Forgotten Dodgers trade return from Yankees predicted to have a breakout season in 2026

The Los Angeles Dodgers don’t need another pitching prospect to pop — they are the Dodgers. But every year, someone in the pipeline starts to go off. And for 2026, Christian Zazueta has all the ingredients to be that guy.

Zazueta was the “other” piece in the Caleb Ferguson trade with the Yankees back in February 2024. L.A. shipped out a useful lefty reliever and brought back Matt Gage plus Zazueta, a teenage right-hander who didn’t exactly arrive with loud hype. 

Dodgers prospect Christian Zazueta is quietly setting up a 2026 leap

Now? He’s no longer looking like a throw-in. The Dodgers literally handed him their internal stamp of approval in 2025, naming Zazueta the Branch Rickey Minor League Pitcher of the Year. A 2.41 ERA across 17 starts between Low-A and High-A, with elite strike-throwing (30 percent K rate, 6 percent walk rate) that signals that he could be a fast mover in this system.

But the breakout argument gets even juicier when you get into the pitch traits. TJStats’ Thomas Nestico has flagged Zazueta as his Dodgers pitching breakout pick for 2026, and the nerdy details explain why: mid-90s heat that plays up because of its carry (14 inches of induced vertical break), a low-ish release, and a flat approach angle that makes hitters feel like the ball is riding over barrels. 

He’s got a legit starter mix — fastball, changeup, slider — with the command foundation the Dodgers love to weaponize. MLB’s own prospect page highlights the pitch quality and control baseline, and FanGraphs has basically already told you the ceiling: there’s a realistic mid-rotation outcome here if the workload and upper-level performance keep trending. 

So, the “forgotten trade return” fits the headline. But 2026 is where that label dies. If Zazueta holds his strike-throwing as he climbs and the Dodgers do their usual dev-magic, you’re looking at the next pitching prospect who goes from under-discussed to unavoidable in a hurry.