3 top prospects (and 1 young star) who'll take major steps forward for 2024 Dodgers

San Diego Padres v Los Angeles Dodgers
San Diego Padres v Los Angeles Dodgers | Harry How/GettyImages
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The Los Angeles Dodgers were not messing around in the 2023-24 offseason. L.A. added RHP/DH Shohei Ohtani, RHPs Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow, and OFs Teoscar Hernández and Manuel Margot to a roster that has won 100 games in each of the last four full seasons. The Dodgers also will benefit from bringing back pieces like relievers Daniel Hudson and Joe Kelly, as well as Jason Heyward in the outfield. L.A. will also see returns from Gavin Lux and Walker Buehler, who are coming back from season-long injuries in 2023.

With the ridiculous roster the Dodgers have constructed for 2024, it could be hard for prospects and youngsters to make it onto the major league roster. However, injuries are an inevitable part of baseball, and the Dodgers are going to need players to step up when more experienced players aren't able to contribute. L.A.'s farm system was not changed too heavily in the offseason as a result of making more free agency signings than trades, but for a few of the Dodgers' young players, it is time for a breakout season.

4 Dodgers youngsters poised for breakout seasons in 2024

RHP Nick Frasso

Nick Frasso was acquired in the Dodgers' trade with the Blue Jays that sent Mitch White to Toronto. Looking back on that trade, the Dodgers will definitely be on the right end of it if Frasso can live up to the high expectations placed on him. Frasso is currently the No. 3 prospect in the Dodgers' system and was projected to potentially be a back-end starter in the 2025 season, depending on what the Dodgers did in the offseason this season and next season. Given the signings the Dodgers made in the offseason, his path to becoming a starter has been obscured, but Frasso still has the talent to be a major league starter.

From a statistical standpoint, Frasso's numbers don't blow anyone away. He had a 3.77 ERA across 25 starts in Double-A and Triple-A in 2023. But, while in Double-A, Frasso struck out 94 batters in 73.2 innings while only walking 24. If he can keep up that kind of a ratio in Triple-A this season, he will earn a call-up to the majors and will compete.

Frasso has a fastball that can touch 100 MPH, and with the ability to still control his stuff, he can grow into a pitcher that profiles similarly to Bobby Miller (who still has room to grow himself). Unfortunately, the Dodgers' pitching staff seems to encounter the injury bug annually, and Frasso may be called into action sooner than L.A. would like him to be, but I believe in his ability to perform when he gets the chance.

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