Los Angeles Dodgers Top Prospects 2024

Los Angeles Dodgers top prospects for 2024 dynasty fantasy baseball including Michael Busch, Joendry Vargas, Josue De Paula, Dalton Rushing, and more!

Welcome to our team prospect rankings. Over the next two months, I will be pumping out team top prospect rankings and evaluations for dynasty baseball. These reports are generated from live looks, film study, and advanced data analysis to bring you in-depth fantasy scouting reports on every player you need to know, with today’s being the Los Angeles Dodgers Top Prospects.

Not all 30 players in each writeup will be dynasty relevant, but many will, and if you play in a deep league, certainly most of the names will be worth knowing.

You can check out our previous Top Prospect Rankings:

Atlanta, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, Washington, Chicago, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, St. Louis, Arizona

Each player has a detailed write-up. The top 10 rankings and writeups are free for all, but the rest of the top prospects are for paid subs. Get an edge in your dynasty leagues and get in on some of these players first! Let’s get to it, our Dodgers Top Prospect list.

Top Prospect Glossary

FFG = Future Fantasy Grade - essentially, what is the likely long-term outcome for the prospect? This is always going to be more conservative. Handing out ace tags is not something I like to do. So this is a realistic outcome.

90th Peak = If the player hits their best-case outcome, what does it look like?

Variance = How risky is this player’s profile, and how likely are they to hit their likely outcome? Low variance is good; high means more risky.

Los Angeles Dodgers Top Prospects: Dynasty Fantasy Baseball 2024

1. Michael Busch, CI, 26, 6’1”/210

It has become a running joke among the prospect community and Dodgers fans about how long the Dodgers could hold Michael Busch down despite strong performances year over year. Busch earned a promotion after a strong Triple-A showing in 2023 in which he slashed .323/.431/.618 with 27 home runs in 98 games. The performance in the Majors was disappointing, but it was Busch’s first taste of MLB pitching.

In Triple-A, Busch showed his plus power by posting an average exit velocity north of 91 mph while having a 90th percentile exit velocity of 105 mph. He also hit those balls at ideal launch angles, checking in with a 15-degree launch angle and a low standard deviation of launch angle, meaning he hit balls at a consistent angle often. This turned into a 13 percent barrel rate. 

You may not view Busch as a strong contact hitter, but his numbers were pretty strong in Triple-A, as Busch posted a zone-contact rate north of 89 percent while chasing just 22 percent of pitches out of the zone and having an overall contact rate of 81 percent.

Busch has plenty of potential to be a strong contributor at the plate, but one of the issues is that he is blocked at first base, which would be his natural home. The Dodgers have shown how they value as they have rejected many trade offers that have come in for Busch. 2024 could be the year he finally gets regular run in Los Angeles.

FFG: Power Hitting CI

90th Percentile Peak Outcome: .280/.370 OBP/28 HR/5 SB

Variance: Medium

Buy/Sell: Buy

2. Joendry Vargas, SS, 18, 6’4”/175

While De Paula certainly has a frame to dream on, Joendry Vargas may be even more athletic and has a better frame for a ballplayer, standing at 6’4”/175. The Dodgers inked Vargas to a $2.08 million deal in January of 2023, and he hit the ground running in the Dominican Summer League, posting one of the strongest performances there, hitting seven home runs and collecting 20 extra-base hits in 208 plate appearances while slashing .328/.423/.529. Vargas showed good athleticism and speed, stealing 19 bases.

Vargas shows strong plate skills and makes plenty of contact. He posted one of the lower chase rates in the DSL and walked 30 times while striking out just 31 times, an impressive K/BB rate. While he does take a walk, Vargas also puts a ton of balls in play, and it shows in the fact that he was able to collect 57 hits in just 48 games.

The power already showed up, with Vargas posting some high exit velocities and towering home runs as a 17-year-old. The current power, plus future projection give confidence that Vargas could be a consistent 22-25 bat with room for more in the profile. 

A hitter of Vargas’s caliber will thrive in the DSL environment, but his performance was impressive, posting a 149 wRC+ on the season. The upside here is tremendous and one that I want to bet on moving forward. Whether Vargas will take the De Paula route and skip complex ball remains to be seen, but I would assume he begins next season in the Arizona Complex League and moves up rather quickly.

FFG: Power Hitting 3B

90th Percentile Peak Outcome: .280/.370 OBP/25 HR/10 SB

Variance: High

Buy/Sell: Buy

3. Josue De Paula, OF, 18, 6’3”/185

De Paula has quite an interesting path to getting to professional baseball. Growing up in Brooklyn and being cousins with Stephon Marbury, De Paula moved to the Dominican Republic at 14. Just a couple of years later, he inked a $1.5 million deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers and took the Dominican Summer League by storm that summer, becoming one of the games biggest potential prospect breakouts. 

Standing at 6’3”, De Paula has what many would call a projectable frame, and with solid contact skills, he set himself up for what many thought would be a huge 2023. In the DSL as a young 17-year-old, De Paula slashed .350/.448/.522 with five home runs and 16 stolen bases across 223 plate appearances. Those numbers were backed by a 91 percent zone-contact rate and an 85 percent overall clip.

Jump forward to 2023, and De Paula skips the complex level entirely, beginning the Single-A season just turning 18 years old. It was an aggressive move, and for the most part, De Paula held his own, posting a .284/.396/.372 slash, but it came with just two home runs and 19 extra-base hits in 340 plate appearances. He did make improvements throughout the year, and from July forward, he posted a .306/.427/.397 slash and walked nearly as much as he struck out.

If you want to poke a hole in De Paula’s game, it would likely be that he is considered too passive, swinging at just 40 percent of pitches in his full-season debut while making contact at a 79 percent clip. The OBP looks great, but De Paula needs to tap into more power, which we have not seen yet. The projection aspect is tough, because you look at a player with this kind of body and just assume they will add good weight and strength, especially in the Dodgers org, but it has not come yet.

De Paula will likely be a solid source of stolen bases, as he has swiped thirty bases in 128 games and has clocked plus run times. The contact numbers suggest plus or better contact, and De Paula’s barrel control is high-end. If and when the power comes, it is only a matter of time before De Paula soars up prospect lists. 

FFG: Strong Hit Tool OF w/Power and Speed

90th Percentile Peak Outcome: .280/.380 OBP/20 HR/20 SB

Variance: Medium

Buy/Sell: Buy

4. Dalton Rushing, C, 22, 6’1”/220

After spending his first two college seasons at Louisville sitting behind Henry Davis, Rushing broke out in a major way on the Cape and then in his junior year at Louisville, hitting 23 home runs and slashing .310/.470/.686 vaulting his stock to second-round status where the Dodgers selected him.

He picked up where he left off after debuting his pro ball in 2022, having one of the best performances of any draftee, hitting .404/.522/.740 with eight home runs in 30 games. Expectations were high entering 2023, and while some would consider his season a bit disappointing, Rushing still showed elite OBP skills with strong power. 

The power comes easily from the left side and his strong frame. In 2023, Rushing posted a 105 mph 90th percentile exit velocity, hitting several balls over 110 mph. From a plate discipline standpoint, it is easy to see why he walks at such a high clip, as Rushing chased just 15 percent of pitches out of the zone. The contact percentage was also substantial at 75 percent and is a much better indicator of his hit tool than the .228 batting average. 

If Rushing cannot stick behind the plate, his bat will still be the carrying tool, even at first base or a corner outfield spot. He is one of the few Minor Leaguers who could post .400 OBPs regularly while showing plus power.

FFG: High OBP + Power Hitter

90th Percentile Peak Outcome: .270/.400 OBP/25 HR/5 SB

Variance: Medium

Buy/Sell: Buy

5. Eduardo Quintero, OF, 18, 6’0”/175

Quintero originally signed with the Dodgers as a catcher for $300k but played strictly outfield in the Dominican Summer League, where he showed elite athleticism in the field and at the plate. Posting a solid slash line of .359/.472/.618 with five home runs and 27 extra-base hits in 49 games was one of the top performances in the DSL. Additionally, he stole 22 bases in 26 attempts. 

Quintero showed strong contact skills and struck out just 16 percent of the time while posting a walk rate of 15 percent. While you want to project out hit tools based on DSL data carefully, you can argue that Quintero is an above-average to plus hitter with big-time speed. The power projection is still a question mark. Still, due to the large amounts of extra-base hits and the fact he hit five home runs, you can see Quintero growing into at least average game power and hitting 15-20 home runs a season while stealing 30 or more bases with his elite athleticism and instincts on the base paths.

Given the abilities we saw in centerfield, it seems like a real possibility that he sticks there and has the potential to be a true five-tool player which I don’t throw out often. His 2024 season at the complex level will give us a good idea of the kind of player he can become long term.

FFG: Speedy CF w/Pop

90th Percentile Peak Outcome: .280/.370 OBP/18 HR/30 SB

Variance: High

Buy/Sell: Buy

6. Gavin Stone, RHP, 25, 6’1”/175

Many jumped off the Gavin Stone train rather quickly after he was the best pitcher in the Minors in 2022, posting a 1.48 ERA across 121 innings with 168 strikeouts, making it to Triple-A. While Stone’s performance in the Majors this season was disappointing, there are still plenty of reasons to be in on Stone as a long-term starting pitcher.

Stone is a strong athlete on the mound who likes to work fast and keep hitters on their toes. He leads the way with a changeup as his most used pitch, and many scouts throw a 70 grade on the pitch. It sits in the mid-80s with excellent depth and nearly 15 inches of horizontal movement. While the movement profile, in general does not stand out, it is the late movement and run that generates a ton of whiffs. 

Stone’s fastball can be thrown in a four-seam and a sinker variation, which sits at 94-95 mph with unique movement profiles. The sinker tunnels extremely well with the changeup, while the four-seam plays better up in the zone with ride. 

His third most used pitch is a cutter that bridges the gap nicely between his slider and fastball. The cutter sits around 90 mph with a short and hard break, while the slider sits at 86-87 with 7 inches of sweep and nice depth. 

Stone has a true five-pitch mix and occasionally throws a curveball, giving him a sixth pitch to go to if need be. Despite the struggles in his MLB debut(many arms do), I am still in on Stone. The expectation should not be an ace, but a higher floor mid-rotation starter. With a rebound in confidence in his arsenal, Stone could be back to the pitcher we knew and loved in 2022.

FFG: Mid-Rotation SP

90th Percentile Peak Outcome: 160 IP/3.40 ERA/170 K

Variance: Medium

Buy/Sell: Buy

7. Andy Pages, OF, 22, 6’1”/212

Prospect fatigue has hit Pages hard despite only being 22 years old and much improved year-over-year performances. In 2023, Pages missed much of the season but slashed .277/.425/.482 with three home runs in 34 games. Unfortunately, a torn labrum ended his season in May after being promoted to Triple-A. 

Pages has big-time power and lift the ball with ease. The exciting thing is the exit velocities are not eye-popping, but the ball still travels with authority. The power is firmly plus and probably has room for more in the tank.

In 2023, Pages cut 25 pounds and showed improved contact skills, having a 78 percent contact rate before his injury. He looked like a better athlete on the field and moved better, which is a good sign moving forward. 

Pages is a selective hitter who does not chase often out of the zone and posts high OBPs, checking in with a career .378 OBP. His long-term outlook may hinge on how he looks returning from Labrum surgery, as we often see hitters take a while to get back to peak levels. Still, Pages has 30 home runs pop with strong OBP skills.

FFG: Power Hitting-High OBP OF

90th Percentile Peak Outcome: .260/.360 OBP/25 HR/5 SB

Variance: High

Buy/Sell: Buy

8. Nick Frasso, RHP, 25, 6’5”/200

Frasso is a hulking presence on the mound, standing at 6’5”, and comes at hitters fast. The former Blue Jays prospect was drafted in the fourth round of 2020, but unfortunately, the 2020 season was a lost one, and Frasso later needed Tommy John, which sidelined him for most of 2022. 

The arsenal begins with a fastball, particularly a sinker that sits around 94 on average but has been up to 98 mph with a relatively high IVB for a sinker and 12 inches of arm-side run. 

Frasso pumps in a slider with late biting action and a fairly short break, averaging just over an inch of horizontal break, but the late bite is deceptive to hitters while it sits in the upper 80s. The changeup is his distant third most used pitch, sitting around 85 mph with a ton of horizontal movement, averaging over 15 inches of run. 

Frasso has a violent delivery, and despite making a career-high 25 starts in 2023, only pitched 93 innings, averaging under four innings a start. There is starter potential, but Frasso may fit the Dodgers best in a bulk innings role where he does not turn the lineup over and allows his stuff to play up in a smaller sample.

FFG: SP5/Bulk Inning RP

90th Percentile Peak Outcome: 100 IP/3.30 ERA/120 K

Variance: Medium

Buy/Sell: Buy

9. Diego Cartaya, C, 22, 6’3”/220

Cartaya was ranked as the top international player in the 2018 signing class, landing a bonus of $2.5 million. Since debuting in 2019, Cartaya has been billed as one of the top-catching prospects in the game. The shine began to wear off in 2022 as Cartaya struggled with contact despite hitting for power. Then his downfall in 2023 led many to jump ship as Cartaya spent the full season in Double-A as a 21-year-old, slashing .189/.278/.379 with 19 home runs.

Power has never been questioned for Cartaya, who has a strong frame and a long, powerful swing. The ball jumps off the bat with high exit velocities, but the contact rates have put him in scary territory. Two straight seasons of contact rates under 70 percent suggest Cartaya might be closer to a 30-grade hitter than a 40. 

There is still potential to dream on with Cartaya, thanks to immense power and improved skills behind the plate. But Cartaya will need to cut down on the amount of chase he has on pitches outside of the zone while making more consistent contact on pitches in the zone. 2024 will be a big year of development.

FFG: Power Hitting C

90th Percentile Peak Outcome: .250/.340 OBP/25 HR/2 SB

Variance: High

Buy/Sell: Buy the Upside

10. Payton Martin, RHP, 19, 6’0”/170

Martin looks to be a steal from the 2022 draft, as the Dodgers selected him in the 17th round, and he has proceeded to pitch at a high level despite a smaller sample. Martin pitched in Single-A Rancho Cucamonga in 2023, posting a 2.04 ERA across 39.2 innings with 48 strikeouts and 15 walks allowed.

While having a smaller frame, there is still room to grow and add weight while already having a strong arm. Martin consistently sits in 94-96, touching 98 with his fastball with carry, and when he hits the upper part of the zone, he gets swings and misses. He is still working on fastball command, but when he learns to locate up consistently, he could take off.

Martin uses a slider as his second pitch, sitting in the mid-80s but touching 89 with late bite and downward action. He does feature a changeup, but primarily to lefthanded hitters, and he could benefit from further developing the upper-80s offering and throwing it more often. 

Being a strong athlete, it shows on the mound in his mechanics that he repeats well and fills the zone with strikes. Spending some of the season as an 18-year-old, Martin threw strikes at a 65 percent rate, which is already above average, especially given his age. He unfortunately did not pitch after July 7 due to an undisclosed injury. Hopefully, he can return healthy in 2024 and we can see further development of an already strong arm.

FFG: SP4-5

90th Percentile Peak Outcome: 150 IP/3.80 ERA/155 K

Variance: High

Buy/Sell: Buy

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