Dodgers Prospect: Farm System Roundup For May 2022
The month of May for the Dodgers farm system was a month full of promotions and a couple of key Major League debuts. Many players were improving after some slow starts and some continued to excel. We’ll take a look at some of the highlights for this past month.
Major League Debuts
As we predicted in last month’s April review Ryan Pepiot would make his major league debut soon. It happened in May as he had three different starts. Pepiot improved in each of his starts and will probably be back later in the season for more.
That changeup is going to make Ryan Pepiot a wealthy man one day. #Dodgers
— Doug McKain (@DMAC_LA) May 11, 2022
Our own Brook Smith made a bold prediction that Michal Grove would also debut in May and his prediction came true. Grove only made one start and he did not give up any earned runs. Grove is a guy who has struggled to come back from Tommy John surgery in 2018 and really did not hit his stride until the second half of 2021. It was also noteworthy that Grove was in Double-A before his debut in the majors.
Michael Grove's 1st MLB K. pic.twitter.com/2gPM5uxhfB
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) May 15, 2022
Key Promotions
- Right-handed pitcher Robbie Peto was promoted from Single-A (Quakes) to High-A (Loons).
- Right-handed pitcher and number 18 prospect, Gavin Stone was promoted from High-A to Double-A (Drillers). We wrote about Stone right before he was promoted.
- Second baseman Michael Busch was promoted from Double-A to Triple-A (OKC).
Michael Busch, first AAA homer! pic.twitter.com/0ixLrt09k3
— Josh Thomas (@jokeylocomotive) May 18, 2022
- Outfielder Gaige Howard, Catcher Nelson Quiros, SS Hector Martinez, RHP River Ryan (the guy they got for Matt Beaty), and RHP pitcher Horacio Andujar were assigned to Single-A.
- Number 14 prospect and outfielder Jose Ramos was promoted to High-A. We wrote an in-depth article about him last fall.
- RHP Mark Washington was finally promoted to Triple-A. He’s one of our under-the-radar prospects:
- Left-handed reliever Jose Hernandez was promoted to Double-A.
- The Dodgers 3rd round draft pick, RHP Peter Heubeck was assigned to Single-A.
- Within 24 hours of interviewing him, RHP Ben Casparius was promoted to High-A.
- Shortstop Leonel Valera was promoted to Double-A. I wonder if that means Jacob Amaya will be promoted to Triple-A, soon. I feel he has earned it.
- The promotion that garnered the most attention was the promotion of number one prospect Diego Cartaya, along with infielder Alex De Jesus to High-A.
Other News
- Ryan Pepiot was named the Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the Month for April.
- FanGraphs updated their Top 51 prospects for the Dodgers. FanGraphs definitely has a different ranking than many other rankings. It is interesting as they rank Rayne Doncon and Edgardo Henriquez quite high, which is pretty exciting to see. I do believe they have Miguel Vargas ranked way too low as he could be a future star.
- The Padres starting pitcher Blake Snell was doing a rehabilitation assignment for the Lake Elsinore Storm. They ran into the Quakes and Diego Cartaya crushed a home run off of the former Cy Young Award winner.
Diego Cartaya crushing a dong off Blake Snell. ?
6 HR in 73 ABs this year in Rancho for Diego Cartaya.
Over/under 2 All Star games for Cartaya during his career? How high are you on the Dodgers top prospect?
— Dodgers Nation (@DodgersNation) May 7, 2022
Final Thoughts
It was a great month to follow the Dodger farm system. We will have more interviews with minor leaguers and continued up-close coverage of the Quakes. It is an exciting time to follow the farm system as their depth of prospects is as good or better than it has ever been. If you can, get out and see the OKC Dodgers, Tulsa Quakes, Great Lakes Loons, Rancho Cucamonga Quakes and guys still playing at Camelback.
For more in-depth prospect coverage check out Dodgers 2080’s website, YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter accounts.
