Dodgers Prospect Notes: Cartaya homers off Snell, another XBH for teen Rodriguez, Nastrini battles back

May 4th, 2022 Scoreboard

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That makes for back to back postponements for Tulsa, who will now have a doubleheader on both Thursday, May 5th and Saturday, May 7th. Five games in three days.

Oklahoma City will also have a doubleheader on Thursday, as will Great Lakes, who will be making up a rained out game as well. Seven games on a school night. I’m fine, why do you ask?

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After Diego Cartaya headlined yesterday’s Prospect Notes, I was asked a very reasonable question on Twitter: What is Cartaya still doing at Low-A?

To which I gave what I think are, in turn, very reasonable replies:

These all make sense. It’s perfectly rational, level-headed analysis, and thus immune to all sorts of…

Oh. Oh my.

Cartaya joined in on the fond tradition of Dodger catchers destroying Blake Snell. He’s a natural in blue. He would go on to have a monster game, putting the Quakes up by three in the 10th with another extra base hit:

Cartaya is making it difficult to remain even-keeled about things like “development plans” and such, and is certainly presenting decision-makers with some tough questions. For fans, to say that Cartaya’s ascension will be hotly anticipated is an understatement. LFG.

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In addition to Cartaya, another Venezuelan prospect recently featured here in the Prospect Notes picked up an extra base hit off Snell:

Luis Rodriguez ended up leaving the game in the bottom of the same inning after a little dust-up, though it’s difficult to see how he was involved, as he was playing right field:

The speculation from the play-by-play came when action resumed, as they noted that Jose Ramos had moved from center field to right, and that Rodriguez was no longer on the field.

Either way, Rodriguez is continuing to show that opposite field pop as a teenager, and is giving plenty reasons to be pumped about his bright future.

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Lastly, Nick Nastrini showed the ability to make adjustments on the fly today:

Walking the bases loaded to start the game, and going 3.0 scoreless, one hit innings with no walks after? Way to dial it in.

Nastrini’s stuff is top shelf, and it’s impressive that he reined it back in after that start. All of the strikeouts came on fastballs, and Great Lakes announcer Brad Tunney, who cites Hawkeye data throughout the broadcast, noted that the stadium gun was consistently one or two mph behind the aforementioned tracking system that all major league teams and the Reds rely upon, so the heaters above are all 95-97 mph.

The 59 pitches that Nastrini tossed were a career high for him as a pro, his previous high of 53 was notched in his last start, so the gradual ramp up continues throughout the system for those being developed as starters.

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