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

If you were to take a quick glance, you’d think the Los Angeles Dodgers have an aged roster, and you wouldn’t be wrong. So many of the stars on this team are 29 or older.

But make no mistake about it, there are some mid-20s studs (Walker Buehler, Julio Urías), some in their early 20s, and a prospect pipeline filled with great expectations. The Dodgers aren’t going anywhere. For a long time. Apologies in advance to all San Francisco Giants fans.

It hurts to think this current Dodgers core could be finito after the 2022 season. All of Justin Turner, Max Muncy, Blake Treinen and AJ Pollock have contract options. Trea Turner could be a free agent. Cody Bellinger’s future remains uncertain.

So it helps to keep an eye in the years ahead, especially in regard to those currently on the Dodgers’ 40-man roster who can help this team in 2024 and beyond. Either that, or they’ll be used as trade bait at some point, but that’s a conversation for another time.

President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman very clearly has a plan and these players under 25 years old on the 40-man roster make that very clear.

The Dodgers’ best players under 25 years old on the 40-man roster

Eddys Leonard and James Outman

Here, we have two prospects who have yet to make their MLB debuts. Eddys Leonard, an infielder, ranks No. 18 in the Dodgers farm system, according to MLBPipeline.com, while James Outman, an outfielder, ranks 27th.

Leonard is just 21 years old and got added to the 40-man this offseason after hitting .297 with a .929 OPS across 107 games between Single-A and High-A. He scored 89 runs, belted 22 bombs, batted in 81 runs, and stole nine bases. Pretty darn good for a 20-year-old (at the time). The right-handed slugger was signed out of the Dominican a few years ago and could be beginning his big climb.

As for Outman, he was also recently added to the 40-man roster after his impressive showing at High-A and Double-A in 2021. The toolsy outfielder hit .266 with an .869 OPS, 90 runs scored, 18 homers, 54 RBI and 23 stolen bases in 104 games. It was a huge improvement from his 2019 campaign at Single-A, too. Classic Dodgers prospect numbers right there.

Though he’s not ranked particularly high on any of the main gurus’ prospect boards, the TrueBlueLA community has him at No. 10 on their list. Don’t hate that! And it’s a big plus that he throws righty and hits from the left side of the plate.

These guys won’t be debuting in 2022 (barring an unforeseen, meteoric rise), but it wouldn’t be crazy to assume 2023 feels right for their development at this juncture.

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.