Diego Cartaya's Stats, Metrics, Game Logs, Projections & Rankings

The Minnesota Twins acquired catcher Diego Cartaya from the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday in exchange for minor-league right-hander Jose Vasquez. Cartaya was once one of the Dodgers' top catching prospects, but he has struggled at the plate the last two seasons in the minors and slashed .221/.323/.363 with a .686 OPS, 11 home runs, 52 RBI and 113 strikeouts in 400 trips to the plate over 95 games with Double-A Tulsa and Triple-A Oklahoma City in 2024. The move to trade the 23-year-old comes after the Dodgers dropped the Venezuelan backstop from their 40-man roster recently. With minor-league options still remaining, expect Cartaya to begin the 2025 campaign at Triple-A St. Paul with his new organization as minor-league depth behind Ryan Jeffers and Christian Vazquez at the major-league level.

According to Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times, the Los Angeles Dodgers are designating catching prospect Diego Cartaya for assignment to open a roster spot for infielder Hye-seong Kim. Cartaya was a former top catching prospect but has never lived up to his prospect pedigree. Before the transaction, MLB Pipeline ranked Cartaya as the 16th-best prospect in the Dodger system. In 2023, the backstop held a mere .189/.278/.379 slash line across 93 games at Double-A. Last season across both Double-A and Triple-A, Cartaya posted a .221/.323/.363 slash line with just 11 home runs and a 47:113 BB:K. Cartaya may draw interest from another suitor but will likely need more time at Triple-A in 2025 before making his major-league debut.

Los Angeles Dodgers catching prospect Diego Cartaya stayed hot at the plate on Wednesday evening by going 2-for-4 with two round-trippers. This extended his current hitting streak to four games. In this span, he has gone deep three times and tallied seven RBI. Overall, through his first 26 games at the top level of the minor leagues, the 22-year-old has posted a strong .263/.348/.444 line with five home runs, 20 RBI, and a 13:30 BB:K ratio. This is a great sign as these numbers are on pace to set new career highs for the young backstop. Dynasty managers should continue to monitor his progression at Triple-A Oklahoma City as he could contend for a late-season major league debut.

Los Angeles Dodgers catching prospect Diego Cartaya has hit the ground running at Triple-A, hitting safely in five of six games and going 8-for-25 (.320) over that stretch. In his latest game, he ripped a double and his first home run for Oklahoma City. After hitting just .133 in April at Double-A, the 22-year-old turned it on in May, hitting .262 for the month, then .294 in June before his promotion. The Dodgers are set at catcher for the next decade after signing Will Smith to a long-term deal, so it's uncertain how Cartaya fits into their plans, but he's starting to live up to his once-forecasted potential.

Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Diego Cartaya is struggling to open the season in Double-A Tulsa. Cartaya, 22, was once one of the top prospects in all of baseball, but his struggles in 2023 lowered his ranking and thus far, he is hitting just .119 in his first 12 games for Tulsa. He also has one homer and six RBI over that span. It's still a very small sample size, but Cartaya is coming off a season that he hit .189 for in 2023. Cartaya shows plenty of power, but he has had issues making contact with off-speed pitches and has been very aggressive at the plate. He will need to improve his plate discipline to take the next step as a hitter and with Will Smith entrenched as the Dodgers catcher for the long-term and prospect Dalton Rushing also in the system, the Dodgers are certain to do what it takes to correct Cartaya's issues. He is only worth a look in dynasty leagues for now.