Even after recent graduations and trades, the Los Angeles Dodgers have a farm system that is loaded with talented prospects. The group includes Diego Cartaya, who is widely considered one of the top catching prospects in all of baseball.
Cartaya was part of the Dodgers’ 2018-19 international signing period class and has quickly risen through the ranks. He enjoyed a successful professional debut with the organization’s Rookie-level affiliate in 2019 and followed up by hitting .298/.409/.614 in 31 games for Low-A Rancho Cucamonga last year.
Cartaya couldn’t play in 2020 due to the Minor League Baseball season being canceled, but still was able to continue his development while participating in the Dodgers’ alternate training site at USC.
The 20-year-old credited some of the organization’s older prospects for helping him learn how to deal with adversity, per Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic:
“I’d say it was mostly about how to deal with when you’re in a bad moment,” Cartaya said. “We struggle a lot. There’s a lot of ups and downs, and those guys taught me how to deal with it.”
Now in his third professional season, Cartaya began the year with Single-A Rancho Cucamonga before earning a promotion to High-A Great Lakes at the beginning of the month.
The 20-year-old batted .260/.405/.550 with a .428 wOBA and 149 wRC+ through 33 games while hitting nine home runs, collecting 31 RBI and scoring 31 runs for the Quakes. Cartaya also posted a 14.1% walk rate, which is an encouraging sign that shows his knowledge of the strike zone.
Diego Cartaya home run off Blake Snell
Prior to joining the Loons, Cartaya made headlines with his home run off San Diego Padres starter Blake Snell, who was on a rehab assignment in May.
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