Dodgers: Diego Cartaya Likened to Prolific Offensive Catcher by MLB Expert
Sustained success in baseball is mix of a variety ingredients, but the most important one is a quality farm system. The Dodgers owe much of their recent run of success to healthy supply of homegrown talent. Catching prospect Diego Cartaya headlines another strong pool of prospect talent for the Dodgers.
The Dodgers director of player development, Will Rhymes, talked about what makes Cartaya so special in an interview with The Athletic's Fabian Ardaya.
“There’s a real uniqueness about his ability to defend. Pitchers love throwing to him. Baseball IQ is really high. And then obviously, the offensive potential is off the charts.”
Currently, Cartaya is the 28th best prospect in MLB according to MLB Pipeline. Keith Law, also of The Athletic, ranked him at number 13.
Rhymes also noted that Cartaya's work ethic is another attribute that sets him apart from other prospects.
“When you have just kind of the total combination of makeup and that work ethic that this guy is going to get the most out of himself, with that much upside in his ability, and his talent, it’s really rare."
Rhymes isn't alone in thinking highly of Cartaya. MLB Pipeline's Jim Callis projected Cartaya as a top-ten prospect by next year. Callis compared Cartaya to the Kansas City Royals Salvador Perez.
“Often compared to Salvador Perez because of his size and profile, Cartaya is a more advanced hitter than Perez was at his age and batted .298/.409/.614 at age 19 in Low-A during an injury-shortened 2021.”
Perez is a seven-time All-Star and led the majors in home runs (48) and RBI (121) in 2021.
That's a lofty comparison for Cartaya, but that speaks to his incredible potential.
