Dodgers: Dave Roberts Excited for Diego Cartaya to Get Extended Look in Spring Training
The Dodgers are set to play in their first spring training games this week and manager Dave Roberts is already looking forward to getting a closer look at one of the team’s top prospects, Diego Cartaya.
The 21-year-old has been steadily working his way up through the team’s minor league system. He hit .254/.389/.503 with 22 home runs and a 139 wRC+ between Low-A Rancho Cucamonga and High-A Great Lakes. The Dodgers eventually added the catcher to the 40-man roster in November.
Speaking with media on Saturday, Dave talked about the opportunity in front of Diego, particularly with both Will Smith and Austin Barnes leaving camp to participate in the WBC.
“I think it’s great for Diego. It’s an opportunity that Diego normally wouldn’t get, a young prospect catcher to get a lot of repetitions with major-league players. I think this is certainly a blessing for him and a good opportunity.”
Although Cartaya has done a lot of good things in the minor leagues, this spring will be a time for him to develop his game at the highest level, while soaking in the experience of some of the best players. Roberts touched upon Cartaya’s curiosity as being one of the young catcher’s best qualities:
“Skill set aside, his maturity is something that really stands out. He’s not in awe of being around this environment. He’s very curious. He asks the right questions. He’s watching. There’s certainly things with the bat that need to get cleaned up, that will get cleaned up just with at-bats. Just the way he carries himself, it just looks right. People have a hard time understanding what that means. But as an evaluator, as a coach, it just looks right.”
Cartaya is still young and learning, but now that he is set to compete with the big league club during Spring Training, we are all excited to see what he can do.
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