8 best Dodgers under 25 years old on 40-man roster

Jacob Amaya and Jorbit Vivas

Our next two are prospect shortstop Jacob Amaya and infielder Jorbit Vivas, both of whom were also added to the 40-man this offseason.

Amaya, 23, is the team’s No. 13-ranked prospect and just dominated the Arizona Fall League after an unimpressive showing at Double-A Tulsa (.216/.303/.343 slash line with 60 runs scored, 12 homers and 47 RBI in 113 games). But when you play against the best of the best in the AFL and hit .333 with a 1.018 OPS in 19 games, your stock immediately recoups.

Though his bat could use some work, Amaya is a terrific defender at arguably the most important position on the field and possesses advanced instincts. That’s where a lot of his value lies. Assuming his bat resembles something closer to his AFL showing rather than his Double-A season, he could rise quickly in 2022.

And then there’s Vivas, who has played second and third base throughout his minor league career, which began in 2018 (he’s still only 21). The Dodgers obviously liked what they saw in Single-A and High-A in 2021 when he hit .312 with an .893 OPS, 85 runs scored, 14 homers, 87 RBI and eight stolen bases across 106 games. Another throw right, bat left guy, Vivas seems to be turning more heads than expected since being signed out of Venezuela back in 2017. He’s now added more power to his swing and expanded his defensive versatility to shortstop and left field last season.

Two great assets to have, no matter how they’ll be used.

Justin Bruihl and Brusdar Graterol

Let’s beef up that bullpen, baby! Perhaps this newcomer and breakout 2020 talent will help accomplish that in 2022.

Bruihl, who many were unaware existed until September, made his MLB debut last year, appearing in 21 games and registering a 2.89 ERA and 1.07 WHIP (mostly as a reliever with the exception of two “opener” performances). His fastball-cutter-slider combo proved to be effective, but next season will be more telling when we have a larger sample size.

He doesn’t overwhelm hitters with velocity (90.4 MPH sinker and 88.2 MPH cutter), so fans are hoping his expected ERA of 3.78, 3.79 FIP and 11 strikeouts across 18.2 innings aren’t a sign of a worst-case scenario brewing. Then again, the left-hander was able to handle three successful postseason outings with relative ease, so perhaps the 24-year-old’s just got “it.”

In the case of Graterol, fans would love to see more out of the hefty righty, who throws bowling ball sinkers akin to Blake Treinen’s (in addition to a slider, cutter and four-seamer). But a bout with COVID and forearm tightness seemingly held him back in 2021, which resulted in an unsightly 4.59 ERA, 1.41 WHIP and just 27 strikeouts in 33.1 innings. Hopefully the Red Sox weren’t right about his injury history when they reneged on the first version of the Mookie Betts trade back in 2020.

If healthy and used properly, Graterol, just 23, can be a weapon in the back end of the bullpen, which he showed flashes of during the team’s World Series run two seasons ago. It doesn’t help that a lockout might be affecting his offseason training, but fans are keeping their fingers crossed that he’s not interrupted, as he was heading into 2022.

Dustin May and Gavin Lux

The grand finale. And the uncertainly surrounding these two might be too much for some Dodgers fans to handle.

Let’s stay with May. The 24-year-old dubbed “Gingergaard” because of his comparison to Noah Syndergaard while sporting red hair, suffered a torn UCL in May and underwent Tommy John surgery. We might be seeing him until the second half of the 2022 season, assuming his recovery continues on its positive trajectory.

Before the injury, the right-hander was believed to be a top-of-rotation arm being deployed out of the back end of the rotation due to his career 2.93 ERA, 1.07 WHIP and 111 strikeouts in 31 games (19 starts), totaling 113.1 innings. His fastball, sinker, cutter and curve make up a vaunted arsenal that major league hitters have largely had trouble figuring out (7.4 hits/9 and 1.2 HR/9).

With his career thrown off course for about a year and a half, the Dodgers are hoping for a rebound given what was expected of the former 2016 third-round pick.

Lux is kind of in the same boat … but without the injury concern and with much less production. Sky-high expectations … but no proof of them panning out just yet. And that’s why 2022 will be a pivotal year for the 24-year-old. In 144 career games, the lefty-hitting middle infielder (and now outfielder?) has hit just .233 with a .682 OPS, 69 runs scored (sick, bro!), 12 homers, 63 RBI and seven stolen bases. That’s since debuting in 2019.

Many thought he’d be dangled at the trade deadline before he suffered an injury because his bat failed to show much of anything during the first half of the year outside of a couple of hot stretches. It was even more concerning that he was unable to find his footing despite being protected by one of the best offenses in the league. And then his move to the outfield later in the year indicated that the Dodgers might be done trying to make him a key figure in the middle infield (as do the offseason Carlos Correa rumors).

A make-or-break campaign at 24 years old sounds harsh, but such is life when you’re working to be trusted by a premier MLB organization. Whatever Lux’s role is in 2022, he’ll have to turn heads or else he will be deemphasized further or traded to another team that could use young middle infield help.

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