Los Angeles Dodgers: Prospects that could get promoted to the MLB early
By Jason Reed
1. DJ Peters — OF
Typically, the Los Angeles Dodgers have a surplus of outfielders that blocks prospects from making the big league roster. Just look at Andrew Toles, who would at least be a bench guy on most MLB teams and only played in 17 games last season.
This year, though, the Los Angeles Dodgers have a completely different outlook. The team is two outfielders short after trading Yasiel Puig and Matt Kemp and are going to get even thinner with Enrique Hernandez and/or Chris Taylor spending more time at second base.
There is even the possibility of trading top prospect Alex Verdugo, which I don’t love. And while the Dodgers can move Cody Bellinger to the outfield it still creates a bad trend: the Dodgers only have left-handed outfielders.
The exception here would be Hernandez or Taylor if they start in left field. Aside from that, the Dodgers have Bellinger, Joc Pederson and potentially Verdugo and Toles. The team needs a right-handed bat.
That could lead to DJ Peters, who has not played past AA, getting the early call. If Peters has a great Spring Training it could force the Dodgers’ hand to go with him and his right-handed bat over another left-handed bat in Toles.
Peters is the Dodgers’ ninth-ranked prospect and actually has an estimated arrival of 2019, likely as a September call-up.
However, Peters could take a route similar to Cody Bellinger and get the call earlier than September and play well enough that the Dodgers have no other option but to keep him up.