Omar Estevez. Photo by Rich Crimi/Tulsa Drillers.
Dodgers Prospect Watch: Omar Estevez
Name: Omar Estevez.
Vitals: Second base, shortstop. 5' 10" 185, age 22, bats right, throws right. From Matanzas, Cuba.
Highest level of play: 2019 Tulsa Drillers.
Baseball America 2020 ranking: 16th among Dodgers prospects.
Likely date for major league debut: 2020/2021.
Dodgers Spring Training stats: 2-8, a single and a home run, one strikeout, .250/.400/.625.
Baseball America scouting report (subscription required): “…[b]egan doing weighted ball drills in the second half of 2018 and turned into a different hitter…makes frequent contact up the middle and drives the ball gap-to-gap for doubles…advanced feel and solid strike-zone discipline…below-average shortstop and fringe-average second baseman…prone to sailing throws over the first baseman's head.”
Comment: Baseball America didn't mince words with the criticism of Estevez's defense there. But this is a young player who's progressed exactly the way you'd want him to with the bat, so I suggest we simply stay tuned.
Estevez hit .255/.298/.389 for the A-ball Great Lake Loons as an 18-year-old in 2016, .256/.309/.348 the next year for the High-A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, and repeating a season in the California League, improved to .278/.336/.456 with 15 home runs and 84 RBIs in 2018. At 20. Following up at AA-Tulsa last year, he recorded a .291/.352/.431 line in 336 plate appearances over 83 games.
That's progress, as mentioned above, with a change in approach at the plate. Let's keep an eye out for the development of this particular player, with Estevez's likely next destination being the 2020 Triple-A Oklahoma City Dodgers.
If this prospect watch piece interests, here are three more: Zach McKinstry, Miguel Vargas and Cristian Santana.
You might also like another Inside the Dodgers series, on 2020 player projections. Here are Cody Bellinger, Kiké Hernandez, Justin Turner, Will Smith and Joc Pederson.
And our little ditty series, set to music: Willie Davis and Max Muncy.
And remember, glove conquers all.
Howard Cole has been writing about baseball on the internet since Y2K. Follow him on Twitter.
