Diego Cartaya shot up prospect boards since signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers as an amateur free agent out of Venezuela in 2018.
After a stellar 2022 season, Cartaya was expected to take the next step in his career last year but hit a disappointing .189/.278/.379 in 93 games with Double-A Tulsa.
The 22-year-old continued to show elite power as he hit 19 home runs, but struck out at a 29% clip and saw his walk rate dip to 9%.
Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes is not worried about Cartaya’s offensive struggles and pointed out that he still made progress behind the plate, via Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic:
“I think it does get a little bit lost how young he is, especially for (the) level,” Gomes said. “I know his offensive year wasn’t where he would’ve hoped. He took major strides in game planning and receiving and throwing and leading pitchers’ meetings and understanding how to lead a staff, which are all incredibly important and some intangibles that you want to see out of catchers. We did see growth in a lot of areas even though the offensive performance wasn’t where we would’ve wanted it.”
Cartaya committed a career-high nine errors and threw out 19% of would-be base stealers in 68 games (65 starts) for the Drillers last year. However, he improved in other areas that aren’t measured on the stat sheet such as leadership.
Gomes also noted that Cartaya has worked with Dodgers hitting coaches this offseason to tweak his swing and expects better results in 2024.
Cartaya figures to split his time between the Drillers and Triple-A Oklahoma City this season. He could potentially make his MLB debut as well, but presumably will have a bigger impact on the Dodgers no sooner than 2025.
Diego Cartaya ranked among top 10 catching prospects by MLB Pipeline
The Dodgers had two catching prospects ranked among the best at their position by MLB Pipeline as Dalton Rushing placed No. 6 and Cartaya checked in at No. 10.
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