ll post solid times while underway. With his offensive profile, Seager figures to be a fixture in the Dodgers’ lineup for at least the next several years, be it at shortstop or eventually third base.
He became the youngest starting shortstop on Opening Day for the Dodgers in 72 years this season, and this figures to be the first of many seasons in which he is featured on the left side of their infield.
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