Dodgers’ first round of spring training cuts includes multiple top prospects

The Dodgers' Opening Day roster shouldn't present too many surprises, but there are still 14 other players on the 40-man and 25 non-roster invitees who won't make the cut. Dave Roberts identified two spots on the field that are still to be decided (center field and second base), but other than David Bote, who's had an impressive showing this spring, few of the prospects, other minor leaguers, and NRIs have made quite as much of an impression.

With the Tokyo Series in just over two weeks, the Dodgers have made their first roster cuts of the spring. They optioned top pitching prospect Nick Frasso, who is on the 40-man, and reassigned pitchers Carlos Duran, Julian Fernández, Justin Jarvis, and outfielders Ryan Ward, Justin Dean, Zyhir Hope, and Josue De Paula to minor league camp.

Frasso, Hope, and De Paula all closed out 2024 in the Dodgers pipeline's top 15, and there's still a chance that we see Frasso in the majors at some point this season, but Hope and De Paula are still far from the majors.

Hope finished the year in Single-A, De Paula in High-A, so their reassignment is relatively unsurprising. Still, based on their emergence and the intrigue they provide, they'll be missed.

Top prospects Nick Frasso, Zyhir Hope, Josue De Paula among eight players axed in Dodgers' first round of spring training cuts

Frasso missed all of 2024 after a labrum surgery in November 2023. The chances of him making the major league roster were non-zero but still very low, especially with more recently healthy top prospects (Justin Wrobleski, Ben Casparius, Landon Knack) also in camp and easier to call on as bullpen options before Evan Phillips and Michael Kopech come off the IL.

Outfielder Ryan Ward, a homegrown Dodger, has also been a consistent masher in the minors and has been invited to four consecutive spring trainings, but he has yet to make his major league debut. At 27, it's hard to see what plans the Dodgers have for him, if any, but he didn't impress much in Glendale this year, batting .063 in 10 games.

So there are no huge surprises here, and there's a chance that we don't hear anything further about some of these guys (Jarvis, Dean) until the Dodgers are releasing them. The Dodgers still have 59 players left in major league camp, so that means a lot more names that we should expect to see trimmed in the next few weeks.