Feb 28, 2020; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts (30) talks to DJ Peters (70) before a spring training game against the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Fields of Phoenix. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports
Dodgers Prospect Watch: DJ Peters
Name: DJ Peters.
Vitals: Centerfielder, 6' 6" 225, age 24, bats right, throws right. Western, Nevada JC, from Glendora, CA.
Acquired: By Dodgers in 36th round of 2016 MLB Amateur Draft.
Highest level of play: 2019 Oklahoma City Dodgers.
Baseball America 2020 ranking: 14th among Dodgers prospects.
Likely date for major league debut: 2020/2021.
Dodgers Spring Training stats: 3-23, a double, a home run and four RBIs, with nine strikeouts, .143/.217/.333.
Baseball America scouting report (subscription required): “Muscular and massive at 6-foot-6, 225 pounds … tool is his enormous raw power, which some scouts grade an 80 … creates prodigious leverage and demolishes anything left over the plate … tremendously athletic for his size and a serviceable center fielder with average speed and long strides … above-average arm fits in right field.”
Comment: Peters made a great first impression, debuting with the Dodgers' Pioneer League Ogden Raptors in 2016, recording a .351/.437/.615 line, with 13 homers and 48 RBIs in 266 at bats over 66 games, following up with a .276/.372/.514, 27 HR and 82 RBI full 2017 season with the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes.
In his first season as a 22-year-old at the AA-Tulsa Drillers, Peters struggled from a batting average and on base perspective (.236/.320), but continued to produce, with 29 homers and 60 ribs in 491 at bats and 132 games. He then split the 2019 season between Tulsa and AAA-Oklahoma City, combining to hit .249/.358/.453, with 28 HR and 93 RBIs.
The issue with Peters has always been strikeouts, but you can say that about a lot of guys, and the Dodgers need right-hand hitting boppers. We'll see him in the majors in September, or the COVID-19 equivalent of.
And remember, glove conquers all.
Howard Cole has been writing about baseball on the internet since Y2K. Follow him on Twitter.
