Remember when the Dodgers had five consecutive National League Rookies of the Year from 1992 through 1996? The recipients were Eric Karros, Mike Piazza, Raul Mondesi, Hideo Nomo and Todd Hollandsworth respectively. It was a tremendous accomplishment not only for the quintet who won baseball’s most prestigious rookie honor, but also a credit to the Dodgers scouting and player development staffs under longtime Dodgers general manager Fred Claire.

But wait, there’s more!

The Dodgers also had four consecutive NL Rookies of the Year between 1979 and 1982, when Messrs. Rick Sutcliffe, Steve Howe, Fernando Valenzuela, and Steve Sax won the award respectively. No other team in MLB history has matched either remarkable feat.

Well here we are, two decades later, and the Dodgers are two-fifths of the way to potentially repeating what hasn’t been done since 1996, and halfway to potentially repeating what hasn’t been done before 1979.

“I think we’ve got some young guys like (Dodgers right-handed pitching prospect) Dennis Santana that we’re really high on,” Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman told reporters on Wednesday morning at Camelback Ranch. “As we get through spring training we’ll get a better feel for guys we may be able to count on early. I mean, on this line two years ago, we didn’t think Ross Stripling had a chance to break [spring training camp] with us.

“We do go into it with a pretty open mind and there’s a lot of guys who, from a talent perspective, we really like, and to be able to spend more time with them – see where they are mentally, see where they are physically – to get a better sense of that,” Friedman added. “But I’m really not worried about that. I think we’ve got enough talent. I don’t know exactly who it is or how it’ll shake out, but I think we have enough options and interesting guys that we’ll be in good shape.”

In Friedman’s own words, the Dodgers are “really high” on right-handed pitching prospect Dennis Santana; so much so that they added him to their 40-man roster to protect him from the Rule-5 draft this past November.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

But the burning question – one that seems to have been lost on the Dodgers brass over the past twenty years until Friedman and Dodgers general manager Farhan Zaidi decided to roll the dice on shortstop Corey Seager in 2016 and first baseman Cody Bellinger last season – both of whom won Rookie of the Year titles respectively – is whether or not Friedman, Zaidi, and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts are concerned with the inexperience of their extremely talented young prospects – especially their young pitching prospects?

“No,” answered Friedman, without the slightest hesitation. “I think that you look at it on the position players side and the young players we’ve broken in over the last three or four years, we need to start doing that with our starters and get to the point where one or two spots are taken down by our good young pitching and let them have a runway to develop.

“So, I do think this year will provide some of that for our guys to have an opportunity and kind of a softer landing,” Friedman said. “And then, by the time we get through this season, we’ll have a better sense of who we can pencil in and count on as we start spring training next year.”

Right-hander Wilmer Font is another top prospect on the Dodgers radar this spring. Like Santana, he, too, was added to the team’s 40-man roster to prevent losing him in the Rule-5 draft.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

And then there’s the catchers.

“We feel really good about where we are from a catching standpoint organizationally,” said Friedman. “I think it was a significant factor in our success last year, that (Yasmani) Grandal – (Austin) Barnes tandem. If you look at it relative to the rest of the league, we feel like it’s a real good competitive advantage.

“And then you get into our minor league system and we feel like we’re catching-rich,” Friedman said. “We’ve got not just Will Smith and Keibert Ruiz who are here in camp, but also Conner Wong and a number of younger guys that are coming, that we feel like it’s a real strength for us as we look forward.”

When Friedman’s potential youth movement was mentioned to Dave Roberts on Thursday morning, it became very clear that he, Friedman, and Zaidi had not only discussed this plan in detail, but are all very much on the same page with giving some of their very talented young players a legitimate shot at either leaving camp on the team’s 25-man roster, or receiving a call-up at some point this season.

“I think that’s the way that we as an organization see it,” said the Dodger skipper. “And if you look at since Andrew and Farhan have been here, they’ve given a runway for young players and opportunities. And that’s not only for the pitching, but the position player side of things. So, it is nice, and with that said, having guys that have gotten their feet wet on the pitching side to give them an opportunity.

“So, yeah, we have five guys penciled into the rotation, but it’s not out of the realm of  possibility if something happens or performance and things like that, some of the young players that we do have will create opportunities for themselves,” Roberts added.

Although much attention has been on the Dodgers top pitching prospects in major league camp this spring, it is impossible to believe that Dodgers top outfield prospect and Southern California native (and fan favorite) DJ Peters will not be called up to the bigs at some point this season – perhaps even for Opening Day.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

Will it happen? Maybe, maybe not. But for Dodger fans who have followed many of these young Dodgers prospects throughout their minor league careers, it’s a great time to be a Dodger fan.

…and an even greater time to be a young Dodger prospect.

Stay tuned.